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Lent Day 3) (Part 3/3)
With the #climatecrisis we’re facing consequences we once viewed as fringe scenarios. It is like we were looking in a mirror and seeing what was there, but that mirror had fogged glass. Now everything is coming into focus, the emergency is in sharp focus, and everything is suddenly clear. Yet, even though the reflection in the mirror is clear we are still not acting on what we see. As Christians are we still treating this emergency in proportion to seeing what we used to see in a fogged mirror? Recycling, energy saving lightbulbs and non-plastic straws are all good things. They are nowhere near enough of a change though, and nowhere near fast enough. We need to be pushing our government for radical change - now.
#by2020weriseup #christianclimateaction #lent #lent2020 #womeninclimate #climatejustice #climateaction #climatecrisis #climateemergency #faithhopelove #lentthoughts
Lent Day 3) (Part 2/3)
We have to be so careful in this life not to reason ourselves out of the necessity for action. One of the great things about Lent and this period of reflection is that it focuses our mind. We have to take our transformation beyond this though. To think about something is not enough. I can apply this wisdom to the #climatecrisis too. I think many people now think about it, I think many people THINK about acting on it too, but how many of us do? How many of us actually create change because of our thoughts? This is a huge challenge to me today - not just to think, not just to agree, but to do!
#lent #by2020weriseup #christianclimateaction #lent2020 #faithhopelove #climateaction #climatejustice #fossilfuelfast #bethechange #womeninclimate #climateemergency
‘For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror’ James 1:23
Lent Day 3) When we look in a mirror all of our faults are there on display. Our blemishes, our scars, our blotchy skin... All of it. This metaphor is very simple, but very expressive. When we look in a mirror we see all we are and all we need to change. But the moment we walk away from the mirror we forget ourselves. In this verse it is saying that when we are listening to God’s word we remember it and we see it and we want to live it out, but then we walk away and it is gone from our mind. We lose sight of it the way we lose sight of ourselves when we walk away from a mirror.
For me I know I am very guilty of this. I feel immersed and challenged at one moment, and then even on the same day I lose sight of what I am meant to be doing. I lose sight of God’s purpose for me. (Part 1/3) #lent #lent2020 #40Days #fossilfuelfast #faithhopelove #selfreflection #purpose #purposedrivenlife #climatechange #climateaction #womeninclimate #climatecrisis #climatejustice #fridayfeels #by2020weriseup #carbonzero #bethechange #mylentjourney
Lent Day 2
Matthew 6:16-18
16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 💖
So clearly, some will look at my Instagram feed and judge that I am not doing this. And let’s be honest, I don’t get this Lent stuff (or following Christ stuff) right all the time. Human being thing! But in the case of the climate crisis I am trying to both have my own private time of fasting and reflection that (as above) is not on show. It is between me and God. Yet, I also think there is such a important year ahead, and years ahead, in tackling the #climatecrisis that we need to be bold and courageous in sharing action and amplifying the voices of those most affected by climate change. So I have a private fast but also a public one because the Bible also tells us to petition on behalf of the poor and to break the chains of injustice. Sometimes chain breaking needs to be done with volume and at scale as the chains are so daunting. It is never too late to do something, to be involved in action... #lent #lent2020 #thursdaythoughts #biblepassage #bibleverse #biblestudy #lentstudy #loveinaction #climatechange #climatecrisis #faithhopelove
Lent Day 2: Morning thoughts
We stopped seeking the holy
and instead found solace
in what could be easily bought
and sold
with gold coins
worthless and cheap.
What is the true fast?
Is it to lose ourselves in rituals
and routines and 40 day dialogues
with ourselves?
Or is it instead to
seek justice
love mercy
walk humbly.
#lent #lent2020 #40days #40Acts #lovemercy #justice #loveinaction #thursdaythoughts #poem #poetry #londonpoet #christianpoet #spokenwordartist #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #faithhopelove
Lent Day 2: Some thoughts: I feel like we are living in a time that is ‘thin’. The gap between us and the spiritual world seems much thinner than it has to me in the past. Perhaps it is because we are also living in such precarious times. I feel a lot more aware of my own mortality and weakness - I feel much more aware of the fragility of our planet too. Anyone else feel this ‘thinness’? Thin spaces can provide challenge but also opportunity. Today, as I focus on what it means to live in a world of such need, one thing that comes clearly to mind is this idea of purpose. Perhaps all of us alive now have a challenge to live in the thin spaces - existing in the mess but with our eyes heavenward. #lent #lent2020 #thursdaythoughts #40days #thinspaces #climatechange #climatecrisis #loveinaction 📷 of a sign spotted at yesterday’s @extinctionrebellion #christianclimateaction Ash Wednesday vigil at #westminsterabbey in #london
Sometimes people think of Lent as a passive time. And yes, I think private fasting is important - Lent is not about gain, it is about focusing on God and sacrifice. However, Lent is also a time specifically for lament, reflection and re-engagement. We can be reflective without being passive, we can be inward looking while also looking out! This Lent I will be committing myself to praying for God’s world, acting to raise awareness of climate injustice and doing what I can to also make changes in my own life that I intend to keep up beyond Lent. #lent #lent2020 #ashwednesday #ashwednesday2020 #climatejustice #climatecrisis #christianclimateaction #womeninclimate #fossilfree #fossilfreelent #loveinaction
This lunchtime I took part in the @extinctionrebellion #christianclimateaction Wednesday Vigil. As we stood outside Westminster Abbey priests read a liturgy and placed a cross of oil on our heads. First in ash and then in (fake) crude oil. Usually ash is used, and like ash the oil represents our mortality. Unlike ash it doesn't return to the earth harmoniously. The way we use (crude) oil as human beings has the opposite effect. So the oil used represents the harmful over-reliance of humans on fossil fuels. Many Christians within the movement are calling on the church to fully divest from fossil fuels by the end of Lent. #ashwednesday #ashwednesday2020 #lent #lent2020 #fossilfree #fossilfuelfreelent #climatechange #climateaction #climateemergency #loveinaction #faithhopelove #loveremains
So begins #Lent2020. I will be doing some stuff privately but will be living out some of my Lent journey publicly too in the hope it might prove useful for someone else.
Ezekiel 37 is my Bible passage for reflection today. It is one of my favourite Bible passages where God brings back the valley from the brink, and breathes life into dry bones. Read it - it is great! When we look at the impact of #climatechange and how badly decimated our beautiful world is we may also feel we are stood in a valley of bones. I don’t like a lot of the narratives of hope in relationship to the climate crisis as often they trivialise the dire situation our planet is in. But we do have a God that can breathe life, and we are yet living! The narrative should not ‘be we are doomed’ (climate nihilism ) versus ‘we are all fine’ (climate change denial). Rather the narrative we need to weave into our communities is one of action, reducing harm, and radical love.
So today, #ashwednesday, let us step forward and lift up the valley of dry bones. Acknowledge the waste land we have created of our world. Mourn the loss of species and hold up the fragile biospheres on the brink of collapse. Let us put it all before God and ask Him to breathe life. And let us walk out into that valley, that desert land, and place ourselves amongst the bones. For it is only by Ezekiel crying out and taking action that transformation occurred. We need to be willing to cry out too. #ashwednesday2020 #drybones #bibleverse #tuesdaythoughts #lent #lentreflections #lentthoughts #lentern #ezekiel #climatecrisis #climateaction #climateemergency #fossilfree #fossilfreeworld #christianclimateaction #ashwednesdayvigil
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