A podcast journey of prayer with a focus on the climate and ecological emergency based around Rev Jon Swales' book '26 Prayers for the Climate and Ecological Emergency' .https://atyourservice.arocha.org/en/26-prayers-for-the-climate-and-ecological-emergen
Send us a textWords : Jon SwalesMusic: Pixabay, Onochenko Musichttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/the-sermon-she-didn-t-know-she-needed
Send us a textWords- Jon SwalesMusic: Pixabay , Samuel F Johanns, The Lamenthttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/grace-may-yet-win
Send us a textWords & Voice- Jon Swaleshttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/the-quiet-and-messy-revivalMusic: Pixabay
Send us a textWords/Voice Rev'd Jon Swaleshttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/the-searchmusic: Pixabay Music Yevhenii Kovalenko 'Mellow Ambient/Piano
Send us a textWords: Jon SwalesMusic: Pixabay , folk acoustichttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/i-hate-god-but-i-met-jesus
Send us a textWords- Rev'd Jon SwalesMusic: Pixabay 'Tomorrow Morning'https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/_held
Send us a textWords- Jon SwalesBeats: Chris Sayburnhttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/wild-goose-turkey-cold
Send us a textWords: Jon Swales https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/she-came-in-swearing
Send us a textwords-Rev'd Jon SwalesMusic. Music by Pablo Silver from Pixabay 'Piano y cello"https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/dancing-in-the-sea-a-lighthouse-poem
Send us a textWords- Jon Swaleshttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/swing-wide-the-doors
Send us a textWords- Rev'd Jon SwalesBeats: SayburnSee https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/he-wrote-the-date-for-the-lad-who-once-lived-in-the-car-park-opposite-leeds-uni-a-true-story-framed
Send us a textwords Rev'd Jon Swalesbeats Sayburn 'Father'https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/he-set-himself-on-fire
Send us a textWords Jon SwalesBeats: Sayburnhttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/ninety-nine-and-the-one-that-got-away
Send us a textWords- Rev'd Jon SwalesBeats: SayburnSee https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/cupidatas
Send us a textWords- Rev'd Jon SwalesBeats- Chris Sayburn "Father'https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/no-one-can-snatch-me
Send us a texthttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/the-rock-returns
Send us a textwords- Rev'd Jon Swalesbeats- CHris Sayburn 'Waiting'https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/the-rejected-stone
Send us a textwords- Rev'd Jon SwalesBeats, Chris Sayburn 'Passing By'https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/spikenard-ash
Send us a textWords- Rev'd Jon SwalesBeats- Sayburn- 'Great Commision'https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/magnificat-in-the-gutter
Send us a textWords- Rev'd Jon SwalesBeats: Sayburn 'Passing by'https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/a-christian-without-tears
Send us a textWords: Rev'd Jon SwalesBlog Post. https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/cruciform-adaptation-a-call-to-the-church-in-a-time-of-unraveling
Send us a textWords: Rev'd Jon SwalesBeats: Chris Sayburnblog post. https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/oscar-romero-a-saint-for-a-world-on-fire
Send us a texthttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/a-canticle-for-a-burning-worldwords Rev'd Jon Swales, 2025
Send us a textWords: Jon SwalesMusic: Chris Sayburnwww.cruciformjustice.com
Send us a textWords: Jon SwalesMusic: Sad Emotional Piano- Copyright Free Music via YouTube “Bats or great crested newts?”“Neither, because I want growth,” Rachel Reeves. The Times Interview- Quick Fire Questions——-‘Bats or Great Crested Newts?'‘Neither,because I want growth.'And the earth exhales,a long, low breath,threaded with dust and diesel.Once, we were called to tend and keep,to walk with careamong the creatures of feather and scale,but now we measure worthin units of concrete and steel.The hum of engines drowns outthe song of the land.Economic growth has become god,its temples rising in glass and stone,its gospel preached in numbersthat do not bleed or bloom.The rivers hold their tongues,the forests lean away,and the bats,those ancient scribes of dusk,write their farewellagainst a sky that forgets.