Stubborn or Determined this Easter Morning?

 

Empty Tomb -- George Richardson

Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. 

After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. 

Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table, and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

                             Mark 16: 9-15 NRSVue 

This morning during worship at Trenton United I'll read the Resurrection story from Mark's gospel, almost certainly the first to be written. In a matter of a few verses we hear about encounters with the Risen Christ by Mary Magdalene, two followers of Jesus on the road (Emmaus?), then the eleven "stubborn" disciples.While it's a Good News  day from dawn to dusk even those disciples get a boot in the rear from Jesus to get out and tell the story to all creation. 

This sunny Easter morning in Southern Ontario I am mindful of Palestinian Christians in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem who will have a muted celebration. I hope that the negotiations in Egypt will result in the ceasefire so desparately needed, and the release of hostages.

I'm aware that four years ago Ruth and I went to a secluded spot on the Bay of Quinte and celebrated communion because places of worship were closed due to the COVID pandemic. It was an ominous time without much of a sense of where this plague would take us. 

Improbably, I've been thinking of King Charles III who as he addresses cancer chose to attend Easter worship as a reflection of his Christian faith. There are so many who live with the spectre of illness, loss and grief today, some of whom are affirming their faith through their tears.  

Easter doesn't make the world shiny and happy, without sorrow or strife. It is still Good News worth sharing and while we don't want to be labelled as stubborn we can be determined to proclaim that Christ is Risen. 

Kindling our Holy Saturday Faith

 

Last week we watched portions of  a two-part series on PBS called Dante: Inferno to Paradise. As the title suggests, this was about Italian Dante Alighieri, the late 13th and early 14th century poet whose monumental work has endured to this day as a classic of world literature. 

Dante was from Florence but spent years in exile and during that time he longed for home. He felt his displacement keenly during Holy Week and Easter with the rituals focussed around the Baptistery with it's bronze Gates of Paradise doors and soaring mosaic ceiling. I've visited this place of worship and it is awe-inspiring. 

                                                                         Florence Baptistery

The documentary mentioned that on this day, Holy Saturday, a fire would be kindled at night in the midst of the Baptistery and families would send representatives with containers to take away coals to light fires within their own homes. This ritual continues to the present, although outside the building. 

This brought to mind Holy Saturday last year, our first day of more than two weeks in Israel with Ruth's sister and brother-in-law. We were in Jerusalem and I gently convinced these evangelicals to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where the holy fire is kindled each year. While we didn't witness this ceremony we listened to a choir of monks chanting in an other-worldly welcome of Easter. It was a somewhat chaotic yet moving time. 

Protestants don't usually give much attention to this day between Good Friday and Easter but for several years while in Sudbury a number of congregations came together for an Easter Vigil. We lit our own fire on the street outside St. Andrew's UC in what we irreverently termed the "holy hibachi," keeping the fire alive until the next morning when it was processed in to the sanctuary as the Christ Candle.  Our son Isaac, now a United Church ministry, was baptised at one of those vigils as the age of eight. I appreciated the mystery but not the exhaustion. We didn't think to take photos for posterity. I wish we had.

For most in our secular society this will simply be a long holiday weekend, but we can take our moments to kindle or rekindle our faith, to  reflect on the sacred and greet the promise of Easter. 

Good Friday & the Groaning of Creation

 

Tree of Life -- Blake Debassige 

 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 

 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.  John 3: 16-17 NRSVue

This is Good Friday, a solemn and yet wondrous day in the Christian calendar and one with profound meaning for me. I led dozens of services over time yet despite the familiarity I was unexpectedly moved to tears as I preached during the final Good Friday worship experience before retirement.  While some interpretations of God's sacrificial love in Jesus, the Christ, have been gross misinterpretations (see The Passion of the Christ film) the cross is such a powerful symbol.

Over time I became increasingly convinced that the promise of redemption is intended not only for humanity but all of Creation. This realization coincided with our awareness of an environmental calamity that threatens all creatures. We can choose to be careful about speaking of "crucifying" our planetary home but the degradation is staggering and the Crucified One speaks to this crisis. 

I come back to Blake Debassige's stunning Tree of Life painting which graces the front of the chapel in the round at the Anishnabe Spiritual Centre on the way to Manitoulin Island. The crucified Christ amidst so many creatures is a hopeful image. When we lived in Northern Ontario I had many occasions to contemplate the painting in the beautiful setting at Anderson Lake. 

