Climate Doesn't Change

In western Africa, a tropical climate at the equator
gives this island country reasonable rain
and subsistence agriculture.
What's next for them?

"It's just a liberal agenda; it's not real."  How many times have we heard that or the equivalent.

"A relentless campaign backed by the fossil fuel industry and its allies challenges whether climate change is real, and if so, whether human activity such as increased carbon emissions from power plants, factories and cars contributes to it."

Today's report updates what we've been following for the last several years.  Climate is changing worldwide.

The effects in each country will be important, and in some cases, it will require regional 'way of life' changes.

For the first time, climate change is referred to as a 'clear and present danger'.  Scientists categorize the response to climate change into two strategies -- minimizing the effects by reducing the cause, which is known as mitigation, and preparing for impacts already occurring or certain to occur, which is called adaptation.

Reforms and programs driven by government will follow, of course, but the opportunity to actually solve the problem is perhaps long past.  What we expect is that change will come, regional sustainability will change, and populations will be reshaped.

My granddaughter was born this year.  Among other things, she'll see a rise in ocean levels between one and four feet.  Among other things, that means coastal areas will change; some will disappear, even some islands.  Cities and towns and villages along the shore will be affected.  In the less developed areas with limited resources, the effects will be difficult to address.

The most difficult among the questions will be faced by my granddaughter's children.  We're just now beginning to face this century's forecast ...

Browse through the report; it's richly informative.

A measure

There's likely to be an appropriate measure of dignity required for life, and for public publishing, for that matter. 

Despite this likely reality, we've yet to discover what that 'appropriate' measure might be.

Until such time as we do, we'll have to make our way along with an occasional excess of humor and absent seriousness.

Perhaps it's for the best, all things considered.

The Gospel?

Ancient olive trees in Gethsemane's garden ...

Once every hundred years Jesus of Nazareth meets Jesus of the Christian in a garden among the hills of Lebanon. And they talk long; and each time Jesus of Nazareth goes away saying to Jesus of the Christian, "My friend, I fear we shall never, never agree."  ~ Kahlil Gibran, 1926

Why would he say that?

A friend, thinking his way through the question, suggested that perhaps we've been persuaded to a 'cheap gospel'.  One where our purpose is to attend church and do religious things so we can go to heaven. Interestingly, Jesus himself never suggested going to church.  All of his teachings were about choice and love, conscience and service, and caring about others.  Going to church wasn't part of the curriculum.

If it's true that our purpose begins here and now, how shall we then live?

For the literalists among us, take a look at the biblical 'church' (Greek; ekklesia, a calling out from ... and to ..., from kaleo, to call).   

For Jesus, there was this 'calling out' of which he spoke, and just the one; not many callings out, not many churches. And to what purpose did he call them?

Church is those 'called out' people, wherever they are;
at home, at school, at work, or scattered across
the world. It's not a place or a building, it's us.

Just attending church doesn't seem to line up with any biblical teachings.   

Having been called out, on the other hand, perhaps called out and received by him, seems to fit more in the context of citizenship and service and perhaps even family. And purpose for us here and now.

_________________________________________

Sometimes faith turns into religion. Devotion becomes obligation, and suddenly you feel like you’re just going through the motions. Know what I mean?

Six Signs You're an Idiot

Okay, it's a really weird illustration, but unbridled anger works like that; it

feeds on itself and reemerges over and over.

1.  You're angry at least once, pretty much every day.

2.  You argue regularly, and there's emotional content.

3.  You find yourself talking about others in terms of why they did those annoying things.

4.  You get angry when someone cautions you about getting angry.

5.  You're pretty sure you're right, and you don't need to hear any more on the various subjects of contention.

6.  You expect things to improve once all these defective people get their act together and do it right.

Anger isn't the right response to differences of opinion, to differences of priority and preference, or to politics.  Anger isn't the right response to a difficult child or a difficult spouse.  Or a difficult boss or employee.  Or a difficult day or decade.

Want better?  It's available.  Courage, grace, self-control and an open mind, concern for others and for what's right, each of those is a better choice and powerfully so for effecting change.

Anger: it's a trainwreck that continues for years, piling up damage and destruction.  Angry people tend to re-experience the frustration, pain, and resentment each time they're reminded of the offense, whether perceived or real.  They tend to talk without listening and complain a lot about other people's transgressions.  Bitter or better; it's a choice.  It's a choice, and things can change.

Thanks and a hat-tip to Dr. Redford Williams, professor of psychology at Duke University Medical Center, for thought provoking work and discussion. 

I See

What we see vs. what we've not yet seen ...

We've all heard the wise 6th grader lecturing her friend on love or speaking confidently about solving relationship problems. We smile, knowing that such an early summation of things will likely be short of enough, and 'the rest of the story' may change everything.


We understand because now, we know the answers. We're old and wise, so we needn't be open to additional information, to a different point of view...  good grief, we sound like sixth graders.  Especially in Congress.

Public approval has averaged below 20% in each of the last four years, and in five

of the last six. Before this time, only in 1979 and 1992 did congressional approval

average less than 20% annually. Thus, 2013 extends an unprecedented period in

which Americans have given their elected representatives in Congress continually

poor marks for their job performance.

Congress' average approval this year has not only been the worst

 in Gallup history, but it also included the single lowest monthly 

approval rating of 9% in November.

Where does such narrow-minded resistance originate?  Right-wing conservatism?  Left-wing liberalism?  Learning lethargy?  ... but I repeat myself.

It's easy to blame Congress, but the origins of our problems are in the constituency, of course.  That's us.

Is there perhaps a higher goal for our wondrous productivity, our broadly tolerant culture, and our capacity for serving others ... ?

The most difficult of personal tasks, perhaps, is recognizing our own contribution to the problem.  It's easy to blame congress or liberals or conservatives or whatever.  Our own point might benefit from a critical review.  It was the confident, strongly opinionated among us who said the economy would collapse without slavery.

AVATAR

In a virtual reality, our avatar doesn't run out of steam, ...  The avatar plays a role on our behalf.  It exists in a limited world with simple rules, and the storyline runs along an expected path.

That's what avatars do.  It's realistic in a limited sense.

Religion can be like that.  Limited, with 

• a list of rules for the game,
• a short list of answers for the questions,
• a simple explanation for the difficult parts,
• and players who are sure they understand it all.

Then there's real life.

Real life can leave you tired before lunch, disappointed at the end of the meeting, discouraged by not having been heard, depressed after a string of failures and insults and accusations, wounded, worn out, done at the end of the day. Or decade.

I can't send an avatar to live my life.  I have to face it myself, and religion doesn't help; not at all. Real life, real difficulties ...

Jesus wasn't an avatar either.  He faced the real things we face. It was life, and it left him exhausted, discouraged, ... there was no button to pause the game and no do-overs.  Like us, he labored through it; no simple answers, no easy explanations, and in the end, he died.

    There's more, of course, but it seems important to know the life he lived was like ours.

It's all real, as best I can tell.  
Not the religion part, though.