August 31, 2026

While sleeping, towards morning I began to hear from the Holy Spirit about the future population of the world. Currently there are more than 8 billion of us, and population scientists are predicting that number will rise to almost 10 billion by 2050. But the Holy Spirit said that is not going to happen. The planet cannot sustain that number of us, so whether by natural attrition or by climate-related disasters, the population will eventually fall to 6 billion. Natural attrition means for example people deciding to have fewer babies because food and housing are so expensive, which in turn is due to too much demand on too few natural resources. People might also avoid having children due to concern about the future of the natural environment and climate. Natural attrition is the least chaotic and painful way for the population to subside.

The other way for population to decrease is through unmitigated climate change and increasingly severe weather and natural disasters, such as the one recently in Nepal caused by melting glaciers. As climate change worsens, there are also likely to be droughts and food shortages. Where there are food and water shortages, conflict can break out. These natural consequences are the most chaotic, painful, and undesirable way for populations to decrease. We pray that this can be avoided as much as possible. The efforts of governments to induce people to have more children to supply the capitalist need for workers are misguided. Instead, let us work together to counteract climate change and to help those most affected, usually the poor.

The population will eventually decrease to 3 to 4 billion in the long term, possibly after our lifetimes, according to Spirit. This number is sustainable. Although the next phase facing humanity will be difficult and challenging, and life will not be as pleasant for a while because we are living through the crisis time, eventually people will come together, cooperate, and plan carefully to heal and care for one another and our planet. Over a long period of time, possibly centuries, nature will become beautiful again. So we must teach our children to care for one another, for nature, and for the environment. We must teach our children about peace, justice, mutual cooperation, solidarity, and sensible design and planning. It will also help them if they know how to grow a garden, for example, and to be more self-reliant.

Did you know that in 1956, there were just 2.8 billion people on our planet?  That means that people who are 70 years old remember a planet that felt less crowded, less competitive, less expensive, with cleaner air and water, more trees, and fewer severe natural disasters like forest fires and floods. This also means that a world population of 3 to 4 billion is not unrealistic, because we had that as recently as the early 1970s. Let us pray we can gradually and peacefully move towards a world more in balance, starting by working to mitigate and adapt to climate change that inevitably affects the poor more than others, and by upholding peace and justice.