On this Good Friday morning I look out to our birch trees against a blue sky and I pray for the broken to be made whole In Christ. I have already stepped outside to experience the dawn chorus and we'll find time today to be outdoors, to marvel in the beauty of a redeemed Creation. 

 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 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 that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  

We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor,  and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.  For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Romans 8: 18-25 NRSVue

A Meal With Jesus & his Friends

  Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,

show us how to serve

the neighbours we have from you.

1 Kneels at the feet of his friends,

silently washes their feet,

master who acts as a slave to them.  R

Last year during Lent we studied Holy Week using the book Entering the Passion of Jesus by Amy Jill Levine. It is a revealing book, not lengthy, but filled with insight and information about the Jewish Passover, the festival that brought Jesus and his followers to Jerusalem. 

The fifth chapter considers the Last Supper, Jesus' final meal with his disciples and likely others, perhaps women and children.  This is the sacramental meal Christians call the Last Supper, or Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, but it is rooted in the Jewish meal of deliverance from slavery in Egypt which was a communal meal.  

Many Christian congregations that once acknowledged only Good Friday during this week now hold Maundy Thursday services as well, a recognition of the importance of that meal. I mentioned last year that there is a book called The Holy Thursday Revolution by Beatrice Bruteau which posits that Christians need to reconsider the paradigm of this week, giving greater importance -- perhaps central importance -- to the two aspects of this day, the footwashing during the supper and the meal itself. 

While I still consider the crucifixion as the pivotal salvific event of this week, over time I've come to appreciate how important both footwashing and the meal are to our understanding of Christ's Passion. And that a Passover or Pesach meal would hold both celebration and solemnity.

This evening we'll be part of the Maundy Thursday meal gathering followed by worship at Trenton United Church. I'll recall the many services we held on this evening in different congregations with affection. In their own quiet way they were revolutionary. 

I appreciate these profound thoughts and this image from Diana Butler Bass 

Sabbath. A vision of the kingdom of God. The meal reminds us and continues the promise.

What if Maundy Thursday was that? The Last Supper of the Old World. The last meal under Rome, the last meal under any empire. And it is the First Feast of the Kingdom That Has Come. The first meal of the new age, the world of mutual service, reciprocity, equality, abundance, generosity, and unending thanksgiving. Pass the cup, keep it going, hand to hand, filled and refilled, time after time. This night is the final night of dominion, the end of slavery; and this night is the first night of communion, the beginning of true freedom: “I will no longer call you servants but friends.”

Bertram Brooker and Elijah at the McMichael

And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 

 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

I Kings 19:9-12 King James Version

 Our other major stop during our Toronto weekend was actually outside the city in Kleinberg, home to the McMichael Gallery. The Big Smoke has crept north over the decades and farm fields are now home to huge houses on tiny lots. Yet the grounds of the McMichael have maintained their character since Signe and Robert McMichael built their home 70 years ago and filled it with Canadian art. That building is now incorporated in a wonderful facility and the collection is much more diverse with an excellent representation of Indigenous artworks. We still appreciate the Group of Seven, Tom Thomson, and Emily Carr, but there is so much more. 

We really enjoy experiencing exhibitions of work by artists we've never heard of and the stimulation this offers. On Saturday it was the extensive offering of paintings and prints by Bertram Brooker, a contemporary of the Group of Seven who ventured into abstraction. 

At the conclusion of our stroll through his varied and fascinating artistic output we came upon a series of prints from a hundred years ago based on the biblical story of Elijah in 1 & 2 Kings. The prophet Elijah challenged the corrupt King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. Even though he was faithful to God he was forced to flee into the wilderness, fed by ravens along the way (it does sound unsanitary!) and then experiencing the Creator on a mountain, not in the storm but in the silence. I've included several of the photos I took. I've included the King James Version text because that was the inspiration for Brooker's series. Apologies for the reflection of a light in some of the photographs. 

Palm Sunday, Unexpected

 

We faced a bit of a dilemma this past weekend. One of our daughters kindly offered the use of her condo in Toronto while she and her partner were away. We wanted to take in a couple of exhibits, at the McMichael Gallery and the Royal Ontario Museum. Perfect, except that the schedule meant we would miss Palm Sunday worship at Trenton United or any other church, but we decided to take the opportunity.

