Boiling Frogs and Signs of the Times

²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 
 ²⁶ People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 
 ²⁷ Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. 
 ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Luke 21:25-28

When scientists began to bring the realities of climate change to our attention there was suddenly a lot of frog soup. The metaphor about the oblivious amphibian perishing in slowly heating water until it croaks seemed to be a good fit with the way humans were ignoring global warming, the decline of species, and the increase of catastrophic weather events.

This metaphor was inaccurate (frogs are smarter than we give them credit for) and we wore it out, as we're inclined to do. I heard it recently though, in a different context, but it sure seems time to trot it out again.

While Canadians in some regions were muttering "oh for some global warming" during what seemed like a frigid  winter, it was probably no colder than winters of our childhoods. Globally those winter months were warm ones and at the moment the planet is burning up in just about every region. Here in Southern Ontario we're coming to the end of a week of temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and in Quebec more than 30 people have died during this heat wave. But this is balmy compared to some places in the world including one Middle Eastern country which set a record with a night-time "low" of just over 40C.
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/heatwave-temperature-records-broken-europe-north-america-eurasia-middle-east-latest-a8432226.html?amp&__twitter_impression=true

Is this proof of climate change? Nope. This is weather, because weather is what we see out the window and climate change is the long-term pattern. Yet don't you have the feeling that we're a bunch of frogs on the burner?

There are conservative Christians who gleefully quote "sign of the times" passages to predict Jesus' return and the catastrophic end of non-believers. Yet they are often climate change deniers who can't hear or see what is happening around them.

Let's get hopping and put our prayers into action.