Author: Judith Russenberger

Environmentalist and theologian, with husband and three grown up children plus one cat, living in London SW14. I enjoy running and drinking coffee - ideally with a friend or a book.

5th Sunday after Trinity, Proper 9

9th July 2023

Reflection (readings are below)

Paul in his letter raises in an interesting question, why do we find it so hard to be the good people we want to be? Most of of us go through life thinking we could have done better, tried harder, had more luck etc. Most of us have regrets, or thoughts of ‘if only’ or ‘what if’. Maybe this is part of being human – we can imagine how things might be different.

What can we do if wish to become the good people we wish to be? Is it nurture or nature? 

Abraham’s servant is keen to find a good woman to be Isaac’s wife. He does two things – he prays to God for guidance and he seeks to find someone who demonstrates goodness in their daily existence. And so it is he comes across Rebecca. She is willing and eager to be kind and helpful to both a stranger ( Abraham’s servant) and to the animals he comes with ( the camels). In last week’s Gospel we read of Jesus saying, “whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple– truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” And later in that gospel we have in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, the teaching that in helping those in need, we serve Jesus. Being good in small things is indicative of being good in other ways too.

Abraham’s servant, I think, sees that by choosing someone who is good in small things,  he will be ensuring that the nature of household over which she presides will be good. Being with good people, being nurtured by good people, makes it easier for others to be good too. The other take away from Genesis is the value of prayer in helping us do what we want to do.

Nevertheless for Paul, his sense of failure is acute. He feels that how ever much he wants to do what is right, his own body does the opposite. He calls this propensity sin and believes that it is something that has been deeply rooted within his very being. There is nothing he can do to uproot it – yet he knows someone who can: Jesus. 

Paul understands that that which we cannot not do for ourselves, Jesus can do for us. To accept that can be hard – it requires a humility that does not come easily. We are more often sure that we can sort out our own problems. Often we believe that if we can’t sort out these problems ourselves it is because we are not wise enough, that we are not trying hard enough, that we are letting God down. Yet Jesus tells us time and again to be like young children, like infants that know nothing other than reliance on their parents to help them. Jesus tells us to trust in him, to share our worries and our shortcomings with him, because he can and will come along side and help us. 

Returning to where I began, that like Paul, many of us struggle to do what we think we should do. It is not something that I am good at (!) but listening to and trusting in Jesus is key. 

One Easter service we were asked to imagine that we were there in the garden and encounter Jesus: what would we ask him? ‘How can I save the world’ was my cry – to which the response was ‘ That is not your role but mine!’

Another time, when I particularly felt I had failed to do what God wanted, I sensed Jesus telling me ‘Whatever you do or don’t do, I am not going to love you anymore or any less.’ To live a good life is perhaps, to let ourselves love and be loved. 

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

The servant said to Laban, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’

“I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also” —let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.”

And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.” So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes.” Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb. Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Psalm 45: 11-18

11 “Hear, O daughter; consider and listen closely; *
forget your people and your father’s house.

12 The king will have pleasure in your beauty; *
he is your master; therefore do him honour.

13 The people of Tyre are here with a gift; *
the rich among the people seek your favour.”

14 All glorious is the princess as she enters; *
her gown is cloth-of-gold.

15 In embroidered apparel she is brought to the king; *
after her the bridesmaids follow in procession.

16 With joy and gladness they are brought, *
and enter into the palace of the king.

17 “In place of fathers, O king, you shall have sons; *
you shall make them princes over all the earth.

18 I will make your name to be remembered
from one generation to another; *
therefore nations will praise you for ever and ever.”

Romans 7:15-25a

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Jesus said to the crowd, “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Counting on …. Day 1.120

8th July 2023

Them Climate Change Committee has this week produced its annual Progress Report to Parliament – https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/2023-progress-report-to-parliament/

The CCC notes that whilst UK greenhouse gas emissions have  fallen 46% from 1990 levels this is well short of the 68% by 2030 target agreed at COP26. The reeducation in emissions will have to increase fourfold to meet this target.  

“Time is now very short to achieve this change of pace. Glimmers of the Net Zero transition can be seen in growing sales of new electric cars and the continued deployment of renewable capacity, but the scale up of action overall is worryingly slow. The Government continues to place their reliance on technological solutions that have not been deployed at scale, in preference to more straightforward encouragement of people to reduce high-carbon activities. The Committee has again flagged the risks of a policy programme that amongst other things is too slow to plant trees and roll-out heat pumps.”

