Judith Russenberger

Counting on 2026 …. Day 39

8th May

Living simply “creates space for peace, not as escape from the world, but as rightly ordered life within it. When attention is no longer constantly divided, there is greater capacity for presence.” (1)

Peace is what I seek by living simply. Peace being that place or space where I don’t feel conflicted and stressed; where I feel in tune with the natural world, in tune with my neighbours; where I feel whole; where I have time to enjoy life; where I feel in tune with God – part of God’s kingdom.

Is this a peace that can ripple out into a wider environ?

(1) https://hazelnutcommunity.substack.com/p/the-life-we-miss-while-wanting-more?r=1r0y9l

Counting on 2026 …. Day 38

7th May

Simple living ‘is also an act of resistance. It pushes back against the assumption that more is always better, and that growth must always be pursued..’ (1)

Living simply is not just cutting back on what we consume and withdrawing in on ourselves. It is about living life where we choose different priorities.

Rather than a meat based diet or a diet of ready made meals, I choose a plant-based diet that is largely cooked from scratch. I choose to keep a sour dough starter going and to use that to make crumpets (with the daily excess of starter) and bread. It is more time consuming than going to the shop but it feels more rooted in what is natural and sustainable.

I choose to buy from local businesses – a refill shop so avoiding excess waste, a health food shop, the independent bookshop, the post office, and a independent cafe for coffee beans. I could just nip into the supermarket and do one big shop, but this feels more sustainable, supporting the local economy and therefore local community. It also feels more human in scale: small shops with people I recognise behind the counter and with whom I can have a conversation.

I choose to buy vegetables by the box from Riverford farm as it is a company that pays its staff fairly (and engages them in decision making) and farms organically and sustainably.

I choose not to buy new clothes but rather to buy from local charity shops where I can prevent other clothes being thrown out as waste. I choose to repair the clothes I wear rather than throwing them away when they tear or develop holes.

When I do buy new clothes, I choose to spend more in order to buy items that will last and to buy items where I have some confidence that those who made them have been fairly rewarded.

I choose not to buy each kitchen gadget that comes along. I choose not to upgrade my phone/ iPad on a regular basis. I choose to resist advertising and social trends.

(1) https://hazelnutcommunity.substack.com/p/the-life-we-miss-while-wanting-more?r=1r0y9l

Counting on 2026 … day 7

15th January

Land system change – “The transformation of forests, grasslands, and other natural areas through land use and other human actions.” (1) Land system change is another of the nine planetary boundaries that marks whether life on Earth is sustainable.

Humans have long been transforming the landscapes, from our earliest beginnings in agriculture when other plants including trees, were removed to make way for our own choice of plants. Clearings in forests made space for homes to be built, crops sown and animals corralled. And agriculture is still the biggest driver of land system (or land use) change. Whilst the ploughing up of grassland to sow crops, or the replacing of wildflower meadows with cultivated grass, or building houses on green fields, clearly constitutes land use change, it is in the clearing of forests that the most damage is done. Forests are key parts of the ecosystem that regulate rainfall and flooding, that hold soils intact, that provide shelter from both heat and winds, and which are home to a huge diversity and density of wildlife. When forests are lost, rainfall patterns change, soils dry up and maybe either washed or blown away, rivers dry up and vast quantities of carbon are no longer locked away.

In many regions, deforestation begins with logging – often illegally – and which leads to roadways being created. Land that has been logged gives way to pasture and then cattle ranching, or the growing of crops for animal food or for bio-energy.

The safe limit for land system change is deemed to be when at least 75% of the Earth’s original forest cover remains unviolated. Humanity passed this limit in the 1990s and original forest cover today stands at 60% (2)

Land use changes impacts most of the other planetary boundaries: freshwater levels are negatively impacted by deforestation; switching from trees to crops increases the use of fertilisers and disrupts biogeochemical boundaries; the increased use of pesticides increases the number of novel entities in the Earth’s systems; another side effect of the increased use of pesticides and fertilisers – and the burning of stubble etc – is an increase in airborne particles; increasing livestock farming increases the amount of methane and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; whilst at the same time agriculture often leads to a reduction in biodiversity and the diminution of a living spaces for wildlife.

And to compound this current agricultural practices do not produce enough food to ensure a healthy diet for a growing global population (something that could be achieved if different methods of farming were practiced and different diets followed).

Replacing damaging farming practices with more sustainable ones – and switching to more sustainable and healthier diets – is essential. Such transformative action needs to done in ways that are fair and just, benefitting small as well as large farmers, benefitting women as well as men, benefitting, developing as well as developed countries, benefitting poorer as well as wealthier consumers.

https://www.planetaryhealthcheck.org/boundary/land-system-change/

(2) https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/land-use-change-impacting-seven-planetary-boundaries-solutions-urgent-say-scientists/

Counting on 2026 …. Day 37

6th May

The stress and strain of modern life or ‘disorientation’ “is shaped not only by personal choices, but by the systems of power and wealth that tell us what we need to be happy, systems that tell us we need to consume for a better life.”(1)

Living simply is about choosing not to dance to the tune of advertisers, not blindly following tradition, not getting caught up in the system that says more – and bigger – is better. And therefore living simply may also be about challenging those systems and providing a counter story.

For example is the purpose of education simply to get a job or is it to be more engaged with life?

Is the purpose of a job just to get a pension so that you can then stop working? Is it necessary to buy a yet bigger house/ bigger kitchen/ bigger car? Will it make you happier?

Living simply is making choices that you have thought through for yourself, choices that are appropriate for you, choices that don’t cost the earth.

Of course it is possible that simple living itself will become a system!

(1) https://hazelnutcommunity.substack.com/p/the-life-we-miss-while-wanting-more?r=1r0y9l

Mindful Sauntering – between Heaven and Earth

A collage variation of Chagall’s Jacob’s Ladder (source unknown)

And Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:12

Heaven and Earth are only three feet apart, but in thin places that distance is even smaller. A thin place is where the veil that separates Heaven and Earth is lifted and one is able to receive a glimpse of the glory of God. (Celtic tradition)

Nothing Is Far

BY ROBERT FRANCIS

Though I have never caught the word

Of God from any calling bird,

I hear all that the ancients heard.

Though I have seen no deity

Enter or leave a twilit tree,

I see all that the seers see.

A common stone can still reveal

Something not stone, not seen, yet real.

What may a common stone conceal?

Nothing is far that once was near.

Nothing is hid that once was clear.

Nothing was God that is not here.

Here is the bird, the tree, the stone.

Here in the sun I sit alone

Between the known and the unknown.

And Jesus said, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’ John 1:51

Christ came down to raise us up, for Christ joins Earth with Heaven.

Lord Jesus Christ, through your life and death, you opened wide the way between Heaven and Earth, come close to us now that we may glimpse Heaven on Earth and so be inspired to lift our lives up to you. Amen.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 35

4th May

Joy in Enough is about not wanting more and more, or bigger and bigger.

How many pairs of trainers do I need? How big a television do I need? How far do I need to travel for my holiday?

If I have too much of everything, will I really be able to enjoy them all? If I choose the biggest thing will it really make me happier than the smaller version?

It is interesting to note that even now that we have separate bins for recycling for the waste we can recycle, why is it that dustbins – for what we can’t recycle – are still getting larger and larger! How do we manage to produce so much waste each week?

Fifth Sunday of Easter

3rd May 2026

Reflection with readings below

The season of Easter lasts 40 days (if you count Ascension tide as a separate season) or 50 days if you see Pentecost as the culmination of Easter. But it seems hard – either way – to maintain that joy and freshness of Easter Day.

What is the ongoing impact of Easter and the resurrection on our lives? Is it that in Jesus whom we know both as someone who has experienced the fullness of human life – including death and what lays beyond that – and who has a full experience of divinity? Is it that Jesus invites us to be an intimate part of his life – to share in his vision of the world?

