Minister’s Website Article
I do like to listen to podcasts: I regularly listen in to Tom Wright’s views on theological debates on ‘Ask NT Wright anything’, delve in to ‘The rabbit hole detectives’ and I am a follower of ‘Something rhymes with purple’ where Giles Brandreth and Susie Dent discuss words and their origins. On one podcast Giles inquired about a word to express the annoyance of spying an old plastic carrier bag caught in a tree. Susie informed him that the word is ‘witches’ knickers’! Whatever the expression, such a sight demonstrates how plastic has invaded our world. I recall listening to a new podcast recently where the person declared that the situation concerning the climate crisis is no longer one for the future, but is taking place throughout the world now!
Upon reflection, this reminded me of two things. Firstly, that although there is so much beauty around us, this has been damaged through the ignorance and arrogance of human beings. God graciously and faithfully demonstrates His love for us through nature and His creation, but we damage what He has given us due to our arrogance, pride and selfishness. We have many passages in the Bible, for example, Isaiah 11 verse 9: ‘They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea’ that call on us to look after God’s creation, to be good stewards: like many of us, I fear for future generations if we continue to blindly abuse the world’s resources. Another passage from Isaiah warns: ‘The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish’. Secondly, so many of what we deem natural disasters, or acts of God, are exacerbated by the way mankind has abused natural resources for its own selfish ends.
Over sixty years ago, Rachel Carson published her seminal book, ‘Silent Spring’ and it was only some years later that the Christian Church has begun to respond to the crisis. The charity A Rocha-visit ‘arocha.org.uk’-was started forty years ago and has become a major influence for affecting the attitude of the Church for good. We have a choice: to hold up our hands in despair, or to commit to do what we can to make the word better. Mother Teresa declared, ‘’We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.’’
Rev David Jewell