Heat!

It’s not so hot today, thankfully! I missed the free ice creams for NHS staff at East Surrey on Monday. Apparently everyone else got there before me and by the time I went searching for the ice cream van, it was heading home! And today in Crawley hospital, the ice creams came round for patients while I was visiting, but of course, I wasn’t offered one! Ah well. Good for the figure I suppose. But it’s been hot, hasn’t it? Really hot. We have to act differently in such heat. Record heat in fact. It turns out it’s never been hotter than it was yesterday in these fair Isles. Well, at least not since keeping records of such things began! Predictions say it’s going to be more common. I’m wondering if that includes free ice creams at the hospital! It’s a serious thing though, rising average temperatures. And really hot days becoming more common. The Fire Brigade have been talking about changing how they work and needing far more staff to cope with what might lie ahead. Climate change is having an impact. And it can seem like a scary future lies ahead. Some look at it and say it points to the end of the world. And soon! Others say we can change things if we act now. What we do know is that we are getting closer to the end of the world. At least, that’s true if we have a Christian world view, because a Christian worldview says there will be a second coming of Christ which will bring the end of the world. Or perhaps more accurately, the end of the world as we know it. And the end of the world as we know it, is, ultimately, a good thing in the Christian worldview, because it marks the beginning of the world filled with the glory of the heavens. Which might be another way of saying that it will be the beginning of the world that is filled with God. He will be all in all. And that’s a good thing, because, for the first time, we will be fully known by God, and know him fully! So, am I saying the climate change thing, the soaring temperatures, the challenges to people in all parts of the world in so many ways are all things to be ignored, or forgotten about. Not at all. Now, while we are stewards of this world, we need to, and should, do everything we can to care for the earth and the people living on it. But I think I am also saying that it is good to hold it all in the context of eternity. To hold it in the deep and profound truth that this world is, in fact, temporary. That one day this world will, in the words of the song, dissolve like snow. And to have hope beyond that, means we have hope now, too. Hope that helps us work for good, now, and not just wait for something better. Even Jesus didn’t know when the world would end. He said only his Father knew that. So, since I don’t know when this world will fade away, I will live in the best way I know how, and hope in the future.