Heat, floods, pestilence

 It is almost as if a biblical prophet predicting the catastrophes. War and famine have not yet made it to the list, but they may not be far behind. What we have at present are clear signs of an ecological catastrophe of biblical scale that includes killing heat and deadly floods, combined with COVID19 as a form of pestilence. Ironically COVID has helped by reducing travel and restricting meetings.

Nine months ago on 15 September 2020 the Guardian had an article by Art Cullen called: "Drought, plague, fire: the apocalypse feels nigh. Yet we have tools to stop it." (SOURCE) Last Friday (16 July 2021) Jonathan Watts wrote an article called: "Climate scientists shocked by scale of floods in Germany: Deluge raises fears human-caused disruption is making extreme weather even worse than predicted." (SOURCE) 

As the biblical prophets knew all too well, human memory is remarkably short, and as soon as the immediate problem is gone, people wish to return to what they feel is "normal". Part of the challenge of addressing the ecological crisis today is to stop people from wanting a return to a form of normalcy repeats and reinforces behaviours that actively destroy God's creation.

In many parishes, returning to normalcy means returning to services in church buildings whose designed makes any attempt to keep them warm during the winter a carbon footprint disaster. As a way of raising awareness, the Diocese of Europe is asking member parishes to attempt to measure their carbon footprint. St. George's eco-Church committee is focusing first on our own church building, which is problematic because of its lack of insulation and aged heating plant, but is at least relatively compact compared to the Marienkirche or almost any pre-20th century place of worship. 

We must not forget when measuring our carbon footprint that the building itself accounts for only a very small portion of the environmental impact of our parish as a whole. The homes where we live, the forms of transport for use, and the food we eat all count as part of our carbon footprint. If we really wish to make a difference, we need to give up on past notions of "normalcy" and consider the impact of every action we take. Or we can do would people have done for centuries, and wait until after the next crisis to repent for the last one.

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