Unsettling Weather

The weather we are enjoying is amazing. People are in shorts in July and August. You would think people would be happy – sunshine and warmth in winter. But as I chat with people, many seem unsettled by the weather.

Is this a foretaste of a hot and dry summer – perfect conditions for bushfires like what we see overseas? How much of this global heatwave is naturally occurring, and how much is exacerbated by human activity? Are extreme weather patterns now occurring with greater frequency and intensity?

As I talk and listen to the experts, I am of the view that we are having a natural event that is intensified by human activity. You may or may not agree. But let us put this question to the side.

At a personal level, in immediate things, we can see the connection between cause and effect. If I touch something hot, I get burned. If I overeat, I gain weight. At a big-picture level, we struggle to see the connections between our actions and macro trends. I did not cause covid. The cost of living rising is not my fault. I cannot make it rain.

We tend to categorise the first as matters of personal responsibility and the latter as matters that come under the sovereignty of God. I agree.

But there is a lot of space between those two categories. Is my physical health as I age the cumulative result of many little decisions I have made or decisions others made, or is it a result of biology? And if the answer is all of the above, what is the percentage of each? We could ask the same questions about personal mental well-being, the health of our relationships, or our economic plight.

Answers to these questions are elusive. But there are two clear mistakes. One is to say it’s all God’s fault (or responsibility), and the other is to say it’s all mine. As Augustine said: “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”

Rev. David Rietveld