Peter and Miranda moved to Portugal in 1983 to establish and run A Rocha’s first field study centre. Together with their four children they lived at the centre for twelve years until 1995 when the work was given over to national leadership. They then moved to establish A Rocha France’s first centre near Arles, and lived there until 2010, providing coordination and giving leadership to the rapidly growing global movement. They are now back in the UK from where they work to support the A Rocha family around the world while being closer to their own, and not least their grandchildren. Their story is told in Under the Bright Wings (1993) and Kingfisher’s Fire (2008).
We join the many thousands of others who are grieving the loss of Eugene Peterson, who was a dearly-loved teacher and guide to so many of us in the A Rocha family around the world.
“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” has been helpful in adopting wiser ways to consume. For Christians, however, living more sustainably has to be understood in terms of our relationship to the creator God as well. I want to suggest a new motto: “Relish, Redeem, Rest”.
Our demand for natural resources depends on how much stuff we consume, multiplied by how many of us there are. Readers of this blog will be no strangers to the myriad ways in which we are damaging God’s creation. Human population is discussed much less; it’s a political “hot potato” which conservation organisations, development agencies and churches tend to steer clear of.
By ‘plastic theology’ I don’t mean theology that is cheap, disposable and tacky! I want to reflect on the spiritual power and importance of something that has only been around for a very short time yet has become all-pervasive and all of us have become dependent upon.
Sometimes the Christian Gospel is described as a universal message that speaks to all cultures. I profoundly disagree! The Gospel is not a set of abstract philosophical concepts that are ‘culture free’ (as if such a thing were possible). Rather, it becomes Good News when it is grounded within the earthy realities of particular places […]
History is written in the landscapes of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Baalbek with its magnificent Roman ruins, more ancient rounded hills known as tells, and long rusted barbed wire and tank emplacements. For good or ill we leave our mark on the land long after we have gone. Can people tell what we believe about God from what we write in the landscape?
Most places that we know around the world have witnessed what has been called a ‘thinning of life’. How anyone lives experiences like this will, of course, depend on what kind of person they are. Miranda and I have an arts training and background, and at times our response to these multiple losses has been emotional and quite personal.
The grand drama of Easter took place as a three-day-event around the special Shabbat during Passover. Holy Saturday is the least remembered day of the Easter Mystery: after Good Friday and before Easter Sunday. Yet all of Jesus’ claims and actions regarding Sabbath point to this climactic place in time.
As I spent time in homes and churches in Cape Town, talking to ordinary residents, faith leaders and a few politicians and experts, I found myself reflecting on the issues this water crisis reveals, so here are a few personal thoughts as a result of many conversations and wide-ranging reading.
Advent and Christmas remind us that the Christ-child came to bring peace. We remember that we need peace with God, and we remember that we need peace with our neighbor. But does Christ’s birth have anything to do with bringing peace between us and animals – does the advent mean goodwill to manatees?
