Ash Wednesday 2019

Lectionary: 219

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart...

In 1975, Dr. William Nordhaus predicted catastrophic events if the world were to warm up more than two degrees Celsius. He and fellow climate scientists urged governments and industry to take preventive action. In the nineteen-eighties and nineties they said even now there is time. Recently, they are saying something else.

The Earth will warm more than two degrees and it will be worse than expected. We cannot imagine the future our children will deal with, but it will not be one we hoped for. The time to prevent catastrophe has passed. Now we should prepare for rising sea levels, flooded coastal cities and unbearable heat in the tropical regions. There will be mass migrations of people on a scale history has never seen.

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart...

If it is too late to reverse global warming it is not too late to return to the Lord. The season of Lent should be a reality check for us. It promises salvation to those who are willing to be saved, to those who recognize their helpless, fallen condition. For that is the real situation. We have fallen and cannot get up. We cannot generate the political will to alter our toxic habits. We simply don't want to. That was only one of the many revelations of November 2016.

One of my favorite songs for Lent is in Latin, the plaintive Parce Domine. "Spare us, O Lord. Spare your people! Lest in eternity you be angry with us forever."

I began to practice penance when I joined a twelve-step group. I realized the enormity of my illness at the time, and that I was responsible for it. Not to take responsibility would be mortally sinful. It would probably be fatal.

But AA and other twelve step groups intentionally avoid any discussion of the social and political dimensions of their cause. They focus entirely on the individual's obsessive compulsion. They study ways to renounce an obnoxious, unnecessary behavior and reengage their families, careers, neighbors and faith traditions. They rightly insisted on a humble application to a "Higher Power" -- sometimes called "God," -- who can save them. But they will not discuss any application of that insight to our common political, social or religious ills. They only create groups of individuals and readily admit it's like herding cats.

I have no quarrel with that reluctance but, unfortunately, it reflects the attitude of the same religions the Twelve Step movement disavows. They too avoid the political and social dimensions of their teachings, usually in an effort to broadly appeal to "everyone." Their "personal salvation" is individualized, a customized message that conforms to the consumer's expectations.

And so the responsibility for addressing climate change falls back on those few who are willing to act politically. Admitting our helplessness before an enormous problem, and that its roots lie deep in our mischievous hearts, are necessary first steps, but they are not the last. Can an entire planet turn to God for help? Would they believe that God cares enough to save us? How we might experience that help, if it comes, and how we might respond is anyone's guess.

A carbon tax? Converting mass transportation systems from the automobile to commuter buses and trains? Closing coal mines? Replanting prairies and forests? Those initiatives might have helped in the 1980's. They would help today though they'll not avert the crisis. 

As we enter Lent 2019, Christians wonders, "What should we do now? Dear Lord, show us the way."