24th April 2025
Domestic animals also encompasses life stock – cows, sheep, pigs, hens etc. When we see prepared dairy produce or meat on sale in shops or restaurants, it is easy to forget or ignore the welfare of the animal that has provided this food. Ethical Consumer regularly produces research on this topic so that we as consumers can make informed choices.
23rd April 2025
Today is St George’s Day. Amongst other things, this saint is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers being a group of saints venerated for the benefit of their prayers vis a vis different diseases. St George is one who protects the health of domestic animals.
Pets in particular can be very important in giving us joy and companionship and a sense of purpose. They can also teach us about the importance of trust and not overthinking! Our relationship with our pets should be reciprocal, giving and receiving – and we both in our lifestyles should be mindful of our relationships with the rest of creation. Neither we nor our pets should be indiscriminate or thoughtless as users of the Earth’s resources.
22nd April 2025
Today is Earth Day.
Earth Day was first observed in 1970. The Earth Day organisation aims to “broaden, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.” Each year has its own theme; this year’s is entitled “Our Power, Our Planet” and is a call to expand renewable energy so as to triple clean electricity by 2030.
The Earth Day organisation has a fact sheet and a petition:-
“We call on global leaders to commit to:
This will pave the way to:
The transition to renewable energy is about creating a future where everyone can thrive. Let’s use the power of the Earth Day network and our global movement to demand urgent action from governments, businesses, and communities around the world.
This petition will be presented to the United Nation’s leadership and delegates at the UNFCCC Conference of Parties 30 (COP 30) in November 2025.”
Petition:- https://action.earthday.org/our-power-our-planet-renewable-energy-petition
20th April 2025
If each day we are called to walk just that day’s journey with the cross (see Good Friday’s reflection*), then Easter Day is the day we remember and celebrate that we do not walk alone. That Jesus is with us , that Jesus has been there before us, has been where it is dark and constricted, has felt abandoned, has fought with demons, and has come through victorious. And as we are told in the Gospels, Jesus goes on ahead before us.
My mother is currently recovering from the after effects of delirium, and at times she has difficulty rationalising her thoughts, and at others difficulty in preventing her mind from overthinking problems. One thing in particular that she struggles with is time. Nothing around her seems to change. She wakes up in the same bedroom, the same books and cards on the window sill, the same clothes hanging on the hook – even the same orange she hasn’t yet eaten. Is this a new day or is it still the same day when she went to sleep? How can she tell whether time has passed if nothing has changed?
That is sometimes how I feel about Easter. Every year we celebrate Easter, celebrating that Jesus has risen from the dead, that through the resurrection we are raised to new life, that this is the beginning of the new age – Easter is the eighth day. But does anything change? Is life suddenly better now Easter Day has dawned? Are people suddenly kinder and more loving, living the new resurrection life?
Did anything change that first Easter morning? Did the Roman soldiers and tax gathers, suddenly up-sticks and depart? Did the temple authorities suddenly down tools and invite everyone into the temple to worship God without hindrance? Did people suddenly look and see their neighbour’s poverty and share all they had?
And yet something did change, gradually, step by step. People began to experience Jesus’s presence in new ways. People did form new communities where they made welcome those who would have previously been rejected. People did take Jesus’s gospel and preach the good news far and wide. And throughout history we have seen people – people who have been inspired by Jesus – do amazing things: working for justice, working for peace, working to overcome poverty, working to protect the earth, sacrificing their own lives for others.
When the Israelites ate the first Passover meal, hurriedly escaped from the narrow place that was slavery under the oppressive power of the pharaoh, and reached the relative safety of the far shore of the Red Sea, they sang and danced and praised God. And they were instructed to mark that event every year, eating a special meal and remembering the events of that night. That celebrating and remembering has continued year in year out – through good times and bad – as a way of marking time even when it seems that nothing is changing, and reminding themselves that God is and will always be with them.
When we work through Lent, when we re-enact the events of Holy Week, when we celebrate Easter, we are in part remembering the Passover – the power and wisdom of God that enables people to escape the constrictions of narrow places and to find freedom – but we are most particularly remembering that Jesus – who is also God – has walked this way before us. That Jesus – who is also God – knows what it is to be human, to have limited amounts of energy and strength. That Jesus – who is also God – has experienced that one thing we fear most – death – and has the personal experience to assure is that it is not the end. That Jesus – because he is also God, promises to be with us always and everywhere.
And even if it doesn’t feel as if anything has changed since last year, we celebrate Easter as a way of marking time and that God is still and will always be with us. And if we look and take note, we will see that there are always signs of new life around us. The world that the creator God has given us is a gift that keeps on giving.
This year I despaired that the vine that had given us so much fruit over the years, had died; the crinkled branches with peeling bark remained bare, no sign of life despite the wealth of spring flowers in the rest of the garden. I resigned myself to the task of buying a new plant. Then just this week I noticed the first small green shoots bursting through the old bark!
