Stealth Charity?

 

Kirk Bennett noticed he was charged 62 cents for "PC CHARITY” at the Maxi grocery store in Dorval, Que., without being asked. (Submitted by Kirk Bennett)

 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a bountiful gift and not as an extortion. 

 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9: 5-7 NRSVue 

Jesus bids us shine,
With a clear, pure light,
Like a little candle burning in the night;
In this world of darkness, we must shine,
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Loblaw, the grocery and pharmacy colossus in Canada has apologized for what we might call stealth charity with some customers. 

It turns out that some customers have discovered that they were charged with a charitable donation without being asked or giving consent. 

One of those customers, Kirk Bennett,  had just finished shopping at a grocery store in an on-island Montreal suburb when he noticed that he had a 62-cent charge for "PC CHARITY" from the Maxi grocery store even though the cashier never asked him if he wanted to make a donation. The company says it was a mistake and will issue a refund to those who were charged without consent, but how many won't notice that this has happened. This is yet another bad look for a conglomerate that continues to make huge profits as many people struggle to pay for groceries. 

I'll admit that Ruth and I are mildly annoyed by the trend in some stores to be asked to make donations to various causes, although we recognize that this may be the only time some people give. We are fairly intentional in our giving, to international relief efforts, critter shelters, environmental efforts, our local congregation and the broader church. We do so as an aspect of our Christian discipleship and we don't consider ourselves philanthropists. For some reason it rankles when a cashier hits us up for contributions. So to sneak a gift onto a bill without letting customers know is disturbing. 

The apostle Paul gave instruction on providing financial support for the early ministry of Christ's church but adds that giving should be done cheerfully and without coercion. He might have added without deceit. 

Although Canadians continue to be generous in many ways the percentage of us who make charitable contributions is shrinking according to the Canada Helps report for 2024 and I've included some of their insights below. Our sense of responsiblity to others and putting our money where our mouth appears to be fading. 

Whatever some people think of the institutions of faith, they encourage generosity as a practical aspect of the spiritual life. In our case we both learned from our parents who had boxes of church envelopes with compartments for different purposes. One of those dated envelopes would be put on a passed plate on Sunday morning. How old school!  There are so many ways to give now, but we all need the motivation that goes beyond obligation. We have been blessed in our lives and want to be a blessing in some small way. 

• Giving participation decline: For the eleventh consecutive year, the number of Canadians making charitable donations has decreased. Over that time, Canada Revenue Agency tax filer data shows donation rates declined from 23.4 percent in 2010 to 17.7 percent in 2021. Similar findings were also highlighted which reveals that giving participation dropped from 82 percent in 2013 to 60 percent in our 2023 survey.
• Canadians with smaller social networks donate and volunteer less: Canadians are increasingly disconnected, and their social networks have shrunk; this correlates with lower rates of giving. From 2013 to 2022, the number of Canadians with six or more close friends has declined by 40 percent (from 37% to 22%), and those who feel a very strong sense of belonging to their community have dropped by 12 percentage points. More than 80 percent (84%) of those with many close friends donate, while just over half (53%) of those with very few close friends donate.
  
• There is a gap between what Canadians say is important and the action they take: Only 1.5 percent of donations made through CanadaHelps are directed to environmental charities, despite 32 percent of Canadians saying climate change or protecting the environment is a top cause for them, and almost half (48 percent) of Canadians expressing anxiety about climate change on at least somewhat of a regular basis.

A Podcast Prophetic Voice

 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs;  it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.  1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 NRSVue

During the US presidential campaign last year many celebrities endorsed the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, including then Queen of the World, Taylor Swift. As we know, they didn't matter in the end, and there were pundits who suggested that the endorsement of Trump by podcaster Joe Rogen probably had far greater influence. Rogan is hard to pin down politically and idealogically but he often leans right and he's pals with Elon Musk, his "favorite billionaire."

The other day Bono, musician and front man for U2 was a Rogan guest  to task for supporting Musk in his gutting of aid to those who need it most, with Trump's blessing, of course. According to a Yahoo report: 

U2 frontman Bono  lectured podcaster Joe Rogan about the “evils” of his buddy Elon Musk during a new podcast episode. The conversation began with Bono, who has a long history of involvement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), citing a study that estimates the number of deaths caused by Musk’s cuts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at more than 300,000 worldwide. He explained Friday that food is currently “rotting” in boats and warehouses because Musk fired the people responsible for distributing it.

“To choose which child to pull off the IVs—it just seems to me like, I don’t know if ‘evil’ is too strong a word, but what we know about pure evil is, it rejoices in the deaths, in the squandering of human life, particularly children,” Bono said as Rogan nodded along. “It actually rejoices in it, and whether it’s incompetence, whether it’s unintended consequences, it’s not too late.”