Can we count on  this government and the next to fully address these issues? Can we increase the pressure on government and businesses to act? 

Counting on …. Day 1.118

6th July 2023

Climate change is happening whatever we may think. It is visible in small and often overlooked ways. This article from the Guardian tells how climate change can be seem in the shape and growth of a horse’s hoof.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/05/country-diary-clink-clop-clink-clop-goes-the-sound-of-a-loose-horseshoe?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 1.119

7th July 2023

Since April Just Stop Oil have been organising daily slow marches to highlight their demand that the government end all new oil production: fossil fuels are the single biggest contributor to the climate crisis. One protestor, Hilary Bond, wrote in the statement she read out in court: “I really believe that the criminals in this case are not the protesters like me but the people who could give our children and grandchildren a liveable future and refuse to do so.”*

How do we live with our inability to collectively address both the climate and the ecological crises that beset our world if those in power will not listen?

  (https://contemplationandaction564034803.wordpress.com/2023/07/04/consequences/#respond)*

Counting on …. Day 1.117

5th July 2023

All plastic producers rely on investment from banks and pension funds etc to continue to expand their operations.   The Just Money Movement’s director, Sarah Edwards, says, “We are called to care for God’s creation but the way we produce and dispose of plastics is fuelling the climate crisis, polluting oceans, and endangering people’s health. Many individuals and church communities are taking steps to cut down on single-use plastics, but major High Street banks continue to invest in the crisis we’re trying so hard to tackle. HSBC is the largest bank in the UK and has a responsibility to take urgent action to address the crisis” the Just Money Movement is running a campaign HSBC to:

  1. set targets for reducing financed emissions in the plastics industry as part of HSBC’s climate strategy.
  2. withdraw from financing the expansion of single-use plastic production.
  3. engage with companies that use plastics intensively (notably, plastic packaging) to reduce their consumption of plastics at source in absolute terms and invest in business models to achieve this.
  4. urgently scale up finance to companies providing solutions to address overconsumption of plastics at source, such as reuse systems.

You can support the campaign by signing their open letter – https://justmoney.org.uk/speak-out/dont-bank-on-plastics/

Counting on …. Day 1.15

3rd July 2023

Wimbledon fortnight starts today. This year’s sponsor for the event is Barclays Bank, one the biggest investors in fossil fuels . Tennis – like many sports – has to find ways of doing with climate change and in particular with the problems of sudden heavy rains and the challenges of playing the game when temperatures soar to impractically high levels. It seems bizarre that such a sport would accept sponsorship from companies that are increasing the magnitude of the climate crisis. 

Make My Money Matter is co-ordinating an open letter from businesses and NGOs, activists and academics, celebrities and climate leaders, calling on Wimbledon to end its sponsorship agreement with Barclays.

To find out more about Make My Money Matter, visit their web site https:/makemymoneymatter.co.uk/

Counting on …. Day 1.157

2nd July 2023

The psalmists often tell of God being a refuge for us, a place of safety. 

Gardens can be a refuge, a place of safety  for insects and small creatures especially if we let plants grow with an abandon that creates shelter spaces away from predators, and  safe corridors through and between gardens. If we let plants go to seed, and if we ignore aphids and similar ‘pests’ we are providing a supply of food. Regularly refreshed water bowls provide drinking water and bathing,   and patches of damp earth can provide building material for birds and insects. 

And such gardens can for us too be a place of refuge and safety, a place to be with God.

4th Sunday after Trinity, Proper 8

2nd July 2024

Reflection (readings follow on below)

‘How long, O Lord?’ How often has that been said or thought? I’m sure it is as much now on our lips as it was when the psalmist was writing. We live in a world which is imperfect, which incorporates suffering in some form into every day life – whether that is the pain of childbirth, or the suffering when nature’s predators are successful, the suffering that accompanies earthquakes and floods, or the suffering caused by war, by oppressive regimes, by uncaring systems that permit starvation etc. Not all suffering can be avoided but a lot can if we have the will and the power. We can with medical intervention reduce pain and suffering. We can with good ecological practices reduce the suffering that arises from climate change. We can with investment and good education reduce wars and conflicts. We can improve the systems that distribute food, create jobs, administer justice, provide loans and grants etc. We can cultivate communities and societies where love and compassion prevail. This maybe what Paul means when he writes ‘present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.’ We can use our lives, the skills and capabilities that we have, to do what is righteous – what is right and true. To do so is to be alive in the truest sense, to be alive to God and to be alive in the way God wishes. To do so brings us joy.

