Some days, it is so hard to have hope when you consider the future of our planet, and the climate crisis we are currently in.
I know it is hard to say with certainty that any one specific weather event is the result of climate change, but it is clear that the increasing number of severe weather events, and the rise in intensity, is directly tied to climate change.
Just this month, we have seen catastrophic floods in so many places. The worst—at least in terms of human lives—is in the Himalayas, where the death toll from the glacier collapse and subsequent flash flood is near 1,500. But floods have also appeared in Ontario, Canada; Arizona and Utah; Washington DC; as well as many other places overseas.
A series of hurricanes have wreaked havoc in Hawaii, which is unusual, because prevailing winds and ocean currents usually deflect or weaken most hurricanes before they get to Hawaii. The island of Kauai had its first ever tornado watch. And a hurricane off the coast of southern California sent waves and storm surges toward the California coast, destroying beaches, lowering sand levels by as much as 20 feet, and flooding homes. That, too, is rare. Very rare.
But these rare weather events are becoming less rare, because of climate change.
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Average global temperatures have risen over the past century at a rate never before seen. Throughout earth’s history, climate change has caused ice ages and warming spells, but these changes took place gradually, over thousands of years. Never has earth experienced such drastic changes in just a few decades.
And the change is only accelerating. In fact, the summer of 2026 was the hottest summer on record, and it wasn’t even close. Air temperatures and ocean temperatures have never been this high.
Which means storms will continue to get more severe and more deadly. In other places, droughts, also will become more severe. And more frequent. Which means that while some parts of the world experience more frequent flooding, others will (and already are) experiencing more frequent and intense wildfires.
And even though average temperatures are rising, in some places there will be more intense snowstorms and blizzards, due to the increased instability that climate change causes.
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There is a whole neighborhood in Long Beach, California, that made the news a few weeks ago, because of how the ocean just swept over the beach and into the streets and into people’s homes. I’ve visited that neighborhood, and with sea levels rising, I really wonder how long that neighborhood can continue to exist.
Fortunately, most of Long Beach… and most of California’s coastal cities… sit atop bluffs that give them some elevation over sea level.
But I wonder about cities where the entire city is low-lying. I wonder about cities like New Orleans, and many other low-lying coastal cities. As catastrophic flooding becomes more constant and more costly, at what point do we just say: we can’t keep going on like this?
And of course, it is the poor who will suffer the most. It is those who are already disadvantaged and vulnerable who will be most likely to lose their homes and their lives… which makes this an issue of justice.
When I talk to young people—people in my children’s generation, and younger—there’s a lot of hopelessness. There is a sense of doom. And dread. A growing number of young adults today are choosing to not have children, because who would want to bring a child into a world where the future looks so bleak?
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In scripture, creation itself often reacts to events that are taking place on earth. In today’s scripture, the heavens go dark. The sun, moon, stars and planets refuse to shine.
The earth itself echoes the hopelessness that many are feeling.
And the mountains quake. And the birds flee. And the fruitful land becomes a barren wasteland.
The prophet then talks about the sandy beaches that are a barrier that the ocean cannot cross. I guess even the prophet couldn’t have imagined what we’ve seen happen this month in southern California or in Hawaii, where the ocean has crossed over the sand, has washed the sand away—washed away entire beaches—and roared into streets and homes and neighborhoods.
And sometimes I do really feel sick when I think about the direction we are headed, how we continue to ignore the warnings of climate scientists, (how our leaders continue to ignore the warnings of climate scientists) and their predictions which are already coming true.
We see it happening with our own eyes.
And it’s even more frustrating that we have the technology we need, that we know how to produce renewable, sustainable energy in ways that do not harm the climate…. Yet we continue on our destructive path.
There is no reason for us to continue burning fossil fuels.
Yet corporations make lots of money off of fossil fuels, and they bribe politicians so that the politicians keep us from pursuing a more sustainable path, a path that could in fact heal the earth and save countless lives.
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We forget that we humans are one with the earth. We were made from the dust of the earth. Whatever befalls the earth befalls us.
