Some reflections on the recent floods in the U.K., July 2007.

This Friday, 3rd August, the film "Evan Almighty" is released in the U.K. Last Saturday's Daily Mail, 28th July, carried an article about a man in Holland who has built a Noah's ark and is filling it with plastic animals.

Recently large areas of the U.K., including Tewkesbury and Hull, have been subject to extraordinary floods. How can we reflect upon this as Christians?

Many people think that these floods are caused by global warming. This has come about because of the misuse of the resources at the disposal of humankind. If it continues unchecked it will cause further disasters including severe suffering in the developing world.

God has given stewardship of the world to humankind, Gen. 1:28f. We are accountable to God for everything that He loans us, Mt.25:15ff.

Are the floods a judgement of God, then?

They are not a specific judgement, because the people of Tewkesbury and Hull are no more wicked than the rest of the U.K.! If God was to judge He would be fairer than that. We also have to remember that, when God ended the flood He promised that he would never again send a similar flood to judge the world, Gen. 9.

However, we have to consider that what we do has consequences. It appears that, because of greed and thoughtlessness, some dwellings are being built on areas known to be vulnerable to flooding. This may link with this Sunday's gospel reading, 5th August 2007, Luke 12:13-21. It also appears that some rivers have not been dredged, increasing the risk of flooding. This might be due to cost saving, perhaps also linked to greed.

Some of the global warming has been blamed on air travel and car emissions. At a time of year when air and road travel are high because of the summer holidays, it is a reminder to everyone and especially Christians that we should do all that we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some communities and individual have addressed this by having car sharing, solar heating, using economy light bulbs and other energy saving devices, eating local produce rather than goods that have been flown in, disposing of waste efficiently, and travelling to local destinations for holidays.

How are we stewarding God's world?