As we waited in the long line to enter the ROM on Sunday we first heard then literally saw the bell pealing in the tower of the Anglican Church of the Redeemer at the corner of Avenue Rd. and Bloor St. Emmanuel College, the seminary I attended in the late 1970s, is across Avenue Rd. from the ROM and just down from the Church of the Redeemer, and I've been in the sanctuary on a number of occasions through the years. We looked at each other with a certain amount of dismay when we heard the bell. 

When we emerged from the Death: Life's Greatest Mystery exhibit we could see congregants emerging from the church so we went across and in after a friendly exchange with the priest at the door. It would appear that they'd held a palm procession along Bloor and the worship service was long over. But they'd held a palm cross-making event immediately following and we were invited to take a couple of crosses already completed. It was a friendly atmosphere with people of all ages creating and visiting. 

We also went to the front of the sanctuary decorated with the liturgical drapings for the day and bundles of palm fronds. We didn't get to participate in the meaningful hymns of Palm Sunday yet we had a sense of what is the great mystery of the celebratory and sombre beginning of Holy Week. It was an unexpected highlight of our time in Toronto and it was good to see that this congregation is upholding its Christian witness in a changing society. 

                                                            Church of the Redeemer, Toronto

Death: Life's Greatest Mystery

 

We stayed in Toronto this past weekend, a plan we made a couple of months ago. We went for several reasons, including a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum. To our chagrin we found out during last week that this was to be a free entrance weekend to celebrate an anniversary. We figured that the crowds would be huge, and they were. We arrived for the 10 AM opening and there were already 500 or more people in the line in front of us. By the time we left the line, several people wide, snaked up Avenue Rd. and well along Bloor St.

We were there to see the exhibit called Death: Life's Greatest Mystery and even though the wait outside was 20 minutes with another 20 minute line-up inside it was well worth it. Here is the ROMs description: 

Through artifacts, specimens, and immersive media experiences, learn how life and death are part of a universal, continuous, and cyclical process. This thought-provoking exhibition explores cultural and natural responses to life and death and asks big questions including: “What if I don’t want to die?”, “What will happen to my body?” and “What will happen to my ‘self’?”. Experience how life goes on after death—and could not without it.

This was a thoughtfully curated exhibit and we spent the better part of an hour, looking, reading, pondering. Some of what we experienced had to do with biology, and spirituality. A number of displays were interactive. We're planning a grief series at Trenton United and this was really helpful in a number of ways. Humans and some other animal species do mourn their dead and all through history humans have grappled with the prospect of life after death.

                                                                   Canoe Coffin from Ghana

Today it occurred to me that while different religious and spiritual traditions were represented there wasn't much about Christianity. Heading into Holy Week, with the centrality of Jesus' Good Friday death before Easter's celebration of resurrection this really came home, 

As we left Toronto we talked about the people taking in the exhibit, everyone from children in strollers to the very elderly. At one spot inviting reflection I stood next to an older woman who was wiping away tears and it was a poignant moment. What was her story? 

Around us were Black, Brown, Beige and White people, no doubt representing many different cultures. In the end it was better to have experienced Death: Life's Greatest Mystery in the midst of so many people. 

Oh yes, the canoe casket really appeals to me!

All Eclipse, All the Time

There are guys at the gym who tell me they aren't religious and then ask me religious questions. This week someone who is there just about every day I'm there wondered what I thought about the hype regarding the solar eclipse on April 8th. I figured he wanted my "take" as an out-to-pasture pastor.

He's right about the fuss. In our part of Ontario we are in the path of totality so there are events planned in many communities and non-stop reporting. We have family members driving from Maryland to experience this unique event.

I commented that there has always been both awe and wonder regarding the "signs and portents" of eclipses (see recent blog), And that despite our secular society I expected the "I can hardly for the apocalypse" Christians to emerge. Well, look above, not to the heavens, but to the tweet I've included. 

I'm sure we'll see more like this in the days ahead, whether we want to or not.  And if Jesus returns on April 8th we'll set another place at the table. 

Water for Peace in a Thirsty World

 I've got peace like a river

I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river in my soul
I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river in my soul

I've got love like an ocean
I've got love like an ocean
I've got love like an ocean in my soul
I've got love like an ocean
I've got love like an ocean
I've got love like an ocean in my soul

I seem to be a day behind on a lot of things which could certainly be age related! Twenty four hours off Forests Day and now World Water Day. 

