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It was the fleas on rats that spread that plague. The rats came in on ships from the many countries with which these little kingdoms traded. They were, in effect, victims of globalisation in the very infancy of the concept, operating commercial routes across eastern and western Europe and around the Mediterranean.

 

And today? Health professionals are fighting best they can. Self-isolation and social distancing really could help stop the monster in its tracks. And we are getting to grips with technology to access church services of all denominations. Our world is changing.

 

When we were told the churches would close, I had a conversation (electronic, of course) with a friend who agreed that ‘spiritually bereft’ was the right phrase for how we felt. I shed a tear when our parish priest sent us off after the last daily Mass with the words ‘Know you are loved’. Two days later I was tuning in to our Bishop, who now celebrates daily Mass on Youtube. On Sunday I ‘went’ to Mass at my parish church, where like many parishes across Scotland our priest did his best with the technology - but knows a man who’ll make it better.

 

Much of social media is swamped by increased anger and frustration expressed by frightened and anxious people. I hope we all learn the language of nonviolence. I hope clarity of instructions becomes best practice. But if we use technology for family, friendship and work, it could be that post COVID-19, we are better able to tackle that other major problem of the 21st century. Because we do have to stop driving our cars, boarding planes, and taking those cruises that Boris Johnson assumes every 70-plus in the UK enjoys as a matter of course. Sorry – that last remark was less than nonviolent.

 

In Argyll and the Isles, we are short of priests. During Lent, until the churches closed, I wore my SCIAF ambassador’s hat and delivered talks in three areas. In the first, the parish priest has ‘only’ to cover two churches, a 50-mile round trip each Sunday. In the second, covering four bases, the Saturday/Sunday mileage is 146 miles. In the third, four parishes add up to around 114 miles. I didn’t deliver the fourth set of talks because of the lockdown. It would have involved a 46 minutes each way ferry crossing, as it does for the priest every Sunday. Pastoral care of parishioners scattered across wide geographical areas adds to each man’s travelling.

 

These parish priests are wonderful – but exhausted. Wouldn’t it be kind if the laity accepted that maybe one week in two or four we celebrated Mass in reality and the rest were a virtual experience? There’s a spiritual need (which more and more people are recognising in themselves), and as we come to terms with a new world order, could this be one of the important compromises we make? That and eschewing vast quantities of toilet rolls and pasta…

 

Some of these measures include the promotion of irrigation and efficient use of water resources, early watering systems and preparations, and we are using remote sensing in mapping of drought prone areas.

But changes in climate pose challenges to Zambia’s ongoing efforts to combat poverty, reduce food insecurity and manage natural resources.

According to the director of the Meteorological Department of Zambia, agriculture is the sector most affected by climate change because it is the mainstay of rural employment in Zambia. We depend on staple crops like maize and cassava, whose yields rely on a timely rainy season and stable temperatures. As our temperatures go up and rainfall patterns become more erratic, crop yields have plummeted. 
 

Crazy things are happening. Much of the country has no water and no electricity. But in the north of Zambia, floods have led to water contamination and the spread of waterborne illnesses are affecting both humans and livestock. We’re told that climate-sensitive diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea are increasing. I’ve suffered from malaria and it is life threatening. I can only pray this menace doesn’t get worse. It already affects around four million Zambians every year. Cholera is on the rise, too. When people are poor, eating only one meal a day, malnutrition makes them more vulnerable to diseases. For the first time since 2004, we are seeing the UN food programme back in Zambia distributing mealie meal.

Our lives are getting worse. Copper mining, agriculture and tourism are our main industries in 2020. Lack of power threatens the copper mines. Drought is destroying our agriculture and people are starving. And the Victoria Falls, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has had the lowest ever water levels. That’s a major threat to tourism.

We need to stand up and take action to reduce the situation. This will include cooperating between stakeholders, government officials and ourselves. It’s NOT too late to solve the problem. But we must communicate climate science to the public. I believe it is our duty to alert people to the urgency of the situation, and this ought to be done in all nations. This is serious.

It’s the big question of the day, isn’t it? How do we engage congregations, and particularly young people, in the big issues that concern us? Working with Scottish Christians Against Nuclear Arms, we hope to encourage campaigning and wider discussion about the possession and use of nuclear arms.

At a recent meeting held at St George’s Tron Church of Scotland in Glasgow, we felt that reaching out, rather than inviting in was the way to go. That we should visit youth groups, schools, clubs and other locations where young people get together, instead of asking them to come along to yet another meeting.

It’s not as if we have to reinvent to wheel. The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (SCND) has a great ‘Peace Education’ website that offers a wealth of resources aimed at schools, with links to the Curriculum for Excellence that school children can access. It also includes a very good pack called Morality, Ethics and the Bomb and there’s a power point on the Just War Theory that would be hugely valuable for any of us working with young people.

SCANA’s study day aimed to offer a forum for discussion on the issue of nuclear weapons and to look especially at campaigning and next steps. It was encouraging that participants came from a broad spectrum of denominations. Our speakers, Bishop William Nolan, Catholic Bishop of Galloway and President of the Scottish Justice and Peace Commission of the Bishops' Conference and Bill Kidd MSP, gave us plenty to kick start discussions.

Bishop Nolan spoke of the current and historical Roman Catholic approach to nuclear weapons, saying that teaching issued by successive popes, starting in 1963, had been to completely oppose the use of nuclear weapons, while initially making some allowances for the possession of nuclear weapons as an interim measure on the road to full nuclear disarmament.

He reminded us, however, that since the 1980s, the Vatican, and the Scottish Bishops, have increasingly opposed the possession and renewal of such weapons systems. Their statements have emphasised the immorality of threatening to use them, and of course the immorality of the huge level of expenditure involved, which continues to be diverted from the common good and especially from meeting the needs of the poor.

Bill Kidd updated us on the UN's support for the Nuclear Ban Treaty, launched in 2015 and now signed by 122 countries. He also pointed out the depth of opposition to nuclear arms in the Scottish parliament.

My generation was very aware of the dangers of nuclear weapons because the Cold War was at its height. Perhaps today’s young people have become less aware as the lines of conflict have become blurred. But there are plenty of resources to get the message out, and perhaps your parishes could share resources such as these:

 

The Joint Public Issues Team: www.jointpublicissues.org.uk 
The Justice and Peace Commission – www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk
Christian CND – www.christiancnd.org.uk

I was encouraged by one particular participant who said, ‘One thing that stuck out from the study was the wealth of wisdom and experience in the room and our need to connect this wisdom and experience with the new generations of peace activists where they are, through more creative ways of engagement.’

 

So now our outreach work begins!