The Gospel passage for this week talks about earthquakes, famines and plagues that will happen before the end of the world (Luke 21:5-19). Such a statement would be less startling to the modern ear if we talked in terms of ‘creation’ rather than the ‘environment’. ‘Creation’ puts God and ‘environment’ puts man at the centre of the picture – a whole way of looking at the world is contained in each of these two words. Luke writes as a poet might, painting vivid images of the future and making the point that God is in ultimate control of history. On a micro-level we ignore this when we constantly script ourselves into the centre of events that are happening around us. We self-obsess, anxious about what other people think of us, guilty about something we have, or resentful at what someone else has done. Try seeing yourself as a part of ‘creation’ rather than always feeling you need to shape the ‘environment’. Next time that someone wants to talk, try listening instead of turning the conversation back onto yourself: it is a pure, simple and immediate way to demonstrate love

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