When did you first learn about climate change?

I was in high school—a good Christian kid who went to church each Sunday and worried about the state of my eternal soul. I was taught to memorize the Bible and knew most of the hymns by heart. "Creation care" and “environmental justice” were nowhere in my vocabulary.

So when my friend Nate first started talking one day about what he was learning in biology class, I had no idea what he was talking about. We humans, Nate said, were releasing so many heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere that we were rapidly overwhelming our planet's natural balance. We were headed towards a point where things could spiral out of control—with cataclysmic results.

I remember feeling an immense flood of anxiety. This sounded like a disaster beyond all imagining, too bad to be true. How could it be true? Then, I felt a wave of relief.

"Yeah," I said, feeling my confidence come back, "but God would never let that happen."

I imagine that if we all came together—all the different people who make up the MassIPL coalition, from Rabbis to Congregational ministers, from young climatetech nerds to those who joined hands on the very first Earth Day in the ’70s—we’d find plenty of differences among us. If we felt like it, we could debate how and why God “lets things happen”—or even what we mean when we say “God” at all.

But I'm certain that none of us—myself included, many decades later—could accept as a final word my naive response to climate change. It's what brings us together as MassIPL, as people of faith bound together by a common purpose. For the love of God—for the love of every living creature on this planet, our faith compels us to do something.

So—when did you first learn about climate change? And what has your faith called you to do next?

That's not a rhetorical question. I'd love to hear your answer. You can reply to this email and let me know.

I also want to invite you to be part of a new chapter of MassIPL. There are immense challenges, yes, but also opportunities.

We're asking for your help in three key ways.