You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
and bread to strengthen the human heart . (Psalm 104: 14-16)

 As we approach the end of summer, why not over this weekend take a walk to a familiar spot that you love. Soak in some of the last warm rays of sunshine, walk slow with intent and purpose through nature - touching, feeling and seeing the known place with new eyes and new respect. This Sunday we celebrate Creation at our Climate Service, so it would be good to experience nature afresh and ponder on its rich diversity and extraordinary beauty. I have taken in the last few weeks, to blackberry picking in the fields across Wolfson Bridge. The delight of plucking the wild, free, ripe berries from their bush fills me with wonder.  How can such a small activity engender such pleasure? Perhaps because the simple act reduces my my eco-anxiety. Or perhaps when we are up-close to the natural world, we remember the words from Psalm 104 above.

I am also reminded as I walk through the fields, of words of The Letter to the Earth, written for the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. In the deeply inspiring book from the Ioana Community Living Faithfully in the Time of Creation, the authors quote from this letter and I believe that the words are as relevant today as they were then - if not more so.

Earth God,

We are of the earth.

We honour the earth as a place of living beings.

We praise the Earth for its beauty and biodiversity.

We recognise a shared responsibility to care for,

restore and relish the earth.

Speak to us through the Earth, now and forever.

So please come and join our Climate Sunday Service, for if we are to tackle climate change, we must do it together. As the anthropologist Margaret Mead pointed out “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world, indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

The Revd Charlotte Bannister-Parker

Associate  Priest, The University Church, Oxford.

Visiting Research Fellow, St Benet's Hall, Oxford.