Yesterday I took part in a peace vigil outside the Excel Centre which was hosting the DESI arms fair. The names of just a few of those who have been killed by military armaments were slowly read out accompanied by a slow drum beat. Armaments kill people. They also kill birds and animals, destroy trees and plants, and pollute soils and water ways. Their noise disrupts the migratory movements of birds and other creatures including migrating sea creatures.
In the season of creation-tide it is important to understand the widespread and destructive consequences of resorting to war.
Out of thirteen pilgrimages organised by Christian Climate Action across the country, four took place along the Thames including the one from Putney to Richmond. Our small band of pilgrims were sent off with a blessing and prayers led by John Whitaker, vicar of St Mary’s Putney. As we followed the Thames Path upstream we paused to give thanks for the beauty and benefits of the river and its environment, as well as lament our shortcomings in caring for both its vitality and for our failure to ensure justice for the vulnerable in our local and global communities. pilgrimages organised by Christian Climate Action. Our recurring refrain was Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream (Amos 5:24 and one of this year’s tag lines for creation-tide. Halfway we benefited from the welcomed hospitality offered by St Mary’s Mortlake as especially with the heat we needed to refill water bottles and enjoy the cool of the church. Exhausted (slightly fewer in number) but exultant we finally reached Richmond Bridge closing with a modern Franciscan blessing:
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen.
For more information about Christian Climate Action visit https://christianclimateaction.org/ where similar events in the future will be advertised.
Yesterday I was helping with our local church’s Messy Church which this month was held on Sheen Common. Children with their mums/ carers did a scavenger hunt, made bark rubbings and arranged things they found to make a picture. It was good to see them having such fun whilst getting up close and personal with the natural environment.
Here in the UK not everyone has equal access to green spaces, fresh fruit and vegetables, clean air.
This is a justice issue and one that should be tackled to improve wellbeing for the individuals and for society as a whole. It is something that has been recognised by the Government but how it can be realised and financed is not so clear.
“Parks and greenspaces in England deliver an estimated £6.6 billion of health, climate change and environmental benefits every year. But with 80% of people now living in towns and cities, one third of people do not have access to good quality green and blue space within 15 minutes of their home. The government’s Environmental Improvement Plan, published [31st January 2023], includes a commitment that the public should be able to access green space or water, such as woodlands, wetlands, parks and rivers, within a 15-minute walk from their home.” https://www.gov.uk/government/news/natural-england-unveils-new-green-infrastructure-framework
Today, 10th September I am leading a pilgrimage as part of CCA’s Weekend of pilgrimages.
These are the prayers we will be using as we walk from Putney to Richmond along the Thames Path.
“Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” Amos 5:24
The ancient practice of pilgrimage, honoured by many of the world’s great faiths, has a renewed focus in this age of climate and ecological emergency. Walking together with intention, mindfulness and prayer proclaims a different pace and place in relationship to the earth; and with each other. We become fellow travellers, learning again to ‘tread lightly’ on the earth. Pilgrimage invites a renewal of body, mind and spirit, while offering a visible sign of a different way of living and travelling.
Opening prayers:
Most High, all powerful, good Lord, To you we offer praise and glory, the honour and blessing. All creation – all that lives and breathes and moves – praises you.
All the elements praise you –
Brother Sun radiant with light and energy, beautiful and awesome,
And who with Sister Moon, establishes day and night, tides and seasons.
All praise to God!
Brother Wind and air, calm and serene, powerful and fearsome,
Bringer of weather, and source of energy.
All praise to God!
Sister Water, humble yet precious, simple and beautiful,
fluid energy and source of life.
All praise to God!
Brother Fire, playful, robust and strong,
offering warmth and comfort, yet to be handled with care!
All praise to God!
Sister-Mother Earth who sustains us and governs us,
And produces plants and minerals, sustaining life in all its rich diversity.
All praise to God!
All the elements praise you
and so too all that lives and breathes within your creation!
All praise to God!
In your bountiful love,
forgive our carelessness, our greed and our destructive acts.
Lord have mercy
Forgive our selfishness, and our failure to show compassion.
Lord have mercy
Forgive our heartlessness, our narrowness of vision and our failure to act justly.
