Climate change and sacrifice

Sacrifice definition is - the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone. Merriam-Webster

My son-in-law Aaron, who is a pastor, gave a very good talk when I was visiting the Kansas City area last weekend. He spoke about sacrifice and its meaning in the scriptures. As do all good sermons, this one made me ruminate a bit - this time about the need for sacrifice in the modern day. We don’t put many lambs (or sons) on altars anymore. But do we as modern humans willingly give up things of value to us for spiritual or societal good? And do we need to?

Climate talks made up a lot of this week’s news. World leaders recognize the need to reduce pollutants in the atmosphere if our weather is not to become more extreme than it already is.  They all certainly talk a good game. But as politicians, they don’t often mention the need for individuals to change their own behaviors in order to accomplish their admirable goals.

As anyone who had tried to implement large-scale change knows, it’s tough. There will always be winners and losers anytime one changes anything. There are some giants who will fight efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - coal, gas, and oil industries and their confederates like pipeline builders and governments that depend on revenues from these energy sources. The airlines, the trucking industry, and manufacturing will want as economical fuels as possible. And I suppose any of us who have money in the stock market want the business sector to continue to make a lot of money which will then be redistributed in part to we shareholders - the cheaper the energy, the more the profits. That’s a lot of giants.

Aaron’s talk got me thinking about an old African folktale about how one giant was once defeated.

Lesson of the Ngong Hills 

A tour guide in Nairobi told me this tale about how the Ngong (Knuckle) Hills came into being.

A giant once ravished the land. The animals of the savanna were determined to get rid of it. The big animals went in first: the elephants, the rhinos, the lions. Each in turn were soundly trounced.

That night all the ants gathered and decided each would carry a few clumps of dirt and place them on the giant while he was asleep. By the next morning the giant was buried so deeply that he never rose again. All that can be seen today are the protruding knuckles of one hand – the Ngong Hills.

I used this tale often to encourage educators to keep making positive changes to their schools, and not rely on departments of education, school boards, or school administrators to improve learning outcomes. Can this tale now be told about problems like climate change? 

Are we as individuals willing to make those small sacrifices, carry those small clumps of dirt, that will reduce energy consumption and move the world toward more eco-friendly energy sources? I ask myself:

• Can I buy a more fuel efficient car? Can I walk or bike instead of drive?
• Should I keep my thermostat set lower in the winter and higher in the summer? Should I be investigating more energy efficient appliances?
• Are my vacations adding to overall global warming? How often do I fly for pleasure rather than necessity?
• Why I am I not better at remembering to bring reusable shopping bags with me when I go to a store? Do I recycle enough of my garbage? Am I donating enough of the clothes and other things I no longer need to charities where they can be used?
• Am I volunteering enough hours and for good causes?
• Should I only be buying financial investments that are "green'?

“Sacrifice” seems inherently altruistic, but I have never been a big believer in altruism. If I sacrifice for the sake of combating global warming, it will be to give my children and grandchildren a better future. And the children and grandchildren of my neighbors. I don't consider that to be selfless at all.