Water – Page 2 – The Green Tau

Discussion notes: Earth, fire, air and water

What is earth?

Earth is the name we give both to the planet on which we live and to the topmost surface of the planet. As the latter, it is also known as soil, dirt, dust and ground.

Earth as soil is a mix of minerals and organic matter, containing air, water and micro-organisms. The mineral component comes principally from eroded rocks. The organic matter from decaying flora and fauna. Water and air come from the atmosphere that surrounds the planet. Earth really is made from the earth! Earth as soil filters and recycles waste products. The earth is a key vehicle for the nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle and the water cycle. The earth provides nutrients and water for plants as well as providing structural support. The earth is home to millions of micro-organisms that facilitate the processes by which plants grow and decay. One teaspoon can contain as many as 1 billion bacteria.

These micro-organisms are the means by which chemicals are processed and moved from plant to soil and soil to plant. The health and fertility of the earth is measured by the abundance of these micro populations.

Below is a photo of a magnified view of some earth.

How amazing is earth? Why do we sometimes give it the derogatory name of dirt?
Does this more scientific understanding of earth change you understanding of the story in Genesis of the creation of Adam and Eve?
Does it suggest a stronger connection between humans and the earth? When God calls on Adam to till and care for the earth, is Adam simply being asked to cultivate the soil or to safeguard all of humanity?
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/newman-adam-t01091
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/newman-eve-t03081
Do you like this pair of paintings depicting Adam and Eve? (Click on links above) What might the artist been telling us about these two figures? The Hebrew from which Adam’s name is derived has a meaning of red, blood as well as earth. That for Eve’s name has a meaning of breath and life, as well as symbiosis. ‘Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living.’ (Genesis 3:20)
Adam and Eve were in a sense routed in the earth. As tillers of the soil, they continued to live in a close relationship with the earth. It is often observed that some older cultures still maintain a close affinity with the earth around them and an awareness that they are sustained by that earth. Do you feel that you are rooted in the earth? In your life have or are, there any local traditions, celebrations or observances that link human life and earth? Are we more cut off from the earth by modern shopping, farming and/ or housing arrangements?
The following painting is by Katherine Marshall Nakamarra. Do you like it? How does it make you feel? Does it tell you a story?
“Katherine Marshall Nakamarra paints the ceremonial sites and stories that she has inherited through her mother, the famous artist Walangkura Napanangka. They represent a women’s ceremonial site on her own country near Kintore. The colours that she uses are very much the colours of the earth, ranging through reds, oranges, tans and browns. She represents the rocky country where this ceremonial site is located. The area is surrounded by hills. She marks out the ceremonial sites as concentric circles. This is a landscape painting utilising elements of the Western Desert symbolism and using what we would associate as the very earth colours of this open sandy and rocky country.” https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/aboriginal-desert-landscape-colour-palettes/

7. Adam and Eve are followed by Cain and Abel. When Cain, the one who tills the soil, kills Abel it is the ground that channels Abel’s plight: ‘And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground’ (Genesis 4: 10, 11a). Do you think the earth still pleads the cause of the victims of human sinfulness?

8. Read the following poem by John Heath Stubbs:-

Golgotha

In the middle of the world, in the centre

Of the polluted heart of man, a midden;

A stake stemmed in the rubbish.

From lipless jaws, Adam’s skull

Gasped up through the garbage:

“I lie in the discarded dross of history,

Ground down again to the red dust,

The obliterated image. Create me.”

From lips cracked with thirst, the voice

That sounded once over the billows of chaos

When the royal banners advanced,

replied through the smother of dark:

“All is accomplished, all is made new, and look –

All things, once more, are good.”

Then, with a loud cry, exhaled His spirit.

Many Mediaeval pictures of the crucifixion show a skull lying in the ground beneath the cross, partly to reflect Golgotha’s name as meaning the place of the skull, as well as reflecting a tradition it was also the burial place of Adam. Is this a poem about death or resurrection, or indeed both?

In what ways might we think of earth as a vehicle for resurrection?

