Judith Russenberger

Green Tau: issue 105

The Power of Silence

8th May 2025

According to a recent report in the Guardian, banks including Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds have poured more than £75bn into companies developing huge fossil fuels projects with the potential of producing 420bn tonnes of carbon emissions. That would be equivalent to more than 10 years of current global carbon dioxide emissions. (1)

Banks and fossil fuel companies are clearly working together to wreck our green and sustainable global environment. How do we as ‘powerless’ – when compared to the financial clout of these businesses – individuals respond?

Yesterday (Wednesday 7th May 2025) Barclays held its AGM at the QEII conference centre just off Parliament Square. The building itself was barricaded off – a barrier reinforced on the inner face by a large number of private security officers (the kind of thing that big businesses can buy) and further reinforced on the outer face by large numbers of police officers. Their objective being to ensure that proceedings were not disrupted by any protest – even though the UK still (just about) upholds the right for people to undertake peaceful protest.

A sizeable crowd of protestors had squeezed into the limited space that lay between the QEII barricades and the barricades that enclosed the extensive gas repairs being carried out in front of the Methodist Central Hall. Palestinian flags flew high, placards announced “Barclays – Don’t Bank on Apartheid” and protestors accompanied by a drum as protestors chanted slogans highlighting and castigating Barclays for their involvement in financing the genocide in Gaza.

Meanwhile stage left a small group of Buddhists and Christians from Buddhists XR and Christian Climate Action, spent several minutes checking in with each other as they prepared for an extended period of silent protest. Circling round us were more police officers who then followed as in pairs we quietly walked carrying our various banners across to the QEII centre. We found a space on the street where we could face the conference centre, and enter into a period of silent meditative prayer and reflection.

Can you hold a silent protest when surrounded by fellow protestors chanting and drumming? Would it not be as easier undertaking if one moved to a quieter spot away from the protest? Yes and yes. Moving to a quieter spot would have made our focus easier, but not being in the heart of the protest would have made it harder. Rather the noise and clamour focused our minds on the scale of the outrage – the unjust and implacable way that big money rides roughshod over other people’s lives – that we were all protesting against.

Once focused, the hour and half we were there was tangibly channelling a power into space that would not otherwise have been present. And the contrast between our silence and the noise of the other protesters added to the overall impact of the action.

Did the shareholders listen? Did the CEO and the board of Barclays take note of what was going on? Will they search in their hearts and consider the morality of financing activities that make the world a worse place? Will they look beyond the profits and bonuses they make, to consider the many lives they are destroying? Will the power they wield, immunise them from feelings of guilt?

We may not know the answers but we do know that we have asked the right questions.

(1) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/01/uk-banks-put-75bn-into-firms-building-climate-wrecking-carbon-bombs-study-finds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

31 Days Wild: 7th May 2025

Again from my stays in Warwickshire, I have been able to spot my first swallows of the year with chattering burbling cry – these I saw in fact on Sunday 27th April – and my first swifts with their distinctive scimatar-shaped silhouette, which I saw yesterday in Warwickshire.

Seeing them reminds me however of the many we don’t see. I haven’t seen swallows here in south west London for many years, and the number of swifts I see, seems to be less and less each year. I have not yet seen any in London.

Counting on … Day 58

8th May 2025

Given that we won’t change the world just as one person, another thing we can do is to expand the number of people who understand what the issues are and who would be willing to be part of the movement of change needed. To this end, we can talk about these matters with our friends, our family, our work colleagues, people in our church, people who belong to the same clubs and societies as us. Talking to people about the climate and environmental crises – as indeed about any serious issue – requires tact and empathy. We don’t want to antagonise or disparage others. We don’t want to scare people into behaving like ostriches with their head in the sand, but nor do we want to under inform them about the real dangers. We want to be understanding of where they come from and what issues they may face vis a vis the climate and environmental crises, or life in general. We will want to be offer ways of addressing the issues – there are positive steps we can take and positive outcomes we can aim for.

And importantly listen to what they are saying! It can be really useful to understand what other people think and to learn about what they are or plan to do.

And there are even web sites giving you tips:-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zgyvydm#zxhccmn

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/how-to-have-difficult-climate-change-conversations/

https://climate-pact.europa.eu/get-inspired/how-talk-people-about-climate-action_en

Counting on … Day 57

7th May 2025

As just one individual we are not going to change the world – however much we wish to do so. Just as a greater impact can be created by signing a petition along with 10,000s of others (and recently a million people signed a petition calling on the Government to dead an end to oil and gas drilling!!),

so joining a climate or environmental group can be beneficial. For us as individuals it is an encouragement to know that we are not alone but that others share our concerns and understand our feelings – people who are ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’. As a group people’s different skills can be utilised such that the impact is more than the sum of the parts. The group can be a good place to think through existing conundrums, to acquire new data and to explore alternative ideas.

Possible climate and environmental groups would include –

Green Christian https://greenchristian.org.uk/about-green-christian/

Operation Noah https://www.operationnoah.org/

Christian Climate Action https://christianclimateaction.org/

Laudatory Si animators https://laudatosianimators.org/

Friends of the Earth https://friendsoftheearth.uk/

Greenpeace https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/

Christian Aid https://www.christianaid.org.uk/

Oxfam https://www.oxfam.org.uk/

Stop Rosebank https://www.stopcambo.org.uk/

Extinction Rebellion https://extinctionrebellion.uk/

Wildlife Trust https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/

This is not an inclusive list and there are many more such groups. It may be just the case of finding the one where you feel most at home.

31 Days Wild: 6th May 2025

Last night I was staying over with my sisters in a Warwickshire village. The half moon shining in through the velux window was no brighter than in London but the power of the moon light was so much more apparent. Light pollution in London is such that it is never truly dark, but here out in the countryside the light shared by the moon was wonderful – and noticeably stronger that when I had been there the previous week. The night and its variable darkness is something we often fail to appreciate, and yet from a wildlife point of view it is as important as daytime.

Counting on … Day 56

6th May 2025

System change is vital if we are to contain and constrain the climate crisis. Individuals can help bring about system change. We can use our votes to elect a government that understands and will pursue system change. We can write to our MPs and press them to bring about the changes we need to see. We can sign petitions – targeting either MPs or business corporations- again pressing for change.

(We can also write follow up messages saying thank you when change does happen).

As regards wiring to your MP, personalised letters are more effective but you may want to start with a ready-made template such as this one from Hubbub –

https://hubbub.org.uk/how-to-write-to-your-mp-about-climate-change-a-template

Or this from WWF –

http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/how_to_write_to_your_mp.pdf

The more you read and the more groups you interact with, the greater the number of petitions that will land in your in-tray- but do they work?

The following observations comes from the Welsh Government:

“Petitioning is one of the most direct ways to suggest how something could change. Petitions can:

Raise awareness of an issue;
Bring about a change in Welsh Government policy or a different way of delivering services;
Propose or influence a new law;
Prompt a Senedd Committee to hold an inquiry;
Lead to, or influence, a debate in the Senedd;
Prompt a Committee or individual Members of the Senedd to take further action themselves, for instance by asking questions”. https://petitions.senedd.wales/help

Friends of the Earth offer a good selection of petitions as a starting point –

https://friendsoftheearth.uk/latest/actions

31 Days Wild: 5th May 2025

What do I want to achieve over these 31 days? A bit more understanding about the natural world, about what the word ‘wild’ might mean, a greater aptitude to pay attention to the natural world around me – looking, hearing, smelling, feeling.

There is a little piece of woodland that separates a field from a local park. Its certainly not wild or natural in the sense that the trees were planted by a previous generation, but it does provide a habitat for a large number of wild birds – and I’m guessing other wild things such as bugs and insects etc. I often pause here and use my Merlin app which identifies the different birds that are singing in the locality – as many as 14 different species on some occasions. I hope that by doing this regulalry I will learn to identify more birds by their songs. Today I could hear on one side of me a chiff chaff and on the other side another chiff chaff replying – their songs were similar but each had their own pitch.

Counting on … Day 55

5th May 2025

With the best will in the world, individual life style changes are not going to single handedly, curb carbon emissions and limit global temperature rises to a safe limit. As individuals our actions are constrained by the systems within which we live – be that tax policies; whether subsidies are made available for public transport or for fossil fuels; whether those who emit carbon dioxide have to also pay for the damage caused ( a polluters pay policy); whether manufacturing (and any associated carbon dioxide emissions) is relocated to a third country; whether beneficial lifestyle changes are promoted by the government etc. Therefore an important factor in halting the climate crisis is whether or not governments and business implement systemic change.

Last January the World Economic Forum produced a report, The Bold Measures to Close the Climate Action Gap: A Call for Systemic Change by Governments and Corporations, which calls for ‘systemic actions and …… outlines the urgency and necessity of drastic action from both governments and corporations to combat climate change effectively and deliver on commitments. It emphasises the need for governments to level the playing field for green solutions and proposes practical ways for companies to achieve outsized impact in their ecosystems.’

31 Days Wild: 4th May 2025

Growing up, our home had a lovely scented honeysuckle that climbed over the front door. Its rampant growth required periodic heavy pruning. I too have planted a honeysuckle near our front door. Its growth is sedate and its scented qualities unproven as every year its blooms attract a mass of aphids.

Aphids are meat and drink to lady birds – or so I am told – so I am loath to use an insecticide. Thinking about the aphid as part of wild nature, I googled aphids and honeysuckle. Apparently aphids on honeysuckle point to poor soil which is preventing the honeysuckle from outgrowing the aphids.

Wild honeysuckle grows in woodland environments, where the soil is rich in humus, and where the roots are shaded whilst the stems climb up to the light. So I guess I need to replant my honeysuckle in a more homely environment!

Third Sunday of Easter

4th May 2025

Reflection with readings below

What is our calling in the new age of the resurrection?

Jesus after that first Easter morning, is the same but not the same. His physical appearance is the same or perhaps not; his physical abilities are the same but also not the same. And his relationship with his disciples is the same but not the same.

