URC Daily Devotion Tuesday, 9 September 2025

Notes from Small Islands 8: The Climate

Isaiah 24: 1 – 12

Now the Lord is about to lay waste the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled; for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth. The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth dwindled, and few people are left. The wine dries up, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the timbrels is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled. No longer do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. The city of chaos is broken down,  every house is shut up so that no one can enter. There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has reached its eventide;  the gladness of the earth is banished. Desolation is left in the city, the gates are battered into ruins.

Reflection

Island dwellers are, by definition, aware of the sea. Travelling involves sailing or flying – here in Orkney we are well served by three different ferry routes south, and a council run service between our isles, and are well connected by the, less polluting than ferries, small planes run by LoganAir.  Like all island dwellers, we know how wind, fog, and snow can disrupt even the best laid travel plans which must be flexible – and that’s even before we tackle the idiosyncrasies of the railway or other onward connections. We’re all too aware of changing climate patterns with planners wondering if the recently renewed flood defences in Kirkwall are sufficient; floods that might have occurred once every twenty years or so are now more common. 

For many island dwellers around the world, however, the rising seas foretell existential disaster.   Island states are under significant threat from rising sea levels where low-lying coastlines and limited resources increase the dangers of flooding, coastal erosion, and displacement of populations.   Many Pacific Island states will soon face much of their territory being inundated for long periods of time.

Isaiah saw some climate change in his own day and attributed it to God’s anger.  Contemporary humanity does not have the luxury of blaming God for our climate emergency; we’ve known for years about greenhouse gasses and the damage from burning fossil fuels; we’ve refused to invest in the alternatives.  We’ve left it too long to avoid climate change so now we must find ways to mitigate the worst excesses of the havoc we’ve wrought.  Of course, island nations on the edge, like canaries in mines, will suffer the most.  

Prayer

O God, 
we see Your creation groaning,
not with eager longing,
but with bitter pain from pollution and pillage.
We see the results of our selfishness and sin,
but also the chances offered by our ingenuity.
New technology and the harnessing of the wind and sun’s power
will give us a chance to change things.
It’s too late to reverse the climate change in our life times, O God,
but by your grace we may leave a better legacy for the future.
Amen.