Lord have mercy
Forgive our self-certainty, our disregard for your wisdom and our failure to learn.
Lord have mercy
With humility and contrition, we praise you
and ask your blessing on our endeavours.
May we serve you with humility,
seeking justice and showing loving care for all creation.
To you be all honour and power, praise and glory.
Amen.
Pauses for prayer.
1. Putney Bridge, beneath which runs the newly constructed super sewer.
This tunnel will be 25km long and 7.2 metres in diameter, when it finishes construction in 2025. It will carry away London’s sewage and rainwater with sufficient capacity that even during storms effluent will not enter the Thames. Instead this effluent will make its way to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works before being discharged as clean water into the Thames estuary.
We give thanks for the super sewer that will prevent sewage spilling into the Thames. We give thanks for the rich diversity of wildlife – fish, flora and fauna – that a clean Thames can support.
Yet we lament our human foolishness that so often allows harmful chemicals, sewage and litter to pollute the waterways on which we depend.
Lord have mercy:
Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.
2. Betwixt the boat houses and the playground at Leader’s Gardens.
We give thanks for joy that the Thames provides a place for recreation and relaxation, both in, on and by the water. We give thanks for the healing and health-giving capacity of the natural world.
Yet we lament the thoughtless creep of urbanisation that can destroy such beauty and the inequalities of our society that precludes everyone having easy access to blue and green spaces.
Lord have mercy:
Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.
3. London’s Wetland Centre. Over the past twenty plus years these disused Victorian reservoirs have been transformed to provide a rich habitat for different wetland – and other birds, including sand martins – insects, reptiles and amphibians, bats and various other small mammals. The Wetland Centre is also working with the Borough of Richmond to rewild the lower sections of the Beverley Brook to help prevent locally flooding as well as enriching biodiversity. In the past Beverley meant beaver meadow and, like Eel Pie Island, reminds us that in the past there were many more species resident in these waters.
We give thanks for nature’s capacity to both recover and to recreate biodiverse rich habitats. We give thanks for those opportunities that have been taken to rewild the landscape, even within the confines of a city.
Yet we lament those times when nature has been pushed out of the picture. We lament lawns that have been lost to astroturf, flowers beds lost to driveways, streets that still lack the companionship of trees.
Lord have mercy:
Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.
4. Mortlake – where in the 17th century the famous Mortlake tapestries were woven by Flemish weavers. Some of the master weavers were granted English citizenship, whilst orphaned boys from the City of London were taken on as apprentices. This river location has also attracted other migrants; we passed but the Swedish school in Barnes, and if we went further upstream we would pass the German school at Petersham.
We give thanks for the diverse people who have settled along the Thames enriching the lives of their local communities.
Yet we lament the attitude of our our current government towards those who come to these shores seeking safety. We lament the affects of the climate crisis on communities across the globe, particularly for those who are already impoverished because of global inequalities.
Lord have mercy:
Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.
5. Kew Gardens – which has a plant collection of some 17,000 species, whilst at its millennium seed bank at Wakehurst it has 2.4 billion seeds from around the world. Kew Gardens is also carrying out research research into climate change-resistant crops, zero-carbon fertiliser and plant- and cell-based meat and dairy products.
We give thanks for the rich diversity of plants that exists around the world, and for the research being done to protect and enhance plants and habitats.
Yet we lament the industrialisation of farming and the over grazing and exploitation of land to satisfy our desire for meat. We lament the economic model that leave many in the world with inadequate and poor diets .
Lord have mercy:
Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.
6. Richmond Lock. The Thames is still tidal here and the lock helps maintain water levels between here and Teddington Lock. Even so during height tides and/ or times of heavy rain land either side of the river can flood and the risk is growing as a result of the climate crisis with rising sea levels and extreme weather systems. To ease this, work is being
carried out in the Old Deer Park to create creeks and swales, allowing the land to become once again a real floodplain.
We give thanks for the natural capacity of the soil, trees and plants to absorb rainfall. We give thanks for the diversity of habitats that create sustainable ecosystems.
Yet we lament the pressure we are placing on the environment to cope with the climate crisis that we have caused. We lament the threat that rising sea levels causes for so many small nations.
