There has been a spate of films on climate change and environment themes of late – I’ve mentioned Home already, there is also End of the Line, a film about the effect of overfishing which I’ve not seen yet… and there is The Age of Stupid that I saw a few weeks back at a local school, and that we are showing on 30th July in East Oxford…

The Age of Stupid is the new film from the director of McLibel, Franny Armstrong, and starring Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking at actual footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

“We could have saved ourselves, but we didn’t. It’s amazing. What state of mind were we in, to face extinction and simply shrug it off?… We wouldn’t be the first life form to make itself extinct. But what would be unique about us is that we did it knowingly. What does that say about us?”

The film uses a mix of news footage from the past few years, along with widely accepted scientific predictions, to paint a picture of the impact that climate change is having, and will have, upon the earth and humankind. Weaving in and out of this are the stories of a diverse group of real people from across the world – a wind farm developer, a business man starting the first cheap airline in India, a glacier climbing guide, a woman suffering the consequences of oil spills in Nigeria, a retired scientist who has spent his life searching for oil, and the demonstrators against a local wind-farm. The film presents these peoples lives so that you catch glimpses of some of the apparent contradictions, and attempts to try and not answer those contradictions too much, leaving the viewer to chew on them instead. This is a brave, helpful move… we’ve all got contradictions in our responses to such a complex issue… and the ‘holier than though’ approach only ends up alienating everyone from each other.

Despite being well made and of a high quality, I can’t tell you it is the best film ever made, it isn’t. But then given that it is a self-funded film with no corporate sponsorship, it is an amazing example of independent film making. It also means that it isn’t a Holywood blockbuster – and that is what makes this film so powerful. Using real news footage is not ‘Hollywood’ and looks ‘cheap’ in parts. And yet using real footage is probably the most convincing way of sharing this message… for sure its much harder to ignore or argue against actual footage and widely accepted scientific predictions.  And the film uses this to its advantage.

It won’t leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside – but then it isn’t intended to. It’s a wake up call to us all, that if we carry on as we are then all predictions say that we are heading for serious problems… and for that this is the best film I’ve seen.

The downside to this serious edge, however, is that despite the film being backed up by the Not Stupid campaign, if you leave the film without the chance to share with others, you’re likely to feel overwhelmed and of little hope… and we are then in danger of carrying on as usual… And so its important to see this film with others, and chew over its contents together.

So how can you see this film at it’s best (i.e. with others)?… Well, guess what? Perhaps the most revolutionary nature of this film, is that the creative guys behind it have developed a way that anyone can buy a license to show it anywhere… all completely legally and meaning you can keep the profits (incidentally as Yann Arthus Bertrand has waived his copyrights you may be able to do a similar thing with Home), and this Indie Screening marketing technique I suspect could really catch on…

Not wanting to miss out on a good thing we are putting on an Indie Screening at House244 in East Oxford on 30th July – booking details here – but why not go one better and put on your own screening – details how to here. Failing that you can obviously catch it where others are putting it on – details here – it will also be on at Greenbelt).

If you do put it on yourself I’d suggest resisting the temptation of having a speaker there to answer everyone’s questions, as in my experience these tend to end up veering towards a bear pit and lead to endless debates concerning whether ‘one should have an Aga or not’ (important for sure for some people, but it kind’a takes the energy out of things, in more ways than one)… rather I’d suggest spending time reflecting, leaving to one side all the questions for a moment, and asking yourselves “What is stopping you from doing something about climate change?”… and spending time breaking that down with others.

Perhaps inevitably after seeing the film I was left with the following words from the old hymn, City of God, in my mind:

Awake from your slumber! Arise from your sleep!
A new day is dawning for all those who weep.
The people in darkness have seen a great light.
The Lord of our longing has conquered the night.

I first saw the Earth from the Air photograph exhibition by Yann Arthus-Bertrand years ago at the Natural History Museum in London and it was, and still is, fantastic. His photography is breathtaking and inspirational – and the exhibition has always had at its core a goal of inspiring people to act on what they see… Well he has recently released a film that brings his distinctive style of photography to the big screen.

