A tragedy unfolded over the holiday weekend as unsuspecting families and tight-knit communities were overwhelmed and devastated by natural forces at work. Warm air and dynamic atmospheric conditions created a prolonged torrential rainfall situation in central Texas, impacting the region northwest of San Antonio along the Guadalupe River, with catastrophic impacts. Nearly 100 people, including dozens of children away at a summer camp, are confirmed missing or killed by a fast-moving flood of “biblical” proportions.[1]
Nearly 100 billion gallons of water fell from the sky in this relatively small region within a 24-hour period. Scientists and analysts who dedicate their careers to climate research, prediction, and impact on human life continue to warn us that climate change will create more frequent, catastrophic events like these around the globe. The data from decades of accurate measurements and real-time tracking unequivocally supports their claims.[2]
Accepting the reality of human-caused climate change is not an agenda, it’s a paradigm shift. Agendas are the strategies and programs we choose to implement in response to the challenges we face. Choosing not to respond is also an agenda.
Accepting the reality of human-caused climate change is not an agenda, it’s a paradigm shift.
For decades humans have acted on the belief that we can transform the planet. With the advent of industrialization, advancing technology, and new efficiencies, we can reshape landscapes and extract natural resources from the earth in unprecedented ways. Humanity has also gained the ability to escape the gravitational pull of Earth, send rockets and working laboratories into space, traverse the Moon, launch satellites armed with cameras into the far reaches of the solar system, and with incredible accuracy observe our planet from miles above the atmosphere without bias, measuring and noting trends that tell a bigger story of change and impact.
The belief that humans could fundamentally alter the state of environmental conditions and the totality of the natural world once seemed incomprehensible. Until the modern era, people equated unexplainable events and global changes with spiritual forces, divine judgment, or the pre-ordination of God’s unknown plan for humanity. As our insatiable curiosity and endless pursuit of understanding the world and universe we inhabit drive advancements in observational science, technology, and engineering, discovering the answers to our biggest questions are being revealed to us.
We can no longer afford to hide behind denialism or ignorance by choice to protect our egos and misguided beliefs from reality.
Spirituality and its life-giving mysteries remain deeply held and important to human life. However, we can no longer afford to hide behind denialism or ignorance by choice to protect our egos and misguided beliefs from reality. Dismissing human-caused climate change doesn’t make it go away, it only makes our lives more vulnerable to tragedy and injustice. With a projected $1.1 trillion in additional costs to the worldwide healthcare system alone due to climate change-related impacts, our economies will not be able to sustain human life, growth, or a future under the present conditions without a unified agenda that chooses to take action over inaction. As the New Testament author writes to his young apprentice, “God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid, but a spirit of power and love and self-control.”[3] Our religious traditions can still inspire us to take bold steps to reveal a better tomorrow for everyone, everywhere.
Pursuing a collective agenda that promotes holistic and equitable solutions for a more sustainable future is everyone’s responsibility. Recent cuts to atmospheric science programs, climate change research, and disaster response by the Trump administration influenced by the conservative architects of Project 2025 are in opposition to the solutions that seek to promote the peace and tranquility of human life and our shared ecosystem for the next millennium.[4] Progress is often slow and messy, but a monumental task that inevitably impacts over 9 billion humans requires more government resources, not less.
Dismissing human-caused climate change doesn’t make it go away, it only makes our lives more vulnerable to tragedy and injustice.
Tragedy and suffering will undoubtedly continue for life on our dynamic planet, but we can still create hope and change. The frameworks and equitable solutions for managing climate change exist, including once seemingly impossible agreements through multinational collaborations. What we need now is a collective spirit of courage, compassion, and accountability. Together with the spiritually awakened and God’s help, we can shape the future and our planet for a better tomorrow for everyone.
[2] A Comprehensive Guide to Climate Change, https://www.perplexity.ai/page/climate-change-white-paper-gui-lwN8A9.sTi6oR_N_6KdZBQ
[3] 2 Timothy 1:7
Matt Till 