What are CLIMERICKS (Armchair protest on Climate Concern)

WHAT ARE CLIMERICKS? 

CLIMERICKS (CLImate emergency LIMERICKS) - If you’re not sure what constitutes a Limerick, Wikipedia has an excellent description that will enable you understand what this invitation is about.

 

No-one, in 2023, can deny we are experiencing extreme weather in many, many places.

 

There are at least 70 scientific disciplines and a similar number of respected National scientific institutes (such as the Royal Society and comparable bodies in other countries) that believe, from solid evidence, the pace of climate change is way faster than has ever happened in thousands of years of history. Those very responsible scientists and those institutions are clear that the present temperature rises causing these extremes and the related climate emergency are human induced.

 

Since there is such a consensus among so many respected institutions and scientists of so many faculties, it is near-unbelievable that anyone or any organisation is prepared to deny these trends. That smacks of denialism, blindness, vested interest, greed for the profits which still flow from the fossil-fuel based industries, disinformation and outright lies. This sinister activity is, terrifyingly, funded by huge investment from the right of the political spectrum. Responsible people who have a more visionary understanding cannot muster anything like the funding base for deniers and delayers of the need for urgent action and, in order to wake the population at large to the catastrophe which faces the world, some engage in protest which is sometimes disruptive and unpopular to those inconvenienced by it. Politicians in many countries, hoping to gain favour of the general public, are passing legislation to prevent legitimate peaceful protest. This at a time of unprecedented existential crisis and with the hideous connivance of right-wing media.

 

So is there a method which can massively raise awareness to the impending crisis, (which is a crisis of TODAY and not a future crisis, and by which time today’s power-brokers, deniers and delayers will no longer hold the power they do today)? Long-term targets for ‘Net Zero’ or other CO₂ diminution are all fixed too far in the future, too late to be of serious help.

 

If you are concerned about this impending catastrophe which will make life increasingly difficult for everybody and every creature, you may well wonder what YOU can do. Well, here’s something very simple. Here’s an invitation to join CLIMERICKS.

 

CLIMERICKS have been devised to give voice to anyone concerned about the climate calamity we face. Here’s What to do.

 

1 Call up the Eco-verses site where you will find a growing collection of CLIMERICKS. You will find it at http://Eco-verses.blogspot.com

 

2 call up at your favourite reliable NEWS Site and/or a reliable community website for your own home community

 

3 Look around the news site to see if there are any headlines about CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL, DELAY or the wilful obstuction of Climate change mitigation targets.

 

4 Look Round the Eco-verses/CLIMERICKS site to see if there is already a CLIMERICK that make that form of delay or denial a nonsense.

 

5 Either post that CLIMERICK as OR EVEN BETTER WRITE YOUR OWN and post it as widely as you can (If writing your own try and make them amusing but telling. Try not to be rude but make your verse as compelling as you possibly can). The CLIMERICK site has a growing collection of examples for you to model your writing on: you may get new ideas from there too! If you can inject hope into your CLIMERICK too, that will be brilliant. 

 

6 Invite those you know who want to show their support for early and wide-ranging climate chaos prevention to share your chosen or written CLIMERICK.

 

7 Send your chosen CLIMERICK to your MP, Local Councillors, Radio Stations and Any Civil Service department having input into Climate Change catastrophe politics. Send hard copies if you can afford it and Emails if you need to keep your costs of joining in, low. If you know how, overprint your CLIMERICK on a pertinent image and post it to whichever CLIMERICKS site you operate on. Let’s engulf all places where power is exercised with CLIMERICKS

 

8 JUST POSSIBLY, CLIMERICKS MIGHT BECOME AN ACTIVITY HUB FOR ALL THOSE WHO DON’T QUITE KNOW HOW THEY SHOULD BE MAKING A CONTRIBUTION TO THE VITAL CLIMATE EMERGENCY DEBATES.

