Greetings …

I was checking my emails this morning, I came across this image.  While it doesn’t come from Australia, it seems to me that the sentiment is exactly the same.  Here we might complain of possums, bats and foxes that come into our gardens.  Yet the reality is that we havd destroyed their natural habitats and need new places to make their homes.

In fact, according to The Nature Conservacy Australia, ‘over the past two hundred years, one-third of all mammal extinctions around the world have accurred in Australia as a result of human inpacts.’  This is a sobering statistic, especially when considering that almost ninety percent of Australia’s mammal species aren’t found anywhere else on Earth.’

Most Reverend Justice Welby, Archibishop of Canterbury, reminds us that ‘In the face of the climate crisis, protecting God’s Creation is a spirutal imperative for Christians throughout the global Church.  We are called to come together in prayer and action – to safeguard, sustain and renew the life of the Earth.’

Sometimes we can be guilty of thinking that it is all about us.  But this call to care is not just about caring for humanity.  While that is important, this call is also about caring for those who we share our common home with – those whose voices are not heard, are easily drowned out or simply dismissed.  Let us not forget those creatures who are, as St Francis named them, our brothers and sisters in this global community.

Blessings – Rev  Heather Hon (she/her).