9. Read this next poem by Malcolm Guite

Good Ground

I love your simple story of the sower,

With all its close attention to the soil,

Its movement from the knowledge to the knower,

Its take on the tenacity of toil.

I feel the fall of seed a sower scatters,

So equally available to all,

Your story takes me straight to all that matters,

Yet understands the reasons why I fall.

Oh deepen me where I am thin and shallow,

Uproot in me the thistle and the thorn,

Keep far from me that swiftly snatching shadow,

That seizes on your seed to mock and scorn.

O break me open, Jesus, set me free,

Then find and keep your own good ground in me.

What does this poem tell us about earth as a medium for growth? And who is it who tills or gardens our ‘ground’?

10. In John’s Gospel Mary Magdalene mistakes Jesus for a gardener, and the place where Jesus has been buried is presented as a garden. Does this resurrection story return us to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?

Holy God,

Ground of our being,

You have moulded and shaped us from the earth,

and have planted us in the garden of your creation.

Feed us and prune us that we may fulfil your will

to green this earth-bound world.

Amen.

Part 2: Fire

What Is Fire Made Of?

According to Anne Marie Helmenstine it is “A flame is a mixture of its fuel, light, and the solids and gases that both form the fire and are produced by it. Incomplete combustion produces soot, which is mainly carbon… Fire is the result of a chemical reaction called combustion. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are produced. Ordinarily, flames consist primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapour, oxygen, and nitrogen… However, incomplete combustion yields a host of other possibilities. Soot is a primary component of incomplete combustion. Soot mainly contains carbon, but various organic molecules may occur… A candle flame consists of vaporised water, carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, oxygen, soot hot enough that it is incandescent, and light/heat from the chemical reaction.” https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-fire-made-of-607313

We might think of fire as having three properties: heat, light, and transformation.

Do you like this picture? How does it make you feel? If you had been around, would you have one of the onlookers?

Volcanic activity creates mountains and rift valleys; it produces igneous and metamorphic rocks. The latter are existing rocks, that are transformed into new hard, more dense rocks – shale becomes slate, granite becomes gneiss, limestone becomes marble. Volcanic activity leads to the formation of mineral deposits such as gold silver, lead, copper, and zinc and the creation of gem stones. Volcanoes are also by their nature destructive. How do we reconcile or understand the dual creative and destructive powers of volcanic activity with the belief in a loving God? Does it help to think of volcanic activity as transformative?
How do you feel about this image (please use this link –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalbrookdale_by_Night#/media/File:Philipp_Jakob_Loutherbourg_d._J._002.jpg) compared with the previous painting? Does the fact that this is an industrial scene, a man-made fire, make a difference? Do we see our human use of fire as creative in the same way we know God to be creative?
Smelting is both destructive and constructive – removing impurities and creating new bonds between molecules to create a new material. As with volcanic activity we can describe the process as transformative. Does this alter our reading of passages such as this one from Ezekiel?

Do you like this poem? Are there any words or phrases that stand out? In what ways is the poem describing the process of formation and how might this reflect on our own formation as individuals/ Christians?
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius conjured up a sense of awe – or maybe fear – and wonder, as does the burning bush in this passage from Exodus. Is there something about fire that creates this feeling? Does fire express something of the untouchableness of God?

What other examples of biblical stories about fire can you recall? (Eg The pillar of fire that leads the Israelites through the wilderness; God descending on Mount Sinai as fire; Elijah’s encounter with fire on the mountain; tongues of flame that appeared on the heads of the disciples on the day of Pentecost etc) What further attributes of God might fire reflect?
How does this poem make you feel? Are there any words or phrases that stand out? What might Elizabeth Browning be saying about the relationship between God and the world around us? Why might it be that only some ‘see’?
What can you see in this picture? https://huariqueje.tumblr.com/post/111116245661/candlelight-johannes-rosierse-dutch-painter
What is the girl doing? Is she a scholar, or a poet, or might she be writing a love letter? Is the candle just a source of light or might it also be a source of inspiration? Would a light bulb have the same power/ symbolism?

Candles are often used in churches – why do you think this is? What is it that candles can represent? How might they aid worship? Maybe these words from the Psalms are relevant: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105) The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

Holman Hunt made three copies of this painting; this is the first which is in Keble College. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Light_of_the_World_(painting)#/media/File:Hunt-light-of-the-world.jpeg
There are two sources of light: one from the lantern symbolises the light of conscience, whilst that around Christ’s head is the light of salvation. Do you like the picture? How does it make you feel?

Do you warm to this poem? How might this companionable description of fire describe – or not – our relationship with God?

From the hymn by Graham Kendrick

Lord, the light of Your love is shining

In the midst of the darkness, shining

Jesus, light of the world, shine upon us

Set us free by the truth You now bring us

Shine on me, shine on me

[Chorus]

Shine, Jesus, shine, fill this land with the Father’s glory

Blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire

Flow, river, flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy

Send forth Your word, Lord, and let there be light

Part 3: Water

Water – H2O – covers (currently) 71% of the earth’s surface. As we noted previously, the pressure of the earth’s atmosphere keeps it in its liquid state allowing it to form rivers, lakes and oceans. Having said that, it is also one of the few substances that under normal conditions can exist as liquid, gas and solid. It is a solvent of most other substances making it a key part of living organisms – humans comprise 57-60% water – conveying essentials such as oxygen, vitamins and minerals, sugars et around the body. It is known as the ‘solvent of life’. When living things are deprived of water they will die. The oceans were the first place where life evolved – indeed when life first evolved there was no dry land, only water.

In the beginning when God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. … And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together. he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:1-2, 9-10

Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. ..The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Genesis 2:5-6, 9a

Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it. Psalm 104:25-26

How well does the Bible capture the wonder of water as a creative medium? What images or experiences for you, characterises water as something creative?

By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. …Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 8:13, 9:9-13

2. In the story of Noah, is water a creative or a destructive force?

Could one view this story as a re-creation story?

3. Do you like this painting? How does it make you feel? What does it say to you about the power or the forcefulness of water?

4. (I don’t know the name of the artist of this second painting). How does this one make you feel? What does it convey about the baptism of Jesus? Do you like it?

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ Mark 1:9-11

5. The Gospel of Mark doesn’t contain a birth narrative so this brief passage is our first encounter with Jesus. In what ways might this be understood as a ‘birth’ narrative?

6. The following prayer comes from the Anglican baptism service and is said over the water in the font.

We thank you, almighty God, for the gift of water

to sustain, refresh and cleanse all life.

Over water the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation.

Through water you led the children of Israel

from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.

In water your Son Jesus received the baptism of John

and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ,

to lead us from the death of sin to newness of life.

We thank you, Father, for the water of baptism.

In it we are buried with Christ in his death.

By it we share in his resurrection.

Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, in joyful obedience to your Son,

we baptise into his fellowship those who come to him in faith.

Now sanctify this water that, by the power of your Holy Spirit,

they may be cleansed from sin and born again.

Renewed in your image, may they walk by the light of faith

and continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Lord;

to whom with you and the Holy Spirit

be all honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Are there phrases here that particularly catch your attention? How many different roles are given to water in this prayer and what are they?

7. The following poem, Baptism, is by Malcolm Guite.

Baptism

Love’s hidden thread has drawn us to the font,
A wide womb floating on the breath of God,
Feathered with seraph wings, lit with the swift
Lightning of praise, with thunder over-spread,
And under-girded with an unheard song,
Calling through water, fire, darkness, pain,
Calling us to the life for which we long,
Yearning to bring us to our birth again.
Again the breath of God is on the waters
In whose reflecting face our candles shine,
Again he draws from death the sons and daughters
For whom he bid the elements combine.
As living stones around a font today,
Rejoice with those who roll the stone away.

Do you like the poem? Are there any phrases that particularly catch your attention?

In what ways does it reflect the previous prayer, and in what ways does it add to the ideas contained in the prayer?

Reading this poem, how does it make you feel about baptism? Does it make you feel that you would like to renew your baptism promises, to renew your connection with your baptism? (The renewal of baptism vows often forms part of the Easter Day liturgy).

