At 7:10am on Thursday 14th March 2013 we became grandparents, and I will always remember the first couple of weeks of my grandson’s life, I was besotted and had to have my daily fix of seeing him. Like most grandads I guess, I thought that my grandson was the most beautiful person who had ever lived, and I couldn’t stop myself gazing in wonder at this tiny miracle. My grandson is nine now and is four feet eight and a half inches tall (the half an inch being vital at this age) and I still love spending time with him, maybe absence make the heart grow fonder, we are an hours drive away these days, and to be honest, I sit and listen to him explaining a computer game, and I haven’t a clue what he is talking about, his world is so very different to mine when I was nine. Becoming a grandad has lengthened my horizons somewhat, I hope that his life will stretch into the twenty-second century, and I wonder what the world will look like in 2077 when he reaches sixty-five. There is a possibility that by then, the age of retirement may well be 90!!
As I think about my grandson, I feel a responsibility to look after the planet that I believe God gave to us to inhabit. There is a wonderful rhythm and beauty to nature and the more I learn about the planet and the universe, the more wonderful it is to me, and I am thankful. I am also thankful that I live in this beautiful country, with the mountains and lochs of Scotland and Cumbria, the rolling hills, the Fen lands, the coastal areas, we are so fortunate that we have the most wonderful playground imaginable to relax and enjoy. I might well complain about the weather, us Brits love to have a good moan that it is too cold, too wet, too windy, too hot, too dry, there’s no pleasing folk, in fact, I am sometimes at my happiest when having a good moan about the weather, God seldom gets it right for me.
Sunday 6th November sees the start of COP 27 in Egypt as the leaders of the world gather to discuss how as a global community we tackle the crisis, which causes the extreme weather conditions that we are witnessing around the world. The problem as far as I can see it is that as the human race continues to develop at an alarming rate, we are consuming the planet far faster than it has the ability to regenerate, we are borrowing from the future continually and whist we might scoff at veganism, electric cars, recycling, energy saving, and Greta Thunberg as she speaks out, we are a world in crisis.
Which brings me back to my grandson. I am fast becoming an old man, my children will soon be both in their thirties and are old enough now to fend for themselves, but what about my grandson? What kind of world will he inherit when I am done with it, and what about his children? Suddenly this becomes very serious, and very personal. Please pray as the world leaders unite in Egypt during the coming days, pray that they won’t simply waste time on empty talk and vague action plans, but that in their consulting, the world be a sustainable place for future generations.