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CHOIR:听 INTROIT (Chilcott)
鈥淭he earth does not belong to man; Man belongs to the earth.鈥澨� (Chief Seattle)听

DOUG
Welcome to Glasgow 鈥� a city which has the eyes and ears of the world trained on it.

I am Doug Gay, Principal of Trinity College, and I'm leading today鈥檚 service from Glasgow University Chapel along with the University Chaplain, Rev Dr Carolyn Kelly.听

Today marks the halfway point of the United Nations COP26 Conference and we are both very conscious of how many hopes and prayers for our planet鈥檚 future are focused on the work of the Conference here in our city.听

Scotland鈥檚 former Makar, or Poet Laureate, Liz Lochhead, wrote this heart-warming poem to welcome her friends鈥� newly adopted daughter Molly to Glasgow, telling her of the four symbols on the city鈥檚 and the university鈥檚 crest:

DOUG
Molly Pin Li McLaren,
come home and look听 ...听 [Copyright material]

Author: Liz Lochhead, Polygon

听

鈥楾he stories they tell鈥�, indeed.

Those symbols come from the ancient story of St Mungo 鈥� Glasgow鈥檚 patron saint, giving us the images of

The bird that never flew, the tree that never grew, the bell that never rang and the fish that never swam.

But today we remember an even older story of human belonging on the earth,

When God proclaimed it good, when we gave names to animal being,听so learned our own.听

It鈥檚 a story which 鈥榩laces鈥� us,

But now we find ourselves鈥� dislocated.

New and troubling stories are being told:

of trees that never grew, of birds that never flew, of fish that never swam鈥�

And Mungo鈥檚 bell that never rang: is it ringing now? Is it ringing out a warning?

In the Hebrew scriptures we read the story of a man called Job

who was wrestling with trouble and threat
who was taken back to this question about the wonder of creation

... were you there when the morning stars sang together,

and all the angels shouted for joy? (Job 38 v7)

With that same sense of trouble and wonder, we are led by the University Chapel Choir in the hymn 鈥楪reat God of every shining constellation鈥櫶�

GLASGOW UNIVERSITY CHOIR DIRECTED BY KATY LAVINIA COOPER. ORGAN: KEVIN BOWYER听 听 听 听 听 听
Hymn: GREAT GOD OF EVERY SHINING CONSTELLATION (Highwood)听

The world is watching, Glasgow:
this has been described as the 鈥榣ast best hope for the world to get its act together鈥�.

No pressure, then.听

World leaders, indigenous leaders; negotiators and news reporters, pilgrims and protesters 鈥� the powerful and the hopeful

from all over the planet they have come: by boat and by bus, train, plane and limousine, some even on foot鈥� 听

Prayers, chants and pilgrims in George Square, Glasgow

DOUG 听Prayer of invitation

Now we pray:

Great and Wonderful God,
We give thanks this morning,
that you are the God of troubled souls and shining stars
You are the maker of all that is,
Your hand created every tree, bird, fish
And angels sang for joy
because of all things bright and beautiful,
because the world was wise and wonderful,
the world you made and blessed and gave.

So now, today, we thank you for this gift, this home
We celebrate and sing its beauty which reflects your own
and from this blue/green planet earth
this dear Green place called Glasgow
Which today is called to be a city for the world
We bring our praise to you and ask you to be with us now
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN.

We listen now to the gospel reading for this Sunday at the heart of COP26.

A story from the Gospel of Mark Chapter 12, which speaks of who we are and what we give.听

READER: 听听Scripture reading

As Jesus taught, he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets! They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."听

Jesus sat down opposite the temple treasury and watched the crowd putting in their money鈥�

Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few pennies. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, Truly, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their abundance, but she, from her poverty, has put in everything she had, all she had to live on鈥�.

