Well, it is the New Year and as societies we have procrastinated long and hard on issues that needed our attention yesterday, last year, decades ago, and forever.
We knew back in the 1950s that coal and industries polluted the air so horribly that people wore coverings over their faces when they went out. Hospitals dealt with lung disorders. In the 1960s Los Angeles was a city that was blanketed in smog. We knew. We did little bits and pieces depending on what administration was in state or national offices, but we never actually set our minds to addressing the problem.
Now we have an extinction-level climate crisis.
We have known for hundreds of years that keeping the poor in poverty and not addressing their issues can lead to pandemics and epidemics. We know that borders do not keep out pathogens…the Black Plague taught us that. Sanitation, good food, shelter are all the things needed to keep society as a whole healthy. But we ignore our brothers and sisters who are poor, who are homeless, who eat whatever is available, and who live in filth because sanitation is not available.
Now millions have died in a pandemic and scientists and health professionals say that pandemics will be more prevalent.
We just keep postponing and postponing.
I had a friend whose car was acting up. “What do the mechanics say is wrong?” I asked her.
“I don’t know. I’m hoping it will fix itself,” looking sheepishly she replied.
Not too long after that her car broke down completely and she had to buy a new one.
Well, when it comes to our climate and our health we cannot wait until it collapses completely and go buy new ones.
The prophets of the Hebrew scriptures called for the Israelites to address the problem of widows and orphans and the poor right away. They continually announced that Yahweh would judge them on how they treated the poor and would condemn them if they did not.
Jesus called for his followers to address the problems of society right then…heal the sick, touch the untouchables, free the imprisoned, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and befriend the outcast. And he did.
Those were millennia ago and still the poor are with us and growing in numbers with COVID-19 and climate change.
When will we stop procrastinating?
A friend of ours asked me if we tithed. I said yes. She shook her head and said, “I want to tithe but I don’t have enough money…but you have less than I do. I don’t know what to do?”
I told her what my mother taught me growing up, “If you wait until you have enough money, you will never have enough to tithe. Giving back to the poor 10% of what God has given you is easy as long as you remember it is what God has given to you.”
The Divine entrusted us with this planet. In Genesis, God told Adam and Eve “I give you dominion over the animals that move…” In other words, “I am trusting you…don’t f**k it up.”
Well, we have.
There was a great line on a TV series, True Blood, “We need to regroup and come back and unf**k this situation.”
And that is what we have to do now. We have to FIX IT!
We cannot wait until the pandemic is over and we are all vaccinated…the poor need us now. The climate needs to be addressed now.
It’s 2021, time to act.
-Kathleen
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