Last week we heard of Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the risen Jesus. She recognised who he was when he spoke her name. Thomas recognised the risen Jesus when he was shown Jesus’s wounds. And where as Thomas was invited to touch Jesus and feel his reality, Mary was told ‘Don’t touch, don’t cling to me.’ And whilst Mary has a unique personal encounter with the risen Jesus, Simon Peter and the beloved disciple don’t get to meet the risen Jesus until several hours later and then in the company of the whole group of the disciples.

In today’s gospel reading, the disciples – certainly those whose trade was fishing – have gone back to Galilee and back to their old jobs. Although as chance would have it, without much success! Close to dawn, they see Jesus on the shore – but as with Mary Magdalene – not recognising who he is. Then, whether it is because of his voice or because of the super abundant catch they make, the beloved disciple realises who it is. And Peter is overwhelmed and, in his desire to once more be with Jesus, jumps overboard the faster to get to the shore and Jesus.

As Jesus gives them breakfast, sharing the bread and fish with them, all the disciples know for true, that this is the risen Jesus. Then Jesus asks Peter three times ‘Do you love me?’. And because Peter does, Jesus gives him a task that will take a life time to complete – to feed, to care, to ‘shepherd’ all those who are or will become Jesus’s followers. Peter and his fellow companions are not going to return to their previous fishing careers. These disciples who had journeyed with Jesus back and forth between Galilee and Jerusalem, who had witnessed the signs Jesus had performed, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, lubricating a wedding; who had listened to Jesus debate with the scribes and Pharisees and win the argument; who had seen Jesus befriend the outcast and the despised – these disciples were now being called take on this mantle that had been Jesus’s and to share the gospel far and wide. This is their new calling in the new age of the resurrection.

Our first reading from the Book of Acts, tells of the conversion experience of Saul (also known as Paul). As dedicated but short-sighted Pharisee, Saul does what he thinks is right and with his trademark vigour, sets out to persecute any who have become followers of Jesus – followers of from Saul’s viewpoint, of a dead and gone renegade. But on the road to Damascus, Saul has a resurrection encounter with Jesus which transforms his vocation. Now, within the resurrection age into which he has, so as to speak, been born from above/ again, Saul (or Paul) becomes one of the most ardent missioners taking the gospel to many people and all the time deepening his relationship with the risen Jesus and expanding on the theological understanding of the church.

So for us in the 21st century when some people are still persecuted for holding onto the wrong faith, where some people are still despised and abused, when there is still hunger and suffering, when there is still greed and the abuse of power, when the natural world is being destroyed by the hour, what is our calling as people of the resurrection age? What is our relationship with the risen Jesus?

Do we feed and tend the sheep? Do we share the gospel? Do we continue to explore and develop our relationships with Jesus and our theological understanding of our mission?

Yes! And in particular I would suggest that one thing the world especially needs to hear is truth – the truth about the climate and ecological crisis; the truth about the widening gap between rich and poor; the truth about the injustices that many people face across the world; the truth about the failure of war as a means of establishing peace. And that that the message of truth should be backed up by actions.

For example, the level of biodiversity in the UK makes us one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, yet a rich biodiversity is essential for pollinating crops, for keeping the soil fertile, for limiting the effects of flooding, for cleaning the air. Improving and maintaining biodiversity is a key part of Jesus’s call that we should ‘feed my sheep’. Yet is this a truth widely spoken about or heard?

We should talk about the importance of nature, of biodiversity, of its importance for human flourishing. Both with friends and family, with local authorities and businesses, with government and corporations.

And then there are many ways we can then act in response. By promoting wildlife in our gardens, church yards, etc. By eating a richer plant based diet. By supporting groups such as the RSPB, the Wild Life Trusts, the National Trust. By campaigning, pressing the government to properly fund the agricultural sector so that farmers can care for the land sustainably and to support rewilding. Indeed the UK government has signed an international treaty pledging to rewild 30% of the land and sea for for the benefit of nature by 2030. By campaigning for the Church of England to give a lead by rewilding 30% of the land in its care – including that held as an investment. And what better investment than securing a rich biodiverse environment!

Acts 9:1- 20

Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptised, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Psalm 30

1 I will exalt you, O Lord,
because you have lifted me up *
and have not let my enemies triumph over me.

2 O Lord my God, I cried out to you, *
and you restored me to health.

3 You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead; *
you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.

4 Sing to the Lord, you servants of his; *
give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.

5 For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, *
his favour for a lifetime.

6 Weeping may spend the night, *
but joy comes in the morning.

7 While I felt secure, I said,
“I shall never be disturbed. *
You, Lord, with your favour, made me as strong as the mountains.”

8 Then you hid your face, *
and I was filled with fear.

9 I cried to you, O Lord; *
I pleaded with the Lord, saying,

10 “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit? *
will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?

11 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; *
O Lord, be my helper.”

12 You have turned my wailing into dancing; *
you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.

13 Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; *
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

Revelation 5:11-14

I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honour and glory and blessing!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!”

And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

John 21:1-19

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”