Yet when I saw the theme for this United Nations Day -- Water for Peace -- I just had to play catch-up. As a kid we sang what we didn't know then was an African-American spiritual. If memory serves me correctly there were actions as well, although I've never been adept at aerobic songs. Between this chorus and the gospels telling us that Jesus is both the Prince of Peace and Living Water I just had to acknowledge the occasion. 

This year’s theme is ‘Water for Peace’, which focuses on the critical role water plays in the stability and prosperity of the world.

When water is scarce or polluted, or when people have unequal or no access, tensions can rise between communities and countries. 

More than 3 billion people worldwide depend on water that crosses national borders. Yet, out of 153 countries that share rivers, lakes and aquifers with their neighbours, only 24 countries report having cooperation agreements for all their shared water. 

We can be grateful for the water agreements Canada has established with the United States for the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes and the Columbia River Treaty. A few days ago I wrote about the Acid Rain Treaty the two countries established during the PM Mulroney years that vastly improved air and water quality. 

I have written about the joint statement Roman Catholic bishops in the US and Canada released regarding the Columbia River Watershed 25 years ago, an impressive document. 

As the demands for water around the planet increase it becomes a more precious and contentious commodity, so we can't take this peace for granted. We can also ask why successive federal governments have failed Indigenous communites in ensuring clean, safe water on both sides of the border. 

I've got joy like a fountain
I've got joy like a fountain
I've got joy like a fountain in my soul
I've got joy like a fountain
I've got joy like a fountain
I've got joy like a fountain in my soul

I've got peace, love and joy like a river
I've got peace, love and joy like a river
I've got peace, love and joy like a river in my soul
I've got peace, love and joy like a river
I've got peace, love and joy like a river
I've got peace, love and joy like a river in my soul.

Isn't Every Day Forest Day?

 

Well, be careful what you wish for. A couple of days ago I lamented what seems to be the demise of winter in these parts. Now we have entered spring with a snowfall warning across much of Ontario. 

We got out for an early morning ramble in the woods before the impending storm and enjoyed the loveliness of a maple swamp, cathedral-like in any season. We always feel better after time with our arboreal kin and we're blessed to live in an area where there is a host of possibilities to do so. 

I almost missed the International Day of Forests which would have been a sin. Especially since I'm leading worship on the first Sunday of Earth Month (April) with a focus on trees. I will mention my experience at the Little Forest seminar I wrote about a couple of weeks ago and explore the importance of trees in scripture. There are hundreds of tree passages to chose from but one of the biblical texts I've decided upon is from Matthew 26 where Jesus goes out from the Last Supper to the Mount of Olives and the "little forest" of the Garden of Gethsemane.

 I'll probably note that Vincent Van Gogh was fascinated by this aspect of the Passion of Jesus and in the final weeks of his life painted a number of works depicting olive trees in groves near the psychiatric hospital where he spent those last days. 

There is a holiness to trees recognized by most religions. I'm reading Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connection to Trees by Nalini Nadkarni, a tree canopy biologist, college environmental studies teacher, and something of an evangelist for trees. Here is a link to an inspiring CBC Tapestry interview with her: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/connecting-to-our-roots-the-spirituality-of-trees-1.6373297

We'd love it if you joined us for worship at Trenton UC on April 7 or watch later on Youtube. 

Are You Happy?

1 

Happy are those

    who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
    or sit in the seat of scoffers,
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

    Psalm 1: 1-3 NRSVue 

Are you happy? 

After leading a study group on the Psalms I decided to read the daily lectionary psalm, although I've fallen off that wagon lately. What I've discovered is that happiness is a recurring theme in the Psalter, something of a surprise even though I've known for a long time that the first word of this collection is "happy." Do a search and you'll discover that a lot of writers can't stick to happiness. They throw in joy and blessedness and whatever else they choose. It does seem that being being happy is intended to be "the way we roll", or at least walk, when God is our companion and moral compass, and when we turn away from wickedness. 

Yesterday the latest World Happiness Report was released and as you can see Canada did okay at number 15, although we dropped from lucky or happy 13 last year. There are only two countries on the list of the top 20 with populations over 30 million, Canada and the United Kingdom. Israel ranked 5th but the surveys were probably conducted before October 7, 2023. 

