A friend of mine used to say, “Pretending doesn’t make it so.” I’ve watched with dismay this week as one executive order after another has come from the oval office. Many are attacking the very things I believe most strongly in, including care for the environment. The biblical narrative includes the stewardship of the creation. God’s gift of the earth was left in our hands to care for -not to destroy.  Whenever we have forgotten  this we have suffered painful consequences.

The creations stories of Genesis tell us that creation is given to the human to care for. “‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. . . .  God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good.” ’ (Genesis 1:28,31)  There was a time when the term global warming was not a political football.  Nor was it a dividing line between conservative and liberal Christians. I look back on those years with fondness, while I continue to be puzzled by how it became a source of division. Why wouldn’t all Christians want to protect the environment and change the course of future devastation?  Even if it meant that we need to look for  new and healthier energy sources.

When Jesus said that we were to love God with all of our heart, our mind and our soul, he expected us to use the wisdom that we were being given. The problem with denying the grave issues in front of us, is that you simply don’t work on it. Just like the addict claims not to have a problem, or the couple whose marriage is in trouble pretend it isn’t . . .  Eventually the truth will be louder than all the pretending.  Today island nations bear the brunt of rising oceans. An ice shelf the size of the state of Delaware is about to break off. It is the third year in a row of increasing world wide temperatures. You cannot hide from truth forever.  Pretending doesn’t make it so. I pray that God is able to reach into the hearts and minds of those whose decisions will impact us for generations, so that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will live in a world where this issue no longer threatens the earth.