Christ is risen!” – “He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
18th April 2025
see also last year’s reflection- https://greentau.org/2024/03/29/prayers-for-creation-good-friday/
During Holy Week, but especially so on Good Friday, we are encouraged to ‘walk in the way of the cross, sharing its weight.’
Where does the way of the cross begin? Is it, as in the experience of Bilbo and Frodo, that endless road that passes by your front door? You’re not sure where the road started nor or you sure where it is going, but once you set out on it, it takes you with it. For Jesus, did the way start in the synagogue in Nazareth? There he opens the scroll and reads:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
Jesus knows this is his destiny. This is the road he must travel, bringing the good news to the poor. Yet this proclamation comes from the writing of Isaiah. It is a road that that was already marked out as way travel some five centuries before. And even them it was echoing a message already contained in the Pentateuch. It is perhaps a road that back to the beginning of time.
So when we are invited to ‘walk in the way of the cross’, we are stepping out onto a road that stretches way, way back in time. But it is perhaps a road that is most clearly visible to us during that time when Jesus travelled back and forth between Galilee and Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to the poor, to the captive, to the sick and to the oppressed. To proclaim that message Jesus had to be aware of those who were poor, captive, sick and oppressed. He had to find ways of getting along side them, ways of listening to and understanding them.
So if we are called to follow the way of the cross, we too are invited to be aware of, to be alongside, to listen to and understand those who are poor, captive, sick and oppressed. We are called to be aware of the pain, suffering and injustice that exists in the world, and not to shy away from it. And as Jesus did, we will find opportunities when we can show genuine love and compassion. And we will find opportunities when we can transform situations. And as Jesus did, we will find ways of speaking out, of telling the truth to power, of challenging injustice, of pinpointing that which oppresses – both individuals and systems.
And sometimes and for some people, the road may lead into dark and dangerous places. Jesus’s last – long – night in the garden of Gethsemane and in the courts of those who imprisoned him, can make for tough but empathetic reading.
But we may not feel we have the strength that Jesus had. We may question whether we can ceaselessly absorb the pain of even just paying attention to the pain and suffering of the world in which we live. Like Peter, and the other disciples, we may want to hang back, run away, hide in an upstairs room.
The way of the cross is undoubtably not easy, not straightforward. But if we recall how Jesus walked it, he did take time out to be alone with God, going into the wild parts of the natural world. He did take time out to be alone with his companions. He did take time out to relax and share meals with friends. He did accept that he couldn’t heal each and every person, but knew that the message he had was the means of creating an expanding chain of events that was the process of heralding in the kingdom – the rule and reign – of God, that will bring healing, peace and justice for everyone.
The way of the cross is the way of faith. It is, I believe, about walking each day just that day’s journey – whether it is that day about the care of the poor or about rest and regeneration. It is, I believe, about walking each day trusting that God knows better than I how far I can walk and what I can achieve. It is, I believe, about trusting that – come what may vis a vis human wilfulness and wickedness – God’s mercy is ever present and everlasting. And it is trusting in the journey even if we cannot see what comes next or even where we may end up. It was that trust that carried Jesus through his journey and will do so for each of us.
A poem on Maundy Thursday, 17th April 2025
Bread
the essential of life:
Toast for breakfast,
Sandwich for lunch –
and, if dainty, afternoon tea too.
A get-me-through the morning
or quick late night snack-
croissant and bagels,
doughnut or pretzels.
A shape for every occasion.
Elaborate or mundane,
Common place or prized,
Unknowingly irreplaceable.
Good bread is true bread
Stone ground and hand kneaded,
Proved and cosseted.
Freshly baked, a yeasty aroma.
Crunchy bite , soft crumb,
a mouth-filling taste.
White or brown –
always a whole meal.
The bread of life –
no life without it!
Blessed and shared –
round a table, round an altar.
Eaten with family,
with friends and with strangers,
all now are ‘com pane ‘ –
with-bread-companions.
Broken and shared,
for those in need
and those who are needy –
the coming together as those in communion.
The bread of life
is life-long life.
Risen and resurrected
Lived and loved
and lived again.
This is the bread of eternity.
17th April 2025
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Ps 96: 11-12
The world – God’s unique creation – should be a prompt for praise and celebration. Where we see shortcomings, let us acknowledge our failings, seek forgiveness and reconciliation, and once again rejoice in God’s glory.
16th April 2025
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
St Paul reminds us that God’s wisdom is writ clear and large in the world that God has created. It is to our detriment if we overlook that so-visible source of truth.
15th April 2025
“Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God.” Psalm 84:3
Having a safe home, a place where we belong, can be a source of contentment. Successful ecosystems are those where each species has its own niche. If we live in a society where not everyone has a place to cal home, a place to belong, then we should be questioning how successful our society can claim to be. Nature deserves a safe home, and people deserve a safe home – and the two are not incompatible.
Reshaping how we can talk positively about the climate crisis – part 3: Finance
April 2025
How can we talk about the climate crisis in a way that sounds encouraging?
The climate crisis is an existential threat which is certainly not good news. Its causes and impact are diverse and numerous such that it is hard to pin down ‘This is the cause’ or ‘This is the solution’. It is hard to quantify ‘This is how it will effect you’ and ‘This will be the time table.’
All this makes it difficult to find a way of talking to people about the crisis and how we might respond.
So here are some thoughts that might help.
Finance for a Better Future
We are told that one of the most effective ways of tackling climate change is to redirect the money that funds climate damaging industries such as oil and gas production . Make My Money has campaigned on this issue with both humour (short films and ) and straightforward facts and graphics:
“All of these banks refuse to stop funnelling money to the companies pumping new fossil fuels.
They each talk about climate change, but we need less talk and more action on what really matters:
* Immediately stop providing money to new clients who are involved in expanding fossil fuel operations
* End the flow of new money to existing fossil fuel clients who won’t stop the expansion of fossil fuel operations and haven’t published credible plans aligned to a 1.5 degree global warming limit
* Set out a clear timeline for cutting ties with existing clients that continue to expand fossil fuel operations”
But despite the ease with which we can switch banks, many of us haven’t bothered to take this simple action. Perhaps because there is no immediately visible result. Stop driving to the shops and you straight away see the benefit of not having to refuel your car. Switch your bank and there is no noticeable reduction in oil production, no financial gain. And anyway aren’t high street customers mere minnows in an ocean of big financial organisations?
Is it also that with banking we see ourselves as customers buying a service, not as patrons providing banks with money and probity? Banks like – need – to be seen as upright, trustworthy and moral institutions: people with whom you can safely entrust your money. That is part of the reason that banks will sponsor sporting and cultural events – it improves their perceived reputation as ‘responsible’ companies. And that is why groups have campaigned against such greenwashing bank relationships eg Barclays and Wimbledon Lawn Tennis/ Live Nation music festivals/ National Trust/ Sadler’s Wells.
Turning the situation round, should we be actively expecting our bank – the bank we support with our money and our patronage – to demonstrate how it is using its financial clout to create better world? By way of example let’s look at Triodos. Triodos scored the top mark in a recent survey by Ethical Consumer, scoring 96 out of a possible 100 points. The big five high street banks – Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, Santander and Barclays scored 6 or less. (1)
Triodos does not provide finance for fossil fuels, nor fast fashion, nor weapons and warfare, nor gambling. Triodos does provide finance for renewable energy, nature restoration, healthcare, art and culture: “We believe it’s not enough to avoid funding harmful practices, so we actively support those building a better tomorrow. Our commitment goes beyond avoiding harmful investments. We proactively seek out and support initiatives that contribute to a sustainable future, ensuring that every loan and investment aligns with our mission.” (2)
For example, “Ember, the UK’s first all-electric intercity bus operator, has increased its fleet of zero emission coaches with a £5.6m loan from Triodos Bank UK. The electric coach operator, based in Scotland, has a fleet of vehicles designed specifically for intercity travel. These buses are zero-emission, contributing to environmental sustainability by reducing carbon footprints and improving urban air quality.” (3)
Triodos also finances “Copeland Park … a social, cultural and creative hub in Peckham, an area of London that is becoming increasingly known as a haven for artistic individuals and collectives. At Copeland Park, traditional warehouses and industrial buildings have been transformed into workspace for a number of creative businesses. The historic Bussey Building, for example, now provides a home for artists’ studios, theatre groups, live music venues, fitness studios and faith groups – along with incomparable views of London.”
In Wandsworth “Beyond Autism seeks to improve the education and health of children diagnosed with autism and/or related communication disorders. A loan from Triodos Bank allowed Beyond Autism to purchase their facility.”
On Mull “NWMCWC was set up by the local community in 2006 to purchase and manage the Langamull and West Ardhu forests in North West Mull. With 2 Triodos loans, we were able to help with a variety of projects, including helping with the construction of a woodshed for timber felled at the woodland.”
And in Wales “NWMCWC was set up by the local community in 2006 to purchase and manage the Langamull and West Ardhu forests in North West Mull. With 2 Triodos loans, we were able to help with a variety of projects, including helping with the construction of a woodshed for timber felled at the woodland.” (4)
In addition Triodos does not use its profits to pay bonuses to its staff. Rather “Triodos believe all our workers should be paid fairly and our focus should be on impact – for the whole Triodos community.” (2)
Choosing – switching to – an ethical banking really does enable our money to create a better future, and can do so in a clearly transparent way, such that we can be proud of what our patronage can achieve.
The following websites help individuals switch to ethical banks:-
(1) https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/money-finance/shopping-guide/current-accounts
NB the other banks recommended in the Ethical Consumer report included Coop Bank/ Smile, Cumberland Building Society, and Nationwide, all scoring 70 or more.
(2) https://www.triodos.co.uk/your-money-has-power
(3) https://www.triodos.co.uk/articles/2024/powering-sustainable-travel-with-ember
The Green Tau 