My friends over at Christian Aid Scotland are rounding off their series of investigative films, made in conjunction with the Guardian, with a final documentary on the effects of climate change…
John Vidal reports from La Paz where Bolivians are living with the effects of climate change every day. Their president has called for an urgent 50% cut in emissions – action that is essential for the country’s survival
This event explores why climate change is devastating for the world’s poorest communities and what must be done to limit the effects of climate change.
Join us for a screening of this Guardian films documentary followed by an expert panel discussion and Q&A.
Introducing Poverty Over
Poverty Over is Christian Aid’s powerful manifesto which investigates why the developing world is still poor, and defines what needs to change to help bring an end to poverty.
In partnership, Christian Aid and the Guardian have created a series of investigative documentaries exploring key issues faced by the world’s poorest communities.
“The evangelical culture ties together faithfulness with extroversion. The emphasis is on community, on participating in more and more programs and events, on meeting more and more people. It’s a constant tension for many introverts that they’re not living that out. And in a religious world, there’s more at stake when you feel that tension. It doesn’t feel like ‘I’m not doing as well as I’d like.’ It feels like ‘God isn’t pleased with me.'”
Saturday featured a drive up through Argyll Forest Park to Loch Fyne (famous for it’s oysters, which I have yet to sample…) for the Loch Fyne food festival… delicious!
“The Church needs artists because without art we cannot reach the world. The simple fact is that the imagination ‘gets you,’ even when your reason is completely against the idea of God. ‘Imagination communicates,’ as Arthur Danto says, ‘indefinable but inescapable truth.’ Those who read a book or listen to music expose themselves to that inescapable truth. There is a sort of schizophrenia that occurs if you are listening to Bach and you hear the glory of God and yet your mind says there is no God and there is no meaning. You are committed to believing nothing means anything and yet the music comes in and takes you over with your imagination. When you listen to great music, you can’t believe life is meaningless. Your heart knows what your mind is denying. We need Christian artists because we are never going to reach the world without great Christian art to go with great Christian talk.”
Recently I read Kester Brewin’s book, Other, for the first time – it’s a great book, but it’s deep and philosophical and going to take me a few reads to really get my head around.
I can’t stop thinking about something he wrote…
“While these are obviously commendable, the danger of them is that they create a dynamic among the rest of the congregation that ‘care for the other has been taken care of’ – and thus people end up abdicating their responsibilities to care for one another.”
Which got me thinking about something Shane Claiborne wrote a while back…
“There are many people who are morally “pure” but devoid of any life, joy or celebration. For some, this “purity” means that we do not touch anything that is “secular”, and for others, it means that we don’t eat anything that is not “organic”. But if it is not born of relationships, if it is not liberating for the oppressed and the oppressors, if it is not marked by raw, passionate love, then it is the same old self-righteousness that does little more than flaunt our own purity by making the rest of the world see how dirty they are.”
If my actions aren’t coming from a place of deep care for the relationships around me, they mean nothing. As followers of Jesus we’re called to live life in community with other people – but it has to be real. We are the “pastoral team”. We are our brothers keeper.
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