I actually think that that’s the source of a lot of our problems and self-inflicted wounds: we think we are separate, unconnected, from creation, and from each other.
If we could remember that we are (in fact) connected to each other and to creation, that really there is no “I” apart from everyone and everything else, I think that would go a long way to healing much of the harm we have caused.
This all does seem rather hopeless. The climate is changing, and changing fast, and a changing climate leads to a whole host of other consequences.
Agriculture will have to adapt. Economies that are built on fossil fuels will have to adjust. And the longer we wait, the harder and more painful it will be to adjust and transition.
And as climate change affects crops and water supplies, which in turn affect food supplies and whether a given location is even liveable for humans, immigration will become an even bigger issue, as people are forced to leave regions that could once support human life, but which have become uninhabitable.
And does it really seem right that we deny immigrants rights and legal status, when our consumerist lifestyle has caused many of the problems that have made their own homelands unlivable?
Yet despite all this, I am not without hope…
When you think about it, reading about climate change is not like reading about other disasters or catastrophes. A passenger plane crashes and kills everyone on board: what can you do about it? Nothing.
But with climate change, there is something you can do. There is something we all can do. We can act.
For me, I know that I can ride my bike or walk to church.
I can avoid buying anything disposable: water bottles, decorations or party favors, bags—anything that only gets used once, then thrown away.
I can remember that the slogan “reduce, reuse, recycle,” is actually in the order of priority. Reducing is the best; if you can’t reduce, then reuse (that’s second best); and if you can’t reuse, then at least recycle.
I can keep electronics and chargers unplugged when I’m not using them, because these things still use electricity when they are plugged in, even when turned off or not being used.
I can eat lower on the food chain: more vegetables, less meat, and certainly less processed food. That’s better for the climate, and better for me. And if the vegetables are locally grown, like the ones at the farmers’ market, that’s even better.
I can vote! I can vote for politicians who will protect the climate.
I can practice gratitude.
That may be one of the best ways to care for the planet. Because gratitude helps me be thankful for what I have, and if I am thankful for what I have, then I will feel less pressure to buy more things that I don’t really need.
Certainly I have enough clothes. I mentioned a few weeks ago that it takes about 2,000 gallons of water to produce one pair of jeans. Many jeans also need large quantities of energy and chemicals to achieve certain colors and special effects.
Producing one pair of jeans causes about the same amount of carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere as driving a gas-powered car about 70 miles down the highway.
If I can be thankful for the jeans I have, and put off buying a new pair another few months or a year, then I have done one more thing to help protect our climate.
I also have hope because, in some regions, sustainable energy is thriving. In places like Costa Rica, Nepal, Albania, Ethiopia, Iceland and Norway, nearly all the energy produced is sustainable.
24 U.S. states have set goals of achieving 100% sustainable energy. Illinois’ goal is to have 100% clean energy by 2050, which is only 24 years from now. No state has yet reached 100%, but some cities have, including Aspen, Colorado, and Burlington, Vermont.
In addition to the things we humans can do to help heal our climate, I also find hope in creation itself. When I see the wildflowers appear each spring, or see the leaves turn orange in the fall…
When I hear canada geese migrating overhead, or squirrels collecting acorns to prepare for winter…
When I see how land recovers from a wildfire, or when I notice the signs of healing in nature from those devastating storms we had just one month ago,
It all makes me realize: God hasn’t yet given up on this world. And God hasn’t yet given up on us.
And to know that God is still at work, still creating, and still inspiring us to care for one another and for the earth…
What could be more hopeful than that?
Even in the midst of devastation, there is still so much beauty, and goodness.
When the sun, moon, stars and planets refuse to shine, it’s only for a while, and only because they are hidden from our view. They’re still there, and we will see their light shine once again.
And the land that is scorched in Jeremiah is the same land that is watered and renewed in Ezekiel.
Renewal and healing are still a very real possibility, because God is gracious, and God is good, and God continues to care for creation…
…and we’re called to care for creation as well, alongside God, bring hope and healing to the world.
