Week Four

Eco-systems of hope

Habitats are complex systems. Flick one lever, change one part and you’ll influence the rest.

Scientists sometimes talk about the ‘Anthropocene’, the idea that we humans have made such an impact on the world around us that we are entering a new epoch where human action on the planet is defining this current age, whether it be in wildlife, or meteorology, or geology. Animal, vegetable or mineral, we humans have bulldozed through with our building, farming and processing. As people who cherish and value the world we have been entrusted with for our flourishing.

What on earth can we learn from the habitats we are in danger of erasing completely before it’s too late? What do we learn from the desert, the fields, the forests, the ocean?

How can we rediscover humility and awe, and in that space - hope also.

SEEDS TO SOW: WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN HOW WE TREAT THE LAND AND HOW WE TREAT OTHER PEOPLE? *

Read Psalm 133

The pleasantness of unity.

What do you make of the two analogies in this psalm, to the oil on the beard and the mountain dew? What do they tell us about unity?

Read Isaiah 56: 1-8

Drawn into an ecosystem of grace.

God’s ecosystem of grace is about gathering and participation, not conquest and oppression. God does not conquer people to draw them into the fold, they are invited to take part and find a home there.

To the people first hearing this, how must it have sounded it? How would it have affected how they thought about identity, loyalty and belonging?

Read  Exodus 23: 9-13

Do not oppress others, do not oppress the land, do not oppress yourself.

Give others a break, give the land a break, give yourself a break! What are the things that tie these three concept together? How does not exploiting others relate to how I work the land? And how does my attitude to the land affect my attitude to myself?

* SEEDS TO SOW: These are open-ended and optional prompts and are designed for people wanting to develop their own resources in response to the themes. Perhaps if you are using this material as a group you could use these prompts to inspire a time of prayer, or drawing, or creative writing? They are a short and sweet, simply a starting off place for you and your imagination. Tailor and develop as suits your group.