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.

Last Sunday before Lent

11th February 2024

Reflection ( readings follow on below)

I love the idea that there was a company of prophets – ‘prophets R us’? Was there an apprenticeship course? Were there entrance exams? Or CPD (continuing professional development) courses? 

As I have mentioned before, I see climate activists as some of today’s prophets. And yes we do have, if not companies, then certainly groups. These groups are important for mutual support, for sharing ideas, as a testing ground where we can explore our thinking, for pooling and sharing skills, and the capacity to reach out to a wider audience.

What keeps prophets going? What – or who – inspires them? Where does their power come from? From God, from the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes this can feel overwhelming as one is aware of the enormity of the task that lies ahead. Sometimes this can feel as if a glorious window has opened showing all the wonder that is possible.

In today’s readings God’s power is experience through the physical world: the waters of the River Jordan that part, the bright light that illumines Jesus – and through the visionary world: the chariot of fire that carries Elijah away, and the voice of God echoing from the cloud. Whilst in today’s Psalm,  God calls to the heavens and the earth to witness the judgment to be passed on humankind. How will we measure up to God’s expectations? 

Much of the Bible is concerned with the way people live with and alongside each other, and with and alongside the land – nature. The Bible begins with stories describing the beginning of life on earth and  the interrelationship between the different  parts – the land and the water,  the earth and plants, the air and the water and things that fly and swim, the land and its creatures – and the role that God delegates to humans. The Bible ends in the Book of Revelation with a new creation – a garden city of healing and harmony, where God’s will is always done. God’s presence is described as being a shining brightness that negates the need for sunlight. This garden city, new Jerusalem, is a place of enlightenment. 

Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Corinth reminds them that there are two ways of seeing the world: the blinkered way of ‘the world’ and the enlightened way of the gospel. The first sees only a shadow of reality, whilst the second sees the whole of creation illumined by the glory of God. We who believe the gospel can look to see that radiance in the world around us; we can see the glory of God shining through creation; and we can see the vision of how God desires this world to be. That vision became a reality in Jesus and is the vision that will accompany us through Lent to Easter. Let us stride forth into Lent as a company of God’s prophets.

2 Kings 2:1-12

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”

Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.”

Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Psalm 50:1-6

1 The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken; *
he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

2 Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, *
God reveals himself in glory.

3 Our God will come and will not keep silence; *
before him there is a consuming flame,
and round about him a raging storm.

4 He calls the heavens and the earth from above *
to witness the judgment of his people.

5 “Gather before me my loyal followers, *
those who have made a covenant with me
and sealed it with sacrifice.”

6 Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; *
for God himself is judge.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Mark 9:2-9

Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Counting on … day 42

11th February 2024

Write a thank you note – to a friend, to someone who does something exceptional or maybe someone who is so consistently helpful that no one really notices. Or maybe to the manager of a local business or service, or maybe your local councillor or MP. There are so many people who do make a positive different to our daily lives.

Lent – refusing to comply

10th February 2024

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein. Psalm 24:1

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 from Amos 5:14, 6:1-7

Seek good and not evil,
   that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
   just as you have said.

Alas for those who are at ease in Zion,
   and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
the notables of the first of the nations,
   to whom the house of Israel resorts!
Cross over to Calneh, and see;
   from there go to Hamath the great;
   then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
   Or is your territory greater than their territory,
O you that put far away the evil day,
   and bring near a reign of violence? 


Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory,
   and lounge on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock,
   and calves from the stall;
who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
   and like David improvise on instruments of music;
who drink wine from bowls,
   and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
   but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
   and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away. 

Repentance:

Like carbon to the atmosphere:

We have added to the world’s woes.

Like nutrients from the soil;

We have taken without restoring.

Like heat to the ocean:

We have sown destruction.

All: Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.

In our forgiving and being forgiven:

Bring in your reign, O God: Let Godly hopes prevail.

Tuesdays in climate emergency

A Lament for our age:

When advertisers exhort us to drive ever larger faster cars –

and so called sports utility vehicles –

We shall not comply.

When fashion houses entreat us to buy new clothes 

for the beach and yet more for the barbecue, 

clothes for lounging and more for reclining – 

We shall not comply.

When top chefs urge us to buy tropical fruits and exotic grains, 

to eat strawberries in January and avocados in September –

We shall not comply.

When tour companies lure us with trips to the Tropics, 

all flights included,  or city breaks by air –

We shall not comply.

When weekend magazines promote this season’s new colour schemes, 

must-have wall papers and furnishings: 

out with the old and in with the new –

We shall not comply.

When tech industries unveil this year’s new phone, 

the upgraded tablet and colourful but irrepairable head sets –

We shall not comply.

When governments tell us  that coal mines are good 

and oil economical, 

whilst asking for our vote –

We shall not comply.

When trend setters define the next unmissable accessory 

and deride what was last season’s in-thing – 

We shall not comply.

When politicians tell us national needs are all important 

and foreigners must wait – 

We shall not comply.

Holy God, 

keep awake in us a true love for the earth, 

its flora and fauna, our brothers and sisters.

Strengthen our resolve to live within our means, 

to act with compassion, and following your will –

We shall COMPLY!

Green Tau: issue 87

8th February 2024

What is the purpose of running a business?

A business is an enterprise that sells something it makes or sells a service it provides. It can be a one person operation or a multinational employing thousands. 

The business operation will incur costs and will remain viable provided it covers those costs. The business may need capital to get started or to expand it operation, and it may need loans to balance out peaks and troughs in its cash flow. Usually the business will over time earn more from what it sells than its costs and so makes a profit. Such profits are usually kept by the people owning the business. In some cases that might be some or all of the people who work in the business, in some cases it might be both employees and customers (eg a cooperative), and in some cases it might be external shareholders.

The success of a business is usually equated with its ability to make a profit. A successful business makes large profits, less successful businesses make smaller profits, and those that make no profit close down. 

But is profit the only way of measuring success? What about customer satisfaction? What about being a good employer? What about the business’s contribution to the stability and wellbeing of the local community? 

Thames Water makes high profits and has the worst for receiving complaints from customers. Might a more successful water company be one that best provides what customer need – clean, reliable drinking water?

Amazon is highly profitable company but many of its employees are both poorly paid and subject to stressful working conditions. Employees feel they are being constantly monitored and that even taking time to go to the toilet is counted against them. Might a  successful company be one that provides long term secure employment that gives job satisfaction, wages that support comfortable living standards, and credible pension? It could be us or our neighbour or our children who are looking for gainful employment.

Small rural communities – and increasingly deprived urban communities – are finding that they have no local bank, fresh food shops, dental surgery etc as the pressure to maintain profits pushes business to leave an area or to downsize. This is not good for the local community and can become a spiral where the more businesses leave, the more quickly the area becomes depressed and the more other businesses leave. With the businesses go local jobs. The heart of the community is quickly lost. Might a successful business be one that adds vitality to its community, is valued by local people and keeps jobs and money circulating with the community?

Actually in all three of these scenarios one might feel that the customer’s wishes were not be valued by the businesses. What has happened to the understanding that ‘the customer is always right’? How often have you been held on a phone call to have the oft repeated – but barely credible – ‘Your call is important to us’ automatically relayed to you? 

It does seem that the idea that the main purpose of a business is to make a profit does not benefit the consumer nor the community. Further what we are now increasingly seeing, is that the primacy of profit is also detrimental to the environment. 

In Herefordshire the large number of industrial scale chicken farms has led to high levels of effluent running into the River Wye, polluting it with phosphorus and killing its wildlife. 

In Spain strawberry growers have been abstracting so much water for their crops, that the Doñana national park – a renowned wetland area – is being depleted of water threatening the survival of many plants and creatures including flamingos, spoonbills and the glossy ibis. 

Globally the burning of fossil fuel products has triggered an escalating climate crisis threatening all forms of life, whilst the fossil fuel companies have continued to make recording breaking profits. 

One approach to this problem is to replace the traditional bottom line of ‘loss or profit’ with a ‘triple bottom line’ which measures the business’s impact over three area: economic, environmental and  social – or the 3Ps: people, planet and profit. It is however harder to find ways of measuring the loss and profit aspects of people and planet, and of doing so in a way that allows for comparison across businesses. How do we put a price on community stability or clean air?

Suffolk Libraries commissioned a research company to assess the value of their libraries. Using surveys, focus groups and modelling, the researchers found ways of measuring the social impact of the services the libraries offered that translated into monetary values. They concluded that for every £1 spent, the social value gained was £6.07.

The environmental impact of a business might be measured in terms of carbon emissions, or in terms of the cost of making good damage to the environment. If the chicken farms in Herefordshire has to pay the cost of cleaning and revitalising the River Wye, it would make a significant impact on the bottom line of their businesses. In 2021 local MPs wrote to the government asking for £15 million to clean up the river.

One  organisation that has developed a way of measuring  better business

practices is B Lab. This not-for-profit international organisation has developed a certification system that “measures a company’s entire social and environmental performance. From supply chain and input materials to charitable giving and employee benefits, B Corp Certification verifies that a business is meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.” Successful businesses become certified as B Corps. (For more info – https://bcorporation.uk/)

The campaign for better business practices is ongoing and seeks to include not just those businesses with a conscience, but to extend the expectation of good practice in all the 3Ps, to all businesses. B Lab UK and a coalition of more than 2400 businesses, is campaigning to amend Section 172 of the Companies Act. At present this section directs  businesses should prioritise the success – ie the profitability – of the company for the benefit of its members – ie shareholders. The proposed amendment would direct that businesses should prioritise the purposes – ie the social, economic and environmental impacts – of the company. (For more info – https://betterbusinessact.org/   and https://thehumanbusiness.co.uk/better-business-act/)

 Change in the way businesses operate is both possible and achievable.

Green Tau: issue 86

5th February 2024

Banking on a better future

The world – people, animals, plants, birds, economies, agriculture, water supplies etc – is already suffering from the effects of climate change and this is a crisis that will continue to grow (exponentially) unless action is taken. The major contributor of the greenhouse gases cause this, is fossil fuels. 

The IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report (2023) states  “Limiting human-caused global warming requires net zero CO2 emissions. Cumulative carbon emissions until the time of reaching net-zero CO2 emissions and the level of greenhouse gas emission reductions this decade largely determine whether warming can be limited to 1.5°C or 2°C (high confidence). Projected CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure without additional abatement would exceed the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C (50%) (high confidence)”. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/resources/spm-headline-statements/

In other words, our current production levels and use of fossil fuels will, cumulatively (because they build up and remaining in the atmosphere for generations), cause global temperatures rises in excess of 1.5C.  (In 2023 the global temperature rise was 1.2C above the average for NASA’s baseline period (1951-1980))

For more insight into the urgency of the situation, see https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/ipcc-climate-crisis-report-delivers-final-warning-on-15c?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The IPPC’s report goes on to to say “Finance, technology and international cooperation are critical enablers for accelerated climate action. If climate goals are to be achieved, both adaptation and mitigation financing would need to increase many-fold. There is sufficient global capital to close the global investment gaps but there are barriers to redirect capital to climate action.”

Finance is key but it will only be effective if it is targeting projects that reduce emissions. One would expect therefore to be seeing an ongoing g and rapid transfer of money away from fossil fuel projects and into the support of renewable energy. Yet in January 2023 Reuters reported “The share of bank finance going to renewable energy rather than fossil fuels has little changed in six years, raising questions about how fast lenders are pushing energy clients to become greener, according to research published Tuesday. Since 2016 renewable energy has taken 7% of a total $2.5 trillion in bank loans and bond underwriting for energy activities, according to a report commissioned by environmental groups including Sierra Club and Fair Finance International.” https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/bank-funding-renewables-stagnates-vs-oil-gas-report-2023-01-24/

A report, Banking on Climate Chaos, records that fossil fuel financing from the world’s 60 largest banks reached $5.5 trillion in the six years since the Paris Agreement, 2015, and 2022. Of these JP Morgan, the worst bank overall, financed $39 billion in 2022, so totalling $434 billion between 2016 – 2022. Top rating amongst the European banks was Barclays, which took seventh place in the league table, having $190.5 billion over the time frame. 

Barclays provides finance to numerous oil companies including Exxon, Shell, BP, Chevron, Total, and Equinor. This is finance that supports both existing and new projects. Yet there is no space in the world’s carbon budgets for this continuing increase in emissions. “Potential emissions from fossil fuels already in production or under construction – the wells already drills or being drilled – already takes the world well past 2C of global warming… world cannot afford any fossil fuel expansion…”  https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/

Not surprisingly a number of climate concerned groups are pushing for change – both of banks that they stop financing the fossil fuel industry, and of customers that they stop using these highly destructive banks. 

It is often argued that moving one’s money out of Barclays will have no impact as it will merely be replaced by money from elsewhere. I’m not sure that that can always be true – there must at some point be a finite sum of money to be banked. But turning it round, the money you move can then be invested by a greener bank to support renewable energy and other beneficial projects – and this indeed might be money they would otherwise not get. And don’t worry of the amount you are banking with is small: for every £ deposited, banks will lend a multiple amount. Even if that multiplier was  only 2 it would double the financial contribution that you money makes to green investments.

Here in the UK Make My Money Matter is calling on individuals to “green their money” as well as encouraging students and alumni to call on their universities to switch to  sustainable  banks – https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/

Another useful website is ‘switch it green’  helping people find a better bank – https://www.switchit.green/about

Just Money offers another  perspective on the issue, this time from a Christian view point, and has advice and resources for churches and charities wishing to switch to green banking.  

I have been involved with Christian Climate Action’s ongoing campaign to encourage charities to switch to greener banks – especially those charities whose remit encompasses people and places adversely affected by the climate crisis. To date Christian Aid, Greenbelt and Oxfam have all declared their decision to switch away from Barclays Bank. Read more on this at – https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/2-february/news/uk/more-charities-sever-ties-with-barclays-over-stance-on-fossil-fuels

And it is not just charities that are being asks to reconsider their banking arrangements. The same ask is being made of churches and dioceses. Christians are called to care for creation and to love their neighbour – which are actually overlapping  vocations – and switching to a bank that does not pursue profit through the financing of fossil fuels,  is one of the easier steps  they can take!

Prayer vigil outside Oxfam’s headquarters.