‘Neither,because I want growth.'Beneath the tarmac skin of the world,the great crested newts wait,pressed into the damp earth,their stories unravelledby a people who no longer listen.They were here before us,in the time when the landwas a gift, not a resource.‘Neither,because I want growth.'But the wild ones know.They whisper of a garden,a covenant,a calling shaped from soil and breath.We were dust once,and to dust we shall return—but not before we have paved it all over.‘Neither,because I want growth.'And the earth waits,as it always has,watches the rising towersand falling wings,feels the weightof our forgetting.Still, it murmurs beneath our feet,a quiet, unbroken plea—remember,remember,before all that remainsis hunger.- Rev'd Jon Swales, 2025
Send us a textwords Rev'd Jon SwalesDrill, baby, drill— strange words, a chant from a strange man in a strange world. Forests burn, their ancient voices smothered in smoke. Seas swell, lapping at the bones of drowned cities. The air thickens, heavy with the weight of loss. And yet the President speaks, as if the earth were not already broken, as if the fire were not already here. A voice of denial, slick with crude promises, slick with something darker. He smiles, as though the earth were endless, as though the air were not heavy with the weight of a thousand unheard warnings. Drill , baby, drill— fuel for the engines, fuel for the empire, fuel for the end. A strange hopium, sweet and sickening, whispered into ears too weary to resist. But the wind remembers. The oceans remember. The earth groans beneath each hollow pledge, each drilling rig, each hand raised in defiance of the storm. He builds babels of oil, shadows stretching across scorched plains. He laughs, and somewhere, ice falls, rivers vanish, and the sky weeps for what was lost. Drill, baby, drill!Again and again, as if the earth will not break, as if the children will not choke, as if tomorrow is promised.- Swales, 2025
Send us a textwww.cruciformjustice.comwords Jon SwalesMusic: Beautiful by Lite SaturationFind your own Calcutta—a descent,an incarnation that movestowards the dirt,to touch the wounded heart.Take the hand of the image-bearer;here, in the shadows,you may yet glimpse the King.Do you see Him?The Crucified lingers,not on Zion's heights,but in the cramped alleys,His arms traced with linesof a thousand sorrows, all His own.Do you see Him?He walks beneath the weight of the sky,bearing the ache of the abandoned.In the hollow eyes of the hungry,in the trembling hands of the lost,his presence whispers.Angels wait here too,holding their breathon sacred ground,scorched by sleeping bags.Not in Sinai's thunder,but in the hush of the forgotten,in the silence of the lonely.The compassionate Kingdom creeps unseen,roots threading through concrete,a mustard seed planted deepa light shining in the darkness.Find your own Calcutta—a descent,an incarnation that movestowards the dirt,to touch the wounded heart.Take the hand of the image-bearer;here, in the shadows,you may yet glimpse the King..
Send us a textRev'd Jon Swales 2025, after reading the words of Father Zosima in Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (Book Two, Chapter Three: )Do not be afraid. Bid farewell to fear. There is no shadow so deep that love cannot reach it, no sin so vast it could exhaust the boundless mercy of God. Repentance is but a turning, a quiet yielding to the truth that grace flows unending, even to the farthest places of the heart. Imagine this: more rejoicing in heaven over one who returns, broken and bare, than over those who never strayed. Do not carry the weight of bitterness; forgiveness is yours— a balm to wounds unseen, a release into freedom. If you repent, you will find love waiting, calling your name, not as a distant promise, but as the ground beneath your feet. And in love, you are one with God, who does not count wrongs but gathers all things into wholeness. There is not a hurt he will not heal.Even now, with your sin, in your brokenness, you are loved. Even the weight you carry becomes but a thread in the tapestry of redemption. Love is treasure enough, a beauty to redeem the world, to cover every failure. You see— you will one day behold its face, and Love Himself will win. So go, with no fear, and let love be your guide.