Bono is quite open in using terminology that might be considered religious and he is open about being Christian and reading his bible. He became friends with Eugene Peterson, translator of The Message version of scripture, even though,delightfully,  Peterson initially had no idea who Bono was. 

Bono was also a passionate spokeperson for the Jubilee 2000 global debt forgiveness program for developing nations. He worked with several presidents and billionaires in AIDS initiatives in Africa. He gets the issues and the influence the United States has. He also understands that the imperative of the gospel of Jesus Christ is justice and compassion. 

Rogan's podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, has 14.5 million followers on Spotify, so this is  quite a platform for Bono to give voice for the voiceless. Those 29 million ears, let them hear the proclamation of a present-day prophet.  

A Blessed and Ominous Friday

 O Most High, all-powerful, good Lord God,

to you belong praise, glory,
honour and all blessing.
Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation
and especially for our Brother Sun,
who brings us the day and the light;
he is strong and shines magnificently.
O Lord, we think of you when we look at him.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon,
and for the stars
which you have set shining and lovely
in the heavens.
Be praised, my Lord,
for our Brothers Wind and Air
and every kind of weather
by which you, Lord,
uphold life in all your creatures.

from the Canticle of Creation -- St Francis of Assisi

This morning Roman Catholics around the world are invited to participate in an online event to celebrate the ways in which they have responded to the challenge the late Pope Francis made to all Christians, those of other faiths, and all people of good will to care for the planet. This is the 10th anniversary of his encyclical Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home. While I won't join the event I am grateful for the legacy of both Saint Francis and Pope Francis and for all those who have responded during this decade. No doubt there is a tone of celebration and trepidation today. 

The lead on the CBC hourly news early this morning was the wildfires raging across the country resulting in evacuations and states of emergency in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Large areas of Canada are tinder dry and the beginning of wildfire season so early is unprecedented and almost certainly a result of climate change. While politicians are again pushing a fossil fuel agenda to strengthen our sovereignty and boost the Canadian economy we are literally going up in smoke. We are facing a moral, spiritual, and economic crisis and we must pray and act for the health and well-being of Creation.

Yesterday I went on a road trip with my brother  to visit an amazing guy, 95-years-old, who we've known since childhood. Jim was a water bomber pilot for decades and had adventures across Canada as well as seven other countries around the world. I kidded him that Manitoba was looking for pilots to fight the fires and he reminded us that he continued to qualify to fly until he was 87. We chatted about the extent of wildfires across the continent as a grim reality of our times. 

At the end of our visit I offered to pray, and he accepted readily. It was a tender moment and now I wonder if I should have included the safety of those who are being displaced and those who are responding to these conflagrations. 

I hope that there are plenty of points of light in today's Laudato Si event despite the ominous realities unfolding in so many places. 

Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water,
who is very useful to us,
and humble and precious and pure.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire,
through whom you give us light in the darkness:
he is bright and lively and strong.
Be praised, my Lord,
for Sister Earth, our Mother,
who nourishes us and sustains us,
bringing forth
fruits and vegetables of many kinds
and flowers of many colours.
Be praised, my Lord,
for those who forgive for love of you;
and for those
who bear sickness and weakness
in peace and patience
- you will grant them a crown.
Be praised, my Lord, for our Sister Death,
whom we must all face.
I praise and bless you, Lord,
and I give thanks to you,
and I will serve you in all humility.

Bill 5 and Our Common Home

 

                                                             Ring Of Fire Region in Ontario

The Parliament of Canada resumed sitting earlier this week with all the pomp and circumstance of the presence of King Charles to read the Throne Speech. Here in Ontario the legislature will soon recess for the summer and the majority Ford Conservatives are determined to push through Bill 5, a wide-ranging and disturbing piece of legislation opposed by environment groups, First Nations, and opposition parties. 

Under the guise of responding to Trump tariffs, a real threat to be sure, the Conservatives want to dispense with environmental regulations, including the endangered species act, to speed up development of mines in the area known as the Ring of Fire in Ontario's North. A number of First Nations are sounding the alarm because while they want prosperity they have treaty rights which would be disregarded on the way to fast-track development. 

While the argument is that the legislation will protect sovereignty and encourage growth its been pointed out that extraction projects are always years, even decades, in the making apart from the supposed "red tape" of regulation. The Ring of Fire is in a remote region of the province and the infrastructure challenges would be immense. 

This seems to be one more example of Doug Ford's obsession with a limited view of the economy that doesn't take into account ecology, both words stemming from a root meaning "home" or "household." His outlook smacks of the 1950s and while he is now mouthing platitudes about consultation with Indigenous peoples he still offers up eye-rolling nonsense about the threat of radical environmentalists protecting grasshoppers. While Ford portrays himself as a Trump-slayer he often sounds like him.