8. In the gospel of John, Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman with whom he has the following conversation.

Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ John 4:13-14

What is the water Jesus is offering? Is it the water of baptism? Or is it a metaphor for the new – eternal – life that is our heritage as those who are born again/ born from above?

Does the use of water suggest that there is something universal about the offer or availability of eternal life?

9. Do you like this painting? If you lived in an ice and/or snow bound landscape, how do you think these first signs of spring would make you feel?

Might the freshly running water suggest freedom and newness of life? Perhaps after a period of dormancy?

10. The prophet Ezekiel is shown a vision by an angel of the restored temple in Jerusalem.

Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. ….Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on one side and on the other. He said to me, ‘This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. … On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’

This passage echoes Genesis 2 where water springs up from within the garden of Eden and then flows, in four branches, to water the whole earth. It also echoes the passage in the Book of Revelation where a river flows out from the throne of God through the streets of the new Jerusalem and along whose banks are trees whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.

Should all our churches have a fountain or stream of water to remind us of God’s enduring gift of life?

SALISBURY CATHEDRAL FONT

Water is the predominant feature of this work, its surface reflecting and extending the surrounding architecture, while four smooth filaments of water pass through spouts at each of the four corners of a bronze vessel and disappear through a bronze grating set into the floor. See video footage here. The base is clad in Purbeck stone. Here two contrasting aspects of water are woven seamlessly together: stillness expressed in the reflecting surface, and the flow and movement though the spouts expressing its essential life giving properties.

The shape was developed from a square footprint. A cruciform shape is created by scooping out radiused sections of the four sides. This immediately accentuates the directional flow of water, channelling it towards the corners which at the same time provide obvious and natural positioning within the embrace of the bronze vessel for priest and candidate for baptism.

The font was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 28th September 2008. Until recently, Salisbury Cathedral had no permanently installed font. The move to procure a permanent font for Salisbury was initiated by the then Canon Treasurer June Osborne, who has gone on to become Dean of Salisbury.

During this decade, I installed a series of my own works at the North Porch Crossing which was the chosen location for the font. For the first one in 2001, I made a trapezoidal tray echoed the shape of St Osmond’s tomb. This was a temporary installation, primarily aimed towards demonstrating the immense potential of reflection of the surrounding architecture in still water within the Cathedral.

In the subsequent years, versions of my Brimming Bowl series were installed over the Easter periods, when they became temporary fonts for baptisms. These installations were all aimed towards finding a solution that would be acceptable to all parties involved including the congregation. Not only was I to produce a working font, but also to do something that would become a major attraction to the 90% of visitors entering the Cathedral who are not there to worship, but simply as visitors. A design was finally approved in 2007. https://www.williampye.com/works/salisbury-cathedral-font

Prayer

“With joy you will draw water

from the wells of salvation.

And you will say on that day:

Give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
proclaim that his name is exalted.”*

Lord Jesus may the fountain of living water

ever be renewed in our hearts.

Amen.

Isaiah 12: 3-4

Part 4: Air

Air is a colourless, odourless mixture of gases comprising (typically) 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, small amounts of other gases and a varying amount of water vapour – on average about 1% at sea level. Air forms layers around the surface of the earth known as the earth’s atmosphere. With increasing distance from the earth so the concentration of the gases in the atmosphere decreases. This wrap-around atmosphere protects life on earth in several ways:

It creates sufficient pressure to ensure water remains as a liquid on the earth’s surface.
It absorbs ultraviolet solar radiation.
It retains heat (the greenhouse effect) that warms the earth’s surface
and reduces the extremes of temperature between night and day.

How might this idea of a wrap-around atmosphere that protects the earth provide us with an image of God?

Air is essential for life. When we breath in the air fills our lungs and there the oxygen in the air is transferred into the cells of our body keeping them and thus our whole body functioning. This is true for all birds and animals. If we stop breathing, we die. In Genesis 2:7 God breathes life into Adam, and in Job 33:4, Job says “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

2. How does it make you feel to consider that the breath in you comes from God? How often do we think of the air as a gift from God?