 

THINK ON THIS: CLIMERICKS could become a place to express concern for 

 

ALL THOSE who care about the future of the planet and want urgent action, particularly -

 

·      Young people and especially any school or college Climate Advocates:

·      Mums to be and their partners:

·      All parents who care for their children’s future (and their own):

·      People in places threatened by and experiencing the fallout of wildfires, floods, tornadoes, unseasonal deep snow and other extreme weather:

·      Family members who have care of disabled, old and frail relations:

·      Anyone fearful for the planet’s future:

·      Anyone who cares about the impact of the Climate catastrophe on low income people:

·      Anyone who cares about the impact of the Climate catastrophe on those who inhabit low-lying lands:

·      Anyone frustrated by the inaction of politicians:

·      Anyone who assents to the Pope’s encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ and wants to take action prompted by it:

·      Any members of the hero organisation ‘Extinction Rebellion’ and similar organisations in other countries who want to supplement their existing brave protests:

·      People of faith who feel it is their call to be a steward of our beautiful planet:

 

Anyone who wants to join a life-saving initiative for a healthy planet -SOON.  

To see all CLIMERICKs posted to this blog so far, go to the Home page via your browser’s button. (more to come)

Here’s a sample of using a letter to an MP

SAMPLE LETTER TO MP using a CLIMERICK

Home address

      Date

 

Lucy Fraser MP.

 

As one of your constituents,

I wish to register my deep 

concern that your party leader

has blatantly reneged on any 

sense of being concerned

about the present human 

induced Climate Catastrophe.

 

In order to help me to understand

how you stand as my MP, I would

like to know your reaction to the

following CLIMERICK 

(CLIMate concern limERICK).

 

Four brave people scaled wall and roof

to remind the PM of this truth:

Selling oil and gas stakes

Irredeemably breaks

His green promise: those stakes 

                          - damning proof.

 

Thank you,

Trevor Thorn

 

 

 

  

Portfolio for Life. (When Fossil Fuels Have Been Comprehensively Shunned)

Image Pixabay edited

Portfolio for Life. (When Fossil Fuels Have Been Comprehensively Shunned)

When fossil fuels have been comprehensively shunned -

and they must be;

 

when the production and proliferation of armaments

are killed off -

as they need to be;

 

when the impossible pursuit of perpetual growth

Is accepted to be illusory -

for it clearly is;

 

and when greed is once more perceived to be 

corrosive and deadly;

 

then hope can blossom

and the love that lies at the heart of creation

burst into the Godly glory of global justice and peace.

 

Seals and White Horses

Seals on Lindisfarne Sandbank

Staying once again on the beautiful Holy Island of Lindisfarne and privileged to be able to watch the tides from the lounge and bedroom windows. Sunday 10 days ago we experienced a wild wind which roared up the sound, so I tried to capture the moment and ... consider the future.

Seals and White Horses

(on a Lindisfarne Sandbank)

 

Twice a day,

some twenty score of seals

languidly allow themselves to succumb

to the encroaching sea,

as it steadfastly overwhelms

their sandbank resting-place.

 

But on this tide

a stampede of white horses

chases them

into forced retreat

before a fast-running tide,

driven by ferocious wind.

 

This wind has roared across the Atlantic

having wrought devastation-by-flooding

prior to leaving its last landfall.

 

Yet more extreme weather

resulting from the

undeniable climate chaos,

discerned by the truth-seeking,

broad-based research

of rightly sombre scientists.

 

Too soon, the sandbanks

will be permanently submerged.

 

No respite then for seals.

No Longer is The Ploughing

Picture credit Kridneh via Pixabay free images

Last Sunday, in keeping with the Bible story of the sower, scattering seeds that both perish and prosper depending on where they fall, we sung (on Lindisfarne) the well-known harvest thanksgiving hymn ‘We Plough The Seeds and Scatter the Good Seed on the Land’. 

 

I was reminded that back in 2011, I wrote new words trying to reflect the onward march of technology on the farm. The revised version was called ‘The Great Machines of Harvest’ which can be accessed by link at the end of this post.

 

However, as we sang the original version of the hymn, I was disconcerted by, what in these ‘extreme weather’ times, felt complacent to me, and I realised, the same criticism could be applied to my 2011 version. 

 

During the afternoon following the service, I explored a different approach which once again could be sung to any familiar hymn tune used for the original version. Here it is - and suddenly with the stupidity of politicians wanting to ditch green policies, it feels important to post it

 

No Longer is The Ploughing

No longer is the ploughing

one annual winter chore:

fields now are laced with compounds

so they will yield much more.

