Climate Creates Spiritual Crisis For All Faith Traditions

By Rick McVicar             

     As a writer, I do not care whether or not you believe in Jesus. I have no interest in conversion. What I do care about is whether your faith, whatever it is, will be used to help lower the earth’s temperature. 

     I am looking to provide a service in the coming year to help people as well as the environment. Is it for money, you may ask. A little bit. I’ve been writing and editing for free for so long I have become a bit weary. But more than that, I would really like to provide a service to help people. 

                        Click on image to go to animated scripture reading from Psalm 18 

                        expressing eco-grief (YouTube).

     When I go anywhere, I notice so many people hanging their heads over “smart” phones. I recently got held up walking at an intersection by a man smoking and staring at his phone.  

     When I see all these people looking at their phones, I think they must be missing something in their lives if they cannot pay attention to their surroundings. So I want to create writings to help them out. I notice a lot of people on their phones watching YouTube, often times cartoons. So I have begun animating my writings to reach them.             

     Now how am I going to help them? Well, besides noticing people on their phones, I have also noticed the climate getting hotter. Christmas felt more like Easter.             

     So to help people out, along with the environment, I have begun blogging about nature. Now lots of people blog about nature, so what am I going to write that is different? For that, I am returning to my religious roots. After all, I hold a Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt University. I have always enjoyed looking for things in scripture that no one else sees.             

     So I have begun relating the Gospel of Mark to attitudes towards nature. Is the gospel friendly towards nature? I am finding that at times it is, but at other times it just is not. In turn, I encourage you to read sacred documents, no matter your faith tradition, with an eye for how they treat nature.              

     After all, the climate crisis is a spiritual crisis for every faith on earth.