January 13.  The Ark was captured. Bruce explained, “Some of the Old Testament books are full of war and destruction as the people of Israel were building themselves into a nation. They believed God was on their side and the Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of God’s presence. They came to rely on this to give them power over their enemies and were devastated when they were defeated by the Philistines and the Ark was captured. Bruce asked the group, “what is the lesson for us today in this?  Is making half-baked, short-sighted plans to combat climate change using only our technological resources the correct answer? Should not a more holistic response and a consideration of God’s plan be looked for?  Becoming an eco-friendly family:  There are many things we can begin as families to do ourselves, like recycling, saving energy and water and learning more about our carbon footprint.  Choose one action to do today.

When the Philistines saw that the Ark was with the Israelites they were afraid of the Israelite gods. But they took courage and fought and defeated Israel with great slaughter of 30 000 foot soldiers. And the Ark of God was captured.   1 Sam 4:1-11.  Pope Francis.  Science and technology are wonderful products of God-given human creativity. It has remedied countless ills.  Yet it must be recognized that nuclear energy and, biotechnology have given us tremendous power. Yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely.   In whose hands does all this power lie. LF 102-104. We cannot claim to have a sound ethics, a culture and spirituality genuinely capable of setting limits and teaching clear-minded self-restraint. LS105