Exploring Faith and Climate Justice course: the story so far
Stevie Krayer reflects on her experience of the Exploring Faith and Climate Justice course so far.
At first, I must admit I didn't feel sure this course was for me. I'd encountered the term 'climate justice' about five years previously, when I was serving on the old BYM Sustainability Group, the national Quaker working group. But it was many years earlier that I began to see the ruthless exploitation of land and natural resources and the ruthless exploitation of people as facets of the same grasping and arrogant attitude among those in the Global North (to use a convenient shorthand).
It was obvious to me that, while we 'up here' were wringing our hands about a coming catastrophe, 'down there' people's lives had already been hit by disrupted weather patterns; people were already suffering flood or fire or drought, failed harvests and polluted water supplies. It seemed to me that I already had enough of an understanding of all this horror to be going on with.
Then, at Yearly Meeting, I joined an online presentation about the course. Among other things, we watched a fiercely calm and articulate TED talk by David Lammy MP explaining the disproportionate effect of climate breakdown on people of colour even in the Global North. And it hit me – right in the solar plexus – that I didn't know half as much as I thought I did. That old familiar inward push came. I signed up straight away.
Overcoming misgivings
I was not without misgivings – two major ones. First, I was apprehensive about the commitment of time and energy I was making, given that the course was a year long and I had some other long-term commitments on my to-do list. Secondly, I quailed at the prospect of having my nose rubbed in the overwhelming complexity of the crisis, my collusion in causing it and reaping its unmerited rewards. And the fear of reflecting on the utter inadequacy of my response so far, having been in a state of anguished semi-paralysis about this for sixty years already. What chance, at the age of 75, that I might do any better in future?
It quickly became apparent that the first anxiety was misplaced. We had been promised flexibility and that was exactly what was on offer. The yoke was easy and the burden was light – or as light or heavy as I wanted it to be at any given time.
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The resources and activities came in a variety of formats, to suit our different needs.
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I could drop in or out as I chose, could study all the materials or pick and choose, could join in the 'conversation' on the forum if I felt so moved, or just read the posts, or even not read the posts. The resources and activities came in a variety of formats, to suit our different needs. If I couldn't get to some of the twelve online plenaries, recordings would be available. Did I want to be in a buddy group, or get into a group locally from within my meeting or outside? Or would I prefer to follow the course as an individual?
There were four Friends from my meeting registered for the course, so we agreed to meet at intervals to discuss, reflect and support one another. We threw the group open to the whole meeting and got a couple of takers. Maybe more will join us as we go along.
As for the second anxiety, well, it's never going to leave me in peace. The challenge is not from tutors or participants; however enraged or guilty we may feel, we are gentle with each other. Friends have been prepared to show their vulnerability, to share their own self-doubts as well as their knowledge, experience and wisdom, and to affirm one another. But how can I watch a video of someone on the receiving end of European rapacity and arrogance, like their ancestors before them, and not feel their dignity, their pain and their steadfastness like embedded fish-hooks in my heart, tugging me inexorably towards them. I can never get off the hook.
Rediscovering true community
But I am hopeful. After a mere two months, I already feel some forward momentum. It has come to me that all the factors in this accelerating planetary train-crash are basically a single giant problem. It means that whatever small bit of the mess you feel drawn to work on, you are making a difference to the whole mess. As things go from worse to worse still, the other thing which has come more and more sharply into focus for me is the crucial importance of true community.
The only way we are going to come through is together, by rediscovering the impulse to trust our neighbours as ourselves. The impulse is there – we saw it during the lockdowns, we've seen it in indigenous communities that never lost it, and we're seeing it now in the UK in response to soaring prices. I feel hopeful that this is how we will rise to the challenge.
Exploring Faith and Climate Justice is a joint project of Quakers in Britain and Woodbrooke, which runs until July 2023. You can sign up at any time.
