We can make choices which are good and not bad for the environment; we can do it visibly; we can talk to others about it, and spread the word and the message, and if enough of us do it, there is a real probability of a critical mass leading to wider behavioural change.
We saw it in the way in which driving while drunk has become more and more socially unacceptable. We’ve started to see it in many aspects of environmental awareness and care – we turn lights out more often; we sort our rubbish; we grow bee-friendly plants in our gardens or leave parts of them a little wild, and so on. And we live in a society and a world which is powerfully networked; so there is a real possibility for traction.
What messages shall we hold in our hearts? Here are some:
To consume in moderation. To think about how much is enough? How much do I need, as opposed to want, knowing how much I am conditioned to want what I do not need.
To be farsighted, to keep the far distant future in sight – the future of my children and grandchildren and their grandchildren– so that I will see the effects of my actions, or the consequences of my inactions now.
Not to lose hope. We can do this if we act now. If we act personally, locally, nationally and globally, and if we each play our part – the part we have been given, in this planetary drama which is being played out principally in the next decade.
So, I salute and stand in solidarity with the young Christian climate activists and all who join them. We support you, congratulate you, pray for you and thank you for what you are doing. May God bless you who have walked this road to Reading from Cornwall, and you who will walk on from Reading to Glasgow, and may God go with you and guide your way.
An extract from a sermon by the Rt Revd Olivia Graham, the Bishop of Reading
to members of the Young Christian Climate Network. To see the full sermon
visit www.oxford.anglican.org
