Day 42: A Light to the Nations
BY DANIEL SPOTSWOOD | March 31, 2015
Today’s Reading
Kivalina, the Alaskan village which is predicted to be uninhabitable by 2025 due to coastal erosion. Photo Credit: ShoreZone//flickr
In the first reading today from the prophet Isaiah, God says to Israel, “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the Earth.”
In the world today, marked by the problems of climate change, the economic poor are a light to the rest of the nations. Without the infrastructures to recuperate from environmental disasters and often living in a closer relationship with the land, the poor are more vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. For example, melting tropical glaciers in Peru threaten mountain communities with the danger of outburst floods and several Native Alaskan communities have been displaced from their villages due to rising sea levels. Those of us who live in large cities are often removed from the immediate consequences of climate change. In order to draw attention to environmental problems, we must look to the poor who are experiencing the consequences of climate change right now.
Reflection Questions
- What can I do to raise my awareness of how other people in the world may be suffering from the effects of climate change?
- How might I share this knowledge with others?
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Calling the poor a light is really pushing for an analogy. I doubt that poor people think the environment is their big issue. Their issues are much larger. Their needs are more like a black hole, where resources pour in and don’t seem to make much of a difference.. Economics and social changes are the keys.
In fact, all this emphasis on the environment may be more of a distraction from fixing the larger issues. The picture of the Alaskan coastal village is an example. A problem without solution.lower the ocean level? Move them to a safer location.
I suspect the world has had sea level changes and storms and tsunamis since God created it. Only He can fix these issues.