At times it can be hard to grasp what this means – and perhaps especially the both human and divine aspects of Jesus. Is this perhaps what we see underlying the conversations in today’s gospel reading? The disciples are struggling to see in the human Jesus the totality of the divine. Equally there is a tension that we experience in Christianity today as to whether we should be focused on worshipping God as part of our journey to heaven, or whether we should be focused on taking action – doing things – to transform this life so that it is heaven on earth?

Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”. He also says that it is through his works – and if we follow Jesus, through our works – that God the Father can be seen.

So maybe the season of Easter is about our ongoing journey following Jesus, following his example both in how we relate to God and how we relate to our neighbours. To love God and to love our neighbour is to be active. In the current global climate that is to be active in consoling those who are distressed, to support those who feel marginalised, to stand up for those being abused, and to seek peace and justice for all. If we can bring to that the joy and freshness of Easter so much the better!

And remember that half of the command we sometimes forget, to love our neighbour as ourself. Being aware of our shortcomings and our need for love – from God and from our neighbours – will equip us better in following Jesus.

Acts 7:55-60

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

1 In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame; *
deliver me in your righteousness.

2 Incline your ear to me; *
make haste to deliver me.

3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for you are my crag and my stronghold; *
for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.

4 Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, *
for you are my tower of strength.

5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, *
for you have redeemed me,
O Lord, O God of truth.

15 My times are in your hand; *
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.

16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, *
and in your loving-kindness save me.

1 Peter 2:2-10

Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner”,

and

“A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;

once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

John 14:1-14

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”

In praise of May

2nd May 2026

From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine. Genesis 27:28

The month of May owes its name to the Greek goddess of fertility, Maia. For many May is the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Queen of May. It is certainly the month when spring growth is at its most abundant.

Glory be to God for the May tree –

the happy hawthorn:

Decked in white blossom,

she serves a feast for insects – alleluia!

Glory be to God for the mayfly –

ephemera vulgate:

Older even than dinosaurs,

they surrenders their underwater life

for one brief air born day of delight – Alleluia!

Glory be to God for the maybug –

the cockchafer:

Four years toiling as grub underground,

she emerges

a chestnut gilded member of the scarab family – alleluia!

Glory be to God for the may flower –

the cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis:

Pink flowers veined with purple, a dainty plant

that feeds the caterpillars of orange-tip

and green-veined white butterflies – Alleluia!

A reading: Genesis 1: 29-31

And look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I’ve given all the grass and plants to the animals and birds for their food.” Then God looked over all that he had made, and it was excellent in every way. This ended the sixth day.

God of all creation,

May we cherish what you have created,

respecting each plant and animal,

bird and insect,

as both unique and irreplaceable.

May we honour with reverence

what spreads out before our feet,

what flies in the air above,

slides through the water

or creeps in the soil below.

May we temper our lives

to make space for others,

ceding priority to the vulnerable

and encouraging the faint- hearted.

May we listen with our ears,

see with our eyes

and comprehend with wisdom

the harmony of your Kingdom here in earth.

Amen.

The Grace

Counting on 2026 …. Day 33

30th April

Living simply is also about not hanging on to things.

I regularly take to charity shops things that we are not using anymore, things that we have in duplicate, things that are taking up space. This could a dress I bought but no longer wear, books I have read and won’t reread, toys the children have outgrown etc. Conversely when I need something, I will check out the charity shops – this often involves patience but in time the saucepan or jacket I need will turn up. And there is always a good supply of books to read.

The house feels more comfortable when it is not cluttered with stuff. And there is less to worry about – be that keeping it clean, finding space to store it etc.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 34

1st May

I am also a member of Green Christian which has one section called Joy in Enough. For me this is – in part – about taking delight in small things. I enjoy having a good coffee in a local friendly cafe. I enjoy the drink – its taste, smell and feel. I enjoy contemplating the view which could be the River Thames, people walking long the path with their children/ pets, birds pecking at crumbs etc. I enjoy contributing to the local economy. Local independent shops, including cafes, only exist if we use them; their staff only have jobs if the business remains profitable.

If it’s on offer, I also choose a vegan option – cake, toast and peanut butter, porridge etc. Plant based options will only be made available if people buy them!

Awakening to a New Economics