5 verses from BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS and CLIMATE CHANGE
While reading Lamentations Chapter 5, in the Bible, I felt that if we do not mend our lifestyle now, coming generations will again have to write another book of Lamentation.
In the book of lamentation, prophet Jeremiah laments the destruction of Jerusalem which was caused by the sins of their ancestors. And he prays to God for redemption.
In the present context, climate change is causing destruction of the world bit by bit. More and more resources are being spent on resisting global warming and to protect the environment. Instead of human resource development, now protecting natural resources has become a matter of urgent concern.
With immediate effect, if we do not make amendments in our lifestyle, in the coming days, Climate Change will cause greater destruction in the world. More than what we are witnessing today.
In 2018-19, according to reliable sources, 2400 Indians lost their lives due to extreme weather events. Wildfires destroyed forests in Amazon and California. News reports say that almost all the Koala Habitat could be lost in the Australian bush fire.
Sensing the hardships that they are going to face in the future, kids (students) like Greta are out on the streets asking us, the grownups, to mend our way. They find it unnecessary to study for a tomorrow which wont be there because of Climate Change.
The Book of Lamentation, written 4000 years ago, has Verses of Agony faced by the then generation because of the vices of their ancestors. Those verses resemble the situation our descendants, in the near future, may have to experience if climate change is not dealt with properly.
Some of the verses from Lamentations Chapter 5, that our kids might find relevant, if the climate change is not revoked, are as follows:
# Lam 5: 7 : “Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their iniquities.”
The millennial kids are the ones who are making the above statement, we the adults, those born before 2000 are blamed for the climate crisis. Until a few years back we had lavish consumerism.
We consumed and lived in comfort. Making life easier and finding ways to make our life successful was the ultimate motive of our lives. Yes we were thrifty and irresponsible.
Until our kids grew up to be teens and youths, and they realised that their parents lifestyle cannot be followed. They understood that there need to be radical shift in how we live and treat the environment.
So children like Greta Thunberg asked their parents to sell their additional houses. Plus she took the extreme step to not to fly by air.
# Lam 5:4:”We pay for the water we drink, and our wood comes at a price.”
The climate change is going to effect the food security. Because of the floods and droughts and the global heating, the yield of crop is getting effected.
In the coming days the prices of food are going to increase due to difficulty in production. And the water is going to be a precious commodity.
Now itself many cities are facing crisis for potable water so they are buying water from other places.
#Lam 5:9 :“We get our bread at the risk of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness.”
Please replace ‘wilderness’ with ‘wildfire’. The farms and vineyards escaped the wildfire this time.
But we need to take steps to prevent such massive wildfires in the future. In India, Our work should be prevent the destruction of crops due to the environment hazards.
#Lam 5:10: “Our skin is hot as an oven, because of the fever of famine.”
If not famine, the rate of global hunger has been increasing according to UN’s FAO ( Food and Agricultural Organisation). A paper presented by FAO warns that the number of hungry people will increase if “countries fail to tackle climate change and build resilience to its unavoidable impacts”.
#Lam 5:21:”Turn us back to you, O Lord, and we will be restored; renew our days as of old.”
In today’s context, the above prayer, is a request to restore earth in all her glory. We can bring back Earth in her clean , green and productivity. We need to have the will power to change.
3 Climate Change repellents
If we do the following steps we can call contribute a bit from our side to resist climate change:
- Reduce wants
- Follow a zero waste lifestyle
- Spare a minute before doing anything to find out how my action is going to effect the environs and the global community.
Change is happening everywhere because of the gravity of the consequence of Climate Change. Media Giant ‘The Guardian’ has redefined their language on reporting climate matters.
They have replaced ‘Climate Change’ with ‘Climate Emergency’. They made a number of other relevant upgrade in style guide so as to communicate clearly about Climate Change with readers.
What is the change that you would bring so that your children do not end up writing a book on lamentations and climate change. Lamenting about you being the reason for the destruction of their environment and habitat? Please comment below about how you will repel climate change.
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