For the last month the coat of hopes has been in and around Sheffield, providing a focus for prayer and concern in response to the climate emergency and ecological collapse. Created originally as a focus for a pilgrimage to COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, the coat has continued to travel around the UK, growing in size as more and more patches and stories are added to it, and more and more people use it as a prompt for their griefs, remembrances, prayers and hopes.
The letter to the Romans speaks of the hope for all creation that is held in the revelation of God’s love.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Romans 8: 19-21
The coat, and those who travel with it, ask us to remember what we love and cherish in the world, and speak out to those in power about the need to care for our planet and take action for the future, not just of humanity but the entire creation.
We remember the words in the book of Micah, exhorting us all to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. Micah 6:8
If you were to make a patch for the coat what would you depict?
What would your prayer or hope be for our world?
You might like to pray these words from the great prayer of creation composed by St Francis:
Praised be my Lord for our mother the Earth,
which sustains us and keeps us,
and yields divers fruits, and flowers of
many colours, and grass.
Praise you, and bless you the Lord,
and give thanks to God, and serve God
with great humility.
St. Francis, 1182-1226
The coat of hopes in St Andrew's Church, Psalter Lane, Sheffield