Not all choices we face in life are easy. Sometimes the best option feels as if it is in reality the least worse option. Sometimes the options do not have clear cut outcomes and we may feel that we must start off with hope, not knowing what the final outcome will be. Is this where faith comes into play? Is this how  Abraham felt as he climbed Mount Moriah?

How can we as Christians, as churches, help and support those facing difficult or impossible choices? How do we build up hope?How do we embolden faith? How do we strengthen the confidence needed to take the longview? 

Every time we come together to pray, every time we come together to share bread and wine, we are reminded that Jesus’s teaching was that strength comes through helping one another, through sharing in fellowship, through union with God.

Genesis 22:1-14

God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

Psalm 13

1 How long, O Lord?
will you forget me for ever? *
how long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long shall I have perplexity in my mind,
and grief in my heart, day after day? *
how long shall my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look upon me and answer me, O Lord my God; *
give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;

4 Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” *
and my foes rejoice that I have fallen.

5 But I put my trust in your mercy; *
my heart is joyful because of your saving help.

6 I will sing to the Lord, for he has dealt with me richly; *
I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High.

Romans 6:12-23

Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 10:40-42

Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple– truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

Green Tau: issue 72

1st July 2023

Plastic free July?

 July two years ago I wrote in the Green Tau about plastic being the pollutant we live with. In many ways not much has changed since then except that we are, globally, producing even more plastic every year and with global recycling rates at around 10%, the total volume of plastic in or not in use, is growing even faster. There is more than one tonne of plastic in the world for every person alive today – https://ourworldindata.org/faq-on-plastics

Plastic Free July seems to be even more important than ever!  The problem of plastic could be viewed from three perspectives. 

Firstly can we reuse the plastic we already have rather than creating more virgin plastic? 

Secondly can we agree and enforce at governmental level an effective global treaty that will end plastic production in a way that is fair to all and not just the richest/ most powerful bodies? 

Thirdly can we as individuals re-adapt to a plastic free lifestyle – albeit with all the advantages that bother new technologies have to offer?

Reusing plastic depends on several factors.

  1. All  used plastic is collected for reuse  (ensuring it doesn’t get blown away into the oceans, side tracked into landfill, or diverted into an incinerator)
  2. That it is properly sorted according to the different types of plastic 
  3. That it is sufficiently clean/ uncontaminated (this is where consumers need to act responsibly)
  4. That where possible plastic items are reused rather than being recycled as the latter is more energy intensive. Bottles made of a sufficiently durable plastic can, for example, be refilled and reused.
  5. That there are means of recycling each sort of plastic, ideally within a closed loop – eg that PET bottles are remade into new rPET bottles (the r signifying that the plastic has been recycled). This may need the input of grants for developing nations to ensure that they can afford the initial cost of recycling plants – in the long term this will benefit all global citizens. 
  6. Where closed loop recycling is not possible (even rPET will wear out), there needs to be processes that can recycle the plastic into a lower grade but still usable form: already playground equipment, outdoor seating, and shop fitting panels can be made from such material.
  7. That all these processes happen close to where the original plastic ceases to be in use. At present plastics collected for recycling may travel half way across the world to be recycled.
  8. That the cost of recycled plastic should be cheaper than the cost of virgin plastic – this may initially require the input of taxation on items of virgin plastic and at the same time support for poorer households to enable them to cope with the extra cost of some essentials.
  9. That product designers and manufacturers consider reuse and recycling from the outset.
  10. Can plastics previously consigned to landfill sites be ‘mined’ and reused?

Plastic alternatives – The long term goal would be to phase out the use of plastics, replacing plastic with non polluting alternatives such as paper and card, aluminium, glass, wood, cork plus the growing range of new materials as they are developed – eg straws made from seaweed, polystyrene substitutes made for. Mycelium, food packaging made from cornstarch, and various plant based plastic substitutes. All these new products need investment at the design stages and the. investment for scaling up to commercial production levels. It also takes time, and in the course of which the ‘mound’ of  fossil based plastics will continue to grow. Removing non reusable plastic from the world is going to be a slow process, but the quicker we start addressing the issue the better.

