Highway to Fossil Fuel Hell

 

God of blessings, 

the universe sings of your glory. 
Deepen our gratitude for all you have made 
and awaken in us a renewed commitment 
to care for the earth andeach other. 

Inspire world leaders at COP28, 
with openness to listen to those most affected by climate change 
and with courage to act urgently and wisely, 
so that our common home may be healed and restored  
and all people, and generations to come, may delight in it. 

Amen.  

The Climate Summit known as COP28 begins today in Dubai. A few days ago I wrote about Pope Francis attending this event and that it was a big deal to have the leader of a billion of Planet Earth's Christians making his presence felt in this setting where representatives from around the world come together to address the climate emergency. I did note that it was jarring COP28 was taking place in a nation where the economy is so heavily dependent on fossil fuels and that the president of the gathering  would be the Dr. Sultan Al Jabar oil minister of the United Arab Emirates.

Unfortunately Pope Francis is ill and has been advised not to attend. Since I wrote we've heard that Sultan Al Jabar has already been working on side deals with a number of fossil fuel producing nations, which is slick and slimy, if you'll excuse the metaphor. There will also be more lobbyists from fossil fuel corporations than ever before. Among them will be representatives from Pathways Alliance a consortium of oil and gas companies claiming to be working toward "net zero" or carbon neutrality. 

You won't be able to find independent environmental groups that are at all convinced by these efforts, especially when so many companies are increasing oil and gas production. This seems to be yet another form of green-washing and we should be dismayed by the lobbying and behind-the-scenes deal-making.

Pathway to what, we need to ask. To me it sounds more like the Highway to Hell, fossil fuel cover.

Above is a prayer from the Roman Catholic Church for COP28 which we might offer throughout the summit as an antidote to the oil slick. We can also pray that Pope Francis recovers from his illness and continues to be a strong voice for Creation. 

Oh yes, God bless the political cartoonists!

Bayard Rustin, Angelic Civil Rights Troublemaker

 

                                                               Bayard Rustin --Joelle Avelino NPR

I've read a fair amount about the American Civil Rights Movement through the years and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom which took place in the summer of 1963. The goal was to bring together 100,000 people for a mass rally at the Lincoln Memorial. The estimate is that a quarter of a million came from across the United States, with at least 75% being Black.

Most of us know about the "I Have a Dream Speech" delivered by the Rev. Dr, Martin Luther King Jr. I've seen the photos of Civil Rights leaders alongside Hollywood stars such as Harry Belafonte and Charlton Heston. I had never heard of one of the principle organizers by the name of Bayard Rustin who is now the subject of a Netflix biopic. Rustin, a Black man, was a Quaker in a sea of Baptists and openly gay as well. His orientation was not accepted in society nor by many of the Black leaders including King. Even though they were friends for many years, Rustin's homosexuality was seen as a significant liability when so many were looking to discredit what they were working to achieve. Yet at times he was figuratively and literally the man behind MLK.

Bayard Rustin, organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, stands behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,  August 28, 1963. Bob Adelman

: 

According to an NPR piece:

Rustin's belief in nonviolence began when he was a child growing up with his grandmother, a Quaker, in Pennsylvania in the 1920s. It solidified in adulthood after he discovered the work of Indian revolutionary, Mahatma Gandhi. For most of his life, Rustin was the person behind-the-scenes, dreaming up transformative moments like the March On Washington. He wanted others, including Dr. King, to be the face of that dream.

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/22/970292302/remembering-bayard-rustin-the-man-behind-the-march-on-washington

I would say that Rustin follows the conventions of many "success against all odds" film stories and the music swells at all the predictable places. Still, Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin is exceptional. And this is a compelling aspect of the Civil Rights story I'm glad I now know something about. Ya live and ya learn!

Prayers of Love and Faith

A Prayer of Dedication

God of grace, whose beauty, ever ancient, ever new, sings through all creation: enfold your servants N and N with your encouragement, hope, and love. Fill them with the grace to rejoice always in their love for one another, and to follow the Way of holiness and hope revealed in your Son Jesus Christ.