Exploring the miracle and mystery of the earth the film looks at the beauty of the earth and all its creatures… and follows the story of humans short presence on the earth, both our creative use and mindless destruction. Just like his photograph exhibition the film weaves history and facts through story with a back drop of amazing photography. The film producers say:

We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth’s climate.

The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.

There are a few films out at the moment that bring the environmental impact of humans on the earth to life, and which hope to call us all to action ahead of the Copenhagen climate talks in December (the follow up to Kyoto)… Age of Stupid being another I saw recently (more of which I will blog about soon)… but with the Home film you can currently watch the whole thing for free (until 17th July) on youtube: Home – Youtube minisite. If you miss it on youtube I think the DVD will be out soon after: Home Film website.

Watch it whilst you can… no in fact don’t just watch it, lets respond to it and take our part in our collective responsibility to humanity and the earth.

Mark Scandrette, originally uploaded by mattfreer.

Really enjoyed the company of Mark Scandrette and family who stayed with us at House244 whilst visiting Oxford at the weekend. They joined us for hOME’s Pentecost service and Mark and Lisa spoke about their community ReImagine in San Fransisco and their involvement with their wider community… incarnational radical presence… inspiring… so much so that I’ve just ordered his book Soul Graffiti.

It has been a long time since any updates on the blog… and a lot has been changing for us…

Back in March I finished working at CMS, and earlier this month I started working for the Social Responsibility Department of the Diocese of Oxford. My work at the diocese is focussed around the environment, supporting the diocese as it responds to Climate Change and encouraging environmental awareness in it’s parishes. Work at the diocese isn’t full-time, so at the moment I’m sharing child-care of Ayla (which is great), as well as working freelance and exploring some other projects.

We’ve been trying to get busy in the garden at House244 as well… some of those efforts can be see from the photos below.

Boy with the purple hat #1, originally uploaded by Matt & Polly.

I’ve recently been re-reading From Brokenness to Community by Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arch. It is a great little book based on lectures he gave at Harvard, and is one of the best books I’ve read on the area of community. So I was particularly pleased to hear this weeks Something Understood that looks at Hospitality with a rare interview with Jean Vanier.

You can listen to the programme on the BBC iPlayer for a short time.

The conversation covers a number of things that have been on my mind recently, and which come up in the book. For instance our tendency to always ‘do, do and do’, often as a way to get more power and control, rather than to genuinely help others. In relation to this I was again struck by the notion that it is easier to be the person who is offering the hospitality, than the person receiving hospitality, because of the power gained from offering hospitality.

The importance of listening and of celebrating life together – as well as living day to day in the here and now, are themes that also come up in the programme, and the book… not bad for a 30 minute radio programme and a 50 page book!

“We all know well that we can do things for others and in the process crush them, making them feel that they are incapable of doing things by themselves. To love someone is to reveal to them their capacities for life, the light that is shining in them.”

Jean Vanier, From Brokenness to Community

“Our world will only be a place of peace if we listen and understand and are in relation to those that are different.”

Jean Vanier on Something Understood

A while back I finally got round to reading Finding Sanctuary by Abbot Christopher Jamison, the Abbot from Worth Abbey that gained a lot of attention through the BBC TV’s ‘The Monastery’ a few years back. I really enjoyed it and in particular welcomed the chapter on ‘community’, which starts to explore some of what Saint Benedict had to say on the subject. As a result I’ve also started reading further into the Rule of Saint Benedict (having read Abbot Christopher’s new book Finding Happiness and started the Rule of Benedict by Joan D. Chittister) and I’m finding it really helpful in thinking through the whole area of how we endeavour to ‘live intentionally in community.’

In Finding Sanctuary, Abbot Christopher talks of the way Benedict wanted community to be where people can express individuality rather than individualism: “Individualism is simply doing your own thing in your own way and blanking out the other people. Individuality involves bringing your particular contribution to bear on the life of the community…” I have found this a really helpful way to look at the life of community in tension to our culture of ‘me, my and I’.