Breath by Luci Shaw

When, in the cavern darkness, Jesus
opened his small, bleating mouth (even before
his eyes widened to the supple world his
lungs had sighed into being), did he intuit
how hungrily the lungs gasp? Did he begin, then,
to love the way air sighs as it brushes in and out
through the portals of tissue to sustain
the tiny heart’s iambic beating? And how,
fuelled by air, the dazzling blood tramps
the crossroads of the brain like donkey tracks,
corpuscles skittering to the earlobes and toenails?

Bottle of the breath of God, speaking in stories,
shouting across wild, obedient water, his voice
was stoppered only by inquisition, unfaith
and anguish. Did he know that he would,
in the end, leak all his blood, heave a final
groan and throw his breath,
oxygen for the world, back to its Source
before the next dark cave?

3. Do you like this poem? Do any words or phrases stand out?

What does it tell us about Jesus as human and Jesus as God?

4. John’s Gospel recounts how Jesus breathed on his disciples saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22) Do you think this deliberately mirrors the verse from Genesis 2? Is creation an on-going process of salvation?

Air that moves is wind. Winds occur due to differences in temperature across the earth. Warm air rises and as it does reduces the pressure of the air on the earth’s surface. Elsewhere cooling air will sink, increasing air pressure. Areas of low pressure will pull in more air, whilst in areas of high pressure air will be pushed out. This creates wind. Areas of very low pressure creates extreme winds such as typhoons and hurricanes.

5.. Do you like either or both of these paintings? How do they each convey the presence of the wind? Are the colours they use important?

6. Winds enable us to feel the air. Have you memorable experiences of feeling the wind that you would like to share?

Is our experience of the wind different depending on the time of year – summer or autumn? Or place – urban street or beach?

Can wind change our mood?

7. Interestingly the Greek word used – pneuma – means both breath and spirit and wind. And Hebrew has a similarly multi-talented word – ruach – which again has the meaning of breath and sprit and wind.

How might it change our expectation of God’s presence in our lives, if we were to think of the Spirit within us as a storm or whirlwind? The writer of Genesis taps into this when he describes the presence of God hovering over the void of creation. And Jesus uses the same ambiguity when, in John’s gospel, he talks with Nicodemus.

Can you think of other examples in the Bible where the wind is used to indicate the presence of God?

“Pentecost Villanellette” by Mark Debolt

Not as a dove the Holy Spirit came
to the disciples gathered in a room,
but as a violent wind and tongues of flame.

A cyclone roared the ineffable name
as fire on each blushing brow did bloom.
Not as a dove the Holy Spirit came

to give sight to the blind and heal the lame
and raise the dead and dispel error’s gloom,
but as a violent wind and tongues of flame.

The Breath of God is anything but tame.
Who dally with it dally with their doom.
Not as a dove the Holy Spirit came,
but as a violent wind and tongues of flame.

(villanelle – a pastoral or lyrical poem of nineteen lines, with only two rhymes throughout, and some lines repeated.)

8. Do you like this poem? Are there particular words or phrases that stand out? Do you think that writer feels we have overly ‘tamed’ the Holy Spirit with our use of language?

Why is the sky blue? Light that from the sun is a spectrum of colours – as in a rainbow. The different colours have different waves lengths with blue and violet having the shortest. When the sun light reaches the earth’s atmosphere it is scattered or deflected by tiny gas molecules in the air – mostly nitrogen and oxygen. The shorter wave length colours are scattered most and so our eyes (which are also blue sensitive) see the sky as blue. At dawn and dusk the sun light we see has come through a greater depth of the atmosphere and then we see more of the longer wave length colours such as red and yellow.

The reds and yellows of sun sets and sun rises are intensified when the air is full of other particles such as are released by smoke and ash. Following the eruption of the Tambora Volcano eruption in 1815, there were several years when sunsets were particularly vivid and these intense colours were picked upon and recreated by J M W Turner.

9. Do you warm to this picture? How does it make you feel?

Are you surprised that the colour of the sky can be affected by a volcano eruption on the other side of the world? (Tambora is in Indonesia.)

