If your car stalls on a steep hill and you start rolling backwards, immediately you put on the emergency brake.

If a consensus of conservative science says that you have very little time left to save the world from crashing, you do not keep living as if everything were the same.  You take emergency measures.

The only way to pull the climate emergency brake fast enough is to act together as one democratic people’s movement. The people have to lead because our leaders in Washington are paralyzed.

We can move governments to action if enough of us join together and demand a massive mobilization right now to achieve net zero carbon emissions with justice for all, compassion for the most vulnerable and common-sense ethics like the Golden Rule.  We need to respond to this emergency, and as we do we need to create a more democratic, equitable world for our children where this won’t happen again.

We are on our way to having enough people speaking out to create a tipping point, but we need much more right now.  We need you.

Children around the world are giving a day a week to strike and organize and publicize the strikes.  What if we adults devoted a day a week to support this movement using our particular gifts, abilities and resources in a way that makes us each feel useful and hopeful?

Giving that much time may seem unthinkable, but the future that is coming if we do not take extreme measures is even more unthinkable.  We have entered an era unlike anything since the outbreak of World War II.  We need to think differently about our daily lives now.  Our children are depending on us to respond appropriately.

Two of the things you can do in Strafford are:

1. join the Friday morning strikers in front of Barrett Hall any time between 7:30 and 9:00 AM;

2. join the Strafford Climate Action Committee–it’s next meeting is Monday the 7th at 7:00 PM in the United Church of Strafford Parish Hall.

You can participate in and support the many larger groups working daily to build this movement like Mothers Out Front, 350.org, Sunrise Movement, Extinction Rebellion, and others.  It is also important that we come together as a community to reduce our carbon footprint and build Strafford’s resilience in the face of a future Irene or more extended time when essential systems are disrupted.

We need to emphasize the trust that each of us will be there for our neighbors and our neighbors will be there for us, whatever comes.  There is tremendous comfort and hope in that thought.  It has been one of Strafford’s most valuable traditions.

Our children are wise who say that they felt despair until they starting taking action.

Action creates hope, so thank you for every action you take!

Pastor Tom Kinder