Wandering in the Woods of Climate Change

Map of the Hundred Acre Wood drawn by E. H. Shepard to illustrate Winnie-the-Pooh.

 

  He also said to the crowds,

“When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’;

and so it happens. 

And when you see the south wind blowing, you say,

‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. 
 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky,
but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

 Luke 12:54-56 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

 We visited the Five Hundred Acre Wood to see the great tree,
one to climb it, three to watch.
And of those who watched,
one perhaps to dream of finding there a door with a knocker and a bell,
 and someone living behind it. Who? Who? Could it be owl?

Christopher Robin Milne    

I've wondered about un-following some Twitter accounts from Britain which have been gushing about the blossoming of Spring, complete with photos of crocuses and other early flowers. Do I really need to be taunted as Winter still has its icy grip on us on the cusp of March? It's bad enough dealing with the smug gloaters on Vancouver Island.

 Actually, this is not normal for the British Isles. There have been record warm temperatures for various parts of Great Britain -- 20C in Wales the other day -- with fires breaking out in forests and on heaths, including the area made famous as the Hundred Acre Wood. A.A. Milne was inspired by a woodland called Ashdown Forest for his creation of the Hundred Acre Wood in Winnie-the-Pooh According to the BBC more than 35 hectares — about 86 acres —  of the 200 hectares in Ashdown were affected.

 

 

Environmentalists are pointing to what is happening in Britain as one more example of the uncertainty created by Climate Change. As with many other parts of the planet, weather is changing and so are the seasons. A new report says that people get used to these shifts within a few years yet plants and animals don't adapt as readily. We actually don't know what psychological and physiological effects result for humans from what's called Shifting Baseline Syndrome. It's likely that a lot of us don't really notice until a catastrophic event or even a relatively minor one which affects a beloved place, usually because someone deems it newsworthy.

 

Jesus seems fairly clear that if we aren't willing to act on what we can clearly see then we are hypocrites suffering from a dangerous form of blindness. Do we really want to be Winnie and Tigger, so befuddled we end up walking in circles? I suppose we already are.

 

                 

 

Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article226856249.html#storylink=cpy