All Amen.

 Along the way I have joked that Anglicans have prayers for virtually every circumstance, including beseeching the Creator for sunshine on a rainy day. This might be something of an exaggeration, although leaf through the venerable Book of Common Prayer and you'll realize that I'm not far off. 

Recently I read that the General Synod of the Church of England has voted to move ahead with implementing special prayers of thanks and dedication for gay couples under the title "Prayers of Love and Faith". This is a collection for use in existing church services and also approved as the basis for stand-alone services.The vote to go ahead with the pilot program followed hours of emotionally charged debate about the church’s pastoral responsibilities toward LGBTQ2S+ people. Same-gender marriage has been legal in Britain and Wales for a decade but not allowed in the CofE. 

it's always a jolt to realize that these contentious conversations continue in many denominations, including those considered mainline. They certainly happened in the United Church and it was painful, particularly in the late 1980s and early 90s. It was not an easy time to be in ministry. 

Here are a couple of paragraphs from the Washington Post about the testimony of some who have been hurt by exclusion in the church they love and serve:

Several speakers during the lengthy debates described their own experiences of being gay in the Church of England. “I realized what it means to be queer, the way you love beyond gender, the shame I’d absorbed about me, but Jesus showed me how to be ourselves,” said the Rev. Chantal Noppen, from the Diocese of Durham, telling the gathering: “We need to make progress.”

Paul Ronson, who said he had been a church organist for 45 years, said: “We’ve all had enough. This has gone on long enough. Nothing can separate me from the love of God, I say to those who say I am going to hell.”

While I'm tempted to make a joke about church musicians being consigned to hell, this is no laughing matter for the untold thousands who have been "hidden in plain sight" in the church because of their orientation. 

Instead I'll share a couple of the test prayers and encourage us all to pray that the Church of England continue on the slippery Christian slope of acceptance and inclusion. 

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Gracious God, from love we are made and to love we shall return. May our love for one another kindle flames of joy and hope. May the light and warmth of your grace inspire us to follow the Way of Jesus Christ, and serve you in your Kingdom, now and for ever.

All Amen.

Does Christ Reign in our Hearts?

 

Homeless encampment outside Saint Stephen-in-the-Fields Anglican Church in Toronto dismantled last week

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.

Matthew 25: 31-40 NRSVue

Who is Jesus to you? Yesterday was Reign of Christ Sunday, the final Sunday before the beginning of Advent and a new liturgical year. It was formerly Christ the King in the United Church but Reign of Christ sounds a little less patriarchal. The bigger question is how Christ reigns in our hearts and minds. How does the "Suffering Servant" jibe with the perception of Jesus as our monarch?

You may have heard the passage from Matthew 25 yesterday, one I notice many conservative Christians choose to ignore or explain away, although this might be said of a lot of us at times, myself included. Is being a Christian a matter of supremacy or servanthood? In whom do we see the Living Christ? 

A couple of Saturday mornings ago we delivered the bread products generously donated by Cobs Bakery to Bridge St. Church. There is an extensive outreach program for those who live on the margins run out of the building and Ruth is a Monday volunteer in the daily meal program. As we left she recognized a woman who comes in for a lunch and asked her how her day was beginning. "Not good", she said, and Ruth asked what was happening. This woman sleeps rough and she admitted that she had peed herself (her phrase) during the night. Ruth could sense her despondency and humiliation so took a few moments in conversation. 

When we got into our vehicle my stalwart wife was moved by compassion and fought back her tears. No one should have to live this way, and I feel that Ruth heard and saw this person, that she saw Christ in someone who is invisible to most of us. 

We are living in a time when food insecurity is on the rise and homelessness is an epidemic. Mental illness and addiction are part of the grim picture.The demand on food banks and meal ministries is unprecedented.   In this community there is a growing number of tent encampments, which is the reality right across the country. 

