"Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow?" (Job 38:22)

Today, with a blizzard blasting outdoors, burying all in downy white, we have our own small treasury of snow. Classes are canceled, traffic is snarled, many people have an unexpected "free" day, whether they like it or not. I imagine many do not. I am also fully aware how for the homeless or those who struggle to survive, this snow only increases their hardships. For them I have compassion and wish that my joy did not come at cost to them. I love this gift of time and nature -- where I can't leave home, thankfully forced to play in snow with my kids and shovel it, make popcorn and hot chocolate, cook Christmas cookies, decorate the tree, write a blog. I am fully aware how for the homeless or those who struggle to survive, this snow only increases their hardships.

I delight in that expression "treasuries" of snow -- all that water in lacy form, ready to moisturize the brown, crackling earth like lotion come spring. But when the Lord asks Job this question about the treasuries of snow, it's not about having a fun play day. God is challenging the arrogance of human creatures who think they can fathom and second guess the designs of a Creator -- and worse yet who think that they can do as we wish, going against the order of these designs without consequence.

The full passage is compelling in this time when nations of the earth are meeting in Copenhagen, or not, as earth's treasuries of snow, the Arctic and Antarctic caps are melting, to talk about carbon emissions -- the extreme additions we have made to nature's systems that are changing the overall patterns of weather, the salinity and temperatures in the oceans, and the very basic elements on which animals and plants survive. Are we ready to be grilled by the Creator of the systems? You judge:

Then the Lord addressed Job out of the storm [perhaps it was a snowstorm!] and said:

Who is this that obscures divine plans with words of arrogance?
Gird up your loins now, like a man;
I will question you, and you tell me the answers!

Where were you when I founded the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its size, do you know?
Who stretched out the measuring line for it?
Into what were its pedestals sunk,
and who laid the cornerstone.
while the morning stars sang in chorus
and all the children of God shouted for joy?

And who shut within doors the sea
when it burst forth from the womb?
When I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
When I set limits for it
and fastened the bar of its door,
and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stilled!

Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning
and shown the dawn its place
or taken hold of the ends of the earth
till the wicked are shaken from its surface?
The earth is changed as is clay by the seal,
and dyed as though it were a garment,
but from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm of pride is shattered.

Have you entered into the sources of the sea,
or walked about in the depths of the abyss?
Have the gates of death been shown to you,
or have you seen the gates of darkness?
Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all.

Which is the way to the dwelling place of light,
and where is the abode of darkness
that you may take them to their boundaries
and set them on their homeward paths.
You know, because you were born before them
and the numbers of your years is great!

Have you entered the treasuries of the snow
and seen the storehouse of the hail
which I reserved for times of stress
for the days of war and of battle?
Which way to the parting of the winds,
whence the east wind spreads over the earth?

Who has laid out a channel for the downpour
and for the thunderstorm a path
To bring rain to no man's land
the unpeopled wilderness;
To enrich the waste and desolate gound
till the desert blooms with verdure?

Has the rain a father;
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
Out of whom womb comes the ice,
and who gives the hoarfrost its birth in the skies,
When the waters lie covered as though with stone
that hold captive the surface of the deep.

Have you fitted a curb to Pleiades
or loosened the bonds of Orion?
Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season
or guide the Bear with its train?
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens;
can you put into effect their plan on the earth?

Can you raise your voice among the clouds,
or veil yourself in the waters of the storm?
Can you send forth the lightnings on their way
or will they say to you 'Here we are'?
Who counts the cloud in his wisdom?
Or who tilts the water jars of heaven
So that the dust of earth is fused into a mass
and its clods made solid?

Do you hunt the prey for the lionness
or appease the hunger of her cubs;
while they crouch in their dens,
or lie in wait in the thicket?
Who puts wisdom in the heart,
and gives the cock its understanding?
Who provides nourishment for the ravens
when their young ones cry out to God,
and they rove abroad without food?

Do you know about the birth of the mountain goats
watch for the birth pangs of the hinds,
Number the months that they must full fill
and fix the time of their bringing forth?.....

(Job 38-39...)
The passage goes on, describing the ways of the wild and domestic animals that the Lord set forth.

Nature will run on the systems upon which it was built, whether we like it or not. If we do not have the answers to the questions above, perhaps we need to learn how to live more humbly on this planet, ready to work with nature rather than against it, to mend our ways when they are out of whack, to care as the Creator cares.

"Let There be Light" and DESERTEC

Then God said, 'Let there be light," and there was light. God saw how good the light was.

As the planet's climate grows more erratic and oil prices rise and fall bringing insecurity for non-oil nations and often war and autocratic governments within oil nations, people may finally be ready to go back to the beginning to rethink their energy sources.

A huge solar project, DESTERTEC (www.desertec.org), is in the works as a joint effort between a group of European companies and the DESERTEC Foundation to build solar collectors in North Africa to supply 1/3 of Europe's energy needs and those of Morocco as well. The solar energy will heat water into steam which will turn turbines creating energy. This energy be transferred to European nations under the Mediterranean Sea. No small undertaking. It requires big vision and big investment, but the potential for payback is even greater.

The elegance of this initiative and that of a similar one for the Sahara Desert is that the sun is by nature a diversified and democratic product. The building of the a line of solar collectors across the desert would require massive employment, engineering expertise, and technological connections and communications with the rest of the world. The ripple effects of such an infrastructure initiative would help stabilize any country economy and society it is in and offer hope in many forms for its future.

Africa, with its abundance of deserts, could use an abundance of dreams. The varied countries could supply their own energy needs and become energy producers with a clean energy that does not harm workers with diseases like black lung or produce air or water pollution. It is sophisticated technology that requires investments in another resource, that of peoples' intelligence and creative energies, thus it would support and depend upon the building of schools.

Such projects, coupled with the Green Movement of communities planting trees to stop the desertification of non-desert areas, can be transformative forces in developing countries. But such efforts require investment funds that are not readily available in most countries rich with deserts. So it is to these types of projects our eyes can turn when looking for socially responsible, sustainable, and peaceable development programs to invest in as individuals, groups, nations, the United Nations and World Bank.

"My command to you is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors. This will prove you are the sons and daughters of your heavenly Father, for his sun rises on bad and the good, he rains on the just and unjust." (Matt:5-44-45).

From Genesis to Global Warming

In the book of Genesis, where we find
God’s first self-revelation to humanity,
there is a recurring refrain:
“And God saw that it was good”. . . .
God entrusted the whole of creation to the man and woman,
and only then – as we read – could He rest “from all his work.”
John Paul II


Everyone can agree, people weren't around when the Earth was created and humans were the last species to show up on the scene, yet we've had the most varied capabilities and responsibilities upon our shoulders.

Now religious leaders of all faiths, scientists, and Earth citizens are joining together to talk about these responsibilities and share them, bringing our varied tools, perspectives, and insights to bear.

We've a long way to go, but this is an exciting time in the history of humanity, where the connections between faith, reason, and spiritual imagination can be knitted back together along with our insights from nature herself. This is our moment for the human species to shine -- to listen to all the insights of the ages and cultures and use all our creative energies to work with God and creation to keep this world habitable for all -- "our beautiful endangered world" as John Paul II called it. He was one of the first major religious leaders to speak to the world about the dangers of global warming, biodiversity loss, deforestation and drought, war and ecological destruction, materialism and greed, and poverty -- "the worst pollution".

On October 24th, 2009, there will be a collection of community actions across the nation and world to show our support for taking responsibility for the creation we've been given and doing our part to reduce air pollution and thus slow the rate of global climate "weirding" as one scientist calls it.

You can visit 350.org to see what you can do in this great human endeavor.