Green Patches

Change can be easier than you think

Says Generous.org  

Paul Northup shares a few familial thoughts at the start of another New Year about how the thought of change can sometimes daunt us, force us into passivity, hold us captive. When, in actuality, things might be easier – and sometimes even quicker – to change than we think.

Flushed with pride: Home Counties 'Poo Power.'

credit www.freedigitalphotos.net

Climate change strategy reaches new heights (or should that be 'depths!') as a water company gets back to the soil with its  exciting new strategy for cutting fuel consumption and greenhouse gases.

Read all about it here, courtesy of the BBC.

Carbon- neutral church

Given the name of this blog, I've been a bit remiss in not mentioning an exciting new sustainable development project launched recently. Newchurch [must stop calling it that; I've been there a year] is aiming to become one of the first carbon-neutral congregations in the Church of England.  Hear and read all about it here, here  , here   and of course, here. [you'll need to be a  Church Times subscriber to access this last link]. 

For readers who might wonder Climate Change - Why  the church?  the C of E's National Environmental Campaign Shrinking the Footprint  provides some helpful info, as well as linking to a talk on the topic by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Green Christianity and Romans 8

Courtesy of Matt Stone.

Romans 8:18-25

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 

This is a passage of hope, and more, of a hope that encompasses the entire creation. It includes a sober assessment of the frustration and decay that the environment now suffers, but says IT WILL NOT END THERE. Paul’s words here are light years away from the prophetic speculations of some Christians who think that the world will one day be “Left Behind”. No, the apostle Paul here counsels that the reign of God includes the renewal of creation, its rebirth.

This naturally leads to the question, so what does that mean for me here and now? My response is, if God does not consider the earth to be disposable, should we?

 

Where God Is

Christians don't take God into the world. They discover God actively working there for good through all sorts of people and situations whether Christian or not. God challenges us all to join in with his mission of love to the world.

- After Sunday

Thanks to Dave Walker of Cartoonchurch for pointing me in the direction of this site.

God 'doesn't do waste' - really!

Ladies and gentlemen, here is my second attempt to bring you the profound wisdom of Dave Walker from Cartoonchurch:

OK, resolutions. Last year I set my sights too high I think. This year I plan to draw more, put things away when I have finished with them, join an environmental organisation, do the bins the night before, cut dilly dallying by 12-15% and generally be a marginally better person. How about you?

and

The Archbishop of Canterbury in his New Year Message broadcast last night:

...God doesn't do waste.

He doesn't regard anyone as a 'waste of space', as not worth his time – from the very beginnings of life to its end, whether they are successful, articulate, productive or not. And so a life that communicates a bit of what God is like, is a life that doesn't give up – that doesn't settle down with a culture of waste and disposability – whether with people, or with things...

(thanks to Mootblog for the original link, although I used the news service for this post because of the Youtube access. When I try to embed clever things like this I tend to end up with a bad attack of 'malformed HTML!)

God 'doesn't do waste' - Archbishop of Canterbury's New Year Message

But hitting the delete button instead of 'save' does! Try again.

Being Green in 2007

(credit freedigitalphotos.net)

It's not easy being green, but you have to laugh. Some of the funniest stories of 2007, courtesy of Treehugger.

Global Warming

From the Jubilee Centre. Jason Fletcher interviews Bob White on youtube.

                                                                                  with thanks to Ecotheology

This week's green blogs

From Carnival of The Green 90.