Who is Jesus, the Christ, for us today? Will he reign in our hearts in ways which move us to compassion as individuals and communities? 

May the Christ who walks on wounded feet

walk with you on the road.

May the Christ who serves with wounded hands

stretch out your hands to serve.

May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart

open your hearts to love.

May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet,

and may everyone you meet

see the face of Christ in you.

                                                         Homeless Jesus -- Timothy Schmalz

Francis and the Sultan, Revisited

 Pope Francis shakes hands with Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President-designate of COP28  (Vatican Media)

Have you heard of how in 1219 Francis of Assisi set out from Italy to meet with a Muslim Sultan? This was during the fifth crusade and he took a tremendous risk when he crossed the battlefield between Crusader and Muslim forces near Damietta, Egypt, in the hope of meeting Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in order to share his Christian faith. As quixotic as this may sound, the encounter was one of mutual respect. While the sultan did not relinquish his Islamic faith, he asked his Italian visitor to pray for him so that he would follow God more closely.

When I saw that Pope Francis will attend the COP28 Climate Summit which begins in Dubai later this week I was dubious (pun intended), to say the least. This conference in the host nation United Arab Emirates is already controversial because fossil fuels are a prime contributor to the climate emergency and the Presider of the event this year is Sultan Al Jaber, also the chief executive of the UAEs Abu Dhabi national oil company.

 Lots of environmentalists have decried the presence of fossil fuel companies at previous COP gatherings. Now the cat will keep watch over the pigeons. Others, though, figure that fossil fuels have brought us to the brink of destruction, so those who extract them will have to be part of addressing the crisis. 

As curious as it seems that the aged Pope Francis will attend COP28, he has put environmental issues at the top of the agenda during his papacy. Francis issued the encyclical, Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home, and recently Laudate Deum, a shorter and more urgent follow-up. I wonder if this Francis has decided to channel his namesake in meeting with the 21st century sultan? Perhaps, eight centuries after the first Francis set out on a mission of peace, these two will find a place of mutual respect and desire to make peace with the planet. This is an existential crisis for all creatures and it is imperative that humans have a conversion experience.

Will We Eliminate Violence Against Women?

This is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the beginning of a 16-day campaign that concludes on December 10th, International Human Rights Day. Hearing this on the news this morning nudged me to search out the lawn sign we picked up a couple of years ago through one of the members of Granquinte who is a very active part of the Trenton United Church congregation (she's in the photo below). 

Violence against women is a pernicious aspect of our culture despite decades of efforts to educate and legislate to bring it to an end. Often we are aware of the grim physical realities of this violence. Today we are far more aware of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, although the recent murders of several Manitoba women whose remains were discarded in landfills is a bleak reminder that this racist femicide continues. 

                                                                      Granquinte members 

At least 850 women and girls in Canada were violently killed between 2018 and 2022, according to the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability's annual report. This means a woman or girl is killed every 48 hours in Canada and those numbers continue to rise.

Today and during this campaign we also need to be aware of what is now termed "coercive control", what is often a pattern of threats, humiliation and intimidation used to frighten or punish the victim. When Ruth was an outreach worker for a women's shelter she had conversations with clients who would say "he never hits me." Yet they lived in fear of their partners who controlled virtually every aspect of their lives. Ruth offered to meet with a woman whose partner wouldn't allow her to drive, or to have any money, and didn't know the downtown of the community which was walking distance from where they lived. 

As regular readers will know, I often wondered how the congregations I served could be more supportive of those who are often in the shadows of society until there is a "newsworthy" act of violence. We can certainly make the effort individually and collectively to be attuned to the issues and to support the shelters in our communities. Men need to be actively involved in this effort.

We can also affirm that when we are followers of Jesus we reject any expressions of faith suggesting women be subservient to their partners and uphold the right to safety and equality. 

An Ecological Jesse Tree?

                                                                           Advent Antiphon

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,

    and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 

Isaiah 11:1

I've been thinking about the Christian Advent symbol of the Jesse Tree which some congregations include in the journey toward the birth of Jesus, the Christ. While the majority of liturgical churches observe a four-week Advent, beginning December 3rd this year, the season was originally seven weeks, so we're already a couple of weeks in!