It's interesting that Nordic nations rank the highest, countries that former president Orange Menace admired even though he never connected the dots to their disturbing socialism (I say tongue in cheek.) It turns out that there has been a significant decline in happiness for young people in both Canada and the States.

                                                                   

                                                                            Children in Morocco 

This World Happiness Report would probably make an interesting one-off conversation for congregations. How do we perceive happiness individually and collectively? Does being part of a community of faith bring us happiness? As Easter approaches, do we feel that our resurrection hope in Christ create an upwelling of happiness? 

In a time when politics seems devoted to tapping into our discontent, pondering our happiness is important...don't get me started on wicked, "rage farming" politicians!

Here are the factors employed to measure happiness and the Top 20 ranking. There's a link to Pharrell as well. Get up and be happy!

World Happiness Report: What factors impact happiness?

SDSN lists six factors that can explain the different levels of happiness.

• Social Support- This is the best predictor of happiness. If people feel like they have at least one person they can reach out to when they're in need, they are more likely to feel secure.
• GDP per capita- This is how much a country produces divided by its population.
• A healthy life expectancy- The researchers look at the physical and mental health of a country's population.
• Freedom to make life choices- This plays a key role in how happy one feels.
• Generosity- This factor looks at how charitable a country's people are.
• Perception of Corruption- How corrupt are a country's government and business policies? This factor looks at both and researchers use what they find to estimate happiness levels.

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Israel
6. Netherlands
7. Norway
8. Luxembourg
9. Switzerland
10. Australia
11. New Zealand
12. Costa Rica
13. Kuwait
14. Austria
15. Canada
16. Belgium
17. Ireland
18. Czechia
19. Lithuania
20. United Kingdom

https://youtu.be/ZbZSe6N_BXs

Welcome to Spring after Un-Winter

 

                        ILLUSTRATION BY MARY KIRKPATRICK for Globe and Mail article 

As comes the breath of Spring, with light and mirth and song,

So does your Spirit bring new days brave, free, and strong.

You come with thrill of life to chase hence Winter's Breath,

To hush to peace the strife of sin that ends in death. 

Voices United 373

Welcome to Spring, 2024. Actually, the Spring Equinox was just after 11 PM yesterday but this is the first full day of the season. This seems strange because we woke up to snow on the ground after weeks of unseasonable weather. On March 8th we paddled on a nearby river, about a month before we would usually venture out. A few days ago we managed a modest 16 km cycle around Big Island in Prince Edward Country. This is unusual activity at the end of an abnormal "winter that never was." 

While these outings were enjoyable we have lamented the almost total absence of seasonal activity during what has already been declared the mildest winter in Canadian history. We seem to be in the minority in mourning what has happened to our seasons. The radio phone-in on CBC the other day was "what do you miss about winter" and I was tempted to call in and say that "I miss the fact that so few people seem to miss winter." Lots of people shrug even though we endured a wet and foggy Christmas and couldn't participate in the simply pleasures of winter activities. It is the changing of the seasons that brings me genuine delight. 

Yesterday I put snowshoes and cross-country skis back up into the garage rafters after hardly any us. While claiming "I can remember when snow was so deep..." might be the source of eye-rolling, the amnesia about actual winter weather is unsettling. Ruth's comment was that we are the frogs in the gradually heating saucepan who don't recognize the danger. 

This past Saturday the front page of the Globe and Mail newspaper had the headline The End of Winter and the illustration above.  This was an article by the excellent writer, Ian Brown, whose piece was, for me,  a disappointing exercise in cognitive dissonance. He wrote about a expensive helicopter-in ski trip in British Columbia during which the group from all around the world managed just a couple of days of hitting the powder because of the lousy conditions.

The title with the article was a bit better. What we lose when we lose winter:A day will come when I can’t physically handle skiing, and that will be the thrilling price of having lived. But to lose the season to climate change feels cataclysmic. Brown did offer some important information and thoughts about what has been unfolding regarding the decline of snowpack across North America. 

Still, the way the piece began smacked of privilege in a way that was downright cringey. I'll admit that we do travel and we are increasingly uncomfortable with what this will mean for our grandchildren. Perhaps I'm being unfair to Ian but the article came across as an unintended cautionary tale for all of us in a wealthy society. Using the term "climate change" doesn't serve any of us well because this is a calamity. In BC and Alberta, ski provinces, the wildfires that never went out last year are already flaring up. We've just heard that most of the cities with the worst air quality in North America last year were in Western Canada because of those unprecedented conflagrations.  

