good morning and welcome to the dinery at canterbury cathedral in the garden here in the front garden today because we're wanting to use this context of the trees and we will come to that very much in our reflection but uh wherever you are in the world on this windy slightly rainy day join us here in the garden for our morning prayers we're remembering all kinds of situations in the world and you will bring your own concerns to all of that as we say our prayers together and certain issues will unfold as we go through we might just uh reflect on the situation for girls and women under the taliban in afghanistan at the moment because women are still not allowed to go to work there and girls are not allowed to go to school and in the bbc reports and the interviews taking place no answer will be given at the moment can be given they say for when girls and women go back to school so we we pray for them in the sadness of them missing their work missing their school and asking when when will be allowed back and we ask with them when so this morning let's say our prayers here and keep all those concerns in our minds and many many others that you will have yourselves oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the day star dawn in our hearts and triumph over the shades of night blessed are you creator of all to you be praise and glory forever as your dawn renews the face of the earth bringing light and life to all creation may we rejoice in this day you have made as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will that the world may rejoice and give you praise blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night is past and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind and as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen the morning psalms on this 19th of october are 95 96 97 we could choose any of them but i'm going to read 96. sing to the lord a new song sing to the lord all the earth sing to the lord and bless his name tell out his salvation from day to day declare his glory among the nations and his wonders among all peoples for great is the lord and greatly to be praised he is more to be feared than all gods for all the gods of the nations are but idols it is the lord who made the heavens honor and majesty are before him power and splendor are in his sanctuary ascribe to the lord you families of the peoples ascribe to the lord honor and strength ascribe to the lord the honor due to his name bring offerings and come into his courts o worship the lord in the beauty of holiness let the whole earth tremble before him tell it out among the nations that the lord is king he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved he will judge the peoples with equity let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad let the sea thunder and all that is in it let the fields be joyful and all that is in them let all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the lord for he comes he comes to judge the earth with righteousness he will judge the world and the peoples with his truth let the fields be joyful and all that is in them and all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the lord great sentence on this particular morning as we think of the health of our planet in our reflection we are returning now to the book of the exodus after pausing for sunday and also the first day of sin luke yesterday and i'm returning to chapter 8 we come to the second plague and i'm at verse 1 of chapter 8 of the exodus then the lord said to moses go into pharaoh and say to him thus says the lord let my people go that they may serve me but if you refuse to let them go behold i will plague all your country with frogs the nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people and into your ovens and your kneading bowls the frogs shall come up on you and your people and on all your servants and the lord said to moses say to aaron stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers over the canals over the pools and make frogs come up on the land of egypt so aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of egypt but the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of egypt then pharaoh called moses and aaron and said plead with the lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people and i will let the people go to sacrifice to the lord moses said to pharaoh be pleased to command me when i am to plead for you and your servants and for your people that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the nile and he said tomorrow moses said be it as you say so that you may know that there is no one like the lord our god the frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people they shall be left only in the nile so moses and aaron went out from pharaoh and moses cried to the lord about the frogs as he had agreed with pharaoh and the lord did according to the word of moses the frogs died out in the houses the courtyards and the fields and they gathered them together in heaps and the land stank but when pharaoh saw that there was a respite he hardened his heart and would not listen to them as the lord had said on saturday we saw how the nile was poisoned and we thought about how the balance of nature on this planet this gift to us from god for us to be stewards of how the balance can be upset and how at times such things happen and this this story comes all the way through and of course the moment that the waters of the nile are poisoned the corollary is that the creatures that live in the nile the amphibians and the fish begin to die and those who are in that searching for some kind of life leave the nile to try to find fresh water for them to live in and so the frogs leave the nile and begin to invade the houses of the egyptians it's the kind of explanation we can give hundreds and hundreds of years later but what we're seeing is something that happens across the world as we were saying on saturday at the same time reading the signs and using the signs of the life of our planet is something that jesus points to even to the way in which yesterday the red sky brought heavy rain in the afternoon red sky in the morning shepherd's warning red sky at night shepherd's delight a fine sunrise the next day but jesus is always pointing to the signs and in conjunction with the creator those who are doing his will use those signs some of the signs of the planet are powerful and catastrophic and on this occasion 430 years after joseph had saved the people from a famine which had been catastrophic at that time but because he had read the signs the storehouses were