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.

Counting on … day 28

10th February 2025

Climate change is triggering more extreme weather conditions including heavy rain and flooding. Water butts are great in the summer to help tide us over dry spells when plants need watering, but they can also be useful in slowing the flow of water into the drains. 

It needs a bit of thinking but if we allow water butts to drain slowly after heavy rain into the drains, then they can be a temporary store for excess water next time it rains – a sort of mini water meadow or overflow reservoir. One precaution that is needed is that empty water butts are easily blown over in strong winds so you may want to put some bricks in the bottom of the water butt or tie the butt to something solid. 

For more info – https://www.preventionweb.net/news/if-more-houses-had-water-butts-it-could-help-drought-flooding-and-water-pollution

Or Local Authority web sites – eg https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/environmental-services/flooding/flooding-prevention-reporting-information/why-have-water-butt

Proper 4, 4th Sunday before Lent

9th February 2025

Reflection with readings below

God has created a world that is continually evolving. It is network of changing ecosystems inhabited by an infinite variety of species. Amongst these humans stand out for their capacity reshape the world. The writers of scriptures have known for millennia that humans have the ability to act for good or for ill. A passage in Deuteronomy tells the people that they can chose to do what is right and enjoy fruitful and joyous lives, or they can chose to do what is wrong and suffer lives of destruction and misery. And the situation hasn’t changed. 

Today’s readings tell how God – aware of human frailties – time and again calls on individuals to proclaim God’s wisdom, God’s gospel of salvation, to the peoples of the world. God’s call to Isaiah

 was dramatic and profound. The message Isaiah was called to speak was at a time of great tension and threat. It was not an easy message to proclaim, nor was it easy to hear. In fact the people chose to close their ears and ignore God’s warnings. Catastrophe followed.

Paul was clearly aware of the importance of the message he had to share, and equally clear that his role as a chosen messenger was not based on any merit on his part but purely on the grace of God. In fact Isaiah had shared the same sense of inadequacy. And Simon Peter too.

But whereas Isaiah’s encounter with God was full of awe and wonder, smoke and angels, Simon Peter’s boarders on the mundane. He was doing nothing more than his usually daily job. The unexpected catch of fish was certainly amazing but not out of this world. Yet the call, his encounter with Jesus, struck him to his core and was absolutely life changing. Now he was to use  his skills for a different task, that of reaching out to and drawing in his fellow humankind, to allow them to encounter Jesus and to take on board a new way of living – the way of the Gospel, the way of God’s wisdom.

Here we are two millennia later. The world is in a vulnerable place and now – as always – people need to hear the word of God, to hear the wisdom that will lead them to choose the way of right living, of fruitfulness and joy. 

And we are the people who must speak! 

What must we say, what must we proclaim as the word of God to the world?

That we face an existential crisis of our own (human) making. 

We have pumped so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (as well as other greenhouse gases) principally through burning fossil fuels at ever increasing rates. The warming effect on the atmosphere has already activating  tipping points and feed back loops which are accelerating the impact. We’re seeing year on year increases in temperatures that are exceeding the expectations of the scientists; we’re seeing increasingly frequent and intense adverse weather events – floods, droughts, wildfire, storms, heat domes; we’re seeing melting glaciers and ice caps, rising sea levels and more frequent land and mud slides. We’re seeing the slowing of the Atlantic Meridian Overturning Current. When this current fails to circulate hot and cold waters, we in the UK will find ourselves in a land that has a climate compatible with that in Greenland. At the same time UK’s land area will be shrinking as sea levels rise by 50-70cm. This, on the present trajectory, will happen in the life time of children who have already been born. This is going to be the probably scenario they will face as they enter the job market and – perhaps – choose whether or not to become parents themselves.

We cannot prevent all of the adverse effects of the crisis – many are already baked in. But we can yet limit the worst impacts, we can protect against the most adverse consequences, we can help one another to live as safely and as comfortably as possible, but – and this is a big BUT – only if we act now on the science we have. Only if we act now for the common good – that is for the good of everyone with equality and justice – and not allow the interests of a minority to take precedence. 

We need to engage the attention and the commitment of governments and organisations, of companies and and trade groups, of workers and investors, of social groups and individuals. 