This photo was taken in New York at midday in 2020 and shows the effect of smoke from the wild fires in California that were polluting the air.

According to the WHO, ‘Household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are common sources of air pollution… [with] almost all of the global population (99%) breathe air that exceeds WHO guideline limits … Air quality is closely linked to the earth’s climate and ecosystems globally. Many of the drivers of air pollution (i.e. combustion of fossil fuels) are also sources of greenhouse gas emissions.’

‘I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you polluted the earth, and made my heritage an abomination.’ Jeremiah 2:7

10. If we think of air or breath being God’s gift of life to us, how do we feel about air pollution that results from our current human lifestyle?

Do we need an annual day when we corporately repent of our sins against creation?

Prayer

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognise that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.

Amen.

From Pope Francis’ Laudato Si

https://time.com/3925814/pope-francis-climate-change-encyclical-prayers

Counting on … day 13

13th January 2024

Install water butts

Obviously water butts are great for collecting water that can be used to water the garden during spells of drier weather. But they can also help reduce flooding. Flooding can be avoided or reduced if we slow the rate at which rainwater reaches the streams and rivers which are likely to flood. If rainwater has first to fill an -ideally – empty – water butt before it discharges into the drains, that will reduce the rate at which the rain water reaches the steam/ river.

How we landscape our gardens can also have an effect. Hard surfaces such as concrete driveways or paved patios, will quickly discharge rainwater into the drains and hence the river system. Soft surfaces such as grass, flower beds and, best of all, trees will slow the rate at which rain enters the drainage system. The plants leaves will slow and collect the water, whilst the soil and plant roots will absorb rainwater.

For more information see – https://theconversation.com/if-more-houses-had-water-butts-it-could-help-with-drought-flooding-and-water-pollution-191469

https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/articles/reduce-flood-risk

Windows of Opportunity

17th December 2023

Treat water as a common good

“Governments must urgently stop subsidising the extraction and overuse of water through misdirected agricultural subsidies, and industries from mining to manufacturing must be made to overhaul their wasteful practices, according to the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. Nations must start to manage water as a global common good, because most countries are highly dependent on their neighbours for water supplies, and overuse, pollution and the climate crisis threaten water supplies globally.” (1)

“”However, water is not just a casualty but also a driver of the climate crisis,” reads the report. “Extreme water events cause an immediate loss of carbon uptake in nature. Droughts lead to fires and massive loss of biomass, carbon, and biodiversity. The loss of wetlands is depleting the planet’s greatest carbon store, while the drop in soil moisture is reducing the terrestrial and forest ecosystem’s ability to sequester carbon… We will fail on climate change if we fail on water,”” (2)

We forget how much water is used by mining and industry (17% of the world’s freshwater use) and by agriculture (70%) – whilst domestic/ municipal use accounts for 12%. By 2030 demand is likely to exceed supply by approximately 40%. This is clearly a problem, and as with so many cases of shortages, it is likely that the poorest in society and the poorest nations will bear the brunt of distress.

The matter is further compounded because the source of a water supply may lay outside the user’s borders. Water from the Swiss Alps, feeds the River Po in Italy; the glaciers in the Himalayas feed four great rivers – Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, and Tarim. Other countries rely on ‘green water’ where water held in the soil and released through transpiration from trees and other plants, then condenses and falls as rain further down wind. Changes in land use up wind – such as deforestation – can reduce rainfall. (2) Again this can make one country dependent on another for its water. This is one of the causes of the drought being experienced in the Amazon basin (3).

These cross border issues have the potential for conflict as is already the case in the West Bank (4)

The Global Commission on the Economics of Water recommends seven steps that policymakers must take to avoid a water shortage by the end of the decade, including:

Manage water supplies as a common good by recognizing that water is critical to food security and all sustainable development goals;
Mobilize multiple stakeholders—public, private, civil society, and local community—to scale up investments in water through new
modalities of public-private partnerships;
Cease underpricing water and target support for the poor;
Phase out water and agriculture subsidies that “generate excessive water consumption and other environmentally damaging practices”;
Establish Just Water Partnerships to enable investments in water access, resilience and sustainability in low- and middle-income countries;
Move forward on steps that can be taken this decade to “move the needle significantly,” including fortifying depleted freshwater systems, recycling industrial and urban wastewater, reusing water in the production of critical materials, and shifting agricultural systems to include less water-intensive crops and drought-resistant farming; and
Reshape multilateral governance of water by incorporating new water standards into trade agreements and prioritizing equality in water decision-making. (2)

(3) https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/08/green-water-climate-change-deforestation/

(4) see – https://theconversation.com/drought-in-the-amazon-understanding-the-causes-and-the-need-for-an-immediate-action-plan-to-save-the-biome-215650)

(5) see – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/17/how-israel-uses-water-to-control-west-bank-palestine?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Windows of Opportunity

16th December 2023

Use less water

“Water and climate change are inextricably linked. Climate change affects the world’s water in complex ways. From unpredictable rainfall patterns to shrinking ice sheets, rising sea levels, floods and droughts – most impacts of climate change come down to water ….Only 0.5 per cent of water on Earth is useable and available freshwater – and climate change is dangerously affecting that supply. Over the past twenty years, terrestrial water storage – including soil moisture, snow and ice – has dropped at a rate of 1 cm per year, with major ramifications for water security” (1)

“[I]n the world’s push to achieve a low-carbon economy, water is often forgotten. The focus for decarbonisation often lies on transportation, manufacturing, or other industrial processes, but water utilities are responsible for two percent of total annual global emissions — about as much as the shipping industry. Water cannot be excluded when designing policies to reduce emissions. Water utility companies must make efforts to decarbonise their activities, especially through the energy-intensive process of treating and processing wastewater.” (2)

In 2019 the head of Environment Agency, Sir James Bevan said “We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby or throwing your plastic bags into the sea …. the average person’s daily water use of 140 litres could be cut to 100 litres in 20 years by more efficient use in homes and gardens.” (3)

Tips for using less water – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/05/how-to-use-less-water-15-tips-beef-burgers-megabutts-clothes?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

And also https://friendsoftheearth.uk/sustainable-living/13-best-ways-save-water

For interest, I now only shower once a week, instead washing in a basin every day – and then using that water to flush the loo.

Proper 21, 17th Sunday After Trinity

1st October 2023

Reflection (readings are below)

Why do the people complain to Moses and not ask/ pray to God? Are they still at the learning stage and don’t yet know God?

It seems that they have not yet learnt that God is with them.

Later the Psalmist, will be able to write ‘Hear my teaching, O my people’. By the time the Psalmist is writing, God’s people have journeyed through the wilderness experiencing God’s presence in all aspects of their daily life. They will have been immersed in a time and space when they were ready and able to learn God’s teaching.

In Philippians we have a wonderful early creed that describes the nature and character of Jesus. Jesus is God-with-us in a unique way. Through our faith in Jesus, God is at work in us, enabling us ‘both to will and to work for his good pleasure’.

Both the Old Testament readings and the epistle are telling us that the source of instruction that we need to enable us to lead good and fulfilled lives, should come from God. God should be the source of authority in our lives – for us as individuals and as a people. If we believe that God is the origin of all that has been created, then it would seem logical that God would be the best source of information – the best authority – to show us how we can live most harmoniously, most profitably with creation. Here I use the word profitably to mean not financial greed but beneficial wellbeing. And that would be well-being not just for some individuals but for everyone, for the whole ecosystem.

Today’s gospel reading is also about authority. More specifically, what is the authority by which Jesus acts? What is the authority that allows him speak of what God wills? What is the authority that allows him to teach others? What is the authority that allows him to heal and to forgive sins? What is the authority that allows him to challenge existing traditions and laws, to contradict what is said by those in positions of power?

Does his authority come from his band of followers, or from family business, or from sponsors, or from a self confident egotism, or maybe – just maybe – from God?

