Christmas plea for environment

Scotland's Christian faiths banded together for the first time to issue a Christmas message featuring a plea for the environment.

The country's Catholic Cardinal Keith O'Brien has joined with the Church of Scotland to say that green alternatives provide hope for our planet.

Also signed up to the festive message are the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Methodists, United Free Church of Scotland and the United Reformed Church plus other denominations.

The goodwill message is normally just issued by the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, currently the Right Rev Sheilagh Kesting.

The religious leaders have all called on people to "look at our environment, and see the beauty that is there", and to look beyond tragedies and disappointments, and see "the goodness in those around us".

The message says: "We're often told that Christmas is stressful for some and lonely for others and too much of a spending frenzy for the majority.

"It needn't be. Christmas is also a time when we look beyond ourselves and when deep down we want only the best for those closest to us and for all who are in need in our world.

It adds: "At times it is hard not to feel down-hearted when our best does not seem good enough: when things go wrong with our relationships despite our best intentions; when tragedy hits families or communities both near and far; when so much of our news is about violence, destroying people and our environment.

"Christmas is a time for looking beyond these to see goodness and beauty in those around us; to look at tragedy and see the stories of kindness and compassion that carry with them the hope of life beyond the darkness.

"Christmas is a time to look at the violence and see the efforts made to change these patterns and see in them signals of hope for a safer world; to look at our environment and see the beauty that is there and to hear the call for green alternatives as signals of hope for our planet."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce