Day Six : 5th December

Isaiah 29:17-19

Shall not Lebanon in a very little while become a fruitful field
and the fruitful field be regarded as a forest?

18 On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll,
and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see

19 The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

compare with Stephen's creation Sunday sermon
"The answer to almost every societal problem is 'more economic growth'. Unemployment is rife: only growth can create the jobs. Schools and hospitals are underfunded: growth will improve the budget. Protection of the environment is unaffordable: the solution is growth. Poverty is entrenched: growth will rescue the poor. Income distribution is unequal: growth will make everyone better off."

…

"At our current levels of consumption we are living beyond our means — Professor Ian Lowe, the head of the Australian Conservation Foundation, states that the world community is now using approximately 125% of the world's resources (nature's annual output). So in effect we need an additional quarter Earth if we are to sustain our current consumption patterns. The picture is much grimmer if we consider Western consumption patterns. If everyone in the world expected the same standard of living as people living in suburban Canberra, we would need an additional 6 planets to service our resource addiction!! Remember too that the prevalent political and economic paradigm is for continued economic growth."