Floods and Droughts Friday 5

Read all about floods and droughts on todays' Rev Gals Friday 5!

According to Sally,

Here in the UK we are struggling with floods, other parts of the world have similar problems without the infrastructure to cope with it, still others are badly affected by drought.... My son Jon is in Melbourne Australia where apparently it has been snowing ( yes it is winter but still!).... With crazy weather in mind I bring you this week's Friday 5...

1. Have you experienced living through an extreme weather event- what was it and how did you cope?

Aside from blizzards (including trying to drive in sudden scary whiteouts), my most extreme probably has been New England hurricanes, with shattered trees and days without electric power, though I don't remember the names of any of them. When you're in the thick they seem so memorable, but since for the most part we have resources to cover and reasonably truncate potential dire effects of such events, we were back to a semblance of normal before long.

The Cedar Fires in Southern California during fall 2003 made the skies on this mesa - a little south of the worst of the conflagration - look like the Day of the Lord, with darkness, deep gloom, ash, smoke and soot in the heavens and a pall over the sun, definitely qualifying as a Weather Event! Whatever the weather, Sally is so correct to observe too many parts of the world have no infrastructure that allows them remotely to deal with and to contain extreme Happenings of Weather and Nature, which partly relates to my response to 3.

2. How important is it that we wake up to issues such as global warming?

Very—given that I'm time-crunched this morning, please see my answer to 3.

3. The Christian message needs to include stewardship of the earth's resources agree/disagree?

Strongly agree: "Who is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" He is Lord of the winds, the waves, the sunshine, floods, droughts and storms, and part of our Imago Dei includes faithful, judicious and careful stewardship of creation.

And because it is summer- on a brighter note....
4. What is your favourite season and why?

Summer, summer everywhere—at least in the northern hemisphere. In my imagination, summer equates with heat, hope, humidity, happy memories and high fun.

5. Describe your perfect vacation weather....

Clear skies without rain, little or no wind, and whatever the season, I want to be able to stay warm.

No bonus this week I've already asked a lot from you :-)

Thanks again, Sally!