Rector’s Letter
By the time you read this the evenings will be drawing in. The longest day was 21st June when the sun rose at 3.41am. It is a strange thought with our tradition of school holidays in August (although the hottest day last year was 12th August at 34.8c in Cambridge). I was talking with a farmer who said it had been the best Spring for many years, just the right amount of sunshine and rain. Let’s see what the rest of the year brings.
It feels as if the ‘excitement’ over climate change has died down and the desperation (possibly panic) has eased into practical actions, some legislation, and people being more relaxed in this country, planting vineyards and getting into a routine of recycling. It is a bit like going on a diet with fervour and good intensions to start with then settling down to a, hopefully, new sustainable routine.
The bible’s stand point is that humans have been given stewardship of creation and are answerable to God for our actions, which should be enough motivation. Add to that the absolute command to love our neighbour as ourselves and the climate crisis should never have happened. But, and to quote Paul’s letter to the Romans, ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’.
So we live with the tension of knowing what is right and doing what is right, with all it inherent cost. Or perhaps it is more the fact that we don’t see any immediate benefit for our actions and ask what difference my action will have when ‘China is still using so much coal’?
I hope you enjoy the change in our local weather, are not flooded by the sudden heavy downpours and are happy to pay increased food bills as global supplies change and farmers adapt. But who is this neighbour we are called to love?
Nick Law
Rector