Berwick Thought for the Week: Pollution

“Kills all known germs” – most of us are meticulous about keeping our homes clean and hygienic. But what about outside?

We are concerned about air, water and light pollution, but our modern styles of living conspire against the ability to improve these.

Fly-tipping and litter is rampant, spoiling natural landscapes and poisoning the rivers and seas. Even the smallest piece of plastic, which takes years to biodegrade, contributes to the spoiling of our beautiful world.

Then consider how our minds can be corrupted by endless battering in the airwaves – constant noise, trivia bombard our senses, bad or sensational reports dominate the news, seductive advertisements disturb our privacy and the media depict, both real and fictional, violence and depravity.

What inhibits our spiritual perception? Suffering distracts us, as we concentrate enormous efforts on finding a remedy for our ills.

Then there is our obsession with material comforts and with our security, which is frail anyway. We seek more and more sophisticated technologies to make life more convenient.

The older we get, the more we realise how little we know – but we are still arrogant in our opinions.

Sadly, our spirits are deluded by trendy cultural ideologies and novel beliefs. The tried and tested are spurned as being outmoded and boring.

None of this satisfies the deepest longings of our hearts: our desire for beauty and purity.

Job 42:3,5 (Message Bible) “Job answered God – “I admit it I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, and made small talk about wonders way over my head. – I once lived by rumours of You; now I have it all first hand – from my own eyes and ears!”

Rev Kirsten Coulter is a widow, living with two elderly rescue dogs. She is now supporting the leadership of Waypoint Church in Berwick. This is an independent, all-age, community church.