That is what 16 year old Greta Thunberg is urging us
to do. Good intentions are not enough. We adults are not mature enough to face
the climate change crisis let alone make the changes necessary to divert the
planet’s ecology from continuing to warm. ‘There is no Planet B!’ the
schoolchildren of the world are telling us every Friday in the growing street
protest movement. We have 12 years to prevent our globe’s average temperature
from warming to above 1.5C of pre-industrial rates, scientists have estimated.
Panic. Or denial. These seem to be the
options.
Last Thursday, at a study morning for clergy from
across the Diocese of Birmingham, Richard Bee (appropriately enough) from Christian
environmental action group A Rocha challenged us to mobilise our congregations
to join the movement of change. He asked, what were the obstacles? ‘Brexit’
shouted out one of us. The oxygen of attention is being sucked away from
everything that is truly important – from homelessness and housing shortages to
climate change. How true.
Denial is something I, and we, all do to
negotiate the challenges of every day. Sometimes my denial is deeply
unconscious. Most of the time my denial is conscious. It is as if I split myself
in two, or three, or more (Freud has something to say about this). I know I
cannot agree with things as they are, but I don’t know how to respond (or
perhaps lack the courage to take action) so I go along with the flow. Deep
down, in my better self, I know the truth and know I also live a lie. The true
unveiled life is in fact hidden. Maturity is a movement towards true unveiled
life where denial is replaced not by panic but by humble, merciful and just
responses and a commitment to work in solidarity with those who are growing up
– whether aged 11 or 91.
I discovered that Walkers is recycling crisp bags of any brand. Unfortunately, the closest centres to our church are both within schools, which to my mind, will make it inaccessible to most of us. Why could not supermarkets have been collection points, I wonder.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to the article regarding recycling crisp bags.
https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/walkers-crisp-packet-recycling-scheme-collection-nationwide/
I also read an excellent article about cleaning up the ocean. The videos in this article are well worth watching too.
https://news.sky.com/feature/sky-ocean-rescue-10734494
“Panic is setting in”.
ReplyDeleteThat is how one BBC reporter describes the scene in Beira, the port city of Mozambique. Cyclone Idai is causing devastation and hundreds have lost their lives or lost their belongings. They need food, shelter and clothing. The UN has said that Cyclone Idai triggered a "massive disaster" in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi affecting hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. The people feel they have been forgotten.
How many more of the poorest people in the world must suffer the effects of climate change before we take action? How much longer must they panic?
The little things I have done this week - buying bamboo cotton buds, walking not driving, buying some loose fruit and vegetables - seem so insignificant in the face of disaster. We need governments to act.