The Prophet Joel, the Early Rain, & the AQI

 

Do not fear, O soil; be glad and rejoice,
    for the Lord has done great things!
 Do not fear, you animals of the field,
    for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

 O children of Zion, be glad, and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    the early and the later rain, as before.
 The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

                                                 Joel 2: 21-24 NRSVue

This morning a fine rain began in our area and we are grateful. We have gardens, vegetables and flowers, and there is nothing like precipitation from above to let them flourish. I looked at the AQI -- Air Quality Index -- and it was a reassuring 2 on the scale after an unsettling 10 on Friday. It was only a couple of years ago that I found out what the AQI is but there are times now when I check it regularly. 

Wildfire smoke was streaming into not just into our region but all the way to Newfoundland. When we did venture out briefly our eyes and throats were stinging.  As thousands have been displaced in Western provinces and Northern Ontario we are reminded that there are no borders for  borders for climate change related calamity. 

When I searched out today's psalm I noticed that there was also a reading from the book of the prophet Joel and I'm bible-nerdy enough to realize it included the verses above about the return of abundant rain in a parched land. This chapter also contains ominous verses suggesting that the people's unfaithfulness has led to disaster, not only for humans but for the land itself. 

Fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame burns.

Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
    but after them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.

Joel 2: 3 NRSVue

People who live in the areas now being consumed by fire, including Indigenous peoples,  point out that they are suffering for the sins of those who live elsewhere . The smoke we experience in Southern Ontario is in some respects a modest warning about what is unfolding around the world with growing intensity and uncertainty. The land isn't just burning, the fires are so fierce that the soil is incinerated to the point that growth isn't possible.

An old insurance term of absolution for responsibility  is "act of God" but its clear that we can't blame the Creator. And now there are places where insurers won't cover clients anymore because of the high risk of disaster. 

We might wonder why we would place any trust in a Middle Eastern prophet from more than 2,000 years ago, but how are we feeling about 21st century politicians? In an opinion piece in the Toronto Star the other day John Vaillant, the author of the award-winning book Fire Weather, called out our new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, as someone who should understand the issues of an economy addicted to fossil fuels and the need to shift away from carbon. Now that Carney is PM he appears to be doubling down on the "energy superpower" rhetoric even as our country is on fire. 

I want to trust in the benevolent Creator of those verses from Joel for today. Yet we must be humble and attentive to the warnings about fire and desolation for those who have a disregard for Creation, including those of us who claim allegiance to the God of life. Perhaps we will need to shed tears of contrition before there can be celebration.