Sunday 14th June, Environment Sunday, (2nd Sunday after Trinity)

This week in our main service we are marking Environment Sunday. Like Harvest Festival, when we give thanks for God’s provision in the natural world, Environment Sunday is an annual event, but both remind us of things that require our more constant awareness and attention. Harvest does not come without months of preparation: the turning of the soil, the sowing of the seed, the tending of the growth, the struggle against weed and pest. The fulfilment of harvest is the culmination of a journey of many small steps.

In the same way, Environment Sunday draws our attention to the fact that the choices we make today – every day – have long-term cumulative effects, for good or for ill. The environment is a complex system: a small change in one place produces bigger change somewhere else. We have become used to being told about the damage that the choices of generations who came before us have done.

But Environment Sunday reminds us also that we are not helpless, and that the situation is not hopeless. I cannot single-handedly reverse historical damage or restore the world to balance – that power rests with God. But I can do God’s work by making one choice, showing my care for God’s world in one small way. And if I make enough changes over time, those will eventually add up to a big change. And if enough of us do the same we can change the world for the better. Just one different choice is where God asks us to begin.
Every blessing,

Roger