Judith Russenberger

Counting on … day 1.168

8th September 2023

Trees are good at creating a better environment for us to live in – shade and cooling the air, limiting flooding, absorbing air pollution, and protection from winds. They can also improve our mental and physical wellbeing.

There is some research that suggests having indoor plants can also benefit our health and well-being – but this does rely on someone taking the time to look after them. This too may have its own benefits!

For more info on the health benefits of trees –

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/08/forest-bathing-japanese-practice-in-west-wellbeing?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/90720.html

For more info on the health benefits of indoor plants –

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66186492

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20201022-why-living-with-and-tending-plants-is-good-for-you

Green Tau: issue 77

7th September 2023

“Behold how good it is to dwell together in unity.” Ps 133:1

Recently I was sitting outside Parliament as part of the weekly Earth Vigil, praying for the wellbeing of the earth, for wisdom and discernment for those in positions of authority, and relief for those who are suffering. Parliament Square is a regular place of protest – especially on Wednesdays when PMQs takes place. Some protestors come weekly, others sporadically, and their concerns range from the welfare of women in Iran, victims of oppression in Armenia, lack of finance for special educational needs, anti – Brexit complaints, justice for fathers… This particular week the noisiest protest group were the Anti ULEZ campaigners. They came whistles and truck horns, an air raid siren, loud hailers, and – on the streets – a succession of old non ULEZ compliant vehicles which were driven noisily round and round Parliament Square. As well as being physically noisy, they carried placards which were visually ‘noisy’ calling named individuals as liar and rats, or claiming that Sadiq Khan had blood on his hands. They spoke of the toxic air lies and the death of democracy. They declared ‘Our roads, our freedom’.

Clearly a significant group of people felt aggrieved by the extension to the ULEZ boundary. How can this situation be remedied if we are to ‘live together in unity’? And what about the competing demands – rights – of those who suffer from the adverse effects of air pollution? Or of the need to reduce carbon emissions to forestall the worsening effects of climate change? Or what about the difficulties faced by those who cannot afford private transport and must rely on public transport? Who is standing up for their needs – their rights?

Dialogue has to be one way forward: being able to listen to the other and in return presenting a well constructed counter argument. And hopefully finding some areas of overlap, adjustment or compromise. (Although we may this hard if we are convinced that we are right).

In this instance, would the aim of the dialogue be to encourage the anti-ULEZ campaigners to see that there are other interests to take into account? Ie those with health issues, the young and the elderly who are more vulnerable to air pollution – and that taxpayers and society bears the cost of poor health caused by air pollution. (A study carried out in 2020 calculated cost of air pollution in London to be £10.32 billion a year. The research quantified the monetary value of premature death, hospital treatment, lost working days and other health costs caused by particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/21/london-the-worst-city-in-europe-for-health-costs-from-air-pollution)

Would another area of discussion be to explore the use of private vehicles as part of an integrated transport scheme that would benefit more people? Here do I need to learn more about people’s dependency on private vehicles, the advantages this opportunity gives them, and, if this dependency were to change, how they could best be supported and what alternatives they would be seeking?

And likewise a discussion to explore how private vehicles and an integrated transport scheme can tackle the climate crisis, together with an exploration of how the increasing change in the climate is – and will increasingly continue – affecting people’s lives?

And might there be scope for discussing how decisions are made and how our political system could be improved?

Notes to self:

How easily can people get to my local hospitals by public transport/ active travel?

Ditto dental and GP surgeries

Ditto churches, crematoria and cemeteries

How easily can people get to local shops and supermarkets by public transport/ active travel? Do shops offer delivery services?

How easily can people get to local parks, recreation centres, swimming pools, green and blue spaces by public transport/ active travel? What about theatres and cinemas, and local visitor destinations – and is this true late into the evening too?

How easily can people get to local school, colleges, places of learning and libraries by public’s transport/ active travel?

How easily can people get to local places of employment by public transport/ active travel? And is this true late at night and early in the morning? How do people who work in the public transport sector get to work?

What facilities or provision would help tradespeople moving between jobs, or for carers moving between clients? Do we expect midwives to revert back to bicycles or should we see provision of an electric car for them as part of the local infrastructure?

If all these come back with positives for my locality, is the same true of other areas or do I live in a well-serviced area?

I live in an urban area but how would these questions play out in a rural setting?

If I am setting up an event or meeting, do I consider ease of access as an important criteria?

Counting on … day 1.167

7th September 2023

Where it is not possible to plant a tree, or as an interim measure, we could grow green walls. Green walls are where climbing plants are grown either directly against, or on support structures integrated on the outside walls of a building. Growing plants such as ivy on the outside walls can reduce internal temperatures by about 2.5C. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306261916313824

A step up from green walls are living walls. These “are constructed with planter boxes or felt; these do not require the plants to be climbing, they often need to be irrigated and plants for intensive green roofs are frequently suitable for these systems.” * Such walls can sometimes be seen on the sides of tower blocks – offices and hotels – and can presumably provide a green overcoat for buildings that outstrip the height to which plants can naturally grow.

*https://www.rhs.org.uk/garden-features/green-walls

Counting on …. Day 1.166

6th September 2023

I read recently that a tree provides the equivalent cooling of two air conditioning units. That must depend on the size of the tree and of the AC unit but it is an interesting thought. How much cheaper it must be to plant a tree than buy and run an AC unit. But of course a tree needs time to grow. Should we not be planting as many trees as we can now to provide cooling for the years to come when summer temperatures may be routinely hotter?

