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Good morning. As the G7 leaders meet, it wouldn't be surprising if the cover for their long agenda borrowed the famous words from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy of 'Don't Panic'. Conflict between nations, migration, national debt, global warming and response to pandemics are a reminder of human vulnerability even for the most powerful of nations. A very different reminder of our vulnerability will go on show at the Yorkshire museum this morning. A vertebra fossil from a sauropod which lived one hundred and seventy six million years ago fell from a cliff in Whitby. This dinosaur, nicknamed Alan after the man who found the fossil, could have been 35 metres long and weighed as much as 80 tonnes. While one researcher called Yorkshire Britain's Jurassic Park because of this, the fourth instalment of this popular movie franchise opens this week - with a genetically modified dinosaur who, without spoiling the plot, surprisingly goes on the rampage! Writer-director Colin Trevorrow nevertheless says that human beings are drawn to dinosaurs because, 'Dinosaurs exist to remind us how very small we are and how new.' In addition, they also remind us of how fragile life on earth is. Even these powerful creatures became part of a number of mass extinctions of species throughout earth history due to cometary impact or volcanic activity simply changing the surface temperature and vegetation. The Judaeo-Christian tradition recognises the fragility and transitory nature of the gift of life but also a Creator God who has a special relationship with human beings, however small and insignificant we may feel. Furthermore part of this relationship is responsibility and ability to care for the planet and all of its life. Within that mandate, stewardship of resources is especially linked to the call to serve the poor and weak. In the face of global threats , humanity is fragile - but it is the poor who are the most at risk, without the resources to adapt and survive. As diplomats from over 200 countries continue in Bonn to work towards a new climate treaty, the world's least developed countries have accused richer nations of not doing enough. Kofi Annan has pointed out that the effects of climate change are not felt equally throughout the world and are already affecting millions in Africa. A window still exists for the richer nations to lead and serve in this area. Human beings have the gift of a brain much bigger than our dinosaur ancestors, which can combine ingenuity with compassion in a way that avoids panic and cares for all who may be vulnerable.
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