Lord have mercy:
Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.
Our final pause is at Richmond Bridge, the end of our pilgrimage. Having begun our journey with a variation of St Francis’s Canticle of the Creatures, let us end with a modern Franciscan blessing.
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen.
further info:
Christian Climate Action is a community of Christians who support each other to take meaningful action in the face of imminent and catastrophic anthropogenic climate breakdown. We are inspired by Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit. Following the example of social justice movements of the past, we carry out acts of public witness, nonviolent protest and civil disobedience to urge those in power to make the changes needed. We also work to engage and mobilise people to take action.
Earth Vigil – Westminster. Every Wednesday, 11-1pm, 1-3pm, we sit together outside parliament, praying to our Creator God For more info contact christianclimateaction@gmail.com
‘Make Polluters Pay’ 23rd September for a day of action with Christian Aid.
‘Oily Money Out’ 17th – 19th October. Join us for protest, prayer and action outside the annual Oil and Money Conference
Many stories in the Bible are about change, often a radical change in direction. In the Book of Genesis, God’s relationship has been with individuals – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – and their households. This changes in the Book of Exodus. God’s relationship is now with a whole people – a new nation in the making. God will lead not just individuals but the whole people of Israel out into the wilderness and there will shape them into a nation. The nature of the change was equally radical. One day they were people who had, over several generations, been sucked into a situation of enslavement; who had found their freedom of movement and action curtailed; who had become enmeshed into an unwilling dependency on the Egyptian authorities; who had become unwilling and possibly unwitting cogs in a system beyond their complex.
Overnight they were uprooted from their homes, their work, their daily routines. Overnight they were called to flee; to put their complete trust for survival in God; to face down the armed forces of their overlords. Then stripped from all that was familiar, they were to adopt a new nomadic lifestyles, learn new way of living, and accept their total dependency on God for the barest of essentials including food and water.
Today’s story from Exodus describes a carefully orchestrated meal that is more than just a meal. It is a domestic event that binds together the whole community. It is a ritual that defines the identity of a people. It is an act of worship in which everyone is a celebrant. It is a sacrament that establishes a new and particular relationship between God and the people.
The meal, both initially and annually thereafter, takes place in the home and not in a designated place of worship, sacred site or temple. The blood painted on the door frames identifies which households are part of God’s people and which are not. The killing of the lamb – one that is without blemish – is a sacrificial act carried out not by priests but by the householders. From now on, God will lead all the people – not just individuals who were noteworthy, but the whole community presumably including some who were good and some not so good.
Of all the stories in the Old Testament, this will become the defining one, the most significant. It encapsulates the recurring truth that God will save his people, will gather them and rescue them from evil forces and establish them ready for a new life. Every year celebrating the Passover will be central to those of Jewish faith. It is the key feast in the life of Jesus, causing him, as with his thousands of his contemporaries, to make the special journey to Jerusalem. The meal itself is transformed by Jesus. It is given a new layer of meaning in which Jesus himself is the sacrifice, and whose blood marks the beginning of a new covenant – a new relationship – between God and God’s people.
All change is also St Paul’s expense. In his letter to the Romans, he is writing about an equally radical change. God’s relationship with people which was once through the Jewish Law is now widen to an understanding that we are all sinners, we none of us of our own will and strength can be righteous, BUT that all can be made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. The Law of the Jews, which St Paul calls the Law of sin, is now replaced with the law of God, the law of love.
As we celebrate and share in the Eucharist, let us be ready for change, embracing whole heartedly the law of love.
Exodus 12:1-14
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbour in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Psalm 149
1 Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song; * sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful.
2 Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; * let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise his Name in the dance; * let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people * and adorns the poor with victory.
5 Let the faithful rejoice in triumph; * let them be joyful on their beds.
6 Let the praises of God be in their throat * and a two-edged sword in their hand;
7 To wreak vengeance on the nations * and punishment on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings in chains * and their nobles with links of iron;
9 To inflict on them the judgment decreed; * this is glory for all his faithful people. Hallelujah!
Romans 13:8-14
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Matthew 18:15-20
Jesus said, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
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!
“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?
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.
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.
The Green Tau 