We have to act now. We have to act with urgency. We need to make substantial step changes so that we are more than half way to our goals of global sustainability in the next five years. We should write to our MPs, to Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, and Ed Miliband,  secretary of state for energy security and net zero. We should seek out campaigns and support them, sign petitions, boycott those companies that are supporting the continued expansion of fossil fuels. We should review our financial arrangements – do our banks, insurers, pension providers etc support fossil fuels industries? We should look at our own lifestyles – are we walking the talk? We should be looking out for groups and communities being marginalised and penalised by the climate crisis and the failure to make a just transition to a sustainable world.

This is the gospel message: we need to love our neighbours as ourselves – not just the neighbour next door, but the neighbours in the next town, across the next boarder, and in the farthest parts of the globe. We need to tend and care for the planet knowing that it is the unique  common home that God created for us. We need to love God with our whole being because it is that love that will motivate us to act.

Isaiah 6:1-8, [9-13]

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.” 

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” And he said, “Go and say to this people:

`Keep listening, but do not comprehend;

keep looking, but do not understand.’ 

Make the mind of this people dull,
and stop their ears,
and shut their eyes,

so that they may not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears, 

and comprehend with their minds,
and turn and be healed.” 

Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said:

“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant, 

and houses without people,
and the land is utterly desolate; 

until the Lord sends everyone far away,
and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.

Even if a tenth part remain in it,
it will be burned again, 

like a terebinth or an oak
whose stump remains standing
when it is felled.” 

The holy seed is its stump.

Psalm 138

1 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart; *
before the gods I will sing your praise.

2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and praise your Name, *
because of your love and faithfulness;

3 For you have glorified your Name *
and your word above all things.

4 When I called, you answered me; *
you increased my strength within me.

5 All the kings of the earth will praise you, O Lord, *
when they have heard the words of your mouth.

6 They will sing of the ways of the Lord, *
that great is the glory of the Lord.

7 Though the Lord be high, he cares for the lowly; *
he perceives the haughty from afar.

8 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe; *
you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies;
your right hand shall save me.

9 The Lord will make good his purpose for me; *
O Lord, your love endures for ever;
do not abandon the works of your hands. 

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you–unless you have come to believe in vain.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them–though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Luke 5:1-11

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

God’s kingdom – food for all

8th February 2025

Trust in the Lord and be doing good; dwell in the land and be nourished with truth.
  Let your delight be in the Lord and he will give you your heart’s desire.
Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, and he will bring it to pass. 

Psalm 37:3-5

You Lord are the bread of life;

feed us with your wisdom.

Our meat is to do the Father’s  will.

guide us in all we do

Whenever we eat or drink

Let it be to the glory of God.

A Reading from Mark 4:3-8

 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.  Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” 

Pause for reflection

Response:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
    and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

So may we store water for when and for whoever needs it,

and safeguard those living with the threat of flooding.

As the earth brings forth and sprouts,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So may we harvest what is needed, 

sharing the bounty so no one goes hungry.

So shall God’s word be that goes forth; it shall not return empty,
but it shall accomplish that which is purposed
    and succeed in the thing for which it is sent.

May we pay attention to God’s word,

 following the ways of wisdom that God desires 

for the wellbeing of all creation.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

May we protect the fertility of the soil,

not polluting it with chemicals 

nor stripping it of nourishment.


And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

May we treasure those who tend and farm the land,

paying fair wages and sharing profits.

So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations:

May we welcome God’s kingdom with all our being,

following God’s law with hands, hearts and voices.

(Based on Isaiah 55:10,11 and 61:11)


The Grace is said together

Counting on … day 27

7th February 2025

One way of reducing food waste is to preserve excess food. At the end of the week if I have vegetables and fruit left over from the week’s vegetable box, I will often make it into sauerkraut. In the summer if there is a glut of fruit in the garden, I will turn into jams and chutneys or bottle it to use in the winter. This past autumn I experimented with slicing and drying apples and now they are a lovely semi sweet snack. When UK peppers and tomatoes are at a peak in the shops, I will buy and bottle or pickle them for the winter when they will add colour and variety to the range of winter vegetables. 

