“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main” John Donne, Meditation 17 “Devotions upon Emergent Occasions”.

As a society, we have become increasingly individualistic in our outlook. We tend to only consider things in terms of how they affect us rather than others. We vote for politicians based on what their policies mean for us rather than how they benefit all of society. We scroll past stories of terrible events in other parts of the world because they don’t impact upon us at all. Rising sea levels don’t concern us as we don’t live in a low-lying country. Covid is the only pandemic we’ve expressed concern for because it affects us unlike the SARS and MERS epidemics before. Even then, a lot of the concern I hear seems to be about the individual, “why should I have to wear a mask/stay indoors/get a vaccine?”

As we come to the third Sunday in the Season of Creation, Sky Sunday, we consider a look at the world where our actions have destroyed beauty and we have undone God’s good creation. We are asked to shake ourselves from our complacency and take seriously the reality and danger of climate change. Our reading comes from the Book of Jeremiah where the prophet looks out on a world that has returned to chaos and darkness; where life is absent as a result of the actions of humanity. It would have been a shock to his audience that their actions had not only affected themselves but the entire world. They needed to understand they were part and parcel of creation and connected to it, rather than separated from it. They needed to understand that their actions had consequences beyond themselves.

It’s a lesson for us too. We are perfectly happy to carry on living as though we are the only people on the planet; as though our actions don’t affect others. We must understand that we cannot simply keep on stripping the resources of this planet for our own use as our doing so is bringing harm to people, flora, and fauna in other places. Our desire for more and more for ourselves is stripping the forests of oxygen giving trees, is bleaching the coral of our oceans, and is devastating habitats for countless species. The Season of Creation is a time for us to consider the world and all life in it. To see this world as being made by God who loves life and has created a world where life could flourish. We must see ourselves as part of that creation, unique in our existence as having been made in the image of God to reflect God to the world. We must recognise that we are not acting towards creation with the same love and care that God has shown.