Rivers of filth are flowing

Is cleanliness next to godliness? Apparently, this phrase may have originated with John Wesley who thought that being a Christian was no excuse for slovenliness.

Although many of us took great care with cleanliness during the pandemic, these days we don’t naturally associate hygiene with being a Christian, despite all the Old Testament laws on cleanliness. Maybe we’re all too aware of Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees who were obsessed with the ritual hygiene laws, and have rightly taken to heart the importance of being spiritually clean. Pharisee alert over, that doesn’t mean we should neglect matters of personal or domestic hygiene.

But perhaps we should extend that thought to how we care for Creation. Concern for the moral pollution of sin doesn’t mean we’ve got an excuse to be slovenly or physically pollute the earth. Which brings me in my series to the third horseman of the so-called ecological apocalypse, pollution. There are many forms of pollution, whether of air, soil or water. Light pollution is a problem not just for stargazers but for many nocturnal species of animal like bats. Noise pollution is a big deal if you live near a busy road, airport or nightclub, both for humans and wildlife. Urban birds may be forced to sing more loudly to overcome background noise.

Rising ocean temperatures

The release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels is a form of pollution which is driving dangerous levels of climate change. The oceans act as huge storage reservoirs, absorbing heat and carbon dioxide and moderating temperature increases on land. They are key to making the planet habitable. Unfortunately, even the oceans can only take so much. They are suffering from acidification as carbon dioxide dissolves in the water, and rising ocean temperatures. As a result coral reefs are bleached and marine ecosystems, including around the UK, are disrupted. I’ve previously written about plastic pollution in the oceans too.

Some of this happens naturally, but scientists are concerned that it is happening at unprecedented rates. Ocean temperatures peak in years which coincide with the El Nino weather event, but just recently record-breaking ocean temperature rises have been recorded in the first few months of 2023, at a time of year when temperatures are normally dropping. We don’t know yet if this is a one-off, but it’s certainly alarming.

Sewage in the rivers

Here in the UK, pollution of our rivers and beaches has become politically controversial, with the major political parties slagging each other off about who is, or isn’t, doing enough to prevent pollution from sewage discharges. An influential committee of MPs reported that only 14% of English rivers are in good health, with pollution from agriculture, sewage, roads and single-use plastics contributing to a dangerous ‘chemical cocktail’. Vocal activists like former punk singer Feargal Sharkey and groups like Surfers Against Sewage are united in campaigning for clean water.

In my own field of work, I have seen how concern about nutrient pollution has led to the halting of housing developments, but also the creation of ingenious projects to restore farmland to soak up nutrients and allow new housing to be built.

As individuals and even as churches we can feel powerless to make change. The primary responsibility and opportunity for action lies with governments, regulators, water companies, businesses and so on. We can of course pray, and join others in campaigning, like the Christians who recently joined together in London in a worship service and a march to the HQ of Shell with the message No Faith in Fossil Fuels. We can take responsibility for our own actions, by using precious water resources sparingly or by disposing of waste correctly (wet wipes should not go down the loo!) or by minimising our use of plastic, both at home and in our church buildings. All this while still pointing to Jesus who gives living water that will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.