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Radio 4,2 mins

Rev Professor David Wilkinson - 23/09/2019

Thought for the Day

Available for over a year

Good morning. I have found the voices of millions of young people on climate change to be both inspiring and humbling. Whether it be going on strike last Friday, or the way that Ella and Caitlin McEwan spurred on the decision of a burger chain to get rid of plastic toys in children’s meals, it seems to me that there is much to learn for an old man like me. As I stood with the crowd of young people in the market place of Durham, one of the cardboard placards was ‘Skipping class to teach you a lesson’. As I digested this, I overheard a conversation of two older people walking by where one said ‘Nothing will change, what will be will be’ The hope of change for me comes from the belief that there is another way, our humility to be open to that and a sense that God is at work in the world. When Jesus described the nature of encountering the power and presence of God he said, ‘Truly I tell you unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom.’ Earlier that morning in a different part of Durham, my staff and student colleagues hosted a day exploring the University’s research aimed at tackling climate change and the work being done to reduce our own carbon footprint. Scientific innovation for cleaner energy, water sustainability and protecting people from natural disasters is part of the necessary response to the consequences of climate change. Indeed in today’s United Nations Climate Action Summit, part of the agenda is asking leaders, from government, business and civil society to commit to change and innovation to address the accelerating global climate emergency. To boost ambition and accelerate actions to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change needs both protest and innovation. As a Christian, I want to affirm the gift of the protesting voices of young people but also the gift of scientific innovation. One of the key figures in the scientific revolution, Francis Bacon, saw science as a gift to limit the effects of our selfishness in the world and that inventions were ‘imitations of divine works’. The young people skipping class have been criticized for messing with their education and being naïve about the science and politics. Yet my generation, which it seems to me has not taken the science or politics seriously enough, do need to be taught a lesson in order to change.

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