Dear Friends,
Happy Easter! It’s still Eastertide, and as I was on the beautiful Isle of Wight as usual for Easter, I’m sure I can still legitimately say that. I do still have some white chocolate Malteser Easter Bunnies left (but not many).
Actually, I was recently forwarded an email which said “Easter is not a single morning miracle”. Absolutely. The Resurrection is a new beginning of love and hope, for us to take forward into the year. “Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green”*.
As we are now living in a period of global instability, how can we take love and hope forward? Well, we do all have the power. Today, 22 April, is Earth Day, an annual global event to highlight the importance of protecting the environment. This year’s theme is “Our Power, Our Planet”, celebrating the daily actions we can all take towards environmental progress. We all have the power to create change and recommit ourselves being the good stewards that God calls us to be. You can find out more about Earth Day and suggestions for actions we can take here: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-tips/
At St Nicolas, there is an opportunity to join the carbon literacy course taking place in Home Groups and also on Thursday evenings. We are also starting our Net Zero Project with a meeting on Thursday 30 April at 2pm in the St Nicolas Centre, Conference Room. Our Justice, Peace and Environment Group (JPEG) are starting the process of reviewing our Eco Church status with a goal of getting, eventually, to apply for a Gold award. We are committing ourselves to creating change to project God’s beautiful creation.
Let us thank God, with a prayer from the Anglican Church of Australia:
Holy God, earth and air and water are your creation, and every living thing belongs to you:
have mercy on us as climate change confronts us.
Give us the will and the courage to simplify the way we live,
to reduce the energy we use, to share the resources you provide, and to bear the cost of change.
Forgive our past mistakes and send us your Spirit, with wisdom in present controversies and vision for the future to which you call us.
In Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Yours, in love and hope,
Wendy
* From “Now the green blade riseth” by John Macleod Campbell Crum.