The environmental middle-class guilts...

Last night, we did the last event of the Dirty Mother series, a service exploring the links between the environment and talking the talk/walking the walk, and guilt, shame, anger/choice, class, convenience.

Below are a few things that we did: thanks to Lizzie, Kevin and Rachel for their ideas and hard work.


A new candle lighting setting

We light this light in the name of the Creator,
The one who breathed the breath of life,
The one who made the heavens and the earth,
The one who looked at everything in the beginning and it was good.

We light this light in the name of the Redeemer,
The one who came to show us a kingdom way,
The one who spoke in riddles about seeds and birds and lilies of the field,
The one who turned The Word into action.

We light this light in the name of the Sustainer,
The one who hovered over the waters at the very start of everything,
The one who inspires and challenges us to change,
The one whose fire renews us still.


A reflective liturgical piece

Where to start, what to do? So much to do and so little time...

Choices, choices everywhere and not an action to take. Life is a mass of choices - from the frivolous to the life-changing. Which Tshirt? What newspaper? That job? This house? Sometimes it feels like there are too many choices - simply too much to choose from - an indistinguishable mass of clamoring stuff.

In fact, so much choice that we become worried that we make will the wrong one, we become paralysed by the choosing. And then comes the guilt and shame and anger. Because we are wealthy and free enough to even have choices in the first place. Because we try to pick between convenience and ethics, the environment and other people, the best use of our resources and the best use of our time...

Where to start, what to do? So much to do and so little time...
Wine from France's relatively near vineyards or a fair price for vintners in Chile?
The cost of that long train trip or the convenience of flying?
Fairtrade bananas or organic ones?
Free range or food miles?
Biofuel or world food shortages?
Spend at People tree or invest at the Co-op?
And in the end, the middle class guilts about the very act of choosing the "right" option...

Can we make the earth a little lighter? Can we hold it as a common treasury for all? The inconvenient truth is we must still live and work and lead our lives in this 21st century world, but maybe those of us who *can* choose must realise (as the saying goes) that with great power comes great responsibility... So when the scale of the task overwhelms us, we need to go back to basics and redo the maths - small changes x lots of people = BIG change.

This is not about whether we should act alone, but how we can act together – both acting locally and thinking globally. We are a new movement, one that talks the talk and walks the walk; we must imagine, believe and begin.


Other

Also we dug out an old Vaux liturgy for use during sharing bread and wine. And there were four stations around the space for people to visit:

• one on we are what we do
• one on the effect of climate change on people across the world
• one a big graffiti wall - one thing to change the world
• one on BBC's Blood, Sweat and Tshirts