full of grain for the people but now another catastrophe this lifeblood this artery of water flowing through egypt from which so much life comes suddenly from a reason that we can hardly analyze and uh the the moses and and aaron using that sign the frogs and creatures leave the waters to try to find life somewhere else and when they can't they die in their thousands plagues sometimes a plague is a disease sometimes it's a plague of creatures as we shall see day after day but this is a plague which is horrendous for domestic life around normally the life-giving waters of the nile there is a lovely oratorio by handel the composer of messiah which is called israel in egypt we'll think about it in more detail on other days of the plagues but i wanted just to mention it this morning because handel must have had an enormous imaginative amount of of creative fun in in looking at the various plagues and making instrumental imitations of them as this oratorio for two different choirs and it's the oratorio probably with the most choir music to sing in so it's a an oratorio full of excitement but there is one counter-tenner solo their land brought forth frogs even in their king's chambers and handles violins go up and down and up and down of the the frogs jumping from the nile into domestic places where they become a plague but cannot themselves find sustenance and so as we see at the end they are swept up into heaps in the middle of it pharaoh is trying to read the sign and calls moses and aaron and says yes of course the people can go take them away and get rid of the frogs but the moment the danger is gone then it's forgotten in his mind and he doesn't want to lose his workforce his slaves so his heart is as we say in each of the plate hardened and he says the people shall not go moses let my people go and now pharaoh's heart is hardened and piles of frogs are making dead frogs are making the land stink well let's just think at this time about the imperative for us at this time to care for our planet so that the trees of the wood might really shout for joy as the psalmist says and the growth of the planet as a a home not just for humankind but for created life may continue to find its balance and be sustained last night we we watched the broadcast of shot some of you will already have seen it it's an ambitious challenge it's been sponsored by the duke and duchess of cambridge and their foundation and many many others right across the world and prince william spoke movingly about this challenge which is for us all and was backed up not only by sir david attenborough who who really did set out the seriousness of where we are and the short time that humankind has in this century to begin to write the balance again help repair the planet and a 10-year challenge was issued for each earth shot underpinned each of them by scientifically agreed targets including united nations sustainable development goals and at the same time there is an interconnectivity between each of these challenges but they are manageable challenges we've seen last year how the skies can become so clear again quite quickly once the the the traffic below and the the air activity above ceases and all of that was an amazing thing to us how quickly the planet can revive but at the moment the graphs are going in the other direction and there will be for many things a point of no return so by 2030 this is the challenge of the earth shots we choose to one protect and restore nature two clean our air three revive our oceans four build a waste-free world five fix our climate five challenges but set out as a challenge to humanity to humankind across the world in simple ways to do small things so that the millions doing small things can affect a change in the life of the planet and there were finalists and there were winners for each challenge for this year next year another nation will take that on in fact the the united states has taken the the torch for next year but it will go around the world but every nation that joined in last night was being involved and the competitors went from nations of different cultures right across the world with different problems the first one protects and restore nature was won by the republic of costa rica because they have already made enormous strides in restoring their forests which were being devastated now in a small way that is a challenge to take the torch from them and they themselves will continue to develop that so that the beauties of the forests of costa rica which of course are intensely helpful to the reducing of the carbon footprint and and in all sorts of ways giving life to the the growth of this planet but the trees are crucial in all of this and behind us are trees that that we have planted they're all of different kinds and their green canopy which is of course what our queen is asking for for her platinum jubilee a green canopy and here again we're back with the psalmist of the trees of the woods shouting for joy in god's good air uh all of that um you're seeing behind us this was just a flat lawn and that the grass gave um a pleasant look but little shelter for creatures and not much sustenance even to insects yet small mammals and birds need insect life prodigiously to create their diet they need shelter and humanity as the planet grows hotter needs shade and we're finding that even in the great stone areas of our precincts that we need trees to protect people in the shade as they come through and trees are being planted i think we planted 160 in these one and a half acres of our own garden some small some big all of different kinds but at the same time effecting a change which is hopefully going to take place right across the world and then the next one clean our air now that went to an indian group called takachar and that indian group led by vidyad mohan have invented and created portable technology simply done for converting crop residues into sellable fuel and fertilizers instead of simply burning hundreds of square miles and kilometers uh at the end of the the crop processing so that the air of new delhi is filled with smoke and people's lungs are being affected all the time whenever that's happening across the world so that such a simple thing which is taken up then by governments becomes a reduction of the the the the the air which is becoming poisonous to people and it's cleaning the air starting in simple ways there were other projects being given but this year the earth shot was given and there's an enormous injection of of of cash so that the the project can be continued on and on and others can take encouragement