Extract from a sermon by the Dean on the Second Sunday in Creation: Fauna and & Sunday (8 September 2019):
There is a similar diversity among the plants, but we tend not to relate to our plants in quite the same way we engage with at least some of the animals.
They mostly seem not to be sentient beings, although some avid gardeners insist that their plants respond to more than light and water.
From the beauty of a delicate new bud to the grandeur of a mighty rainforest, the plants evoke a response of awe, admiration, connection and presence.
Some of them have a brief life cycle that makes us seem like the ancient of days, while others live for such a long period that we seem insignificant beside them.
They feed us and they provide the oxygen we need to survive.
Yet we have cut them down, cleared them from the land and set them ablaze … almost always in the search for commercial gain.
We have sold our soul, and what have we achieved?
As the ancient forests of the Amazon blaze with fire we are not just burning down the house, we are giving the animal kingdom a massive case of emphysema.
The full text of this sermon together with video may be found online.