Faithfulness
By Ruth Jarman
I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.
Mother Teresa
Faithfulness usually means keeping commitments in relationships. We can be faithful to our partner, to our friends and to God. But what about people we don't know, who we will never know? What about polar bears and coral reefs and rain forest creatures? Can we be faithful to a giant millipede? Surely not! How can we be faithful to something with which we have no relationship?
The thing is, climate change has imposed relationships upon us that we have probably never dreamt of. The carbon dioxide we emit by driving, heating and consuming is warming the earth and threatening billions of lives through droughts and floods and the very existence of polar bears, coral reefs and rain forest species. This generation is in a relationship with the rest of the earth like no other. What is our response to be?
I think Mother Teresa's quote, above, is very pertinent to our situation. The question is not whether we can be successful in saving billions of lives, the polar bears, the coral reefs, the rain forests, though, of course, we must strive for success with all our strength. The question is whether we are faithful. Faithful to God, the creator of all, as well as to the Bangladeshis and the millipedes. It means living faithfully by doing the right thing whether or not it makes a difference.
Faithful recycling!
Recycling saves energy as well as resources. I've just found out that if you have more recycling than will fit into the blue bin you can put the excess in a cardboard box and leave it next to the blue bin for collection.
And remember to try and close the loop and buy recycled or second hand whenever possible as well – why not give some recycled Christmas presents this year?
