Saturday 24 March 2012

A conversation with God about Global Warming!



Hi God, yes me again and yes, I have a problem. It’s the same one as I have been talking to you about for the last 25 years, but it is now getting very serious. I know you are concerned about it as well but I am getting very frustrated about the way people are ignoring the problems of the weather.

It’s March here in East Sussex... OK, it’s March everywhere else that uses the Gregorian Calendar, I know that, but what I mean is that it’s March and we are about to have a hosepipe ban, yes, a hosepipe ban in the South East of England in a few weeks time. The reservoirs here are as low as they were in the August drought of 1976 when the weather, like me, was really hot. I no longer am hot but the weather certainly is.

The farmers are getting worried; in parts of the SE they are not even planting fields as they can’t see the point when there isn’t going to be the water available for them. Rivers are drying up as are natural springs and the fish; insects and birds that rely on them are dying off.

I tried to explain the situation to someone who after listening looked at me as though I was speaking Swahili; they seemed totally incapable of taking in the problem. Then they said that the good thing with the hot weather was that we could now have really productive vineyards in the area. I did try to get the point across that the water shortage problem was not just ours but a French and Spanish water shortage as well but I got the impression that while (as they say) the lights were on there was nobody at home.

Crop production will be low this year in Europe, but the problems with the weather are not just here but world-wide. There are floods in Thailand, floods in Australia, heat waves in Russia, drought in Africa, catastrophic weather events in the US and a massive drought in Texas, and so it goes on.

The Church seems almost oblivious to the problem although there are a few of us that have been working hard to wake those that claim to be your Son's body on earth, and give Him our love please when you see him next.

Sorry to sound down but I feel rather down when I see the ice caps melting, the sea levels rising, the Gulf Stream problem and as for the Jet Stream, the future is particularly uncertain for Europe, as our climate is strongly influenced by the jet stream.

So what now? My wife and I have cut down our carbon footprint and live in a well insulated small home and grow lots of our own food because it was obvious to us that Global warming and Peak Oil were facts, so we are actually sort of OK, but what about the children of the future? It's them I worry about.

I remember only too well the world of fifty years ago and today's environmental disasters would have seemed like total science fiction to us then. What will the world be like in fifty years time if humanity does not wake up until it's too late? that's what concerns me, but that's what your giving us free will is all about isn't it?

Anyway, that's enough from me, I will keep trying to make a difference I promise, there are times when I think that enough is enough, then you send a sunrise through the mist over the field like there was this morning and I know I can't give up; but you knew that anyway, didn't you... ...

7 comments:

Stella said...

I know how you feel Peter. Only yesterday I was having a conversation with a colleague. They are a three car family and each weekend, without fail, all three cars are washed (using a hosepipe). In addition, this friend, washes her towels every single day. And yet, she will express genuine concern about the drought, but when I point out her profligate use of water, she looks at me as if I'm mad.
If only folk would realise what a precious resource water is.
I feel I am a voice crying in the wilderness.
My dear father died 10 years ago. I well remember his concerns for the environment, which first troubled him 40-50 years ago. Everything that he worried about seems to have come to pass. I really miss him and would love to be able to discuss these things with him now that I also share his views.

Rev. Peter Doodes said...

It does seem strange Stella that many that say they are concerned about the present water problems don't actually make the connection between what they say they are concerned about and just how their own actions contribute to that situation.

Your father sounds great!

Deborah said...

It is just massive denial. I honestly don't know what it will take to get the message across. I fear, in my darker moments, that it will take the UK turning into the Sahel...
My own personal problem - and I know that I'm not alone - is that I really don't like people looking at me as if I'm mad! I must be braver, and tell it how it is.
Keep up the good work, people! And thank you for this great blog.
Deborah

Rev. Peter Doodes said...

Thank you Deborah,

Standing up for what you believe is so very difficult especially when the others are in the situation of Matthew 13:14

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

Spot on there then.

Yes Deborah, the evidence is in front of their eyes, but if they ignore it, it may just go away. Yeah... right...

Alice said...

Peter, the concerns you have keep me awake at night too. I am trying to live a smaller life using less of everything and being more aware. I have a long way to go, of course, but the ignorance of so many who aren't even trying to make small differences in their life, frustrates me. It's always lovely to read your informative posts and be reminded of what I am striving for with my own little family. And hopefully I will be learning a little more about self sufficiency on my adventure in the mountains of Italy!!!!

Stella said...

I don't really care about be thought of as mad or eccentric. I'm quite used to it in fact.
What I find difficult is putting my views across in an effective way. If the discussion becomes heated and turns into an argument then that does no one any good. And I suppose in the case of fellow christians I assume that anyone who claims to love God, automatically takes on board the responsibility for loving his wonderful creation as well and live their lives accordingly. As we know, this is a false assumption.
The bottom line is that if we care what is going on then we must say goodbye to our previously comfortable way of life. This is a sacrifice few people are prepared to make.
Thank God for places like this website where views can be shared and encouragement given

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