Recently you may have heard news stories about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2021 Report. You can find the report at https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/.  According to Earth Ministry (Washington State’s Interfaith Power and Light (WAIPL) organization): “The results are harrowing; intensifying climate change is unavoidable and humans are ‘unequivocally’ to blame.”

How are we to respond to such catastrophic news in the midst of a summer filled with pandemic news, heat waves, floods, and fires? I sometimes feel like it would be easier to bury my head in the sand and pretend that none of this is happening. Fortunately, there are other options which were included in an email I received from WAIPL titled “Breathe, Grieve, Gather, & Commit: A Response to the IPCC report.”1

The first step is to Breathe. Reflect, pray, and allow yourself the time to just be in the stillness of God’s creation. While the information presented in the report is alarming, we have time to read, meditate, think about, and process this information before acting. I find myself returning to this step frequently.

The second step is to Grieve what we and the rest of the world have neglected to do when it comes to caring for this wonderful Earth that God has gifted to us. Grief is a process. Allow yourself permission and time to work through that process. There are five stages of grief and we may find ourselves at any stage in any order at any time: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. As you progress through your grief, remember that humans are resilient. The faith that we have as people of Concordia can act as a beacon of hope.

The third step is to Gather. It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child and I believe in this case it will take a village to care for and save our planet. You may find strength in gathering with others in worship, cleaning up trash, taking a hike, or by joining a like-minded group such as Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light (MNIPL). 

The fourth step is to Commit yourself to doing whatever it is you can do to work for the betterment of our planet. To help you in determining your actions there are many resources available to you.

The Northeastern Minnesota Synod has an EcoFaith Network that provides resources to congregations. Check out their extensive web pages at http://www.nemnsynod.org/ecofaith.html

where you can also subscribe to the monthly Green Blades Rising newsletter.

Within the ELCA there is also a grassroots movement, Lutherans Restoring Creation, that provides extensive resources to help you in caring for creation: At Concordia we have a Creation Care Team as part of our Social Justice Committee that you can reach out to for more information.

I would like to add one more step to the four that WAIPL stated.  The fifth step is to Act. Actions that we may take could include educating ourselves on the climate issues, sharing our concerns with each other, contacting our leaders on the local, state, and federal level to let them know that we support policies that will move our world in the right direction. Remember that small actions may grow to have great consequences. In 2018 a schoolgirl in Sweden began skipping school to raise awareness of our need to address the climate crisis. Her name is Greta Thunberg and her actions led her to being named Time’s Person of the Year in 2019. She went from a small stage in Stockholm to the world stage. We have no way of knowing what the ultimate consequences of our small steps may be, but for anything to happen, we must act. Without action, our future looks to be a bleak one filled with more pandemics, fires, extreme weather events, and rising sea levels.

May God be with you, guide you, and support you, as you Breathe, Grieve, Gather, Commit, and Act to care for our one and only home, planet Earth. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

Kristin M. Peterson

1 To clarify, I used the terms from the WAIPL email, however the information for each step is my interpretation.