from it number three is reviving the oceans and that could be as simple as us not letting plastic going into the seas around us and not leaving plastic on beaches but last night it went to something much more imaginative in a way but it can't be done right across the world but it was a group in the bahamas called coral vita restoring life in the coral reefs growing coral on land which is more resistant to the warmth which is coming from climate change which is killing so many of the the the coral reefs and it's being grown on land 50 times faster than it grows in the sea and then planted around and the coral reefs of course protect the islands as well from the way in which the oceans are encroaching all of those things another earth shot protecting the oceans and reviving them but we can help in that in different ways and there's the thought that if we don't there will soon be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish and then build a waste free world that's number four and number four went to the city of milan in italy because they have opened up food waste hubs across the city for the redistribution of food through ngos to those most in need of it because the waste of food in certain areas of the world is colossal so to the city of milan but each of us can help in this by using food that we have and and seeing to the fact that there's not too much waste simple ways by millions actually fulfills that earth shot and then finally fix our climate and this went to a company or a project rather should i say because all these are projects uh uh called anapta and it's it's based from from thailand um and it was an electrolyzer technology which turned renewable electricity into emission-free hydrogen gas green hydrogen gas to fuel cars planes power industry heat homes turning back the tide of carbon emissions in partnership with the trees which are doing their best to do that as well all of those things we remember and the best thing about it is that as we say a sound like that in great joy and see the imbalance as the plagues in egypt bring frogs desperate to be living in the nile which has turned poisonous and now coming onto the land and making human life impossible domestically all of that balance spreads across the world and we take up the challenge in small ways it as a godly activity as stewards of the planet which the creator has given to us in our time but it's a crucial time as we heard again and again last night then on this date also i wanted to remember that in on the 19th of october 1987 the cellist jacqueline duprey died tragically died she had contracted multiple sclerosis i say tragically because she having been born in 1945 was an infant prodigy with the cello so that in 1961 age 16 jacqueline duprey gave her first concert properly in the wigmore hall and she played sonatas by handel and brahms in debussy and a bark solo suite and wowed everyone say that the year after she came to the royal festival hall and performed with the bbc symphony orchestra the elgar cello concerto in a way again which caused people to jump from their seats in standing ovation at this 17 year old cellist by then playing that beautiful work and she did much to make it uh the very popular work that it is on the 14th of august the same year so malcolm sargent conducted her again with the bbc symphony orchestra at a prom and from then on she became a popular cellist at promenade concerts not just the el garcello concerto but the borja cello concerto the schumann cello concerto and many other works sonatas and chamber works that she would be involved in every year until 1969 in 1965 she performed it in the carnegie hall and also uh in 1965 and this is something maybe you have as i had it as a record i had it as a cd and now it's of course easy to draw down and and listen to um online but i'm talking about the emi recording which jacqueline duprey made with sir john barbaroli and the london symphony orchestra which became the benchmark for the playing of the elgar cello concerto and i know i had it on the back of a record which on the other side was janet baker singing elgar's sea pictures the two orchestral accompaniment but it was the cello concerto that caused me to buy it and the jacqueline du pre interpretation of that and the excitement of it and the poignancy of it as she plays the slow movement and then an enormous uh interpretation of the more exciting faster movements as well in 1967 she married the pianist and conductor daniel barenboim and this changed her life she converted to judaism and they flew to jerusalem to be married at the western wall and at that time in 1967 the six day war broke out and they found themselves giving she'd cancelled all her programs at home giving recitals to the troops there still so young but in 1971 she developed multiple sclerosis at the age of 26 and her career of course because her fingers began to lose their sensation her career was cut short she lived for 14 more years but they must have been years of heartache her beautiful david off stradivarius cello on which she played now was something that she couldn't use and so this heart-rending story of a physical disease coming to someone and and stopping all that creativity is something in human life and then her early death too there was last night in earth shorts at in the middle of things a song sung by ed sheeran and it's called visiting ours and i found the words strangely moving they began with a a a a thought that uh he wished there were visiting ours in heaven he'd lost a friend and was thinking some years afterwards how wonderful it would be to just be able to pay a visit catch the friend up with the news and ask the advice as always before and say this is what it's like at the moment in life and that wonderful song as it was sung seemed to tune in with what the world is like now and it caused me to think of all those who in the past had given me advice and been part of my life and the sense of visiting as one does with people as i used to visit my sister every every evening i could in in the care home nearby here when she was suffering so badly with parkinson's disease and going along and just catching her up with things and getting her insight on all of that and this this lovely song visiting ours the the first two lines are i wish that heaven had visiting hours so that i could just show up and bring the news and that sense of uniting earth in heaven but our own task and the way the world is different now from when his friend died and wanting a take on how that person would have dealt with it well we have to use one another as we are