Restore Nature Now March in Edinburgh

On Saturday 31st August, just ahead of the Season of Creation, Christian Climate Action Scotland held a pilgrimage through the heart of Edinburgh with Restore Nature Now as the theme. Over 35 adults and children were involved and we made stops and reflected at some of the capital’s landmark buildings. On the way we must have encountered hundreds of people, most signalled their support and some cheered.

If you would like to join in with CCA Scotland, we’d love to meet you. Contact ScotlandCCA@gmail.com

Here is a flavour of what we experienced on the Restore Nature Now march – a beautiful, sunny day in Edinburgh, where we celebrated nature…

St Giles Cathedral

At the beautiful old St Giles Cathedral, we remembered that God created the world and saw that it was very good (Genesis 1:31)

Pope Francis, in Laudate Si, reminded us that “the Earth is the Lord’s” (Ps. 24:1), and, as Christians we should be kind to the Earth and make choices that keep it healthy and safe.

‘This call to care for our God created world is displayed in all religions, and as part of our reflection we shared the Thanksgiving Address, Greetings to the Natural World, from the Haudenosaunee, a confederacy of Indigenous peoples who originally lived in the northern part of New York state’. Jan Benvie

Scottish Parliament

At the Scottish Parliament Dr Jeni McAughey reflected on politics and nature and how political decisions impact our environment and non-human creatures just as they impact on humans. This is evident in the climate crisis affecting us all and the political decisions which exacerbate that.

Jeni raised two current environmental issues- the Rosebank oil field, which has just been halted by the UK Government and the pesticide still permitted to be used in the UK, yet banned throughout the EU. Finally, Jeni emphasised that we can influence our politicians and we must do that to change these decisions.

The Observatory, Calton Hill

Revd David Coleman ended our pilgrimage on the iconic Calton Hill, saying: ‘It’s easy to get distracted by all kinds of ‘heavenly thoughts’ from the urgency of the crisis of nature & climate. In fact, this is a misreading of a Biblical conception of a unified Creation, in which what happens on Earth/Soil directly affects the health of the Sky/Heaven – and that’s what Jesus alerts us to, who also filled his teaching with yearnings and exhortation to ‘read the signs’. The climate crisis is definitely a “crisis of heaven” – it’s that serious, that spiritual. But we also need to let ourselves fall in love with fellow creatures (not just human ones, but them too) as it’s love that best changes hearts and minds, resulting in action for the good of all, to the glory of God.’