Pastoral Letter: Rev Ulrike Bell

Dear friends,

It’s not the end of the world, only of the world as we know it. Who knows what will be?

Most of us have resigned, given up even following the news. Who can bear listening to any more of this painful, self-inflicted topic, when so much else in the world and indeed in our country here lies
fallow?

School pupils, following the astonishing example of a 16-year-old Swedish girl which caused a huge wave of imitation around the world, remind us these days of the fact that climate change ought to be our number one topic. That looking after the earth and changing the ways in which we consume, travel, produce energy and trade ought to be on the top of our list of concerns.

For the pure aim of preserving our amazing planet and its inhabitants of all kinds. Aren’t you, too, astonished, relieved and indeed concerned that these young people stop their lives (skip school), raise their voices (“this is much more important than anything else!”) and encourage us to join the
discussion? What can we do? What can WE do?

Did you know that according to Greenpeace in their press release 5th November 2018, “UK top supermarkets flood Britain with 59 billion pieces of plastic packaging every year? Over 2,000 items for every household in the country. Despite their huge plastic footprint, half of the supermarkets surveyed have no specific targets to reduce plastic packaging (...)”.

It seems appropriate that with all this we are going into the time of Lent. Of fasting, deliberately going without, of sharpening our awareness, reflecting upon the reality of dark and light powers in our life, in our country, and, in anticipation of the feast of Resurrection at Easter, concentrating on the force of Light and Good, God’s power, active here and now, though mostly unseen, overlooked, unnoticed –
the bad has a stronger press.

So come to our Lent Study Groups, let us join together in the power of the Lord, in seeking out His guidance for our lives us in the Bible, in praying together.

Indeed, our next Holy Habit is “Prayer”, and how much we need to pray these days!

With Faith, Hope and Love to you all,

​Ulrike

---