But I digress...That Jesse Tree is a complement or even an antidote to the rush to put up Christmas trees in churches. The notion is to begin with a bare tree and then adorn it with symbols taken from the biblical story which are the "shoots" from Jesse, parent of David, and fulfilled in Jesus. This is a visual "spiritual family tree" which builds from week to week. 

I'm pondering the Jesse Tree as a symbol of Creation as well, and asking whether we need an ecological version which honours the Creator and the necessity of trees for the existence of all living creatures. Too often humans have treated trees and forests with contempt. In Canada we raze massive tracts of one of the most important forest systems on the planet, and in British Columbia huge and ancient trees, living versions of Tolkien's Ents, are being toppled with little interest in protection. 

                         Sycamore Gap Tree 

The story which has haunted me is of the reckless felling a an iconic sycamore tree along Hadrian's Wall near the border between England and Scotland. Several men cut it down for no reason and left it where it dropped. It was a sickening act of arborcide which caused many to mourn, although the hillsides around the site which once were cloaked in tree are now bare. In some respects the Sycamore Gap tree is representative of something much more pervasive. 

I've written often enough about the astonishing number of references in the bible to trees, literally from beginning to end. And we sometimes refer to the cross of Christ as the tree.

The 15th century Advent hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, the first in Voices United has a verse which speaks of our anticipation of the One who is the "rod of Jesse". 

At the least I'll imagine what the symbols of the Creation-honouring Jesse Tree might look like during this Advent 2023. Perhaps some of the images in the wonderful painting of the Tree of Life in the chapel of the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre on the way to Manitoulin Island, created by Indigenous artist Blake Debassige. 

O come, O Rod of Jesse's stem, 

from every foe deliver them 

that trust your mighty power to save, 

and give them victory o'er the grave. 

O Come, O Come Emmanuel Voices United 1 

                                                                   

                                                                   Tree of Life -Blake Debassige

The End of an Era for the Jehovah's Witnesses

 

...but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. Maintain a good conscience so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.

1 Peter 3:15-16 NRSVue

I just read something in the category of "I did not know that." I hadn't realized that Jehovah's Witnesses are not only required to proselytize, they have a quota of how many hours of bearing witness to those they assume are non-believers they must fulfill. 

It's been a long time since a JW or two (they usually work in pairs) has come to the door with a copy of the Watchtower magazine. I see them with their literature stands when I'm cycling along the waterfront and I do say hello as I safely zip by. Do they surreptitiously pull out a notebook after I pass to record a contact? In the past a few parishioners have basically bragged about shutting the door in the faces of these religious door-to-door salesperson which isn't exactly a good news response.

The Associated Press article I saw reported this: 

...their adherents have been required for the past century to make regular reports to their congregation’s leaders on how many hours they put into such ministry.

Those hourly reports were a key metric for a congregation’s spiritual vitality and a factor in deciding who rose to leadership. Former adherents tell of pressure to meet these quotas and guilt when they didn’t. But in a historic shift, that practice ended this month.For the first time since 1920, leaders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have removed the hours-reporting requirement for rank-and-file adherents.

“Our ministry involves much more than counting time,” Samuel Herd, a member of the denomination’s Governing Body, said in announcing the policy change to applause at the October annual meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, a legal entity central to the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ work.

So, it took them 100+ plus years to figure this out? I've always tried to be respectful of Witnesses who showed up at our door, and, curiously, when we lived in outport Newfoundland two communities down the shore were predominantly JWs, so they would come around fairly often. Go figure. 

There is more than wonky theology at work with the Jehovah's Witnesses. The control they exercise over members is stifling and when anyone leaves they are ostracized, cut off from their families. This leads to mental illness and suicide. While I believe in religious freedom, there is a cult-like aspect to this movement and although they are often described as a Christian sect, I'm not so sure. 

