Counting On … – Page 86

Counting on …day 389

25th November 2022

This item from today’s Guardian made me smile.

‘150 sheep arrived in Pompeii on Thursday morning and immediately got to work munching away in an unexcavated section of Regio V, a vast area to the north of the archaeological park. As part of a nine-month experiment, the flock will also be deployed to trim other grassed areas as well as maintain ancient and new vineyards as park authorities seek to boost the production of Pompeii wine.

“They entered the site with great enthusiasm and got to work straight away,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Pompeii archaeological park. “Maintenance is a huge cost, so instead of paying someone to cut the grass we have sheep eating it, fertilising it and creating a pastoral landscape that is much more resistant to dry seasons and heavy rainfall.”’ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/24/pompeii-deploys-flock-of-hungry-sheep-to-keep-grass-short?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on …day 388

24th November 2022

One group who can actively limit investment in fossil fuels is our Government. In order to explore new oil and gas fields in British waters, oil companies need a government licence. According to a report in the Guardian ‘The North Sea Transition Authority has begun a process to award more than 100 licences to companies hoping to extract oil and gas in the area. Almost 900 locations are being offered up for exploration.’ https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/oct/07/uk-offers-new-north-sea-oil-and-gas-licences-despite-climate-concerns

As new licences have not yet been issued (the current round of bids will end in June 2023) there is still time to persuade the Government to think again about the wisdom of this venture. You can help by signing this parliamentary petition to prevent all new North Sea oil and gas exploration

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/627208

Counting on …day 387

23rd November 2022

Make My Money Matter campaigns on the issue of where are money is invested and how,it is used when we’re not. We may not think of ourselves as investors but the money we have in our bank, the money we pay for our pension, our mortgage, our insurance policies, is invested on our behalf to cover future payments. Such investments can be ethical and sustainable – or not. At the current time many large institutions are investing heavily on fossil fuels and plastics, thus feeling the climate crisis.

Make My Money Matter is inviting us to sign an open letter to the major banks asking them to invest in ventures other than those that are oil based.

http://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/openletter/

Counting on … day 385

21St November 2022

This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the USA. Since at least the 1950s the day after Thanksgiving has been a popular shopping day with many people starting their Christmas shopping. Now actively marketed as Black Friday any businesses and stores use this advertising medium to encourage sales of their goods. Black Friday has expanded to include not just the Friday after Thanksgiving but the preceding days – and even preceding weeks. This pressure to buy is not helpful for the environment nor for our purses. We should be looking to buy and consume less and when do buy things we should be able to consider carefully what we need rather than being hustled to ‘buy now!’ For more on this do read this article from The Ethical Consumer.

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/retailers/boycott-black-friday-cyber-monday-2021?utm_source=ECRA+Monthly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b98f928b21-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_11_17_BF&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-d07cf552ba-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Counting on … day 384

20th November 2022

Small steps of change are happening. A Loss and Damage Fund has now been agreed in principle as COP27 came to an end. The details of who pays and who receives will be presented as a proposal at COP28.

The following link gives a summary of what has and has not been achieved at this year’s COP. Do give thanks for the small steps of progress.

What was decided at Cop27 climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh?

Counting on … day 383

19th November 2022

As COP27 negotiations continue, pray for a good outcome for the establishment of a Loss and Damage fund. Great steps have been made – it wasn’t even on the official agenda at the beginning of the COP and there does seem to be a strong desire to implement this scheme. Read more in the following article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/18/cop27-talks-continue-over-eu-climate-loss-and-damage-fund-proposal?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 382

18th November 2022

Recycling old mobile phones. If you are up-grading your phone, the supplier will normally take your old phone – and even pay you some small sum. Otherwise you can recycle your old mobile phone at any Oxfam shop and any profit will support their work: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/more-ways-to-donate/recycle-with-us/

If you are replacing or upgrading your phone you could still opt to buy second hand thereby extending the useful life of the ‘new’ phone and so reduce its adverse impact on the environment. I use Magic Magpie but there are other companies too.

Counting on… day 381

17th November 2022

Today is ‘solutions day’ at COP27. We do to need find solutions, and equally we all need to be part of the solution – however difficult that may seem.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

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 we build better towns and cities,

with green spaces and earth-friendly structures,

with accessible infrastructure and good housing for all

with local decision-making

and communities at their heart.

Loving and patient God,

may your will be done.

Amen.

Now is the sky blue!

Now is it framed

by a fretwork of branches

where leaves still linger –

some as big as dinner plates

some as small as butterflies.

Jackdaws riddle the earth

harvesting riches that lay below.

And squirrels skip and skitter

their autumn dance.

All is now, and now, and now!

But tomorrow, next week, next year?

Merciful God will they still be there?

Will our apathy,

our slowness to act,

our aversion to change

allowed all this

to be threatened,

diminished, and

evicted from life?

Have mercy.

But not just mercy –

rather prod us, prompt us,

push us into action.

Renew our hearts and minds,

reverse our expectations

so that we change the future

and once more

be restorers of creation.

Amen.

Counting on… day 380

16th November 2022

Today COP27’s focus is on biodiversity

Therefore the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which they were taken. After sending them out, the LORD God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And the Lord God placed a sword of flame that turned back and forth to protect the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3: 23-24

We pray for all the participants,

the decision-makers and the protestors,

the bureaucrats and the prayerful.

May they recognise and understand

the interconnectedness of creation,

the fine balance of ecosystems,

the necessity of biodiversity

and our dependence on safe carbon levels.

We pray for scientists and environmentalists

whose skills sustain and protect

the long-term well being

of our environment, our lives, our world.

Loving and patient God,

may your will be done.

Amen.

Painted lady and bumble bee

damsel and dragon fly: