Category: Uncategorized

Counting on … day 225

29th November 2024

Today is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

“In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (resolution 32/40 B). On that day, in 1947, the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine (resolution 181 (II)) In resolution 60/37 of 1 December 2005, the Assembly requested the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for Palestinian Rights, as part of the observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November, to continue to organise an annual exhibit on Palestinian rights or a cultural event in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the UN.”(1)

This year’s exhibition is entitled  “Gaza, Palestine: A Crisis of Our Humanity”  and is displayed in the Visitors’ Lobby of the UN’s General Assembly Building. 

Most of us won’t get to see the exhibition! But the UK’s Palestinian Solidarity Campaign has invited us all to display a poster of solidarity(2).

Just imagine if every single house in every street displayed this poster! Wouldn’t that be an impactful exhibition of solidarity!!

(1) https://www.un.org/en/observances/International-day-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-people

(2) https://palestinecampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/Solidarity-with-Palestine-Poster.jpg

Counting on … day 224

28th  November 2024

This is the week of Black Friday, followed by Cyber Monday. Are these the Feast Days of the Consumerist faith? Are they not something that we should be challenging as they encourage people to spend money on things they don’t need and further deplete our limited world resources? 

Here is an informative piece from the Ethical Consumer.

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/retailers/boycott-black-friday-cyber-monday?utm_source=ECRA+Monthly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e4367a24f5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_11_22_blackfri_subs&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-a4394a8255-320424697

Counting on … day 222

26th November 2024

Is it possible to adopt a zero plastic lifestyle?

As with oil and gas, much of our economy is tied into the use of plastics – plastic has very many useful characteristics being light weight,  mouldable, waterproof, rustproof etc. To avoid plastic is therefore difficult – it is used in making shoes and clothes, household goods, toys, medical equipment, plumbing pipe etc. But there was a time when we didn’t have plastics but still made useful things, and we have many chemists and engineers who are developing plastic alternatives whilst retaining many of the advantages of plastic.

What we can do is to make a conscious effort to avoid plastic wherever possible. We don’t need to buy sweets or sandwiches or vegetables wrapped in plastic. We don’t need to buy plastic toothbrushes or combs or washing up bowls. We don’t need to use plastic cups and bottles. 

And whilst plastic recycling isn’t the answer, whilst we still have plastic in circulation, reusing what we already have (and keeping it in good condition) and recycling what we don’t need, is still a good thing to do. 

Counting on … day 221

25th November 2024

Today sees the start of the final round of negotiations at the Global Plastics Treaty taking place  in Busan, Korea. The aim is to reach a global agreement to cut plastic production. At present it is predicted that global plastic production will increase  by 300% by 2050 whilst consuming between a fifth and a third of our remaining carbon budget. (1)

Whilst recycling is a key part of reducing production, even the fossil fuel industry now agrees that recycling is not easy and will not be possible in many cases. (2)

For more info – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/24/world-unable-cope-10-years-talks-un-global-treaty-to-end-plastic-waste?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

  1. https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/resources/global-plastics-treaty-inc5-briefing/
  2. https://www.npr.org/2024/02/15/1231690415/plastic-recycling-waste-oil-fossil-fuels-climate-change

Green Tau: issue 98

Walking the Talk

24th November 2024

A few weeks ago, whilst I and others were holding our weekly Earth Vigil outside Parliament, a passerby stopped to quiz us. In transpired that he was not interested in the wellbeing of the environment and rather wanted to justify his position by proving that we were hypocrites. 

His line was that we could not be taken seriously in calling for a rescinding of the Rosebank licence whilst possessing shoes, clothes, rucksacks etc made from plastics/ ie oil. He would not listen to our response that we were constrained by what one could buy in a world that is still heavily embedded in using oil. Even as our economies transitions away from oil, it is still going to take a while before sufficient alternatives take over from plastic. As one person interjected, “When Edison was designing the lightbulb he had to rely on candle light!” (Or possibly gas). 

But what really incensed me was that I do try and do everything I can to live ecologically. I wear second hand clothes, darn my socks, patch my rucksack and my trainers, shop at a refill shop, avoid buying anything in a plastic wrapper, don’t fly, eat a vegan diet that includes wonky and unwanted fruit and vegetables, source beans and pulses grown in the UK. And flour for my bread is milled in a proper windmill in Cambridgeshire!

I do do all I can to walk the talk! 

And it’s not easy especially when you feel your are a minority of one. When we are away from our normal locality – and especially so when on holiday in Switzerland (we go by train) – it feels as if everyone else is saying, why are you so awkward?  What difference can it make whether or not you eat a little cheese, eat a cake made with butter, an ice cream made with milk? Will eating a croissant make any difference to the world? 

When I stay with family and they make a special dish just for me, I feel I awkward and think I must seem very pedantic.

Or when others are discussing their past and future holidays, a quick (and let’s agree in the present tax regime, cheap) flight to Italy/ Turkey/Spain, or a leisurely holiday exploring Japan, Korea and Malaysia, or a winter trip to sunny Oz. Am I grouch or a kill joy because I won’t fly? And this is where I do feel guilty: am I being really selfish as I know my husband would love for us to travel the world?

So why is it important to tread this lonely path? 

Firstly because unless someone starts, no one will ever start. I maybe the first not to fly amongst our friends but hopefully I won’t be the last.

Secondly because the more people take these steps the easier it will be for other to follow. If I always ask for a vegan cake when I’m buying a coffee, then hopefully in a few years time, vegan cakes will be the norm on cafes. Plant based milks are pretty much standard nowadays! (But why then current trend of charging extra?)

Thirdly because the more people are seen to be travelling by train not plane, or eating humous not cheese, or carrying a keep cup rather than using a single use throw away cup, the more normal such behaviour becomes.

Fourth as such patterns of behaviour become normalised – even popular – so businesses and governments will change their thinking. 

Fifthly because eventually the world could change for the better! 

Yet I am not hopeful that any of this will happen fast enough to prevent the huge catastrophe that the climate crisis is forming. And that makes it a very hard path to tread. I am making life awkward for myself and my husband and my friends and family with only a very small chance that it will make life better for them.  But equally I know that not trying would be even more hurtful. 

And finally, yes I do it because it makes me feel just a little bit better; that I am at least doing something rather than nothing.

The Feast of Christ the King

24th November 2024

Reflection with readings below

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. The feast was first celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church in 1925, moving the the last Sunday of Ordinary Time in 1970. It was included by both Anglican, and other Churches, in the Revised Common Lectionary in 1974 where it forms the conclusion of the Kingdom Season and therefore the conclusion of the Church’s year.

The feast celebrates Jesus as the king of the universe or perhaps more usefully, as king of all creation. 

Today’s gospel reading introduces the question as to whether this is a worldly or heavenly kingdom, with Jesus asserting that “My kingdom is not from this world”. This I feel declares that Christ’s kingdom is not one that adheres to,or is shaped by  ‘worldy’ rules and practices  – ie those that are shaped by greed, selfishness, cruelty etc. Rather Christ’s kingdom is that kingdom whose values we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, the values of God that we wish to be present and applied on earth just as in heaven.

What does it mean for Jesus to be king? The passage from the prophet Daniel, suggests it is to be our judge. A judge can be the one who sifts the evidence, ways up the options, and tells you where you are going right or wrong. A skilled judge can then give directions as to how to get on to the right pathway. 

If we have ears to hear, we will benefit from Christ’s judgement! 

The effective reign of a king requires support from the realms’ citizens. If that support is lacking, it will undermine the king’s ability to take action and to change things. To be a citizen of Christ’s kingdom is to show our allegiance to Jesus. How do we do this? By acknowledging that relationship. By reverence. By doing the things that Jesus has shown us – that we act kindly , seek justice, walk humbly before God; that we be a good neighbour… praying the Lord’s Prayer as if we mean it.

