The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. – Psalm 95:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 15, 2016): Psalm 95 & 96

There is a tug of war happening inside our society over climate change. The current political debate playing itself out on our T.V. screens is just a sample of the larger debate. There is absolutely no doubt that our planet is getting warmer. The question is whether the change is man-made or simply a natural process. Opponents to the idea that it is a man-made change often point to the geological record and the wide variation in carbon levels in the atmosphere and temperature over the life of our planet. After all, apparently ice ages come and go.

But for the Christian, the question is much more pointed. It is this - is there anything that we can do that can undo what God has already completed on the earth. For some, the answer is clearly no. But I am hoping that that opinion is waning because the truth is that we have been changing the earth for a long time. Our efforts have shaved off the tops of mountains; we have leveled the uneven earth, and we have reclaimed what was once coastal waters and made valuable land as the result. The place where I live was once swamp land, but the water has been taken out and the buildings of a city have replaced the natural swamp that once existed here. We have changed the course of rivers to benefit our plans. All of these are changes that we have made to the earth. Evidently God is more than willing to let us change what he has created.

And if climate change continues on its current path, the change that we bring to the earth will continue. One thing that will happen quickly is that the sea will redraw itself, first wiping out the man-made changes to the coastline, but eventually enveloping even ancient coastal cities. But I believe that this time it will not be God’s hand that is changing the shape of the land. It will be ours.

From the earliest biblical story of Adam and Eve, one thing is clear. God may have formed the earth with his hands, he may have drawn the coastline, piling up the earth in some place resulting in dry land and allowing the water to gather in other places giving us our oceans, but the care for the planet has been given to us. We have the capability to care for this planet or to destroy it. The power lies in our hands to do what we will.

Maybe a quote from my favorite teacher is appropriate here. His name is Spiderman. And he once said or, at least, his creator placed these words into his mouth, “with great power comes great responsibility.” Okay, Spiderman did say it, but the quote might stretch back before his creation to the French Revolution. But either way, the question we are left with is this - there is no doubt we hold great power over our planet, but how exactly will we decide to exercise that power when it comes to our care of the earth?

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 105