Hymn: OH THE LIFE OF THE WORLD IS A JOY AND A TREASURE (Tune: Life of the World)
Scottish Church Hymnary 4th Edition (CH4)
Author: Kathy Galloway / Composer: Ian Galloway
Arranged by John L Bell

CAROLYN听

During the pandemic we had different stories: as someone said during the worst days: 鈥榃e might be in the same storm, but we are not in the same boat鈥�.听

With climate change the same is true.听 But some of us may imagine we still buffered from the rising water.听 That may affect our sense of urgency, and what our national negotiators bring to the table.听

I come from the Pacific on the other side of the globe, a descendent of Scottish and Irish migrants who sailed seeking a better life.听 But now Pacific islands鈥� leaders have come here to Glasgow, to speak of, to show us, the future we are all facing together.听

One of those is Rev James Bhagwan, General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches:

JAMES BHAGWAN听

Grace and Peace! Warm Pacific greetings to you my sisters and brothers in Christ!

I am approaching the end of my 4th听week on this pilgrimage of Climate Justice and Peace that has brought me half way around the world from Fiji to Glasgow. In our Pacific way we honour the ancestors and elders of this land.听

I begin this way because our Christian spirituality recognises the integral indigenous relationship with land and sea and sky as part of the original relationship given to us by God at creation. Spirituality shapes our indigenous knowledge into wisdom and guides us to act with gentleness and gratitude for the abundance that surrounds us.听听The wisdom of our ancients who read the stars and travelled across our mighty ocean, in their giant canoes, millennia before European discovery and conquest, considered themselves part of the ecosystem, not above it.听

Yet as we can see in the lack of real commitments, backed by concrete plans, the Pacific among other climate change affected and vulnerable communities, continues to be marginalised.听

I have two children, a son and a daughter. And following the culture of their mother, my children鈥檚 umbilical cords are buried in their grandparents land, planted with seedling coconut trees, a testament to their connection with the land. When my daughter was small, she told her mother whose heritage connects her to the atoll nation of Kiribati, that when she grew up, she wanted to be a marine biologist, largely in the hope that that particular line of work might help her transition into being a mermaid. Reflecting on the impact of climate change on Kiribati, my wife responded that by the time my daughter reached university she might instead end up being a marine archaeologist as her maternal homeland would be under the waves and the marine life in our ocean would be gone. 鈥淭here once were fish here鈥� a sign would say. 鈥淲elcome to Kiribati. 鈥� another 鈥� both under water.听

Pacific Islanders, along with many other peoples of the world, face climate induced displacement, and the loss of our culture and our future. We are people for whom, land, sea, spirituality and identity are profoundly interrelated.听

The Gospel reading for today resonates with our island states and communities facing unjust financial systems as we try to respond to disasters or relocate permanently displaced communities.听

The loss and damage we face is not just physical or financial, it is cultural, it is emotional, it is deeply spiritual 鈥� wounds that will remain as intergenerational trauma as people are uprooted and exiled, who will struggle to sing the Lord鈥檚 song in strange lands and times.听

Jesus reminds us, calls us, demands of us to recognise that seemingly self-sacrificial giving to misguided causes doesn鈥檛 please the Lord.听听And shows of generosity that cost us little are an ugly mask.听听Structural injustice must change. God wants justice and mercy embodied by people who walk humbly before the Lord.

CHOIR:听 ANTHEM:听 KYRIE / FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH / KYRIE (Composer:听 Harold Thalange)

CAROLYN听
Lord have mercy indeed.
Now, some of my fellow University Chaplains share words of hope and prayer from their own traditions.

Srihari Vallabhajousula

The Vedas tell us Hindus Maata Bhumihi, putroo aham prithivyaaha.听 The earth is our mother, and I am her child.听 Our mother nurtured us, but our greed is hurting our mother.听 I hope and pray that our individual and collective actions protect our mother earth and help her nurture many future generations.听听

Rabbi Aharon Lemberger

During his visit to COP26, Chief Rabbi Mirvis visited Glasgow's Jewish School.听 My son told me that he taught them a paragraph of the morning prayer, which they have now started to say every day -

"Bless for us, Hashem our God, this year and all the varieties of its produce for good; and bestow blessing upon the face of the earth; satisfy us from its bounty and bless our year, like the good years. Blessed are You, Blesser of the years."

Mandy Evans Ewing

Some words from a Humanist perspective:听
Our dear mother earth, we recognise our duty to protect and heal you, showing you that we value, respect and cherish the succour, the sustenance and the magnificent home that you provide for us:
Let us have faith in ourselves and each other that we can accomplish this, understanding that you are us and we are you and we are one.
May we have the courage and wisdom to tread lightly upon you so that you may truly know our love.