now in the finite life but all of this opens up internal dimensions as does the psalmist with the trees of the wood clapping their hands for joy and around them the human kind who are stewards of the planet which gives them life whereas they are returning life and with all the clean air they're creating to the planet so much we could say this morning but let's say our prayers as we need to move on uh this morning in the anglican communion we're praying for the diocese of gombe in the church of nigeria the jos province of the church of nigeria and here in this diocese as we pray for archbishop justin and for rose bishop of dover emma bishop at lambeth we're praying for the churches in dover town itself and for the ministry there of melissa carter and catherine tucker and the schools there said mary's church of england primary school in dover at guston the village of gustam which belongs to those parishes as well church of england primary school the life of dover college and charlton church of england primary school all those as well and you will have faces that you will want to be wanting to pray for this morning as we join in the collect for this week because of sin luke this is the first time we've used it so here it is for this week god the giver of life whose holy spirit wells up within your church by the spirit's gifts equip us to live the gospel of christ and make us eager to do your will that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life through jesus christ our lord amen so each in our own language we say the prayer our savior taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men sometimes creatures can surprise us and a friend of ours elspeth from adelaide got in touch to say that to her massive surprise she found in her garden there an echidna which is so like one of our british hedgehogs walking in the garden now normally they are seen only in the outback but somehow the creature had gone from its ordinary place and was there as a guest in elvis garden and she sent us a picture so that creation can do strange things and particularly the search for a good place to be causes us to think well we must find good places for all life to flourish let's say our prayers in silence now across the world [Music] uh [Music] um [Music] [Applause] to [Music] [Applause] [Music] perhaps before the blessing the last two verses of isaiah 55 which was the lesson the old testament lesson was in luke's day yesterday and you know you'll probably know these verses well you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress instead of the bride shall come up the myrtle and it shall make a name for the lord an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off well there's a charge for us and fitting in also with the psalmist trees of the wood clapping their hands for joy the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and of his son jesus christ our lord and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always amen i may have con confused you because it was last night uh monday night that veteran i watched earth shots but it was broadcast of course on sunday night from the alexander palace and you can find it there on um bbc uh if you've got iplayer or something of that kind and can access it and at the same time perhaps we should as we're praying for dover town mentioned that beryl and alan of course you've seen many times on saturday mornings bringing the hedgehogs in from their rescue center they live in dover and alan is running an undertaker's business and he and beryl spend enormous amounts of time in pastoral care of the families that they are serving there but also having had a life of public service but now she is running the rescue center in their own home of all the creatures that come along so the echidna reminds us of that but god bless allen and beryl in dover on this day [Music] our planet is incredible every day it reminds us of its wonder its beauty and its power but it also warns us from pollution to climate we face unprecedented crises that threaten nature every one of us never has it been so clear that we must act with urgency [Music] humans have an extraordinary ability to problem-solve and innovate in the face of great challenges in 2020 prince william and global alliance launched the most prestigious environment prize in history the earthshot prize [Music] a global prize designed to motivate and inspire a new generation of thinkers leaders and dreamers to help solve these challenges and repair our planet [Music] the earth shot prize is centered around five earth shots simple but ambitious goals for our planet which if achieved will improve life for all of us for generations to come [Music] protect and restore nature clean our air revive our oceans build a waste free world fix our climate every year for the next decade we will award the earthshot prize to the best solutions to the world's greatest environmental challenges and we will work with a coalition of partners to help scale the best solutions we uncover a decade of action to repair our planet the earthshop prize hello and welcome to the announcement of our first ever earthshot prize finalists when we launched the prize last year our ambition was to find the most innovative solutions to the world's greatest environmental challenges in our first year of the earthshot prize we've received over 700 nominations representing solutions from every continent these were submitted by over 200 nominating organizations who helped us search every corner of the globe for the inspiring innovative solutions to repair our planet the ambition quality and range of submissions has been amazing and should fit us all with optimism and hope that our goals for this decisive decade are achievable before revealing the finest of the earthshot prize 2021 i would like to take a moment to thank every nominee for their passion and ambition you are leaders in the greatest endeavor of our time the urgent work to repair our planet each nomination went through a rigorous review process led by a diverse group of respected experts before the final 15 were selected and now it is time to meet the first ever finalists for the earthshot prize for the earthshot to protect and restore nature the finalists are polypoly foundation from the democratic republic of congo my name is jungkook and my shirt is helping to protect and restore nature conservation and sustainable community development are vital for global stability the congo basin is as important to the world as the amazon by protecting it we can make a very real difference in the fight against climate change the republic