Full disclosure, I handed out a few tracts on campus in my earnest youth, but I never felt comfortable doing so. Of course, lots of United Church members would rather walk across a bed of burning coals than share their faith story verbally. The usual rational is that we would rather "walk the walk" than "talk the talk", but we might do well to engage in both. 

In these days of video doorbells this would be an even tougher sell!

A Truce in the Promised Land?

 

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’s assistant, saying, “My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites.  Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory.  No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.

Joshua 1:1-5 NRSVue

As I drove to our Trenton United Church study group session this morning I listened to the news about a deal struck by Hamas and the state of Israel to exchange prisoners. There will be a truce, of sorts, for a few days, and we can pray that it holds. 

Even though Canadians live thousands of kilometres from this terrible conflict we are affected in many ways by a situation which defies easy answers. In communities across the country there have been rallies and marches, some in support of Palestinians, some in support of Israel. We've seen that Jews have attended events calling for a ceasefire. We've heard leaders of Muslim communities calling for an end to hatred directed toward Jews.

A controversial rallying cry at some gatherings is the phrase "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free",  interpreted as a provocative, anti-semitic slogan calling for the expulsion of Jewish people from Israel. Many Palestinians claim it is a reminder of their right to live freely in the region from which hundreds of thousands were relocated or expelled when Israel was formed. There are Jews who reject the notion that this phrase is not hate speech but a declaration of dignity and fundamental human rights. 

Who has a right to be in this narrow strip of "promised land"? There are plenty of Jews and conservative Christians who point to the opening verses of the book of Joshua and other passages in the Hebrew scriptures to support a title to the land which the desert wanderers entered via the Jordan more than 3,000 years ago. The tourism ministry in Israel has long used the image of Joshua and Caleb returning from their exploratory trip in the land of the Canaanites as a visual slogan. 

Yet we know that people were expelled by force and and conquered then, a problematic reality which is often glossed over. The strength of Judaism and Christianity is not ancient biblical real estate claims, but an abiding commitment to justice, mercy, and peace. 

Can this ever be a Promised Land for all those who are living there now? Without this commitment the violence may never cease. 

Rabble-Rousing Bishops in the House of Lords

 

                                      Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in the House of Lords

When the Conservatives in Great Britain passed legislation to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as a way of off-loading the vexing challenge facing many countries in Europe it seemed like a bad joke by a bad government. They were, in fact, deadly serious, and there were immediately legal challenges to the proposal.  

A few days ago the Supreme Court ruled that Rwanda could not be considered a safe option for the people who often cross the English Channel at great peril in the desperate hope of starting a new life and so the legislation has been deemed unlawful. No one really knows what will come next but it puts the xenophobic and cruel plan on hold, at least for now.  

We should all be aware that the Church of England, aka the Anglicans, have challenged the legislation from the outset and in the curious legislative system of Great Britain the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, and the bishops have seats in the House of Lords and can speak to issues: 

[Welby) sits as one of the 26 bishops of the Church of England, who are known as the Lords Spiritual The bishops are all independent members, and each speaks and votes on matters of particular interest or concern to them.

Archbishop Justin has led debates in the House of Lords on shared national values, education, and the UK’s role in conflict prevention. He also often speaks on issues related to religious freedom, peacebuilding and refugees, as well as in response to events of national importance, such as the EU referendum, war or terrorism.

I truly don't know what to make of the oddity of this system. So much for separation of church and state! Yet these CofE bishops have served as a prophetic thorn in the side and moral conscience for governments in which "hardness of heart" is "business as usual."

I find it amusing that conservatives of the government and journalist ilk regularly bluster that the bishops should stick to religion. Of course, for them this means that they should ignore the gospel imperative to care for those who are on the margins of society and hide away in irrelevancy. I'm glad that they are rabble-rousers and I have no doubt that they will continue to raise their plummy voices as a compassionate conscience for the nation and quote Jesus while they're at it.  