Send us a textWords- Jon SwalesMusic: Chris Sayburnwww.cruciformjustice.comHope is not a calculation, not a tally of gains or losses, but the ache of a heart stretched toward the horizon, a whisper of light breaking through the veil of the now. It does not linger in stillness, passive as shadows gather, nor wither into wishing, an empty hand grasping at air. Hope breathes— and in its breath, a spark becomes a flame, warming the coldest night. Hope refuses to yield, to let evil speak the final word. It stands defiant against despair, a protest against what-is, a midwife to the not-yet-born. There is a restlessness in this hope, a holy disquiet, a stirring revolution that will not let us sleep. It has seen the dawn, and in its light, the future world shimmers, not with the dull hues of habit, nor the dark chimes of business as usual, but with the effervescence of the possible. Hope is not a calculation,not a tally of gains or losses,but the ache of the heart,peering through a veil,longing for the day—face to face,when every tear will be wiped away.- Swales , 2025
Send us a textWords- Jon SwalesBeats- Sayburn 'Father' Hope leans forward,tender,listening to the whispers of creationgroaning for renewal.It does not turn its face from shadowsbut gazes through them,finding in the darknessthe first faint glimmer of dawn.There is a holy audacity in hope—a quiet trust and boldness,knowing the story is heldin hands not our own, nail scarred hands that invite usto weave and work with thema future of beauty and grace.Hope speaks wherefear falters,narrating a kingdom ,telling a storywhere the scattered are gathered,where the weary find rest &the exile a home.It does not retreat,nor stumblebeneath the solemn,world-weary weight.It moves with sacred purpose,a searching grace,a steady faith.Hope is a spring,a foretaste,an existential refreshinga momentary liberationthat lifts us from despair.Hope knows the wounds of this world,but counters fearwith holy persistence, &holy resistance,declaring that there is not a hurt he will not heal.Hope,a gift,a call to action,a quiet confidence that moves towards the pain—not alone,but with hands outstretched,pulling the darkness of this worldtowards the light of Christ.Hope leans forward,Tender,‘Be ready,Greet it with a kiss.'
Send us a textWords Jon Swaleshttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/a-lighthouse-reflection-beauty-weakness
Send us a textWords: Jon Swaleshttps://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/3-a-lighthouse-story
Send us a textWords: Jon SwalesSoundtrack: Chris SayburnBlog Post: https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/ten-years-of-lighthouse-a-reflection
Send us a textwww.cruciformjustice.com
Send us a textSee https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/words-carry-weight-spiritual-abuse-and-healingBeats by Chris Sayburn, Words by Jon Swales
Send us a textSee https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/journeying-with-scripture-eunuchs-violence
Send us a textSee https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/theology-for-liberation
Send us a textSee the blog.
Send us a textFrom the book 'Sacred Landscapes'
Send us a Text Message.Audio by Jon SwalesTaken from the book 'Sacred Landscapes' by Rev'd Jon Swales.
Send us a Text Message.From the book In Sacred Landscapes by Rev'd Jon Swales Audio by Jon Swales
Send us a Text Message.See the blogpost
Send us a Text Message.In a world increasingly strained by the impacts of climate breakdown, it's tempting to avoid thinking too far ahead. But imagining where our current path might lead is essential if we want to steer away from disaster. Today, I want to share a fictional letter from a possible future—a letter written in 2050 by a church leader in Leeds. I chose Leeds simply because it's where I'm from, but the message holds relevance for us all. This isn't a prediction but a heartfelt, imaginative exploration of what could happen if we don't act with the urgency this moment demands.This letter, though fictional, comes from a place of deep concern. It's not meant to be a gloomy forecast but a prophetic call to action—a challenge for us to engage our hearts and minds with the reality we face. As Pope Francis said, "The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all... We need an ecological conversion, a radical change of hearts and minds." His words remind us that we cannot afford to be complacent.The future described in this letter is one where we failed to act when it mattered most, letting comfort and denial prevent us from making the hard decisions. It's a sobering reflection on what might happen if we continue down this path—where we end up apologising for missed opportunities and the pain that could have been avoided.Yet, this letter also serves as a reminder of the growing movement for change. Today, there are many individuals and organisations—churches, Christian Climate Action, Operation Noah, Christian Aid, and Green Christian—working tirelessly for a more sustainable future. They are raising the alarm, advocating for urgent action, and providing a beacon of hope. To explore further how churches can respond to climate breakdown see Laudato Si and the course 'Climate Justice: Following Jesus in a World of Climate Breakdown.
Send us a Text Message.Words by Jon SwalesA podcast summary of a larger blog post.
Send us a Text Message.Words Jon Swales, also see ''Prophet of the Poor: Jesus' Radical Challenge to Wealth and Power'
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