This post is adapted from one of my journal entries which was on my birthday. In short this post is about the state of nature in the UK, my part in that and yours.
I was recently inspired and challenged by the Countryfile Magazine Podcast, which had the author of Curlew Moon, Mary Colwell on it. I’ve met her, read her book and had a little further correspondence with her. Something she said really bothered me. Will I act on it and does it matter in the kingdom of God? (I say that as it’s not obvious on the surface without some digging in the Biblical text about this matter. If you look back at some of my older posts about Creation Care I do cover this subject). The thing that bothered me was this:
The UK has entered 2021 as one of the most “nature depleted” countries in the world according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
I heard that bold part in that sentence above and I actually cried! It affected me listening to it, so much so I thought I need to do something. What can I do?
Later I told Debbie about the vague statistic and had a surprising reaction.
“Where do they get their evidence from and what’s that statement based on? And if it’s correct why haven’t I heard about it if it’s so bad?!”
So I looked it up. The statistic was based on a state of nature report back in 2019:
The 2019 State of Nature report is a healthcheck on how the UK’s wildlife is faring. It is put together using wildlife data from a group of 50 conservation organisations.
Of the 8,431 species assessed,
15% are now at risk of extinction.
RSPB
(A summary of the state of nature report can be found here)
Debbie was cross as this was news to her. She had not come across this news. She believes it’s an important issue and her strong sense of justice came out in it not being aired as a matter of concern as well as she thought. I felt even worse as I’ve spent a lot of my life appreciating nature and parts of my life trying to help people see how The Creator has given us the responsibility of looking after it. Recently I have been the proverbial ostrich with my head in the sand thinking about my own concerns. I now have a renewed purpose and desire to try and express better the pressures on nature and make it a goal to be a better nature advocate.
Is this a delusion of grandeur on my part, believing that I am part of this and are here for this purpose? I think not. I have been involved in creation care, for some time now, both as a hobby and as a profession, it is part of who I am.
As I was considering these things the words from the book of Esther came to me.
For if indeed you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and the family of your father will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to a royal position for a time such as this.”
Esther 4:14 (LEB)
To put this in context Esther was a Jew and had found out from her Uncle, Mordecai that her people were under threat from genocide. Here’s an overview in a short video.
And Esther spoke to Hathach and ⌊she gave him a message for Mordecai⌋: “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman who goes to the king to the inner courtyard, who is not called, he has one law, to be killed, except if the king extends to him the gold scepter so that he may live.
Esther 4:10–11 (LEB)
Figuratively speaking The King (Jesus) has reached out his sceptre to me (and here I can include you the reader) and given us permission to come into his presence and petition him for things that concern us deeply. In this instance that which concerns me is the state of nature, a concern not only of mine but of many around the world and dare I say it something that has been on Yahweh’s heart since the beginning.
The theme of priesthood or being a priest runs strongly through the whole of the Biblical narrative. In the beginning in Genesis humanity was given the priestly responsibility of taking care of creation as caretakers. Not only that we are meant to be administering justice like kings and queens not only to people but to all of creation. We haven’t done this very well but we are still in this position to carry out this task with the help of the Holy Spirit.
‘Further, this crisis, which from a scientific view is a crisis of nature, is an opportunity for us whose lives are shaped by biblical faith to rediscover nature as creation. The environmental crisis moves us to affirm the theology of creation resident in the biblical tradition. This theology reminds us that creation continues to unfold and therefore God’s self-disclosure in creation continues as well. The divine self-disclosure is available to us just as it was to the ancient sages and poets of Israel’s wisdom-creation hymns found in the Psalms and the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament. We, too, have the capacity to be awe-inspired and marvel at the beauty and sublimity of creation.‘
The Stewardship of Creation by Russell A Butkus (associate Professor of Theology and Track Director in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Portland in Portland Oregon. USA)
Postscript
As I thought about Mary mentioned at the beginning of this post I thought I’d look her up again. I discover something relatively new she wrote and I have taken a piece out of it as it says what I am also trying to say but better. It’s from this website:
It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the task and therefore vital to remember that we are not being asked to save everything alone. All of us can only do what we can, be that small or large. But as long as it is done with true and wholehearted commitment, then we will act well. Do one thing and do it well need not merge into multi-tasking where many things can be done badly and which sap us of energy. We are simply asked for our best.
Mary Colwell – Sarx.org.uk