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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallettt

Good morning,

Autumn is truly upon us, not only as the colours of the leaves, trees and bushes change, but also in the diminution of birdlife, and the darker, cooler, and wetter days. I love these changes as they sharpen my focus on the world around me, and on the seasonality of living fully in the moment.

These changes also remind me of the huge diversity of our world. Often these days when we use the word ‘diversity’, we tend to be speaking about people and communities, but in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis, before people were created, diverse natural elements of the world order were put together, and the Bible tells us they were good.

Sadly, so much of our natural world is now not so good, and the relationship between the natural order and humanity has been breached. There are resounding protests all around the world - from the earth and the sky itself, and from people - and there is an urgent need for humanity not only to repent of all that we have done wrong but to repair the damage.

As we head towards COP26, it would be so wonderful if our focus could be both on the changes that need to be made to make our world fairer and better. Not only for humanity but for our flora and fauna, our lands and seas, the heart and light that warms, the air we breathe and the water we drink.

Loving God, we thank you for the world and all that is in it. Help us to play our part, to rise to the moment and work to repair the breach between nature and humanity, and so make our world a better place for all.

Amen