Prayers for Our Planetary Home

 On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in all the watercourses of the land, and all the peoples of the earth went away from its shade and left it.

On its fallen trunk settle all the birds of the air,
and among its boughs lodge all the wild animals.

All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to lofty height or set their tops among the clouds and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height.

For all of them are handed over to death, to the world below;
along with mortals, with those who go down to the Pit.

15 Thus says the Lord God: On the day it went down to Sheol I closed the deep over it and covered it; I restrained its rivers, and its mighty waters were checked. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.

Ezekiel 31:10-15 NRSVue

In much of Southern Ontario we have experienced a Summer with reasonable temperatures and sufficient rainfall for crops and yet plenty of sunny days for recreation. We have felt almost guilty about this when we look to other parts of the province and the rest of the country with extensive wildfires, regional flooding, and intense heat. The Climate Emergency has arrived for so many with mass evacuations and destruction of homes and communities. Some will never come back from the devastation, despite the bold predictions of leaders. 

In scripture there are passages of lament which tie environmental destruction and human tragedy together. They are really intertwined because we can't exist outside of the web of Creation. In the book of the prophet Ezekiel there is a passage about the mighty cedars which is also about the people of Israel.

Living in this part of Canada we can forget that within our nation's borders is one of the great forest regions of the planet, and in this season alone a vast area equivalent to PEI, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia has been ablaze. 

There are times when I awaken with a deep existential dread and feeling of helplessness as leaders dither. Again and again I am reminded that scripture may give us the bad news yet always leads us back toward the good news, as is the case in Ezekiel. For Christians it is the Good News of the Living Christ, who makes all things new. We must be aware of both and pray for opened eyes and hearts.