Judith Russenberger

Counting on … day 221

25th November 2024

Today sees the start of the final round of negotiations at the Global Plastics Treaty taking place in Busan, Korea. The aim is to reach a global agreement to cut plastic production. At present it is predicted that global plastic production will increase by 300% by 2050 whilst consuming between a fifth and a third of our remaining carbon budget. (1)

Whilst recycling is a key part of reducing production, even the fossil fuel industry now agrees that recycling is not easy and will not be possible in many cases. (2)

For more info – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/24/world-unable-cope-10-years-talks-un-global-treaty-to-end-plastic-waste?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Green Tau: issue 98

Walking the Talk

24th November 2024

A few weeks ago, whilst I and others were holding our weekly Earth Vigil outside Parliament, a passerby stopped to quiz us. In transpired that he was not interested in the wellbeing of the environment and rather wanted to justify his position by proving that we were hypocrites.

His line was that we could not be taken seriously in calling for a rescinding of the Rosebank licence whilst possessing shoes, clothes, rucksacks etc made from plastics/ ie oil. He would not listen to our response that we were constrained by what one could buy in a world that is still heavily embedded in using oil. Even as our economies transitions away from oil, it is still going to take a while before sufficient alternatives take over from plastic. As one person interjected, “When Edison was designing the lightbulb he had to rely on candle light!” (Or possibly gas).

But what really incensed me was that I do try and do everything I can to live ecologically. I wear second hand clothes, darn my socks, patch my rucksack and my trainers, shop at a refill shop, avoid buying anything in a plastic wrapper, don’t fly, eat a vegan diet that includes wonky and unwanted fruit and vegetables, source beans and pulses grown in the UK. And flour for my bread is milled in a proper windmill in Cambridgeshire!

I do do all I can to walk the talk!

And it’s not easy especially when you feel your are a minority of one. When we are away from our normal locality – and especially so when on holiday in Switzerland (we go by train) – it feels as if everyone else is saying, why are you so awkward? What difference can it make whether or not you eat a little cheese, eat a cake made with butter, an ice cream made with milk? Will eating a croissant make any difference to the world?

When I stay with family and they make a special dish just for me, I feel I awkward and think I must seem very pedantic.

Or when others are discussing their past and future holidays, a quick (and let’s agree in the present tax regime, cheap) flight to Italy/ Turkey/Spain, or a leisurely holiday exploring Japan, Korea and Malaysia, or a winter trip to sunny Oz. Am I grouch or a kill joy because I won’t fly? And this is where I do feel guilty: am I being really selfish as I know my husband would love for us to travel the world?

So why is it important to tread this lonely path?

Firstly because unless someone starts, no one will ever start. I maybe the first not to fly amongst our friends but hopefully I won’t be the last.

Secondly because the more people take these steps the easier it will be for other to follow. If I always ask for a vegan cake when I’m buying a coffee, then hopefully in a few years time, vegan cakes will be the norm on cafes. Plant based milks are pretty much standard nowadays! (But why then current trend of charging extra?)

Thirdly because the more people are seen to be travelling by train not plane, or eating humous not cheese, or carrying a keep cup rather than using a single use throw away cup, the more normal such behaviour becomes.

Fourth as such patterns of behaviour become normalised – even popular – so businesses and governments will change their thinking.

Fifthly because eventually the world could change for the better!

Yet I am not hopeful that any of this will happen fast enough to prevent the huge catastrophe that the climate crisis is forming. And that makes it a very hard path to tread. I am making life awkward for myself and my husband and my friends and family with only a very small chance that it will make life better for them. But equally I know that not trying would be even more hurtful.

And finally, yes I do it because it makes me feel just a little bit better; that I am at least doing something rather than nothing.

The Feast of Christ the King

24th November 2024

Reflection with readings below

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. The feast was first celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church in 1925, moving the the last Sunday of Ordinary Time in 1970. It was included by both Anglican, and other Churches, in the Revised Common Lectionary in 1974 where it forms the conclusion of the Kingdom Season and therefore the conclusion of the Church’s year.

The feast celebrates Jesus as the king of the universe or perhaps more usefully, as king of all creation.

Today’s gospel reading introduces the question as to whether this is a worldly or heavenly kingdom, with Jesus asserting that “My kingdom is not from this world”. This I feel declares that Christ’s kingdom is not one that adheres to,or is shaped by ‘worldy’ rules and practices – ie those that are shaped by greed, selfishness, cruelty etc. Rather Christ’s kingdom is that kingdom whose values we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, the values of God that we wish to be present and applied on earth just as in heaven.

What does it mean for Jesus to be king? The passage from the prophet Daniel, suggests it is to be our judge. A judge can be the one who sifts the evidence, ways up the options, and tells you where you are going right or wrong. A skilled judge can then give directions as to how to get on to the right pathway.

If we have ears to hear, we will benefit from Christ’s judgement!