But snow which once warmed seedlings

might now be rain extreme,

so weather’s wild excesses 

wreck cultivation schemes.

 

Refrain

 

All good gifts around us

are not found everywhere,

for drought and floods and warfare,

can render farmland bare.

 

Although our generous Maker

desires that earth should thrive,

sustain its population

that everyone might live. 

The greed and vast consumption

of those in lands of wealth

mean millions face starvation

and dangerous ill-health

 

Refrain

 

We ask you then, O Father

‘Help us make protests strong

‘gainst fools and vested interests

who’d short-term gains prolong,

instead of realising

the change we can’t avoid:

STOP oil! STOP profiteering!

Before all Earth’s destroyed.  

The Great Machines of Harvest mentioned in the first paragraph can be accessed HERE 

Our Earth is Beset by a Crisis

 

Earth and Space  (imagined): Pixabay free image

This poem was written as a song for the Resound 12 Song Challenge 2022/3. Musicians might like the challenge of writing music for it. If used as a poem, in the chorus use line 1, 3,4,6

Our Earth is Beset by a Crisis 

 

Our earth is beset by a crisis, 

driven by human excess,

through profligate use of resources 

by we who could manage with less.

God surely calls us to be stewards

of the planet where Jesus has lived,

and challenge the fossil fuel behemoths,

to save our Creator’s great gift.

 

chorus

help us be stewards Lord,

help us be stewards Lord,

of this your much-loved home.

help us be stewards Lord,

help us be stewards Lord,

working so justice may come.

 

The evidence for this disaster

spans continents islands and seas:

so Christians in every nation

need pray and protest to relieve

the damage that’s being inflicted

on this ravaged planet, our home,

and bring hope through visionary challenge,

as_we_plead ’Now with justice, Lord, come’

 

chorus

help us be stewards Lord,

help us be stewards Lord, 

of this your much-loved home.

help us be stewards Lord,

 help us be stewards Lord,

 working so justice may come.

 

Where Intellects Are Nurtured in this Fast-moving Age,

Photo: Pixabay free images

I am currently engaged with a challenge to write a new worship song every month for twelve months. This month’s challenge has been to write about our hometown or village. With my enthusiasm for weaving ideas of faith and science together it was unsurprising that a hymn/ song for Cambridge (UK) suggested itself. (We live on the edge of the City).

It could equally be used by any chapel/ church/ worship group in any University town - worldwide. The prayer-plea for wisdom feels very needed in this day and age.

Here it is: the verses can be sung to ’The Church’s One Foundation’ (Aurelia) with an invitation for the refrain to be improvised by local musicians.

Where intellects are nurtured

in this fast-moving age,

the gift of Godly wisdom

is needed day by day:

when innovation fosters

new ethical demands,

or scientific progress

might transgress God’s commands.

 

Refrain

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray,

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day.

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day

 

Where intellects are gathered 

from countries far and wide

deep-rooted propositions 

will frequently arise:

for with such fertile gatherings

of minds from many a race,

Inspired, wide-ranging theories

can be explored apace.

 

Refrain

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray,

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day.

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day

 

Where intellects are welcome

from every race and creed,

inclusive ways are crucial

for Learning to proceed.

So Lord, let moral purpose 

and peace-based attitudes

grace all our institutions,

where research is pursued.

 

Refrain

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray,

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day.

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray,

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day.

 

  

Dear Lord, I Thank You for The Sun (& other clean energy sources)

 Dear Lord, I thank you for the sun

Tune: Fulda (We Have a Gospel to Proclaim ) or many LM tunes

 

Dear Lord, I thank you for the sun

with its amazing energy,

which we can harvest every day

and turn to power reliably.

 

Dear Lord, I thank you for the winds,

unseen as they turn turbine sails

to generate their gusty streams

of pristine power at mighty scale.

 

Dear Lord, I thank you for the ways

that water-power is utilised,

and pray that soon we’ll tame the tides

for widespread use – a precious prize.

 

Dear Lord, please guide those who invest,

to understand; NOW is the hour

for boosting flows of finance to

those who commit to greener power.

Find more Care of the Planet poems, songs and hymns at https://crossandcosmos.blogspot.com/p/care-of-planet-collection.html

 

People of God, Awake!

 

People of God, Awake! 