He also talks of the importance of a rule for community – because it provides an agreed way of doing things, and as a result people know what to expect and what is expected of them, which leads to, “community life sustain[ing] good conversations by encouraging it and contain[ing] good conversation by setting boundaries.” Finally he explains how Benedict put the structures of the rule in place through ritual: “Small rituals can transform ordinary events into powerful ways to build community.”

These points, of rule, structure and ritual, are often seen in the negative by society at large, and yet increasingly I am seeing the liberating role they play in the lives of many, particularly, in monastic communities. A recent example of this was whilst staying at a Franciscan monastery, where I was struck by the rule of silence that was practiced for the majority of each day which enabled the monks to communicate much more efficiently and clearly than most of us stuck in the rule of noise, and also freed them from the need for constant noise amongst themselves.

At House244 we are just starting to work through some of these issues of role, responsibility and leadership – and I’m finding lessons from our monastic relatives really helpful.

Whilst working for CMS I was involved in getting a long awaited resource called 21M finished, and it is now available…

21M is an eight-part DVD resource that explores the Five Marks of Mission, which were produced by the Anglican church to help give a broad understanding of ‘mission’. Others might talk of integral mission or holistic mission. I have some questions about the language of the Five Marks (which I will blog about at another time), but overall they are a helpful tool for a deeper understanding and practice of what the church calls ‘mission’… and hopefully 21M will be a useful resource that enables churches and groups to explore them.

21M aims to inspire churches and groups into action. It uses group activities and games, Bible studies, interviews with current thinkers and practitioners, and examples from around the world to explore the Marks of Mission in some depth. It’s designed to be a flexible resource, but is structured as an eight-week course that could be used by cell and home groups, youth groups (aged 14+), lent groups, and whole churches. Elements of the course could be used alone to explore particular areas of mission. The DVD comes with an in-depth Leader’s Guide attached. Further information is at: www.cms-uk.org/21m

The normal selling price of 21M is £14.95, but apparently it is currently at an introductory offer of £4.95 at the CMS online shop.

Great to see the news this Fairtrade Fornight that from November this year Cadbury’s Dairy Milk will display the Fairtrade Mark: The Fairtrade Foundation, CadburyTV, Stop the Traffik and The Guardian… This really is a big achievement. When the bars hit the shops the value of Fairtrade chocolate sales in Britain will go from £45m to £225m in one giant leap!… A big consumer-driven success, which hopefully will put more even pressure on the rest of the chocolate industry to follow suit.

I really like the album Hope for a tree cut down by the Church of the Beloved. This original music is written, performed and recorded by their community… and is free to download! I’m not a great fan of much in the way of Christian worship music, but this is fresh and creative, with deeply meaningful words… we used the track Blessing at Ayla’s Christening.

The book of Job is the oldest book of Scripture and it asks one of the oldest questions, ‘Is there hope?’ ‘Is there hope for a tree cut down? …Yes. At the mere scent of water it will bud and grow green shoots.’

Download Hope for a tree cut down [thanks to Matt R for the tip]

path to the sea2, originally uploaded by mattfreer.

Being awoken by a baby early in the morning can have its benefits… one such benefit was discovering Radio 4’s Something Understood programme last year. Each week it looks at “some of the larger questions of life, taking a spiritual theme and exploring it through music, prose and poetry.” We are rarely now up at 6am on a Sunday, but with the wonders of the BBC iPlayer I always try and listen.

This weeks programme looked at Mysticism and Resistance, with a focus on how our lives respond to and set off on paths we discover along the way, which often involve difficult choices. I particularly liked the poem quoted this week, The road not taken by Robert Frost… At a time when I am looking out for a new path to take, in terms of jobs (I’ve yet to mention it on my blog, but my role at CMS was made redundant last year and so I am leaving CMS in two weeks time), it is particularly poignant:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Copyright © 1962, 1967, 1970
by Leslie Frost Ballantine.