In this week when the Roman Catholic church is acknowledging the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home, the environmental encyclical of Pope Francis it is imperative to consider what "home" means. This is not about scare-mongering or short-term gain. We must take a Seven Generations outlook for the sake of those who will be affected by our decisions regarding care for Creation and responsible decisions regarding the Climate Crisis.

 As wildfires are raging in other parts of the country. It's time to wake up and smell the smoke. 

Women & Laudato Si

 Laudato Si Week hasn't exactly taking over the news sources this week but there are a number of articles and opinion pieces offered during this time of reflection about the 10th anniversary of the environmental encyclical by the late Pope Francis. 

One important aspect is the absence of women in the overall picture of Creation Care, a subject thoughtfully explored by Christiana Zenner with the title Laudato Si' called all to climate action, but omitted women from the conversation. Zenner offers: 

Ten years after the release of "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home" — a document lauded for its promotion of integral ecology and the recognition that everything created by God is imbued with value and worth — the basic goal of engaging women in the development of official Catholic social teaching remains elusive. Despite Pope Francis rightly stating, "We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all," Laudato Si' and its follow-up teaching Laudate Deum failed to do just that when it comes to women. 

By disregarding current scientific approaches to the intersection of gender and ecology, neglecting to cite female scholars and omitting references to the work of women religious, Laudato Si' and Laudate Deum perpetuate "the women problem," which is to say they omit them. 

I realize that despite having read Laudato Si twice and leading study groups on the encyclical in 2015 and 2025 I had missed this. Francis and his team quoted the work of bishops on several continents but this is a boys club. Where are the voices of women?  

I follow several feeds from Christian organizations around the world addressing environmental issues in creatively practical ways. The accompanying photos of projects often show women who are spear-heading the work. Some of these initiatives address the provision of water for drinking and irrigation, "women's work" in many cultures. But as Zenner points out, there is important female scholarship that has essentially been disregarded. 

The Climate Emergency and Ecological theology is important for all humans and all creatures but these voices need to be heard and respected. 

Sarah Milgrim & the Third Narrative

                                                           Sarah Milgrim & Yaron Lischinsky

Concerning Retaliation

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give your coat as well, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.  Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5: 38-42 NRSVue Jesus of Nazareth

 One of the many terrible aspects of hatred is that it leads some individuals and nations to commit heinous acts that have little to do with their purported causes. Last week in Washington DC  a man who had no criminal record and held a decent job used a legally purchased handgun to kill a young couple he didn't know. He had some bizarre notion that murdering innocent people would somehow be a reprisal for the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza. 

Sarah Milgrim and her partner, Yaron Lischinsky were attending an inter-faith event  at the Capital Jewish Museum with the goal of "turning pain into purpose." Milgrim was already known for her engagement with organizations that brought together Christians and Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians. Her final master’s degree research project was on the role of cross-cultural friendships in peace-building.She had also worked with Arab and Palestinian communities through Tech2Peace, a joint Israeli-Palestinian NGO, which offers Palestinians access to high tech, entrepreneurship and new opportunities. 

Yasmina Asrarguis is French-Moroccan researcher at the Sorbonne who was a friend of Sarah Milgrim. Yasmina, a Muslim, and Sarah, a Jew, found common ground in seeking peace:

I learned Sarah was committed to a concept known as the “third narrative.” It’s a vision that seeks to rise above the noise of vengeance and violence by focusing instead on shared humanity and the mutual right to dignity, safety and peace for Jews and Muslims. This effort is about more than dialogue; it’s a deliberate stand against polarization. Sarah believed in creating a space for people to look for solutions.

I feel sorrow for the unrealized possibilities of the lives of Sarah and Yaron. Of course, the  man who killed them has snuffed out his own future, and to what end? Jesus understood the pointlessness of retaliation, that "third narrative," and some would consider his teaching naive, even absurd. Yet hatred is a death spiral. Will humanity ever learn? 

A Week of Care for Our Common Home

 

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe 

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, 

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united

with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace. (from Laudato Si)

When I proposed a study group at Trenton United Church on the subject of the tenth anniversary of the Laudato Si encyclical I was aware, as we all were, that Pope Francis was in failing health. Our study dates were for late March and early April and by the end of the sessions Francis was gravely ill. He died on Easter Sunday just a few weeks before the Roman Catholic church entered into a week for celebration of this important ecological treatise, the most wide-ranging and sophisticated produced by any Christian denomination or organization. 

Saturday, May 24th, marked that decade since publication and during this week we are invited to worship, pray, and act on behalf of Creation. The United Church of Canada had its own Earth Week following Easter Sunday but we can all participate in this time as well. 

I was impressed by the participants in our group, all of whom were "grandparently" in age, myself included. They were eager to learn and passionate about "living with respect in Creation" a phrase added to what is our most beloved United Church statements of faith. 

During this week I will reflect on Laudato Si and why it is important for Protestants to pay attention to the message of Pope Francis. Here are the seven goals of the encyclical, all of them important and interconnected/