Perhaps, in all honesty, the chief priests and elders are not entirely sure that they know the answer. The miracles and healings might suggest divine links, but how could that be squared with his pointed assertions that they, the public figures of the Law and guardians of God’s Temple, are wrong – that they have become entrapped in a false system that equates their human decisions with those of God? I can imagine it would be hard for them to see through the miasma of centuries old human-made traditions.

When we look at our own social, religious, and business structures, can we be sure that we can always distinguish between human preferences and God’s will, between what is expedient and what God desires?

Licensing new oil wells that will profit shareholders who vote for you, may seem expedient if you are after votes. But is spending money on such destructive projects that could otherwise be invested in climate friendly renewable energy projects, really what God desires? Surely what God desires is that the actions we choose should care for and benefit the planet, should provide for the wellbeing of the poor and the vulnerable in creation?

The people in Exodus quite rightly ask for clean drinking water. Water is essential for life. People need clean water to drink. Birds and animals need clean water to drink. Plants need water to grow. Aquatic creatures need clean water in which to live – if the water becomes polluted, they die. Why then is it that we allow companies to make profits out of selling water whilst at the same time polluting streams, rivers and, ultimately, seas on and in which so many plants and animal species depend? Why is it that farmers can profit from industrial-scale methods of production that release herbicides and pesticides and farm sewage into those same streams, rivers and oceans, without hindrance or reparations? Why is that industrialists can profit from producing aluminium and copper and lithium whilst polluting whole river systems? Or that oil companies can profit from extracting oil whilst polluting both rivers and oceans?

Surely what God desires are clean, biodiverse rich, flourishing streams and rivers, seas and deltas? Surely what God desires is that no one should make profits at the expense of anyone else’s (human or wildlife) wellbeing? That being so, by what authority do businesses and governments promote means of production and extraction and profiteering that kill off wildlife, damage ecosystems, and endanger the lives of millions of people across the world?

Conversely by what authority do climate activists, social reformers, naturalists and ecologist, call for an end of such practices? What motivates their actions? To win votes? For egotist reward? For fun? Or because they cannot stand back, and say and/ do nothing about what seems to be clearly unrighteous?

Exodus 17:1-7

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16

1 Hear my teaching, O my people; *
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable; *
I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.

3 That which we have heard and known,
and what our forefathers have told us, *
we will not hide from their children.

4 We will recount to generations to come
the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the Lord, *
and the wonderful works he has done.

12 He worked marvels in the sight of their forefathers, *
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He split open the sea and let them pass through; *
he made the waters stand up like walls.

14 He led them with a cloud by day, *
and all the night through with a glow of fire.

15 He split the hard rocks in the wilderness *
and gave them drink as from the great deep.

16 He brought streams out of the cliff, *
and the waters gushed out like rivers.

Philippians 2:1-13

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death–
even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Matthew 21:23-32

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Counting on …day 1:030

30th January 2023

As climate change leads to more extreme weather conditions, it is not only droughts that affect us, but floods too, as we fluctuate from periods of no rain to sudden downpours. By reshaping and adapting our local environment, it is possible to mitigate some of the effects of heavy rain. For example replacing hard surfaces such as tarmac and concrete with soft surfaces such as gravel and grass, limits a rapid run-off of water that can overload drains and watercourses. Replacing grass with trees and bushy plants further slows the rate at which rain enters rivers and drains. Allowing rivers to both meander and to overflow into water meadows and areas of marshland, enables rivers to cope with excess quantities of water.

Even in our own gardens we can take evasive action – replacing hard driveways with soft ones, installing water butts – and ponds – and planting trees and shrubs.

For more ideas – https://greentau.org/2022/01/19/eco-tips-17/

The water of eternal life

Friday 2nd September 2022

Jesus said … “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14b

You Lord, are the source of all good things:

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation:

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:

May we live together in peace.

A reading Ezekiel 47:1-12

Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar. He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple. He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through. He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look?”

Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river. He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En Gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean.

“The swamps and marshes won’t become fresh. They’ll stay salty. But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won’t wither, the fruit won’t fail. Every month they’ll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

In the beginning

it was a mere drop of water,

a slight dampness on the ground: