#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Today’s meditation, for Christmas Eve, is on Jesus Christ the apple tree. It’s a tad bizarre if you’re unfamiliar with the imagery but never mind: the point is that Jesus can’t be disconnected from nature, and nor can his followers.
We don’t stand over or apart from the natural world, it’s God’s world and ours — we need to wake up to our part in it. Wake up, friends! Let’s not sleepwalk into climate change disaster: sleepers wake!
#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Plant a tree, friends. That’s today’s focus, something practical that pretty well any of us can do to make a difference in the battle against climate change.
Not in a position to plant a tree yourself? For a small donation, the National Trust (and various other organisations) will plant one for you, or for someone else as a gift, and issue a certificate in their name. The perfect last-minute Christmas gift:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/support-us/plant-a-tree
#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Running a tad behind with my posts, c’est la vie…
Yesterday was Frankincense, worship; today is myrrh, death & lifestyle. Seems to me that the one leads almost inexorably to the other: every act of worship is a little death, a recognition that we are not the centre of the universe; but from that death springs life — for in dying to self, we rise to new life, life that affirms the wonder of creation & demands that we care for it…
#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Today’s reflection is about money and ethical investments. +Nick outlines the C of E’s approach with its commitment “to achieving net-zero emissions portfolios by 2050 at the latest” — ideally sooner.
The challenge for all of us is to manage whatever money we have responsibly and to spend it (or give it away) as ethically as possible, supporting fair trade for instance, working for the common good…
#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Once again I’m running a day behind. Yesterday was “An everlasting voice” reflecting on the state of the oceans and the status of refugees fleeing over them. Today we ask, “What can I bring him?” echoing Rossetti’s famous carol.
The one surely flows into the other: our treatment of the oceans and of other people, especially refugees, surely reveals what’s in our hearts — and what lies there is what we must bring. Lord, have mercy…
#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Today’s theme is #ClimateJustice, considering the imbalance between rich and poor: the rich polluting & ravaging the planet whilst the poor pay the price & struggle to survive in their wake.
Thank God for organisations like #ChristianAid, #TearFund & #CAFOD, to name but some, who highlight this issue. What we have now is gross climate injustice: how we need to turn things around!
Want to explore further?
https://www.climatejust.org.uk/
#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Today’s challenge is about working together as a global community: “The problems of climate change and the environment do not have national boundaries.” The UN enables nations to work together — but we need to want to do so. Progress is possible but can only be made effectively by nations cooperating; and that depends on us as individuals playing our part, paving the way and challenging our government’s complacency…
#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Today we consider what it means to be made in God’s image, with a reflection on Jesus’ encounter with some religious leaders trying to trap him with a trick question about paying taxes.
There’s no escape
and no surprise,
and every day
is cloaked with lies:
we twist, we turn,
we try to hide,
but truth sees through
our thin disguise…
Being made in God’s image requires us to see as God sees: a world in crisis. How will we respond?
#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Today’s focus is happiness v/s wealth. Taking St Francis of Assisi as a case study — “The richest of poor men” — it’s abundantly clear that there is no correlation between the two. If wealth does not bring happiness, what does?
The answer couldn’t be simpler: love — “love came down at Christmas” — and following the way of love rather than pursuing wealth frees us to begin making the changes needed in our lives and the wider world…
#AdventReading #ClimateChange #SleepersWake
Today’s call is to make the most of our talents, to be prepared, “to live with urgency and creativity rather than just coast along.”
Anyone can coast along, burying their talents, but it takes grit and determination to bring about the changes needed to tackle climate change, to “make the most of what we have for ourselves and the good of others.”
Don’t bury your talents, friends: together, we can be the change we want to see.
Phil Groom