By Pastor Jason Joslyn
Pastor of the Assembly of Eden and Secretary of the Ecological Servants Project
I live in Addison, New York, where I lead the Assembly of Eden and serve as secretary of the Ecological Servants Project, also known as EcoServants®. From here, south of the Canadian border, the consequences of the wildfires burning across Canada are impossible to ignore.
The smoke has traveled hundreds of miles, settling over communities throughout New York and much of the northern United States. Our skies have become hazy. The smell of smoke hangs in the air. People with asthma, heart conditions, and other medical vulnerabilities have been advised to limit their time outdoors. At points, air quality in parts of New York has reached levels considered unhealthy for everyone, not merely for those in sensitive groups.
Yet what we are experiencing in New York is only the distant shadow of what people in Canada are enduring.
More than 900 wildfires have recently been reported across Canada, with many continuing to burn out of control. Communities have faced evacuation orders, while firefighters, emergency personnel, aircraft crews, Indigenous communities, volunteers, and local officials continue working under extraordinarily dangerous conditions.
From my home in Addison, I see smoke.
Across the border, families see flames.
They are watching forests, wildlife habitats, homes, sacred places, businesses, and entire communities threatened or destroyed. Some are leaving their homes without knowing what will remain when they return. Firefighters are risking their health and lives. Parents are trying to protect their children. Elders and people with disabilities may be struggling to evacuate safely.
My heart goes out to everyone directly affected by these fires. Before we complain about the inconvenience of smoke in America, we must remember the people who are standing closest to the fire.
A Crisis Is Not an Invoice
Recent political discussion in the United States has included suggestions that Canada should face tariffs or be required to compensate Americans for the smoke crossing the border.
That response reflects poor decision-making without empathy.
Wildfire smoke does not recognize national borders. It does not stop at a customs checkpoint. The wind does not carry a passport, and a forest fire cannot be controlled through economic punishment.
The idea that every environmental consequence crossing an international boundary should produce a bill, tariff, or demand for restitution is not a serious solution. It is political theater imposed upon a human tragedy.
When wildfires burn in Washington, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, or other northern states, smoke can travel into Canada. Canadians have not responded to every American fire by demanding financial compensation from American families or placing punitive tariffs on American products.
Instead, Canada and the United States have historically depended upon cooperation, shared expertise, emergency personnel, aircraft, equipment, and mutual assistance. That is what neighboring nations should do.
Canada has deployed firefighters, aircraft, detection systems, emergency personnel, and other resources to confront the present emergency. Whatever disagreements may exist regarding forest management, prevention policies, funding, or climate strategy, it is neither accurate nor compassionate to behave as though Canadians are simply allowing their own country to burn.
They are fighting these fires while living through them.
We Are Neighbors Before We Are Nations
There are legitimate questions that governments should examine after the immediate danger has passed. Were adequate investments made in fire prevention? Are forests being managed responsibly? Are emergency-response systems properly funded? How should communities prepare for increasingly severe fire seasons? What roles do drought, extreme heat, land-management practices, human activity, and a changing climate play?
Those questions matter. Accountability matters. Better preparation matters.
But accountability without compassion becomes accusation, and leadership without empathy becomes cruelty.
Scripture teaches us to love our neighbors. It does not say to love them only when the wind is blowing in the right direction. It does not say to help them only when their suffering remains on their side of the border.
When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan. The neighbor was not defined by nationality, social standing, political loyalty, or religious reputation. The neighbor was the person who recognized suffering and chose mercy.
Canada is our neighbor.
Canadians are our brothers and sisters. Many are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Others may not share our faith, but they remain fellow human beings created in the image of God and deserving of compassion, dignity, and assistance.
The Christian response cannot be, “How much do they owe us?”
It must be, “How can we help?”
The Christian Ethic in a Time of Fire
The world already contains enough voices looking for someone to blame. Christians should be offering something different: truth guided by mercy, responsibility accompanied by humility, and action motivated by love.
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” — Galatians 6:2
Right now, Canada is carrying an enormous burden. We should not add to it through hostility and opportunistic political rhetoric. We should help carry it.
That assistance can take many forms. American agencies can share personnel, equipment, satellite information, aircraft, and emergency-management expertise. Churches can support reputable disaster-relief organizations. Individuals can pray for affected families, displaced communities, firefighters, medical workers, volunteers, and leaders making difficult decisions.
Environmental organizations can educate the public about wildfire prevention, emergency readiness, forest stewardship, air-quality safety, and the protection of vulnerable people. Communities can also prepare clean-air spaces and distribute appropriate masks when wildfire smoke reaches unhealthy levels.
We should care for Canadians facing the flames while also caring for Americans breathing the smoke. These responsibilities are not in conflict.
We can protect our communities without demonizing theirs.
The Smoke Carries a Message
The smoke over New York is more than an air-quality problem. It is a reminder that our lives are connected.
A forest burning hundreds of miles away can affect a child with asthma in New York. A drought in one region can influence food, wildlife, water, and public health elsewhere. Decisions about land, energy, development, and emergency preparedness can have consequences far beyond the communities where those decisions are made.
Environmental stewardship is not limited by borders because creation itself is not divided according to our political maps.
The air belongs to no single nation. Rivers cross borders. Wildlife migrates. Weather systems move. Smoke travels. What one nation neglects may affect another, but what one nation protects may also benefit another.
That reality should encourage cooperation rather than retaliation.
Today, from south of the Canadian border, I can see the smoke. I can feel the effects of this disaster. But I refuse to look northward with anger toward the people who are suffering far more than I am.
Instead, I look northward with concern, prayer, fellowship, and solidarity.
To the families facing evacuation, the communities surrounded by fire, and the firefighters standing between the flames and people’s homes: You are not merely citizens of another country. You are our neighbors.
Let us reject the instinct to turn disaster into another economic or political weapon. Let us choose the undaunted Christian ethic of love and empathy. Let us share resources, offer support, speak responsibly, and stand beside those who are suffering.
The smoke may have crossed the border, but so too should our compassion.
Let us help our brothers and sisters in Canada.