In the bleak midwinter

As snows and bitter cold hit the UK, I wonder whether our weather signifies something of spiritual truth about these days. This time last year all eyes were on Copenhagen and the hope of a world agreement to work together for the sake of the planet. Since then ‘belief’ in climate change has dwindled, campaigns have run out of steam, people have become tired. It seems that everything has been said and done, and we are lost, but maybe that is not the whole truth…

George Monbiot says that environmentalists have been outgunned, outspent and their message deliberately confused by others with vast resources, like big oil. A few leaked emails, as part of an orchestrated campaign and the world doubts that humans are inducing climate change. Meanwhile the earth has just gone through one of the hottest years since our records began,  the science remains fundamentally robust and many are saying that is now too late to avoid the two degree rise in global temperatures that has become the benchmark of ‘safe’ policy.

The people who were at Copenhagen now gather at Cancun in Mexico, with the exception of the political leaders, because there is little hope this time. It is like the world has given up. I suppose people and planets often die quietly.

Advent is an interesting season. Before its commercialisation and carols, it was a season of repentance, making way for something new. Advent recognises the principalities and powers that are at work in the world, those dark forces that command our unconscious subservience. And yet it proclaims a new beginning, that begins in an apparently very small and vulnerable event.

One way of interpreting our present time is that it is a moment for authentic human beings to re-evaluate our lives and our situation. Business as usual is simply not an option for our world. The radical demands of this moment are beginning to seep into our consciousness. No tinkering with brands or orchestrating of campaigns will do. We need a new kind of life and society.

EarthAbbey members may know of things in their area which speak of this newness, this reaching for something quite different. In Bristol, UK we are just now seeing the launch of two community-supported agriculture initiatives. The one I am involved with is known as Sims Hill Shared Harvest. Community-supported agriculture is a partnership between members, land and growers. It makes real the idea of value-led, community-building economy, where food is something we are all involved with, not a product to be consumed, but the outcome of a life-enhancing process. Community supported agriculture began in Japan. It has already taken root in the US.

Projects such as this begin life as tiny, fragile initiatives formed up of very ordinary people who simply want to live differently. Yet perhaps they could be ultimately part of the fulfilment of the ancient Advent prophecy

He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,
He has put down the mighty from their thrones
And exalted those of low degree
He has filled the hungry with good things
And the rich he has sent empty away

*for more on this try -  two degrees -Johann Hari article - George Monbiot article

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