Today’s Scripture Reading (July 13, 2017):
Ezra 6
“With
great power there must also come – great responsibility.”
Uncle Ben’s words (through the pen of Stan Lee) continue to carry significant meaning for the world in which I
live. I recently read an article on “things we never saw coming twenty years
ago” and among the tidbits of information was the idea that China would be a
world leader in the technology and practice of guarding the climate of this
planet which we all share. China. How did that happen? And not only that but the Pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic
Church, would one day be telling his followers that “climate change is real”
and while you’re at it “stop hassling the gays.”
All this on the heels of climate change
enthusiast Stephen Hawking’s prediction that the United States’s refusal to
live up to the Paris Accord agreement may have doomed our garden planet into
become an inferior copy of Venus with super high temperatures (Venus, and not
Mercury, is the hottest planet in our Solar System because of the runaway
greenhouse effect in place in its atmosphere) and sulphuric rains that will end
all life, intelligent and not, on our planet. Sometimes it feels like I
have stepped through some kind of door
into “The Twilight Zone.”
Part of President Obama’s rationale
for taking such a strong lead in the Paris climate accord was the recognition
of the fact that the United States, along with the
country that is now becoming the world leader in renewable energy technologies,
China, were the biggest climate offenders on the planet. Together, China
and the United States led the world in the pollution that threatened the planet,
and while there was no way that they could fix the problem alone, they needed
to take the lead in fixing the problem that they were creating. After all,
Uncle Ben and Stan Lee were right. “With great power there must also come – great responsibility.”
On
the surface, the unthinkable has happened. China has apparently decided to step
into the vacuum left by the United States by their resignation from the Paris Accord.
But under that reality, I have to agree with former President Obama. Even without
the United States presence in the Paris Climate Accord, American business will
continue to work toward leading the world in this area. Business will succeed
where politicians have failed.
Apparently,
the idea of great power requiring great
responsibility is an old one. As Darius ponders the situation in Jerusalem, the
Elephant speaks to the mice. In this case, it has been found to be true that
the Cyrus decreed for the Temple to be rebuilt.
And Darius has decided that he will defend that policy. Unlike many other
rulers in history, Darius has decided that his power is worthless without the
responsibility that comes with that power. In this case, it is the
responsibility to fulfill a promise, even though he wasn’t the one who made it.
If
we could only all see our world commitments that clearly.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Haggai 1
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