The winter months conversely are a good time to take advantage of seasonal citrus fruits, especially Seville oranges, and use them to make Marmalade.

Eco Tips
https://greentau.org/tag/marmalade/

Counting on … day 26

6th February 2025

70% (6.6 million tonnes) of food waste comes from our own kitchens, of which most (6.4 million tonnes) was edible. (1) This is clearly an issue we can all address as individuals.

Here are some tips compiled four years ago when annual domestic food waste was only 4.5 million tonnes! https://greentau.org/2021/08/09/eco-tips-4/

One of the most commonly discarded food items is bread – so here is a different way of using up bread that might otherwise be thrown away, Chester Cake. It is a variation of bread pudding without the eggs, and baked as a pie. This recipe comes from https://www.wandercooks.com/chester-squares-gur-cake/

  1. https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/food-waste-in-the-uk/

Counting on … day 25

5th February 2025

Fairtrade helps ensure fair working conditions  for workers which for many consumers is an issue of social justice that means they are willing to pay a higher price for the product. Ensuring workers have a fair wage and good living conditions is also about the sustainable use of resources. People are resources that we need to value and to treat with respect. 

Food systems here in the UK and in Europe, are highly dependant on the use of part time cheap labour. In these situations workers are not paid fair wages nor are they provided with continuous year round work, holiday and sick pay etc. 

This article from the Guardian describes the case of Julia Quecaño Casimiro, from Chile, who came  to pick cherries in Herefordshire. When she left the farm a month later, she was homeless with little more than £100 in her pocket. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/nov/22/seasonal-cherrypicker-from-chile-files-unfair-dismissal-claim-against-uk-farm?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 24

4th February 2025

Producers of products such as cocoa, coffee and bananas also face problems due to fluctuations in prices triggered by speculators. Fairtrade can help, by guaranteeing a minimum price but also be developing direct, long term relationships between producers and buyers.

“Many initiatives in the cocoa, tea, banana and flower sectors aim to improve the social, environmental and economic performance of producers. They typically focus directly on achieving change at producer and worker level ….[However] trading relationships can have an important influence on a producer’s economic viability and capacity to invest in sustainable practices. In the banana sector in Ecuador, for example,  more secure contracted volumes enable banana plantations to provide more stable year-round employment to their workers. Without these guarantees plantations are often confronted with cancellations in buying orders, making it too risky to provide job security to workers.” (1) 

Sustainable food systems need to protect producers and workers, and this does ultimately protect consumers by better ensuring a steady supply of food. 

  1. https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/legacy/doc/The-Case-for-Fairness-in-Trade.pdf

Counting on … day 23

3rd February 2025

“Farmers are the backbone of our agricultural industry, working tirelessly to bring food to our tables. However, the practice of price manipulation in agricultural markets has severe consequences for these hardworking individuals. One of the most significant impacts on farmers is the financial struggles they face, coupled with a sense of uncertainty about their future.” (1)

Food waste can also be linked with capital waste. Farming requires capital inputs – seed, fertilisers, equipment – for which the return can be unpredictable. Crops may fail due to adverse weather or pests. Prices may fall because of changes in demand or because of the manipulation of the markets by  investors such as hedge funds. 

Recently there seemed to be a surge in demand for British grown fruit – apples, cherries etc. demand peaked and with inflation consumers (and supermarkets) opted for cheaper imports. What do farmers do who have invested in planting orchards? It can be years before the capital is repaid: should they grub up the new trees and cut their losses? 

Do we need more control over prices – limiting the role of investors who are simply playing the market, using subsides to guarantee prices for British grown produce?

  1. https://fastercapital.com/content/Price-Manipulation-in-the-Agricultural-Markets–Impacts-on-Farmers-and-Consumers.html

The Feast of Candlemas

2nd February 2025

Reflection with readings below

Today marks the end of the season of Epiphany with the nature of the baby Jesus made manifest in the temple by first Simeon and then by Anna. This child is God’s salvation – the light for revelation – that is to benefit both Gentiles and the people of Israel. But it is no easy task – no magic transformation. 

“This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed– and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Salvation is a process, a process of change and of challenge. It will demand reassessing our inner thoughts. It will demand falling and rising, the crashing down of our selfishness and our raising up to  new life. 

Malachi tells us that the Christ, the one who will save us, will be like a refiner’s fire and like a fuller’s soap. Christ will refine our thoughts and actions to make them pure – if we accept the process. Christ will scour and cleanse us till our souls are without stain or blemish. Christ will – and does – persist in this task until we are able to ‘present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.’ 

Until all that we do, all that we have to give through our lives, is done in righteousness. 

This process of salvation – of refining and cleaning, of reforming and teaching – is clearly a work of centuries. It is an ongoing process in which each generation is called to accept the ways of God, to live according to God’s values, to work together in righteousness.

Last Sunday’s gospel gave us the passage where Jesus stands up in the synagogue and reveals that he is the one to proclaim the good news. What is this good news? That we all can be healed and changed and so be part of the year of the Lord’s favour. The gospel is not passive; it’s not just an acceptance that Jesus is Lord. It is active: it is ensuring plenty for the poor, freedom for the prisoner, sight for the blind and new life for the oppressed.

Simeon’s words remind us that the gospel message is not just one that is active in the response that it demands of us, it is also likely to be a task that will involve suffering. It will not be a simply ride. Yet like Simeon and Anna and Mary, we should be willing to accept this and still be ready to rejoice, for this is the salvation we have waited and desired. 

Malachi 3:1-4

Thus says the Lord, See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight– indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Psalm 84 

1 How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! *
My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

2 The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *
by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.

3 Happy are they who dwell in your house! *
they will always be praising you.

4 Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *
whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.

5 Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, *
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

6 They will climb from height to height, *
and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

7 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; *
hearken, O God of Jacob.

8 Behold our defender, O God; *
and look upon the face of your Anointed.

9 For one day in your courts is better than a thousand in my own room, *
and to stand at the threshold of the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

10 For the Lord God is both sun and shield; *
he will give grace and glory;

11 No good thing will the Lord withhold *
from those who walk with integrity.

12 O Lord of hosts, *
happy are they who put their trust in you!

Hebrews 2:14-18

Since God’s children share flesh and blood, Jesus himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Luke 2:22-40

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word; 

for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 

a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.” 

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed– and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.

Prayers for Candlemas

1st February 2025

“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations. Isaiah 42:6

You Lord are the light of the world:

help us to see.

Your word is a light for our path:

guide us in all we do.

Whatever we say or do:

let it be to the glory of God.

A reading from Luke 2: 29- 35

“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,

as you have promised.

I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people.

He is a light to reveal God to the nations,

and he is the glory of your people Israel.” 

Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

Response:

Where will that light shine?

Will it reach the tops of the  mountains where the glaciers are fast disappearing?

Will it follow the rivers that flow down from the mountains? 

Will it light upon the people who rely on the river for their livelihoods?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

Where will that light shine?

Will it reach the depths of the earth where conglomerates mine for minerals and riches?

Will it reach the depth of the oceans where conglomerates drill for oil and gas?

Will it follow the flow of money that skips lightly past those who labour,  

and fills the ever deepening pockets of the wealthy?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

Where will the light shine?

Will it reach the verdant understory deep within the rainforests? 

Or will it find that space already punctured by sugar and soy plantations?

Will it be embraced by a rich biodiverse ecosystem – 

or will it search desperately for indigenous lives that are no more?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

Where will the light shine?

Will it glitter on the vast whiteness of the poles? 

Or will it sink into the void that melting ice has left behind?

Will it bring life to the Arctic tern and the walrus? 

Will it be a ray of light for the penguin chick and the polar bear cub?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

Where will the light shine?

Will reach inside  apartment blocks  split open by bombs?

Will it reach inside the ‘temporary’ abodes of the refugee camp?

Will it reach inside those precarious homes where the need for heat 

faces a constant battle with the need to eat?

Will it spotlight communities in need of levelling up?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

For the times we have masked your light so that its message is obscured:

Lord have mercy.

For the times we have refocused your light away from those in need:

Lord have mercy.

For the times we have directed your light away from our own shortcomings:

Lord have mercy.

For the times we have refused to see where your light is pointing:

Lord have mercy.

Renew in us your spark that we may be visible agents of your Kingdom and active agents of your purpose.

Amen.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5