The effective reign of a king requires support from the realms’ citizens. If that support is lacking, it will undermine the king’s ability to take action and to change things. To be a citizen of Christ’s kingdom is to show our allegiance to Jesus. How do we do this? By acknowledging that relationship. By reverence. By doing the things that Jesus has shown us – that we act kindly , seek justice, walk humbly before God; that we be a good neighbour… praying the Lord’s Prayer as if we mean it.

But we are still faced with the reality that Jesus’s kingdom is not ‘of this world’ whereas ‘of this world’ is the predominant system in place on earth. How is God’s rule to become not just the predominate, but the only rule?

Kingdom parables suggest that we should be agents or seeds of change – like yeast in the dough; or like the mustard seed that keeps on growing and providing a common home for everyone; or like treasure seekers hunting for buried treasure wherever it may be found; or like merchants who will let go of our personal wealth to gain the pearl above price.

We need to be counter cultural agents of change that challenge the ‘of this world’ rule that allows companies to make profits from exploiting the destructive use of fossil fuels; that allows nations who have benefited from exploitative practices to avoid paying for the damage caused to others; that allows the poor to go hungry – both here in the UK and across the world – whilst the rich squander the earth’s natural wealth; that encourages governments to sell – and profit – from weapons sold to the perpetrators to war crimes. There is no end to the things we as Christians should be challenging as unjust. And there is no end to the ways in which we can reshape our lives to enable us to be better neighbours not just towards our human kin, but to all living things with whom we share this earth, our common home.

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

As I watched,

thrones were set in place,
and an Ancient One took his throne,

his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames,
and its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued
and flowed out from his presence.

A thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.

The court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

As I watched in the night visions,

I saw one like a human being
coming with the clouds of heaven.

And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.

To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,

that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,

and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed.

Psalm 93

1 The Lord is King;
he has put on splendid apparel; *
the Lord has put on his apparel
and girded himself with strength.

2 He has made the whole world so sure *
that it cannot be moved;

3 Ever since the world began, your throne has been established; *
you are from everlasting.

4 The waters have lifted up, O Lord,
the waters have lifted up their voice; *
the waters have lifted up their pounding waves.

5 Mightier than the sound of many waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea, *
mightier is the Lord who dwells on high.

6 Your testimonies are very sure, *
and holiness adorns your house, O Lord,
for ever and for evermore.

Revelation 1:4b-8

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be. Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

John 18:33-37

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Counting on day 220

22nd November 2024

Whilst the Prime Minister said that the new NDC target would not impact daily life, we will have to make adjustments – but these need not necessarily be uncomfortable, or expensive or impractical adjustments. We will be important parts of the process of change; we will need to count on ourselves and each other in making them.

Here is an interesting thought about making repairs: “There is the planet to consider. The sociologist Pierre Bourdieu might have considered mending my socks to be an act of resistance against the culture of fast-moving consumer goods; the environmental catastrophe of high capitalism” (1)

(1) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/04/in-finding-beauty-in-the-broken-we-can-form-a-bridge-between-the-mundane-and-the-divine?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 219

21st November 2024

Any alterations made to reduce carbon emissions need to be sustainable in the long term. Simply switching all combustion engines for electric ones is not sustainable as each new electric engine will make unsustainable demands on rare minerals. Further mining such minerals where they are found in less developed countries often leads to the exploitation of people and pollution of the land.

Sustainability can be improved by the frequency with which a vehicle is used. A car that spends most of its life parked in the road, is not a sustainable use of limited resources, where as a bus or train that is in frequent use, carry larger numbers of people is a more sustainable option.

Active travel is always a good option with low emissions and significant health benefits!

Counting on … day 218

20 November 2024

While the power sector has done the heavy lifting of Britain’s emissions cuts so far, the 2035 target will require bigger cuts in sectors such as domestic transport — which accounts for more than a quarter of Britain’s emissions — and buildings, responsible for about a fifth.(1)

The transport industries – providers and manufacturers- the government and we as users, need to each make the shift to sustainable travel options.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65c0d15863a23d0013c821e9/2022-final-greenhouse-gas-emissions-statistical-release.pdf

Counting on … day 217

19th November 2024

Last week the UK announced its 2035 NDC* target – to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% on 1990 levels. The previous 2035 target was for a 78% reduction. The UK has an interim target of cutting greenhouse gases by 68% by 2030.

Greenpeace UK’s senior political adviser, Rebecca Newsom, said in a statement. “But targets need to be backed up with bold action. When the government submits its action plan next year, it must include details of how the UK will deliver a full phase out of oil and gas.” Hopefully we can count on the government to curtail the development of the Rosebank oil field. The development of the oilfield is in the balance as judges on Scotland deliberate as to the legality of the original licensing process.

nationally determined contribution – ie each nations’s undertaking to reduce national emissions so as to meet the targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement

Counting on … day 216

18th November 2024

One of the slogans of climate activism is ‘Make the Polluters Pay’ which feels very right and grounded in what is just – a sort of global scale ‘Rylands and Fletcher’ case: if A uses the land and in so doing damages land belonging to B, then A must pay damages to B. So if Shell’s extracting of oil pollutes the adjoining land, Shell should pay the appropriate sum in damages.

Burning fossil fuels pollutes the atmosphere, increasing levels of carbon dioxide, fuelling climate change and triggering damaging adverse weather events such as floods, droughts, wildfires etc. logically the polluters – those burning the fossil fuels – should pay up. But fossil fuels have been burnt by so many different people – individuals heating their homes, small metal workshops, whole industries, transport systems etc -and over a considerable period of time. The United Kingdom has produced a cumulative total of 79,777,710,000 tonnes of CO2 since 1750. When we then call on the Government to ensure payment of a fair share in climate finance to vulnerable countries in the global south, that payment needs to reflect the scope of the damage our nation has caused.

Proper 28

17th November 2024

Reflection with readings below

Jesus is quite clear in talking with his companions that the future is not all rosey, but that troubled times lay ahead, that the certainty of existing structures – whether of the temple, or of the rich and powerful, or indeed of the Roman Empire – were underscored by frailty and impermanence.

And I don’t think the scenario has changed much since then. The world is still beset by troubled times – of human making! – and of unstable structures that could fall at any moment. Wars and coups, flash floods and financial crashes, are all possibilities.

Yet we are asked to be steadfast, to keep the faith, to hold on to hope. Indeed we are called to be like bright stars, leading the way by right living. Right living is what we discern from listening to God speaking into our hearts, night after night. It is what we discern through the laws that God writes into our hearts and minds. It is there in the DNA of creation – that we should love and live in harmony with each and every part of creation. And just as we know we are called to love, we also know we are to be recipients of that same love – that creation loves us back.

We are not merely single, stand-alone individuals. We are interrelated, interdependent beings, co-participants in the dance of life. The writer of Hebrews reminds us – and urges us to action – that we should “provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.”

And this is what we must do, even in the face of crises and conflicts, of despair and destruction. Yesterday across the world people held demonstrations calling for Global Justice – for a fair sharing of resources, for a just financial redistribution giving support to the most needy and ensuring that those who pollute and abuse their positions, pay up. Within the confines of COP29 in Azerbaijan, such protests were perforce, silent and stationary, as protestors lined the corridors between conference rooms. In London, people in their thousands marched (slowly) with banners and placards from the British Museum (which still receives sponsorship from a major oil producer) to Whitehall + the heart of government. I can’t say that we were optimistic that we would win the changes we sought, that our and other governments would overnight become way more generous in providing climate finance, that oil companies would use their excessive profits to make good the damage they have caused. But we did make a stand, we did encourage each other, we did reaffirm our believe that we are called to love one another and to seek justice for those who suffer.

Love is not a mere warm feeling; it is action taken against the odds, faithfully following the one true Christ.

Daniel 12:1-3

The Lord spoke to Daniel in a vision and said, “At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Psalm 16

1 Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you; *
I have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord,
my good above all other.”

2 All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land, *
upon those who are noble among the people.

3 But those who run after other gods *
shall have their troubles multiplied.

4 Their libations of blood I will not offer, *
nor take the names of their gods upon my lips.

5 O Lord, you are my portion and my cup; *
it is you who uphold my lot.

6 My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; *
indeed, I have a goodly heritage.

7 I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; *
my heart teaches me, night after night.

8 I have set the Lord always before me; *
because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.

9 My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; *
my body also shall rest in hope.

10 For you will not abandon me to the grave, *
nor let your holy one see the Pit.

11 You will show me the path of life; *
in your presence there is fullness of joy,
and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Hebrews 10:11-25

Every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds,”

he also adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Mark 13:1-8

As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.”

We do not presume to walk on this earth

17th November 2024

Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and not we are ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3

You Lord, are the source of all good things:

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation:

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:

May we live together in peace.

A reading: Deuteronomy 11: 11-17

But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.

Response:
We do not presume to walk on this earth,

O merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies
We are not worthy so much
as to gather up the leftover grains

nor glean the fruits fallen from your trees –
But you are the same Lord,
whose property is always to have mercy:
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
so to live where you plant us,

that we may work in harmony with nature

and share your rich harvest with all.

Amen

Thank you God for trees and fruit, herbs and grasses

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness,

we have cut down forests and burnt the scrub,

when we have prioritised monoculture and marginalised diversity,

when we have drained rivers and aquifers

favouring cash crops over native plants.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for birds of the air,

the creatures of the land and the fish of the sea.

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness,

we have promoted our own livestock and made refugees of the native wildlife,

when we enlarged our own living space and made other creatures homeless.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for soil and water and the fresh air we breathe.

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness

we take from the soil but do not give back,

when we pollute the waters with waste we do not want,

when we fill the air with an excess of greenhouse gases.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for our brothers and sisters, our kith and kin

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness

we rob them of their livelihoods,

when we divert their wealth into our pockets,

when we ignore their pleas for help.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Lord God, as you made us in your image, that we might live with you

and, as your Son took on our form that he might live among us,

you have shown us how to live.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Amen.