Reflections and actions during COP26 and going on
18th April 2022
Can we count on our faith to cope with and address the suffering the climate crisis is and will cause? Can we be sufficiently open to God’s guidance to know what to do, and sufficiently willing and committed to change our lives accordingly?
Easter-tide seems a good time to explore this for it is a season concerned with new life, new beginnings and new understanding.
17th April 2022
Christ is risen! Happy Easter!
The resurrection is God’s promise of Life.
Last night I had a lovely surprise – a little tap on the kitchen door and Heidi popped her head round. She had come home after three weeks protesting with Just Stop Oil. I wasn’t expecting her until maybe mid week. It was such a wonderful feeling of joy and love – a small taste of the feelings that the disciples must have felt when Jesus returned to them.
When Adam and Eve went against God’s wishes in the Garden of Eden, God rather than confiscating their lives, allowed them to live but thereafter they had to live with the hardships that their actions had produced. The resurrection is God’s assurance of the continuation of Life – it does not exempt us from having to live with the damage we have caused, but surely today of all days must give us the impetus to want to transform how we live, to heal the injuries we have caused, to live according to God’s will in loving harmony with all our fellow beings.
The urgency of the climate crisis is such that globally we need to cut our emissions by about 50% over the next 8 (just EIGHT!) years and to zero by 2050. Halving emissions in 8 years is not compatible with expanding oil and gas production, is not compatible with policies that do not swop gas boilers for passive haus insulation levels, petrol cars for enhanced public transport and active travel, industrial farming for regenerative agriculture.
Do make changes in your lifestyle. Do press the government and businesses for systemic change. Do stand up for climate protestors and for the victims of the climate crisis.
16th April 2022
A sunny bank holiday weekend! Something to enjoy! Take time to see what’s growing and sprouting and popping up: new shoots, flowers and blossoms, bees and insects, new leaves, birds singing. This is the wonderful world God has created and which we seek to cherish.
15th April 2022
One way of reducing waste, packaging and shipping, is to make your own at home. The RHS gives this recipe for making potting compost:
Make your own potting compost: For potting on and containers:
4 parts loam (soil)
1 part garden compost, municipal green waste, or well-rotted manure
1 part leaf mould
1 part sharp sand
1 heaped trowel of seaweed meal per loaded wheelbarrow
This is a basic mix. Add more sand for alpines and herbs, and use composted bracken instead of garden compost for acid-loving plants like blueberries.
14th April 2022
Why not make your own hot cross buns?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/vegan_hot_cross_buns_43546
NB Good Friday is also a traditional day for planting seed potatoes.
13th April 2022
We have just invested in a Rework recycling box for all our otherwise un-recyclable plastic. We will continue to use our kerb side recycling bin for plastic pots and bottles, the soft plastic recycling facility at the Coop, toothpaste tubes at Boots, but this box will be for all the other plastics we cannot otherwise recycle. We can even use it for lateral flow test kits. It should reduce our landfill to nil.
12th April 2022
It may not look much, but I was glad I was wearing my cycle helmet when I collided head on with a car. It took sufficient of the impact to allow me to leave hospital 24 hours later with just a cracked vertebra.
Safety helmets were designed to protect us in case of accidents. And as accidents do happen, we should always wear them.
9th April 2022
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. Why not make your own palm cross? If you have a palm tree, such as a Torbay Palm, use one of its leaves. Otherwise try with strong paper.
8th April 2022
Tomorrow Extinction Rebellion will be standing up for action to halt the climate crisis. Be brave and show your support, if not with for XR, then with other climate action groups or even just as one individual showing solidarity with all the other individuals who are equally passionate about saving our world.
7th April 2022
Hope is a great gift. It gives us the confidence to smile and keep going, even
when the odds seem stacked against us. Hope is often to be found in small things. A weed, against the odds, pushing up between the paving stones. Spotting a first ladybird. Taking time to enjoy the aroma of a fresh cup of coffee.
The Green Tau 