Counting On … – Page 82

Counting on … day 372

8th November 2022

https://www.greenstories.org.uk/anthology-for-cop27/cop27-attendees/monday-7th-november/ This website has specially written stories that envisage who the future world could be. Fictional but hopeful.

Prayer for COP27

Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11: 19-22

We pray for all the participants,

the decision-makers and the protestors,

the bureaucrats and the prayerful,

influencers and bankers,

for producers and consumers.

May the agreements and the pledges that are made this week

bring justice and confidence,

safety and security for all.

May they seek solidarity and cooperation above all else.

May all that is pledged, be honoured and enacted

for the wellbeing of our world and our futures.

Loving and patient God,

may your will be done.

All: Amen.

Counting on … day 371

7th November 2022 – Prayers for COP27

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. James 1:19

We pray for the participants of COP27,

the decision-makers and the protestors,

the bureaucrats and the prayerful.

May they be gifted with empathy,

with patience and with determination

and with a passion for justice.

May they be good listeners and considered speakers.

May they be guided by science rather than politics,

by the collective needs of the world rather than short term self interest.

Loving and patient God,

may your will be done.

Amen.

Counting on … day 371

6th November 2022

For the next 12 days as COP27 takes place, ‘Counting on’ will host a daily prayer. The first comes from Cafod.

God of blessings,
the universe sings of your glory.
Deepen our gratitude for all you have made
and awaken in us a renewed commitment
to care for the earth and each other.

Inspire world leaders at COP27,
with openness to listen to those most affected by climate change
and with courage to act urgently and wisely,
so that our common home may be healed and restored
and all people, and generations to come, may delight in it.

Amen.

Counting on … day 370

5th November 2022

Unconventional but try getting rid of your waste bins – repurpose them? – and use it as a challenge to only buy and/or use things that can be recycled or reused. It may take a little practice and a bit of research – and as a last resort you will have you dustbin. You may well find that the net result is less in your recycling bins too.

Green Christian’s blog has an item on the 7Rs – Rejoice, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rent, borrow and share, Recycle – https://greenchristian.org.uk/the-seven-rs/

Counting on … day 369

4th November 2022

Once a sourdough starter is up and running and ready to use, the fun starts. To keep it active it needs used and fed every couple of days (or if this isn’t practical, it can be put in the fridge to hibernate). I use one of our starters twice a week for bread making, and in between I use the starter to make crumpets.

Crumpet Recipe

Preheat a flat based frying pan in which place 4 crumpet rings (often sold for cooking fried eggs). Lightly oil the pan and the rings.

Take 200g of starter and mix well with a small teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. Feed the starter with 100g each flour and water.

Place spoonfuls of the mixture into the rings. Leave to cook.

Once bubbles have formed and the surface has developed a crust, flip them over and cook on the other side.

Counting on ….day 368

3rd November 2022

Sour dough starters use natural yeasts in the atmosphere to be active. With the starter you can make bread, crumpets and soda breads etc. They are a reminder of how simple and grounded are foods can be.

This is a rye starter I began 3 days ago. It is developing slowly as the kitchen is not that warm.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/rye-sourdough-starter

Counting on …day 367

2nd November 2022

Layering up. As the temperatures become more seasonal, buying up the layers is a good ways keeping warm, whether that is layers of clothes or layers between us and the outside: curtains drawn at dusk, doors between rooms closed, draught excluders under doors, insulation in roof and wall spaces, rugs on the floors.

Counting on …day 366

1st November 2022

Active travel – principally walking and cycling – is good for the participants mental and physical health and, because it doesn’t produce air pollution like motor vehicles, is good for everyone else breathing in the air. It is also economical. Why then in the current economic and climate crisis would a government choose to cut funding that promotes active travel?

Join Active Travel and write to your MP asking that this funding be maintained – https://action.cyclinguk.org/page/115055/action/1?locale=en-GB&en_chan=wa&en_ref=26096689

And at the same time lead by example and be active in travel.

Counting on .. day 365

31st October 2022

Can you challenge yourself to a plant-based November? With squashes and pumpkins and mushrooms and brassicas very much in season, lots of delicate and hearty meals await you. Try out a whole range of different plant-based proteins – fava beans, pinto beans, cannelloni beans, Puy lentils, Carlin peas, blue peas, black badger peas, tofu, walnuts, almonds …. I am sure you can have a different one each day!

Counting on …day 364

30th October 2022

In 1979 St Francis was declared the patron saint of ecology reflecting his deep sense of the connectedness of all aspects of creation and in which all creation lives to praise God. Francis undertook very radical changes in his lifestyle in order that he could be true to his understanding of God, and yet – or because of this – he was also full of joy.