I am assuming those of you reading this will know the well-known children’s story of Goldilocks and the three bears. A family of three bears, mother, father and baby bear live in a house in the woods. They eat porridge for breakfast, and on this particular day the porridge was a little too hot to eat so they went for a walk in the woods. In the meantime, a curious little girl, by the name of Goldilocks comes into the house. She tries Father bear’s chair – too big, Mother bear’s chair- too small, Baby bear’s chair – just right. She tries Father bear’s porridge – too hot. Mother bear’s porridge – too cold, Baby bear’s porridge – just right. After that she is tired and tries the various beds – Baby bears was just right and she fell asleep only to be woken by the bears on their return. There are various versions of the outcome of this story.
The Goldilocks principle is named after this well known, but fictional, little girl. In brief it means “just the right amount” – neither too hot nor too cold, and can be applied to various spheres of life including psychology, economics, medicine and astronomy.
The theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, applied this to the habitable zone around a star. We happen to be just the right distance from the sun to be neither too hot nor too cold.
Yet, through our own actions we are putting that at risk. There are areas of the world that are getting hotter and hotter, and others that are experiencing harsher and colder winters.
God made this planet to be neither too hot, nor too cold, but just right – it is up to us to work for future generations to be able to enjoy that Goldilocks phenomenon.
Let us pray: Father God, you created this world to be “just right” yet we through our wasteful use of resources, and selfish ways have put that all in jeopardy. Forgive our sinfulness and help us to wake up to the urgency of the situation, and not to be found sleeping. AMEN