A global plastic treaty is not now a dream but a work in progress. In June of this year, 180 UN member states agreed to start international negotiations on drawing up a global plastics treaty that could set rules for production, use and disposal of plastics. The talks were also attended by  stakeholders including civil society groups, waste pickers and a coalition of scientists. Stakeholders used the talks to call for plans to manage microplastic pollution, regulate the thousands of hazardous chemicals baked into plastics, create a financial mechanism to support the transition, and protect the rights of people disproportionately exposed to plastic chemicals and waste. Many countries are calling for action to go beyond cutting plastic pollution and to curb production as well. At the same time oil- and plastic-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia and Brazil, together with fossil fuel and petrochemical lobbyists, were set on watering down the treaty.

Nevertheless this is a landmark step and will be followed by further meetings to finalise details including which elements will be legally binding and how the deal will be financed. The aim is that the treaty will come into effect in 2025. (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/06/first-steps-agreed-on-plastics-treaty-after-breakthrough-at-paris-talks?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other)

UK government policies – Can the aims of the plastic treaty be supported by laws and directives from the UK government? Can the government do more to persuade businesses to be less reliant on plastic, to increase first the reuse and second the recycling of plastic, and to encourage we as consumers to adjust our habits too? 

The plastic bag tax introduced in ….. has seen a substantial reduction in the number of plastic bags used annually. In the last few years it has become the social norm to take a shopping bag when we go out shopping –  more so for daily necessities: new shoes and clothes are still usually carried away in the store’s own (paper) bag. 

Since 2020 single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds have been banned, and this approach is being extended this autumn to include the ban of single-use plastic cups, plates and cutlery used takeaway outlets.

In France the use of plastic bags to pre-pack fruit and vegetables is being limited. As of the beginning of 2022 the sale of 30  types of fruit and vegetable in plastic bags has been banned, and this will extend to all fruit and vegetables by 2026. A similar scheme is being introduced in Spain. Here in the UK such schemes where they exist are voluntary, with Morrisons leading the way. This is an area where letters of complaint by customers might effect change, and can be followed up by boycotting pre packed produce. 

A deposit return scheme is being formulated by the government and is due to be in place by 2024, with a likely deposit of 20p per item for all single use drinks containers including plastic bottles and metal cans. Whether this will also lead to the reuse of suitable bottles I am not sure. Such schemes do exist in Germany (https://www.dw.com/en/how-does-germanys-bottle-deposit-scheme-work/a-50923039)  and Switzerland, and even here in the UK some individual suppliers operate such schemes or offer a refill service -eg Milk and More, the Source Refill Store etc. 

Various pieces of legislation encourage companies to reduce the amount of packing – especially plastic packaging – that they use. Such legislation comes within the group termed Producer Responsibility Regulations. Certainly many Easter eggs now proudly proclaim that they are free of plastic packaging, and paper wrappers for Mars Bars are currently being trialed.

Household recycling provision varies from authority to authority with no consistency as to what is recycled in which bin and how often. The government is in the process of developing a policy to standardise recycling policies for all local authorities but this may have a knock-on effect as some local authorities will need to invest in new collection bins and vehicles. Nevertheless it has to be a good idea that will encourage a higher recycling rate. 

Promoting a plastic free lifestyle is what Plastic Free July is all about. It is certainly easier for consumers of governments require businesses to provide plastic free packaging, but even if that is not the case, it is possible to make choices that reduces our consumption of plastic – whether that is not buying a pre-packed sandwich, using a keep cup rather than buying coffee in a takeaway cup, buying loose fruit and vegetables, or buying solid bar soap and shampoo. There are plenty of websites offering advice – you might visit Plastic Free July’s own web site – https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/ or  visit the Friends of the Earth web site – https://friendsoftheearth.uk/plastics/living-without-plasticb  – but don’t be bamboozled by websites that just want to sell you plastic free products. 

As much as anything what is key is a change in mindset – automatically looking for the plastic free product. Once you are used to avoiding plastic packaging, look to use plastic-free goods too – the wooden toilet brush, the metal washing up bowl, a rubber and sisal yoga mat. It is not necessary to throw away plastic things; rather use and reuse them to maximise the usefulness of the plastic and then – finally – recycle it and replace it with a plastic free alternative. 

Fo further articles on this blog about plastic see -https://greentau.org/tag/plastic/page/2/