The Conversion of Mrs. Wilson

When the three-part BBC series, Mrs. Wilson, was offered on PBS a few years ago we wanted to watch it but we missed the first episode of this period piece. We are fans of the acting of Ruth Wilson, the lead in the series which is based on a true story of a woman who discovered that she and her two sons were the victims of the fraud of polygamy. The Mrs. Wilson of the title --Alison-- along with three other women married the same man over the course of several decades, all of them deceived by someone who claimed to be a British spy (he was for a time).

Alexander Wilson "married" Alison during WWII as his third wife and she only discovered what he had done after he died suddenly in the early 1960s. Wilson fathered seven children in different relationships. He was a total cad, and remarkably ingenious. 

We did watch Mrs. Wilson recently, through a streaming service, and discovered that Alison Wilson (third wife) was the grandmother of actress Ruth. In interviews Ruth describes how emotionally demanding it was to enter into this role and the scariness of being so vulnerable. Still, she is brilliant. 

Through the course of the series Alison Wilson struggles to comes to grips with the terrible deception which affected her in every way, including financially. She kept her humiliating secret from her two young adult sons for some time, but confided in a priest, even though in one episode she refers to "your God."

In one more remarkable twist to the story, in her turmoil Alison Wilson entered into a spiritual quest which led her to obtain a theology degree and to a Christian conversion. She had a mystical experience during her First Communion which resulted in her spending the rest of her life as a member of the Servite Secular Institute as a not-quite nun. This is from the description of the Servites which the organization offers: 

Members live and work as consecrated individuals wherever they find themselves. Vowed to God, their first obligation is to love Him and serve Him in all things, living a fully Christian life and giving witness to God’s love for all. This is done in the context of the Institute’s Constitutions and Directories which show that a consecrated life demands daily fidelity to prayer, to spiritual development and in the case of the Servite Secular Institute, fidelity to the charism of the Servite Order which places great emphasis on compassion, sharing, a family spirit and humble service.

This is a celibate vocation. The vows of chastity, poverty and obedience give members freedom to become the best possible version of themselves. 

We were both struck by the sensitivity with which this aspect of the story was portrayed and how Ruth Wilson conveyed the power of this conversion. So often dramas fumble with depicting religious experience, but this was moving and refreshing in its respect.  

In reading about the series I discovered that Ruth Wilson was instrumental in bringing together the four remaining sons of Alexander Wilson (centre of the photo) along with the tribe of almost biblical proportions. They were given the opportunity to watch the episodes together. What a story!

Solidarity and Acceptance as the Community of Christ

 

                                                              Roncesvalles United Church, Toronto

There has been media attention for the third and final season of the CBC television series, Sort Of, starring Bilal Baag. The character is Sabi, a trans woman who is compassionate, sensible, searching a way forward in life within a family which runs the gamut from acceptance to rejection. Sabi works as a nanny for a Toronto household and she helps them weather a crisis in practical and loving ways. 

At times the show is funny, poignant at others. We were quite taken by the first season and the second...not so much, but isn't that the reality with a lot of series? Baag has done an excellent job as co-creator and star in bringing home that life as a trans person isn't all trauma and angst. They want to engage with people and circumstances around them the way all of us do, with trials and tribulations and little triumphs along the way. 

                              Rev. Isaac Mundy performs death-defying flag raising following worship

Sort Of  has been helpful as we sort through our relationship with a trans young person in our family who, lo and behold, is simply going to school, playing sports, making friends. They are happy and well adjusted and we realized early on that we just needed to be a loving presence in their life and enjoy this wonderful person for who they are. 

This morning our Trenton United Church congregation upheld solidarity and acceptance in Christ and we were glad to be there. Here is the description of today's worship and flag raising after the vandalism of last week: 

This coming Sunday morning through the help of TUC Pride Team and Outreach Committee our plan is to raise new flags once more as a sign to the community that Trenton United won't let criminal acts or violence deter us from standing in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and with the LGBTQ+ community in our region.  In worship on Sunday at 10:30 am in the Middle Auditorium we will celebrate the diversity of our church family, and gather as followers of the Christ who cherishes each one of us as God's children.

https://united-church.ca/news/call-act-join-solidarity-2slgbtqia-community

An Immersive Book of Kells

                                                               Books of Kells Immersive Room

If at first you don't succeed...mutter rude words under your breath.

I wrote my first version of this blog, pushed the enter button, and the post disappeared.I walked away but I've returned because I've long been intrigued by the Celtic branch of Christianity which flourished in Ireland and Scotland. Far from Rome the Celtic saints, including Patrick and Brigid, adopted a more egalitarian and Earth-honouring faith, and incorporated Druidic sensibilities which fit well with Trinitarian Christianity.

There was also creative expression in the monastic communities, evident in the "illumination" of the gospels and other sacred texts. They were decorated with some of the finest representation of humans and creatures of their time.

Perhaps the most notable survivor of the rigours of time and the ravages of the Vikings is the 9th century Book of Kells. The bejewelled cover was torn off and it was buried for a time to protect it but most of the gospel pages have survived in all their glory.

The challenge with displaying an ancient book is that it has pages which must be carefully turned. The Book of Kells is in Trinity College Library, Dublin, and the page is turned every twelve weeks.

Now there is an exhibition which essential invites the viewer into the book, the way immersive exhibitions have been developed for Vincent Van Gogh and other artists. 

“At the heart of the experience is the extraordinary immersive voyage into the Book of Kells, a spectacular re-enactment in light and sound of the ancient masterpiece’s history,” she added. “It allows a magnified exploration of the Book’s intricate artwork and vibrant pigments, whilst also delving into its incredible history and cultural significance as Ireland’s greatest cultural treasure.”

I imagine that this will be wonderful and, alas, there is little chance that I'll walk into the Book of Kells myself. It will be a delight to many. 

It's Never Too Late for Climate Action

“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something is worth doing no matter how it turns out.” Václav Havel

 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 NRSVue

How can there be another Climate Action Week or day or month? It can be confusing and a bit overwhelming when some organization, somewhere is declaring a period for environmental or climate reflection or action. Throw in the Christian season called Creation Time and Earth Sunday and we've got most of the 365 days of the year covered.

This week has been the final Climate Action Week for the Kairos Christian coalition and I've been musing over whether I would note it given that there are so many calls to make a difference. There can also be a sense of helplessness in the face of the enormity of the challenge, the duplicity of fossil fuel companies,  and the indifference of governments to change their foolish ways. 

Despite the bewildering feeling of "I can't keep up" it should hearten us that integrity of Planet Earth or Turtle Island are being upheld 24/7, throughout the 365 days, six hours, and nine minutes it takes the Earth to travel in orbit around our home star, the Sun.

Yesterday I Zoomed in on a what was labelled as a Conversation about Climate Activism, Hope, and Creativity presented by Oil Change International https://priceofoil.org/ (clever name) and Not Too Late https://www.nottoolateclimate.com/(inspiring name)

There were six presenters from around the world, all of them articulate, all of them offering perspectives which lifted my spirits as I listened. Not one of them was "gloom and doom" and even though I began wondering why I was bothering to tune in, after an hour I was connecting what I'd heard with how I want to live as a Christian. The Creator and Incarnational God calls me to have faith that the things I cannot see in this moment will come to pass, and I will live in hope. The speakers had an exchange about the importance of imagination in bringing about positive change and it got me thinking about how our faith is rooted in imagination and possiblity. 

It's never too late!

Here is the Kairos description of this week offered on their website: 

 https://www.kairoscanada.org/what-we-do/ecological-justice/climate-action-week

The November Climate Action Week will take place in the lead up to the meeting of global leaders and others in Dubai, UAE for COP28 (the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC). COP28 takes place from November 30-December 12 and will include the first Global Stocktake (GST) to assess the world’s progress since adopting the Paris Agreement in 2015, as well as important discussions about Loss and Damage, climate adaptation, and food systems and agriculture.