Climate revival
A United Methodist Insight Column
Welcome to 2022, where the first crisis reports echo a song from rock band The Who: come meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
In other words, the two major crises facing United Methodists and everyone around the world are the same as they’ve been for the past two (!!) years: climate change and coronavirus. The latest developments in both are being faced with renewed determination in faith-based efforts.
Balloons banned
One piece of good environmental news for 2022: Maryland has banned mass balloon releases that harm wildlife. (Facebook image)
On the climate front, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes, “scientists expect even more menacing weather disasters in '22, after a year of extreme climate, from the Pacific Northwest heat wave to the Texas cold snap.” The Axios newsletter adds: “Scrolling through a list of 2021's billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. feels like a tour through the Book of Revelation.” There’s no need to convince United Methodists of the analogy, because the United Methodist Committee on Relief has been busy providing funds for relief and recovery literally from America’s sea to shining sea and beyond. In the latest development, the building of First UMC in Dresden, Ky., was demolished this week after being irreparably damaged by a tornado Dec. 10, 2021.
The likelihood that 2022 will be what climate scientists are predicting prompts Creation Justice Ministries, the ecumenical movement born out of the National Council of Churches, to hold an online event, “Climate Revival! Launching a year of climate justice and resilience,” from 7:30 to 9 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, January 20, 2022. Says the announcement:
“After another year of record-breaking climate disasters, environmental injustices are degrading our communities, God's Creation, and democracy. This year, we’re changing the script. Let’s move from degradation to resilience, from brokenness to restoration, from death to revival! … At this event, we will learn what’s at stake for our communities and climate in 2022, commit to a year of engagement for resilience and restoration, and pray for a revival of climate justice.”
Meanwhile, on the COVID-19 front …
NPR reports: “Omicron is spreading at lightning speed, and scientists are trying to figure out why. They have found some clues to its success. ‘The rules haven't changed,’ says one epidemiologist. ‘It's just the margin for error has got a lot smaller.’" The Washington Post reports, “More than 103,000 Americans are hospitalized with covid-19.” Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, says hospitalizations are a better gauge of Omicron’s spread than the number of cases, because they better capture the pandemic’s impact.
In its “The Brief” newsletter, Texas Tribune cites its state’s statistics as a prime example of omicron’s threat COVID-19: “Health officials say Texas is seeing what is likely only the beginning of the latest COVID-19 surge as the new omicron variant emerges as the dominant strain in the country.
“The number of Texans hospitalized with COVID-19 has more than doubled compared to two weeks ago. And while hospitalizations are still far below the pandemic peak of 14,218 on Jan. 11, 2021, health officials are concerned the virality of the omicron variant could send more people to the hospital than during previous surges simply due to the sheer volume of people it’s infecting.
Texas Tribune quotes Tommye Austin, senior vice president and chief nurse executive at University Health: “In almost all my departments, there’s at least one person who’s out with COVID-19 or their child has it or their spouse has it or someone has it to where they have to be the caregiver.”
Please heed coronavirus safety precautions such as those issued this week by the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference. It’s inconvenient, we know, but it’s our reality. In addition, let’s continue to pray for and support our health care workers. They’re bearing the brunt of hospital care for COVID-19 sufferers, and sometimes all they end up doing are the actions – “tag ‘em and bag ‘em” – of caring for dead bodies.
About that insurrection
As we come up on the first anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that attempted to halt certification of the 2020 presidential election, we find ourselves agreeing with Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson: If we are to save our democracy, there must be a reckoning for the Jan. 6 attack.
Difficult as democracy is to maintain, it is the only system of government we know that preserves the rights of individuals to practice their religions as they see fit. Consequently, as with such civic-minded efforts as “Souls to the Polls” voting campaigns, we encourage United Methodists and their congregations to support the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. It’s not partisan politics, friends; it’s citizenship.
Media Mentions as of Jan. 4, 2022
Salute: Tavares ministry raising funds for veterans' memorial - Daily Commercial
Ministry to offer vaccines during upcoming event in Baton Rouge - WAFB
Millennials lead shift away from organized religion as pandemic tests faith - CNBC
How 2021 collapsed the divide between religion and politics – Religion News Service
Old, nagging conflicts will continue to dominate religion news in the coming year - GetReligion
Historic Methodist Church demoed in Dresden due to tornado - WBBJ TV
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011 with support from St. Stephen United Methodist Church, Mesquite, TX.