When I was a curate my wise senior colleague said that he had learned an important lesson about February. He said, “don’t discuss anything controversial at meetings this month”. “Why?”, I asked. “It is the dingiest time of the year and people tend to be more grumpy than usual” was his reply. 40 years later people think of this as the effect of a lack of sunshine. We are all affected by the weather!

We are probably more conscious of the importance of the natural world than at any time in recent history. We have been horrified by the wildfires sweeping through Australia and the American West Coast, and by floods and landslides elsewhere. While for some the cause of these changes is still contested, the broad scientific consensus seems to be that human beings are largely responsible for the destabilising of the natural environment. How are we to think about these matters as Christian people? I am drawn to consider the significance of Psalm 24 “the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it”. If I am to honour God as the Lord then I want to recognise that the things God treasures are to be important to me also. That includes the people of the world, in all our marvellous variety, and the physical environment and its amazing wild abundance.

It is easy to be demoralised by the predictions of the future and to feel that we are too small and insignificant to be able to make any difference. That would fly in the face of the evidence we have that individuals do change the way other people think and act. If I were to mention the name of Greta Thunberg, many of us reading this would know immediately who she is and what she is known for. I put her first name into my computer and this 17-year-old Swedish schoolgirl came out top of the list of “famous Greta’s” along with a reminder that she is Time magazine’s Person of the Year. It is possible to make a difference.

We will have quite a few opportunities in the coming year to consider as Christians our engagement with the natural world. It would be good to begin conversations with one another and to consider what it is possible for us to do. How do we read the Scriptures – like Psalm 24 which I quoted above, or the passages in the Book of Genesis which outline our human responsibilities? What insights do we have from the life and teaching of Jesus; was the early church concerned about these things? Let’s have the conversation.

Frank White
Interim Minister