Last year at the Lambeth Conference, the delegates agreed to set up a global Communion Forest. Provinces, dioceses and churches were encouraged to plant trees to celebrate events such as baptisms, weddings and confirmations, by planting trees. It is a good idea and even where we don’t have the space ourselves to plant these trees, we can sponsor the planting of trees in woodland areas such as those cared for by the Woodlands Trust.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/give/dedications/

Counting on … day 1.165

5th September 2023

Trees and forested areas are, we know, good for the environment. They cool the air, store carbon, absorb water before later releasing it. They support a diversity of plant and animal life. They protect and enrich soils. And they improve our physical health and mental well being.

Sadly tree overage in the UK is only 13% – compared with 38% across Europe and 31% world wide.

Planting and looking after new trees and maintaining and protecting existing trees is surely common sense! And where trees are cultivated for use, including felling, that needs to be carried out in a way that protects and nurtures the ecosystem just as one should with a herd or flock of animals.

https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/forestry-statistics/forestry-statistics-2018/international-forestry-3/forest-cover-international-comparisons/

Counting on … day 1.164

4th September 2023

1st September to 3rd October is creationtide – time to celebrate the awe and wonder of creation and to renew our commitment to care for all of creation. This year’s particular theme is justice. Determining what is fair and right can be a tricky balancing act between competing needs of plants and creatures and humans. Sustainable ecosystems perhaps best demonstrate what is possible – where species support each other, where what is input is generous, and where what is extracted is not detrimental to the whole.

16th Sunday after Trinity, Proper 17

3rd September 2023

“You’re standing on holy ground!”

How often have you been struck with awe and wonder? Seeing something that catches our attention. Brings us up short. Breaks into our busy life. Maybe it was a sunset, a snow capped mountain, a perfect rose, a piece of music, rolling hills, a burbling stream, the call of a curlew… That surely was Moses experience when he saw the burning bush. He was jolted out of his everyday thoughts and into God’s space.

In reality any and every space is God’s space ;all is sacred ground. God blessed the world as it was created, declaring all of creation to be holy. It is not therefore that it is unusual to stand on holy ground; rather it is unusual for us to be aware of it. And that is something we can work on. We can take time to pause and notice our surroundings, to be aware of the awe and beauty of nature, to be aware of the awe and beauty that can comes through human hands when we work in tune with with God.

Later in the story of Exodus we will see and hear of the awesome and wonderful things Moses does in tandem with God – parting the Red Sea, causing a spring of water to flow from a rock. There really is benefit in taking time to walk in a garden or a park, to stand and watch the waves on the sea or the flow of a river, to carefully observe the movements of a cat or the industrious nature of a bee. There can even be benefit in standing in rain and using all our sense to smell and feel, taste, see and hear the rain.

Creationtide is an especially good time to be motivated to both spend time in admiration of nature and its creation – and with psalmist, to praise God – and equally to be motivated to protect and nurture it, and to so live our lives so that we are part of nature, so that we are in harmony with creation.

At times it is easy to forget the beauty and wonder of creation, when we find the world around is is full of suffering and misery, of foolishness and greed and inhumanity. It can seem as if there is no possible hope for a better future. That is where today’s extract from Paul’s letter to the Romans comes in to its own. Paul clearly understands and can visualise a better future, a better world – the one God desires, the one that Paul knows God is creating through Jesus. Paul doesn’t say that this better world will come into being on its own, but rather that it comes through the reorientating of the way we live, reorientating it to reflect God’s ways. Just as Moses is drawn aside by the sudden awareness of God’s presence and then reorientates his life, so Paul had in his turn been drawn aside by the sudden awareness of God’s presence – in the person of Jesus Christ – and then completely reorientated his life. And so it can be for us. We can let ourselves be drawn aside by God’s presence, let ourselves understand that we stand on holy ground, and allow our lives to be reorientated after the pattern of Jesus.

The gospel passage for today is a necessary reminder that the pattern Jesus gave us does not exempt us from hard times, from having to accept suffering and rejection. Those who are not in tune with God’s will, those who are not in tune with the harmony of nature, may pursue and promote contri lifestyles that will both cause us anguish and make us to be the butt of ridicule and hate. And not just ourselves but many others who are likely to be more vulnerable and more susceptible to the adverse effects of the way others treat the world.

Creationtide is a time to pray and act for the wellbeing of those who are vulnerable – both plants and creatures and our fellow humans. This year’s theme is justice and re-echoes the words from Amos, “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” Amos 5:24

Exodus 3:1-15

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’“ God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:

This is my name forever,
and this my title for all generations.

Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c

1 Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name; *
make known his deeds among the peoples.

2 Sing to him, sing praises to him, *
and speak of all his marvellous works.

3 Glory in his holy Name; *
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

4 Search for the Lord and his strength; *
continually seek his face.

5 Remember the marvels he has done, *
his wonders and the judgments of his mouth,

6 O offspring of Abraham his servant, *
O children of Jacob his chosen.

23 Israel came into Egypt, *
and Jacob became a sojourner in the land of Ham.

24 The Lord made his people exceedingly fruitful; *
he made them stronger than their enemies;

25 Whose heart he turned, so that they hated his people, *
and dealt unjustly with his servants.

26 He sent Moses his servant, *
and Aaron whom he had chosen.

45 Hallelujah!

Romans 12:9-21

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Matthew 16:21-28

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Prayers for Creation

2nd September 2023

Jesus said … “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14b

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 Ezekiel 47:1-12

Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar. He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple. He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through. He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look?”

Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river. He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En Gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean.

“The swamps and marshes won’t become fresh. They’ll stay salty. But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won’t wither, the fruit won’t fail. Every month they’ll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

Response:

In the beginning

it was a mere drop of water,

a slight dampness on the ground: