When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to [Jesus] privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
“Immediately after the suffering of those days
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Matthew 24: 3-8, 29
When the Pacific island volcano called Krakatoa erupted in 1883 it created a tsunami that swept through that part of the world, causing widespread destruction and death. It also resulted in a "volcanic winter" as the ash created a pall over much of the planet which blocked the sun. It also resulted in vivid sunsets of unnatural colours. Many wondered if this was a sign of the biblical End Times and there was an existential dread that affected people whether they were religious or not. Humans have always attempted to make sense of the signs of the times, politically, religiously, and in the natural world. Sometimes we get it right, often we get it wrong.
One of the persons disturbed by what he was seeing in the skies above Norway was a young Edvard Munch, the artist best known for his omnipresent painting known as The Scream. Art historians suggest that the garish skies were Munch's representation of the ominous evening scenes he witnessed as an impressionable young man.
This image has been pilfered to be applied to everything from tee-shirts and mugs. One of the several versions of the painting was stolen at the beginning of the Winter Olympics of 1994 in Lillehammer and recovered, unharmed, three months later.
There is a certain currency to The Scream in the midst of the Climate Emergency, the unnatural disaster which is shaping our marvellous planet. So many nations including Canada seem to be backing away from a commitment to address the causes of climate change. While the United States is on a reckless path of denial, our federal goverment is making a host of scary decisions to dismantle the modest gains the Trudeau adminstration made. Catherine Mckenna, a former environment minister has expressed her concern and Steven Guilbeault, also a fomer environment minister, quit the Carney cabinet in disgust.
We don't want to be Chicken Little alarmists about the changes we are witnessing around us. Yet we could do with some mighty rebel yells as environmental scientists plead for governments to pay attention to what is unfolding. The massive marches in cities around the world as part of then-teen Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future seem like some distant dream rather a hopeful movement that took hold only a decade ago. Greta at age 15 spoke to the United Nations and the World Economic Forum in blunt and honest language.
Maybe we all need to lean out our windows akin to the scene in the 50-year-old film Network (1976!) where the unhinged yet prophetic news anchor Howard Beale told his audience to lean out their windows and yell "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore!"
Actually, I'll choose to pray and act as a Christian whose deep desire is to love Creation and Creator, not only for myself but for generations to come. We may need to do some unfettered "birth pang" screaming as well.
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