Tune: Hills of the North Rejoice/ Little Cornard

People of God, Awake!

In this earth’s crisis hour.

Bold in our stewardship

let us speak truth to power:

the use of fossil fuels must end

if we, the planet ‘s health would mend.

 

Unless good sense prevails

every low coastal place

will fall beneath the waves

millions will be displaced.

So may we like the prophets old

sound warnings and take actions bold.

 

If everyone of faith

rallied to make it clear

that our Creator God

needs us renounce our fears

of taking action, to demand 

that gas, oil, coal are swiftly banned.

 

Then would our stewardship

chime with the will of God,

who must lament the wounds

wrought on the world he trod.

So protest now in forceful ways

to save these being earth’s last days.

Find more Care of the Planet poems, songs and hymns at https://crossandcosmos.blogspot.com/p/care-of-planet-collection.html

 

 

Look Around In Many Towns and Villages...

This is a companion poem to 'The Song of The Rooftop’ published here just a week ago. Both are fairly lighthearted poems written with the idea that school-age children might be able to use them to start a conversation about a fairly prominent statement demonstrating a community’s desire to do all it can to protect out fragile planet.

I will add to this post over the next two-or-three weeks as I find information which can supplement this poem. One thought would be that this and/or its companion could be included in an end-of-term concert. So, watch this space, and watch also for a post which will list around 10 or 12 items, all of which could, similarly be introduced into end-of-term concerts. 

Solar Panels on St Barnabas (Barney’s) Derby: 

Photo credit Pixaby.

Oh Yes! Don’t worry if people quote Listed Building Status as a problem: there are lots of helpful precedents, including solar panels on two Cathedrals - Gloucester (installed 2016) and Salisbury (installed 2020).

Look Around In Many Towns and Villages.

 

Look around, in many towns

and villages you’ll find, 

there's a parish church

which has weathered storm and wind, 

down the years. There, people

have met to mark the dates,

of life and death occasions

and often celebrate.

 

Almost all these churches

have nave roofs that face South:

they'll get the sun upon them 

throughout the daylight hours; 

and as they’re large and well-placed

to gather solar power,

with big arrays of panels 

they can drive emissions down.

 

So why not ask the Vicar,

and chat around the town

to see if there are people

whose backing could be found,

to help to make this happen 

in your community

to help towards an earth that can

from fossil fuels break free?

 

Trevor Thorn June 2022

The companion poem ’The Song of the Church Rooftop' can be found HERE

Corals are bleaching (Suggested Tune Bunessan/ Morning has broken)

Bleached coral, like this in New Caledonia, 

has become a global phenomenon and a stark indicator

of the impact of unabated climate change. 

Corals are crucial ocean nurseries,

nurturing up to 25 percent of all marine species.

Credit: XL Catlin Seaview Survey/March 2016. 

Photo and comment copied with thanks from ‘Inside Science News’

Corals are bleaching 
(Suggested Tune Bunessan/ Morning has broken)

Corals are bleaching,

glaciers receding,

sea levels rising

on many shores.

Species are dying,

fewer birds flying.

Plastics defiling

the oceans’ floors.

Refrain

Father forgive us

all of our blindness

that fails to see

the truth in the facts,       

that we are killing       

our precious planet.

Wake us from slumber;

Stir us to act.

Cyclones, tornadoes    

are more ferocious;

witness the records

of current times.      

Flooding and droughts

are far more disastrous;                    

homes and lives lost

in torrents and slime.

            Refrain.

Make us determined

To be good stewards

of this your planet

to which Christ came.

We as his people

must fight for justice

by seeking ways 

to curb climate change.

The justice identified in the last verse, is a critical concept for Christians: over and again, it becomes absolutely clear that it is the poorest who already are, and will keep on suffering most from the effects of climate change and chaos. So if we have any heart for the poor, doing whatever we can to mitigate these effects is our duty as followers of Christ. 

Further poems, hymns, songs about Caring for our Common Home can be found at the 

 Living With Integrity pages on this blog

Original introduction: In a very active protest week in Cambridge UK, with  a roundabout sealed off by Extinction Rebellion Youth

 and a college lawn dug up,

this new song is dedicated to the protestors

and those of Christian Climate Action

who will be celebrating Communion alongside

other protesters.