But we are still faced with the reality that Jesus’s kingdom is not ‘of this world’ whereas ‘of this world’ is the predominant system in place on earth. How is God’s rule to become not just the predominate, but the only rule?  

Kingdom parables suggest that we should be agents or seeds of change – like yeast in the dough; or like the mustard seed that keeps on growing and providing a common home for everyone; or like treasure seekers hunting for buried treasure wherever it may be found; or like merchants who will let go of our personal wealth to gain the pearl above price. 

We need to be counter cultural agents of change that challenge the ‘of this world’ rule that allows companies to make profits from exploiting the destructive use of fossil fuels; that allows nations who have benefited from exploitative practices to avoid paying for the damage caused to others; that allows the poor to go hungry – both here in the UK and across the world – whilst the rich squander the earth’s natural wealth; that encourages governments to sell – and profit – from weapons sold to the perpetrators to war crimes.  There is no end to the things we as Christians should be challenging as unjust. And there is no end to the ways in which we can reshape our lives to enable us to be better neighbours not just towards our human kin, but to all living things with whom we share this earth, our common home.

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

As I watched,

thrones were set in place,
and an Ancient One took his throne,

his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames,
and its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued
and flowed out from his presence.

A thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.

The court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

As I watched in the night visions,

I saw one like a human being
coming with the clouds of heaven.

And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.

To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,

that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,

and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed.

Psalm 93

1 The Lord is King;
he has put on splendid apparel; *
the Lord has put on his apparel
and girded himself with strength.

2 He has made the whole world so sure *
that it cannot be moved;

3 Ever since the world began, your throne has been established; *
you are from everlasting.

4 The waters have lifted up, O Lord,
the waters have lifted up their voice; *
the waters have lifted up their pounding waves.

5 Mightier than the sound of many waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea, *
mightier is the Lord who dwells on high.

6 Your testimonies are very sure, *
and holiness adorns your house, O Lord,
for ever and for evermore.

Revelation 1:4b-8

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be. Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

John 18:33-37

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Counting on day 220

22nd November 2024

Whilst the Prime Minister said that the new NDC target would not impact daily life, we will have to make adjustments – but these need not necessarily be uncomfortable, or expensive or impractical adjustments. We will be important parts of the process of change; we will need to count on ourselves and each other in making them.

Here is an interesting thought about making repairs: “There is the planet to consider. The sociologist Pierre Bourdieu might have considered mending my socks to be an act of resistance against the culture of fast-moving consumer goods; the environmental catastrophe of high capitalism” (1)

(1) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/04/in-finding-beauty-in-the-broken-we-can-form-a-bridge-between-the-mundane-and-the-divine?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 219

21st November 2024

Any alterations made to reduce carbon emissions need to be sustainable in the long term. Simply switching all combustion engines for electric ones is not sustainable as each new electric engine will make unsustainable demands on rare minerals. Further mining such minerals where they are found in less developed countries often leads to the exploitation of people and pollution of the land. 

Sustainability can be improved by the frequency with which a vehicle is used. A car that spends most of its life parked in the road, is not a sustainable use of limited resources, where as a bus or train that is in frequent use, carry larger numbers of people is a more sustainable option.

Active travel is always a good option with low emissions and significant health benefits!

Counting on … day 218

20 November 2024 

While the power sector has done the heavy lifting of Britain’s emissions cuts so far, the 2035 target will require bigger cuts in sectors such as domestic transport — which accounts for more than a quarter of Britain’s emissions — and buildings, responsible for about a fifth.(1)

The transport industries – providers and manufacturers- the government and we as users, need to each make the shift to sustainable travel options.

  1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65c0d15863a23d0013c821e9/2022-final-greenhouse-gas-emissions-statistical-release.pdf