Dear Friends,

Among the readings for this coming Sunday, we have Genesis 2, one of the stories of creation.  The Book of Genesis – fact, fiction of something else?  Firstly, it is not the oldest book in the bible.  It goes first because it starts with ‘In the beginning…’ but it was not the first part of the bible to be written down.  Secondly, it contains two stories of creation that seem to be inconsistent with each other.  The first version sees God making the earth inside a week with humans last.  The second version has the man made first followed by all the animals, finally, woman.  I get very fed up with people who think that all Christians believe the universe was made in six days because  many, possibly the majority, don’t.  If we are going to find the real nuggets of gold in this fantastic poem about God and humans and the natural world, we need to look deeper than the surface.  Truth isn’t the same as fact.  (I’ll just leave that there for you to ponder.)  What Genesis 1 and 2 offer is truth about the nature of our relationship with God, each other and creation.  Humans do have an enormous responsibility for what is currently happening to our climate.  We are living in the Anthropocene era – the period of the planet’s history when the most significant factor in its evolution and development is the human species.  Scientists have tried to identify the moment when this era began and many agree that it is since the Second World War.  Temperatures, carbon in the atmosphere, pollution, population, biodiversity loss and deforestation have all increased exponentially since 1945.  Incredibly, literature that might have been produced from the nineth to the sixth century BCE, and from Judah to Persia, might have something to say to us now in the predicament we find ourselves in.  Humans have a big responsibility – we are merely stewards of this planet.  Secondly, we are responsible to each other too.  We are not meant to live alone.  In my sermon at St John’s last Sunday, I talked about ‘politics’ the Greek idea of how people organise themselves into communities. In Genesis chapter 2, we have this wonderful idea of being one body – of always yearning to be reunited with each other.  Animals are created to be our companions on this planet, not our resources.  There is order, balance and integrity to this vision of the Creation.  As we move ever closer to the tipping point in global warming, it would be wise to ponder on the book of Genesis.  The miracle is not that the universe was made in a week but that this extraordinary poem has relevance to us now almost three thousand years since it was begun.  

Tomorrow is the Commissioning Service and Afternoon tea for Toby and Mark our MES participants.  If you're coming and you can download the order of service to your phone or other device, that would be very helpful.  In our attempt to consume less paper, we are encouraging everyone who can to avoid using printed copies. There will be a limited number available in church tomorrow.  Please bring your own if you can.  

Have a great week.

Best wishes,

Rachel