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Smart Fish Friday : Educate yourself on which fish species are sustainable and the threats to life under the ocean’s curtain. Download an app with the best/worst choices  Genesis 1:20-21 :Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. Why was it traditional to eat fish on a Friday?  Because Jesus died on Good Friday, Christians kept Friday as a day of fast. Meat was considered a luxury food. You either had to buy it in a market or you had to own enough land to keep cattle. On the other hand, anyone could grow vegetables or forage for them, and anyone could catch a fish in a lake or a stream. You could buy better fish and vegetables, but the point is that you could eat without money if you were poor. So meat was rich people’s food and fish was poor people’s food. That is why the most common form of fasting was to omit meat and eat fish. Today fish is often not a cheaper option. It is however better for our bodies and often better for the planet! However it is important to eat only sustainable fish. Many types of fish are overfished and stocks are perilously low. Join a local awareness campaign, guides are typically constructed into three categories, some using a traffic light’s colours: red, yellow, and green. Green: Always choose from the green list: These are the most sustainable choices from the healthiest and most well-managed populations. These species can handle current fishing pressure, or are farmed in a manner that does not harm the environment. Orange: Avoid where possible. This group includes species that are depleted as a result of overfishing and cannot sustain current fishing pressure, or because the fishing or farming method poses harm to the environment and/or the biology of the species makes it vulnerable to high fishing pressure. Red list: NEVER BUY. This group includes unsustainable species as well as those that are illegal to sell. Follow these links for the list of sustainable fish South Africa

  “Blessed be the name of the LORD From this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the LORD is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.…” Psalms 113:2-4 Welcome to the Carbon Fast for Lent 2016! For Anglicans, Catholics and many others, Lent is the time when we remember the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness, facing challenge and temptation. It is a time when we reflect on God’s purpose for our life. This year we challenge you to take a carbon fast – to reduce the actions which damage God’s Creation. As we prepare for the Carbon Fast, we take time to prepare our hearts with a few actions that connect us with God’s Creation.   You cannot love what you do not know!  So we will take time to connect with the sunrise and the beauty of God’s creation. Perhaps you feel ‘but I want to do something!’ Saint Francis had similar challenges, he wanted to serve the poor but he was also attracted to prayer out in nature. So he asked Sister Clare to pray about it and tell him if he should dedicate his life to prayer or action. After a few weeks she came back and said that he should dedicate himself to contemplative prayer but also be active in ministry. Francis was to go back and forth between the two as Jesus did.   Before Francis, “secular” priests served the poor and the community, “religious” priests went off to the monastery to pray. Francis did both, he  took prayer on the road; in fact, prayer is what enabled him to sustain his life of love and service to others over the long haul, without becoming cynical or angry.. For me, that is still the greatest art form–to “dance while standing still”! (  Adapted from Richard Rohr) In preparation for the Carbon Fast for Lent, take a moment to watch the sunrise or the sunset, and fully absorb the miracle of light that is the rising and setting Sun. Say this prayer to guide your day: I arise, facing East, I am asking toward the light, I am asking that my day Shall be beautiful with light. I am asking that the place Where my feet are shall be light, That as far as I can see I shall follow it aright. I am asking for courage To go forward through the shadow, I am asking toward the light!   Mary Austin, Earth Prayers, page 337    

ASH WEDNESDAY Prayer for the Week: Gracious Lord, as we fast from carbon, we mourn the destruction of so much of your creation. May we take up the challenge to walk the path less travelled, to restore more of your creation than we destroy. Help us to act with love and care for all that you have created.   Today as you receive the ashes, the priest will say these words:  “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” With these words we are reminded that we are part of the web of life. In the beginning God “breathed into clay” which then became a living being (Gen 2:7). This living being was called Adam which means “of the earth’ We are of the earth and whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters of the earth. So that is why Ash Wednesday is a day to reflect on what we have done wrong “Turn away from sin and believe the good news”   Ash Wednesday is a day of reflection and I would like to invite you to reflect on your impact on the Earth. Start  by calculating your carbon footprint, at the following website: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/?_ga=1.208072722.185003333.1452763899   And then sit somewhere quiet and write yourself a letter. This is a letter from the seventh generation. This would be about 200 years from now. Close your eyes and imagine your great, great , great grandchild. What does she or he look like, where and how do they live? Imagine what they would want to say to you. Write a letter from them to  yourself, explain what has happened to the Earth and how you feel…”Dear Great, Great ,Great Grandmother/Father Then close with this prayer: Prayer of Confession: Holy God, Creator and Lover that is, We confess to you that we have sinned. We have failed in our care for the land and its creatures, We have been greedy, destructive, and wasteful Of the resources you have entrusted to us.   Polluted air and water, Eroded soil and salty earth, Birds and animals deprived of habitat, And neighbours left hungry and thirsty by our selfishness: All these cry out against us. We do not know how to restore what we have damaged, And we repent in sorrow and distress.   Forgive us, we pray, and have mercy. Give us grace to change our ways, To make amends, And to work together for the healing of our world, Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.   Resource: “And it was good, Responding to God’s Gift of Creation” Anglican Communion, page 22   If you are on facebook, perhaps you would like to change your profile pic to encourage others to join the carbon fast as well. Go to the Green Anglicans Facebook page, download the “I am fasting for a change” image and upload it as your new profile picture.