Remember when the three Rs used to mean “reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic”? Nowadays, the 3 R’s stand for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. This makes it very easy to remember a very fundamental rule of caring for our environment. Here are 3 tips for this week: –

1. Buying fruits and veggies is a smart move for your health. Wrapping each capsicum and head of broccoli in its own plastic bag? Eh, not so much. Experts estimate it may take as long as 1,000 years for the average plastic bag to break down. Buy fruit and veggies loose or use a net bag. 

2. It may be tempting to toss every juice bottle and peanut butter jar, but you can easily repurpose plastic and glass. Think of them as free containers to plant seeds in, store the rice, nuts, and other bulk goods you stocked up on, or to hoard all the extra pennies you saved by recycling.

3. Toaster not working? Try to fix it (or get someone else to) before running out to purchase a new one. (Repair Workshops are popping up everywhere in our area – next one Sunday 28th August 10am to 12.45 at Warners Bay Theatre) Need a pair of speakers for a party? Borrow the neighbours instead of buying your own. Newer isn’t always better. Using what you already have (or what someone else already has) reduces the number of resources (like water and energy) needed to create and ship new products. Reusing is friendlier to the environment, and your wallet.

Light a candle, as a visible sign of the light of Christ, who is the light of the

world.

Take a deep breath. Feel the breath of God that has given you life.

Centre yourself and pray…

Gracious, merciful, and loving God. We ought to look to you in every condition of life. But we most certainly seek your heart, your direction, and your will in this hour of crisis. Once again, we your children find ourselves shaken by our fears, insecurities, and anxieties as we watch war continuing in Ukraine. Receive our prayers for the people of Ukraine and Russia. We pray for the leaders of state in those countries, Europe, and the world that they will give themselves whole heartedly to negotiation and diplomacy as the best path to peace. We confess that all too often we give in to the impulses of aggression, violence, greed, and hatred rather than pursuing the work of peace making, peace building and peace keeping. Quicken all of our hearts to the truth of the Gospel that we are loved by you with an everlasting love and that there is enough for all people to flourish. Abiding in that love may we find the peace that “surpasses knowledge.” We pray in the name of Jesus, Prince of Peace. Amen.

Gregory V Palmer

31/07/2022

Light a candle, as a visible sign of the light of Christ, who is the light of the

world.

Take a deep breath. Feel the breath of God that has given you life.

Centre yourself and pray…

Simply make a heart with your hands, like the one below, and pour your love into Ukraine.  You may like to say your own prayer as well.

Prayer for Ukraine – Sunday July 17th

Loving God,
because you have the whole world
in your hands,
cradle gently those who are rocked by fear, shocked to a depth they have never known and frightened to face tomorrow.

On the people of Ukraine: their children, their old people, their vulnerable adults,
their babies soon to be born, Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

On the people of Ukraine: their defenders, their advocates, those who care for the wounded, who sit with the despairing,
who witness and report
on the savagery and destruction, who bury the dead.  Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

On the people of Ukraine: their leaders
that they may continue to inspire,
in word and by example,
and continue to receive help and solidarity from across the world. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

On the people of Russia,
that they might learn the truth kept from their hearing;
On the churches in Russia that they might find
the vocabulary and courage
to speak truth to power,

On the soldiers of Russia who do not believe
in the carnage they cause. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

On the Russian president,
and those who affirm his policies, we ask the judgement of heaven, a radical conversion
and an end to their lies, scheming and murder. Lord hear us,
Lord graciously hear us.

And for our own nation
we ask for commitment to match conviction so that the pain of the Ukrainian nation
be shared by us,
their weary people sheltered by us,
their peace assured by us.  Lord hear us, Lord graciously hear us. Amen.

(Prayer on the Wild Goose website. It was part of a liturgy for Ukraine.)

Sunday 10 July 2022

Light a candle, as a visible sign of the light of Christ, who is the light of the world.

Take a deep breath. Feel the breath of God that has given you life.

Centre yourself and pray…

“I No Longer Pray For Peace”
On the edge of war, one foot already in,
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.
I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tender-heartedness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm’s way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.
I pray that all the “God talk”
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.
I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and its wine.
Some say there is no hope,
but then I’ve always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God……
that we can truly love one another.
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.
(A poem by Ann Weems)