04.12.05 Steve Redemption rips through the surface of time
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The other morning we had a power cut for about ten seconds. The only 'problem' with this was that the digital clocks all went wonky. A power cut is a very rare event. Earlier in the week there was further public debate about whether this country should invest more in renewable energy or re-invest in nuclear sources. I'm struck by the many assumptions made about our 'energy requirements'. As far as I understand it (which is never very far), the argument goes that renewable energy sources, as we have them, will only ever be able to service a modest proportion of these 'energy requirements'. It seems as though we've given up seriously talking about completely rethinking what our energy 'needs' are.
Apart from a blip in about 1973, I have grown up in a generation who regard it as completely normal to expect unlimited energy - available on demand - it's simply a matter of paying for it - it is almost completely reliable and always there. Recently I've been reading a book about 'grid-free' living - a collection of the stories and philosophies of people (in the U.S.) who have built homes and nurtured lifestyles that mean they are free of the assumption of dependency on national power-grids. Most striking was the description of re-thinking personal power-consumption when the self-generated supply was limited, rather than unlimited..... i.e. saving up enough battery power to put the washing machine on one day a week.
Some of us would argue that the development of just such thoughtful and appreciative ways of living and of journeying in the world, are a vital part of spirituality.... that living appreciatively, carefully and generously is a response to God's creation. This 'way', of course, is not limited to energy consumption but can inform all of our living. As advent people we can see this as part of 'making the path straight' - preparing the way for God's kingdom - a world and a way of living in it that is hopefully more as God intends.
In the 'grid-free' book, I was interested that the most efficient, small-scale method of generating electricity is water-power (as part of an integrated system). Recently I was walking in the Lowther Hills on a wet day and found myself (as you do) standing in the middle of a burn in my wellies. I was amazed, as ever, by the force and weight of the water. This burn was about 5' wide, and possibly about 1' deep. I wondered how much water was contained within, say a 5' long section of this burn. I estimated that this section would contain about 20 gallon cans (like the ones you get petrol in when you've run out). It seemed to me that this body of water was replaced about once a second, judging by the speed of the water. So, very roughly, I began to total how much water might be passing by: on the basis of the above estimates, it worked out at...
1200 gallons a minute..... that's 72000 gallons an hour.....which is 1,728000 gallons a day.... which is 12, 096000 gallons a week..... which is 48,384000 gallons a month.... which is 5.8 billion gallons a year (I think - my calculator wasn't coping by this time).
That's one tiny burn - out of thousands of such burns in Dumfriesshire, in a wee country like Scotland. Unfathomable amounts of invisible energy, of natural resource (in a world where so many don't have enough water to survive). A couple of weeks ago I was in the tiny and picturesque village of Moulin, just outside Pitlochry (worth a visit for the pub which brews its own splendid ales). Here there was a heritage plaque which said that the wee burn (no bigger than the one I've been describing) used to power seven different mills, and was thus the heart of the local micro-economy.
Such are the glimpses of the endless, unfathomable, renewable energies of creation - and God's gift and sharing of that provision.
Let's turn it into an Advent picture.
Picture the burn and its unfathomable activity and energy - the rush of the water. In the middle of the burn, a rock sticks up through the surface - smoothed by the passing of the water over centuries (millennia?), but steadfast against the current - which is split on the surface, like a seamstress splits a length of cloth.
You might know Bruce Cockburn's incarnation song 'The Cry of a Tiny Babe'. The chorus goes:
Like a stone on the surface of a river, driving the ripples on forever
Redemption rips through the surface of time, in the cry of a tiny babe
Today I find this an exciting picture - all the unfathomable energy of creation, of time, of the passing of time - all the stories of our world, its histories and its unfathomable activity - all the stories of your life and mine - all the triumphs of the human spirit - all of the abuses and disappointments - and..... in Advent we become aware again of the incarnation of God - like a stone on the surface of this great rushing river - steadfast - ripping through the surface - driving the ripples, caused by his reaching out to us, out and on forever.... counter-energies that have carried each of us off at some stage in our lives - and carry us on still now. Redemption ripping through the surface of time, in the cry of a tiny babe.