of costa rica my name is andrea meza and i'm the minister of environment and energy of costa rica our solution a combined action of payment of environmental services program and the system of conservation areas to protect six percent of the world's biodiversity and aims to protect and restore nature restore from switzerland our solution to protect and restore nature is called restore too many projects around the world are working to protect biodiversity but they're doing it alone restore is like a google maps for restoration providing ecological insights and connectivity to the entire restoration movement facilitating anyone that is working and managing biodiversity across the globe [Music] for the earth shot to clean our air the finalists are blue map app from china my name is majin at the institute of public and environmental affairs and we're doing our part to help clean our air our solution is blue map app that aims to clean our air by tracking the air and water quality and millions of emitters across china blue map app empowers major brands banks and common people to join the cleanup efforts takachar from india our solution is about harvesting value from agricultural and forest waste and aims to reduce air pollution by converting these wastes into useful fuels and fertilizers in a smoke-free manner it can be used by farmers worldwide preventing harmful smoke emissions vinisha umushanka from india my ultra price solution is the solar ironing cut it replaces charcoal with solar energy and it can reduce air pollution deforestation and even climate change with the solar ironing card the ironing vendors can earn more and save more getting out of the brutal poverty cycle for the earth shot to revive our oceans the finalists korovita from the bahamas my name is gator halpern coral vita and we're doing our part to help revive our oceans by growing climate change resilient corals to restore our world's dying coral reefs [Music] living sea walls from australia my name is mel from living seawalls and we are doing our part to revive our oceans by returning marine life to marine built structures our solution is modular habitat panels that convert concrete coastlines into vibrant habitats living sea walls panels are reinstating this protection and returning marine life to the most degraded environments on earth pristine seas from the usa my name is hendrixala of national geographic pristine cities our solution to this global crisis is marine protected areas with the goal of protecting at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. during the last decade christine sis has worked with local communities indigenous peoples and governments to create 24 of the largest marine reserves on the planet [Music] for the earth shot to build a waste-free world the finalists are the city of milan food waste hubs from italy my name is julia bartagi i represent the food sustainability research group at the school of management of free technology the apps against food waste promoted by the city of milan is not only relevant for the city but can also generate great impacts all around the world the food app solution contributes to reduced food waste and its negative impacts for the planet sanergy from kenya at sanergy we are building a waste free world by producing insect protein and organic fertilizer from organic and sanitation waste in doing so we are feeding the world and cleaning up fast-growing cities oh foreign for the earth shot to fix our climate the finalists are aem electrolyzer from thailand germany and italy my name is maitea from adapter and the am electrolyzer is our earth shot the am electrolyzer which turns electricity from sun and wind into an emission-free green gas green hydrogen this is absolutely needed today because electricity alone will not meet all of our energy needs our solution flips climate change by phasing out fossil fuels it provides endless possibilities for decarbonization and energy independence at the hands of users ready capsules from nigeria my name is [Music] of brandon and we are doing our part to help fix the climate by providing clean reliable and affordable electricity to individuals households and businesses operating in the energy four regions of the world so bazaar from bangladesh [Music] hi my name is salma and i'm from soul share our solution is the soul bazaar and the soul bazaar is an energy exchange platform integrating ict infrastructure and iot devices allowing for the affordable access to clean energy in remote rural off-grid areas of bangladesh congratulations to all our finalists your contribution sets us off on an incredible journey for the next decade the five winners of the earthshot prize 2021 will be announced on the 17th of october at alexandra palace in london the award ceremony will be a global broadcast event shown on the bbc in the uk and globally on discovery before then you'll be able to learn more about the finest and our earth shots in the five-part tv series on bbc one and iplayer and discovery in early october the winners will receive 1 million pounds to support their work all 15 finalists will receive tailored support from our global alliance members to scale their solutions and grow their leadership i'll see you next month when the winners of the earthshot prize 2021 will be revealed thank you being nominated for the earth surprise is a great privilege but also an incredible opportunity to raise the global visibility of the ocean crisis i want to conservate and restore our planet this amazing team of women that worked so hard to achieve the amazing impact we have had in reviving our oceans we all need to work together to repair our planet every action big or small has an important role to play in repairing our planet it's incredibly amazing and truly and honored to be among so many incredible individuals and organizations working tirelessly to make the world a better place we're so excited to be able to work with different industries around the world to really restore and sustain reefs for decades to come [Music] we have an opportunity to take up renewable energy and i think the message is very clear we need action today and if we can do it here in bangladesh you can do it everywhere [Music] without a healthy natural world we will not have a happy human world but working together we can create a brighter future for all the solar iron cut fulfills 13 out of the 15 sustainable development goals of the united nations making it an innovation that can prevent pollution and climate change at the same time i look forward to see you all at the earthshot award ceremony on october 17th