Accept and Adapt Theology

Accept and Adapt

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4

Three Elements

It is suggested that the church’s response to climate change can be organized around the following three themes.

An overview of these themes is provided at the page Three Themes. This page provides more thoughts to do with the second theme — Accept and Adapt.

Accept and Adapt

The second of the proposed theological elements is ‘Accept and Adapt’. Acceptance means that we understand that we face predicaments, not problems. There are no solutions that will allow us to maintain Business as Usual. This way of thinking could induce a feeling of fatalism, a sense that “what will be, will be” so we do not need to do anything except wait for our fate.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

Acceptance means that we understand that we face predicaments, not problems. There are no solutions that will allow us to maintain Business as Usual. In the previous chapters we have looked at some of the dilemmas we face; we need to accept that they exist and that the future is going to look very different from the present.

It will be important to recognize the need to accept personal responsibility. There will be a temptation to blame others for all that has gone wrong. But the truth is that we have all created greenhouse gases and used up the earth’s resources. We should not all into the trap of blaming “the other”.

Acceptance means opening ourselves to a feeling of grief. There is room for grief. It’s normal and accepted to mourn. We mourn the demise of the living world, the demise of ecosystems that took millions of years to come into existence.

Acceptance also means helping those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Future years will see much suffering as crops fail, refugees struggle to find a safe home and industrial systems grind to a halt. As best we can — and we ourselves may be in a difficult place — we all need to help those who are in need.

If we accept that we face predicaments, not problems, then we need to adapt as best we can to the situation in which we find ourselves. We will have to have faith that we will be able to navigate the very turbulent waters that we face.

It will be important to recognize the need to accept personal responsibility. There will be a temptation to blame others for all that has gone wrong. But the truth is that we have all created greenhouse gases and used up the earth’s resources. We should not all into the trap of blaming “the other”.

Acceptance means opening ourselves to a feeling of grief. There is room for grief. It’s normal and accepted to mourn. We mourn the demise of the living world, the demise of ecosystems that took millions of years to come into existence.

Acceptance also means helping those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Future years will see much suffering as crops fail, refugees struggle to find a safe home and industrial systems grind to a halt. As best we can — and we ourselves may be in a difficult place — we all need to help those who are in need.

If we accept that we face predicaments, not problems, then we need to adapt as best we can to the situation in which we find ourselves. We will have to have faith that we will be able to navigate the very turbulent waters that we face.