Tuesday 31 March
Rev Scott McKenna
Rev Scott McKenna - Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church, Edinburgh
St Thomas Aquinas said, 'Creation is the primary and most perfect revelation of the Divine.' In the beginning was the Word; all things were made through the Word. The Big Bang is the 'first' incarnation. Divine Nothingness manifests itself in light, water, land, grass, herbs, fruit trees, sun, moon and in an abundance of living creatures in the sea and everything that creeps on the land. Evolving over billions of years, creatures imbued with consciousness emerge bearing the image of Nothingness; they were created female and male. The whole of creation declares the glory of God; every living thing shines with the Light of the First Day.
Caring for God's creation means more than 'material' justice for the poor, though that is virtuous in itself. Caring for God's creation spiritually reconnects us to the ground beneath our feet, to all living things and to our shared humanity with peoples of every race, religion and culture. There is Unity within all things.
In a sense, climate change is rooted in human sin. While wealth creation is necessary and worthy, our ego, our craving for power, status and wealth, our enormous consumption of meat, and the ever-increasing human population, have deafened us to God's call for justice and de-sensitised us to the holiness of life.
The call to live responsibly returns God to the centre of life. A life lived which honours the Earth, seeing God in all things, energises the soul; our ethics, saturated by spirituality, is our caring and caressing of the Incarnation.
- Inspiring stories: adapting to climate change
- Song of the prophets: a global theology of climate change
Christian Aid
Daily Reflection
If we don’t act fast, climate change could cause a global temperature rise of up to 4.5°C.
Count the number of radiators you have in your home. Give 30p for each one.