This summer we will visit friends in Newfoundland, parishioners from our earliest days in ministry. They are remarkablyl hospitable people, and not only will we stay at their beautiful outport location on the "mainland" of northeast Notre Dame Bay, we will hide out in an old saltbox style house they own on Change Islands for a few days. These two connected islands are adjacent to the famous Fogo Island and have a population of about 350 people.
This used to be a thriving fishing community but the cod fishery is gone and those who catch crab must go farther and farther out to sea for success. Young people choose to move elsewhere and a fledgling tourism industry has largely replaced fishing. It is a wonderful place to visit and we have stood on the crest of the hill behind the house watching humpback whales and gannets and even an iceberg or two. As far as we are concerned this is "God's Country" and we are alive to the Creator as we muck around the tidal pools or walk the shore paths.
Today is the second annual World Oceans Day http://www.theoceanproject.org/wod/wod_about.php and it's hard to know whether to celebrate or mourn. We continue to see the gutwrenching film footage from the Gulf of Mexico, with oil-soaked seabirds and other creatures struggling to survive. Now we're told that the oil spewing from the wrecked rig may be picked up by currents and cause damage in distant parts of the world for years to come. Although projections suggest the oil will miss the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland, who knows for sure?
I choose to thank God for the beauty of the oceans and to mourn the destruction caused by humans. An organization called Conservation International has the motto "Lost there, felt here."
I choose to thank God for the beauty of the oceans and to mourn the destruction caused by humans. An organization called Conservation International has the motto "Lost there, felt here."
It seems so apt in these sad times.
Thoughts about our oceans today?
2 comments:
I have always lived near water until moving to Saskatchewan and it is the one thing I miss. I love the ocean, the rivers, and lakes, and even the rain. It reminds me of growth, rebirth, cleansing, and healing. I also thank God for the abundance of water and the many ways we experience water. I also grieve for the destruction of our world by humans and what we do to ourselves and all creation, especially by what we put in our water, source of all our living.
You are right Deb that we are often aware of what we value in its absence.
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