Ravinder Nijjar

As a Sikh I understand that Mother Earth is a sacred place of worship orbiting the cosmos.
Air is the Guru, water is the Father, and Earth is the great Mother of all.
Nature, like a parent, selflessly and lovingly sustains human beings.听
We have to change our mind sets, recognising that the human mind, which is the embodiment of the Divine Light, is our most effective, renewable resource.听Our actions today must result in deep and enduring effects, to be enjoyed by future generations.

Shoket Aksi

As a born and bred Glaswegian I am pleased to see COP26 happening in my beautiful city.

In the Quran, God says in the chapter called The Romans in verse 41:
Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of the people have earned, so that He (God) makes them taste some of what they did, in order that they may return to the right way.

So it's in our hands, it's up to us to make a difference to help those coming after us.

CAROLYN
And now let me share with you a prayer of Pope Francis from his encyclical Laudato Si:

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.

This is our story; this is our prayer,

We join it with the words which Jesus gave to his disciples:

CHOIR:听 LORD鈥橲 PRAYER (Sir James MacMillan)

DOUG听 听 听听

It is, I think, a gift to all of us that on this Sunday in COP26, we are asked to read the story of the widow鈥檚 mite.
It鈥檚 a story which begins with Jesus teaching the people.

And in these days which have been filled with warnings, Jesus also has a warning for us.

Beware he says 鈥� those who like to be centre stage 鈥� those who like to be given seats at the top table听 - who like to be feted and flattered. They say what they say, they even pray what they pray, to impress others.听 Jesus warns about those whose power comes at the expense of the poor听鈥� widows and orphans and those on the margins.听

We thank God for those who are at the tables of COP because of their concern for the world's poorest.听 But this is a warning for us all.

We see Jesus teaching, we hear Jesus warning 鈥� but then something else happens.
Jesus we are told sits down 鈥� sits down and watches for what will happen next.
He selects a very deliberate vantage point 鈥� one from which he can see the temple treasury and the people coming to put in their gifts.
He watches the rich people putting in big sums and then he sees a poor widow put in two small coins鈥�

The have lots and the have nots -
In a week when we have heard so many statistics about what countries are bringing what to put on the table at COP,
we are confronted by Jesus adding up who has given what.
And what we find is that in Jesus鈥� arithmetic it is not just totals that are added up 鈥� when Jesus does the maths he talks in percentages

They put in a lot out of their abundance 鈥�
she put in almost nothing which was everything she had.

God 鈥� it seems - is more interested in what we keep than in what we give.

When God sits down opposite the treasury - That is what God is watching for.

God is watching COP26 - Jesus who is sat down not just at God鈥檚 right hand, but also sat down with the hungry and the thirsty and the vulnerable 鈥� with those whose shelter and security is threatened by climate change - Jesus is sat down watching - doing the maths and calculating the percentages 鈥�
Which makes this a story about costly giving and accountability鈥� God sees what money hides 鈥�
but also a story of hope - God remembers what money forgets.听

Two small coins 鈥� accountability and hope 鈥� God鈥檚 gifts to us this morning as we pray for COP26.

Hymn:听听ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING (Lasst uns Erfreuen)听

CAROLYN听听

Today we pray for those who work inside the Conference and those who protest outside of it.
We pray for the future of this tiny planet teeming with life, richness and beauty, hanging in the vastness of space, now hanging in the balance.听听

And we pause to remember all that has been lost, and all that we are called to cherish. We listen to the Lost Words Blessing, written by Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris, which celebrates the beauty and diversity of life, and summons us in love to care for the world as our common home.

It鈥檚 sung by two wonderful contemporary Scottish singers Karine Polwart and Julie Fowlis:

KARINE POLWART/JULIE FOWLIS, LOST WORDS听 BLESSING听听听

Quercus Records QRCD004

CAROLYN听 Blessing 听听

Now, go in hope to act and pray and love this beautiful world God loves.

And the blessing of God, the Holy Trinity,
rest upon this conference and on this world,
and on you who are beloved of God.

AMEN.听

CHOIR:听 TAIZE:听 THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS JUSTICE AND PEACE听

听