I know, I know -- Davey Downer. I assure you, I will delight in all the signs of spring and give thanks to the Creator. I enjoyed seeing the red buds of leaves on maple trees as we paddled and the tulips coming up around our home lifted my spirits, as do some of the celebratory hymns of the season. 

Enough of this. I need to book an appointment to change my snow tires, the ones I didn't need to put on in the first place. I will be hopeful, I will be hopeful, Easter is coming. 

1 The spring has come, let all the church be part of it!

The world has changed, and God is at the heart of it!

New light, new day, new colour after winter grey.

New light, new day,

the spring has come, let all the church be part of it!

2 The sun is warm, let all God's children play in it!

The world expands, let's spread the Gospel way in it!

New leaf, new thrust, new greening for the love of Christ.

New leaf, new thrust,

the sun is warm, let all God's children play in it!

3 The spring has come, new people are the flowers of it.

Through wind and rain, new life is in the showers of it.

New bud, new shoot, new hope will bear the Spirit's fruit.

New bud, new shoot,

the spring has come, new people are the flowers of it!

                                              Voices United 187

Reflecting on Israel After October 7

 

We zipped home from worship in Trenton on Sunday morning to catch a Zoom conference on the realities of Israel and Palestine in the months since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas militants. This was presented by Haaretz, a century old newspaper which describes itself as having "a broadly liberal outlook both on domestic issues and on international affairs",and has been summarized as being "liberal on security, civil rights and economy, supportive of the Supreme Court, very critical of Netanyahu's government."

There were individual interviews with a variety of guests, including a former major general in the Israel Defense Forces. There were also panels involving guests with a wide range of perspectives. We watched and listened for two and a half hours and found this hugely informative even though talking heads can sometimes be, well, less than engaging. We were struck by the quality of the hosts, the insights of the guests, and the civility with which they presented their viewpoints. Although some were passionate none were aggressive or talked over others. I'm sure the ones we missed would have been worth hearing as well. 

Virtually everyone figured that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his right-wing government has to go. The major general was convinced that this government has no plan, no end game, and that destroying Hamas will be virtually impossible because its funding and leadership is not restricted to Gaza.

Most agreed that international support for Israel is waning, even with a staunch allies, because of the disastrous, vengeful incursion into Gaza following the October 7 terrorism that has killed so many innocent people. 

The majority raised the importance of entering back into negotiations for a two-state solution even though Netanyahu insists this will never happen. The Palestinian panelist expressed her conviction that there are two distinct peoples sharing a land "from the Jordan to the sea" and any resolution will require recognition of this. 

During the two hours-plus the articulate guests offered that religion is a signficant part of the problem with Islamic and Jewish extremists who hold views that God has given them the land and have an apocalyptic outlook which fuels violence. It was also suggested that religion will need to be part of the solution because if its powerful influence. 

There were no simplistic solutions offered but there was a recognition that Israel can't give up on seeking a pathway forward that goes beyond the violence and humanitarian crisis wracking the Occupied Territories. 

This is my take-away from what I heard and saw. I am grateful to Haaretz for pulling this together. 

Gratitude for a Green Prime Minister

 Today tributes will be paid in the House of Commons to the late Brian Mulroney. our Canadian Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. It's fitting that these testimonies will happen today because yesterday was St. Patrick's Day he was proud of his Irish heritage, once singing a somewhat cringey "When Irish eyes are smiling" duet with President Reagan of the US at what was dubbed the Shamrock Summit. 

It seemed that there was a fair amount of blarney emanating from Ottawa during the Mulroney years but he had a sense of civic responsibility which was commendable and he was also civil in his dealings with others during and after his years in power. 

I hope that today there will be recognition of Mulroney's designation as "greenest" Prime Minister in Canadian history, which had nothing to do with shamrocks. In 2006 an expert panel chose Mulroney as the most environmentally responsivble PM although at least one of the panel members noted that none of them excelled. During his time in office his environment minister, Tom McMillan, hired environmental activiist Elizabeth May as a policy advisor. May went on to become the leader of the federal Green Party.

There are a number of reasons for Mulroney's choice and one of the most important was his determined role in signing the Air Quality Agreement, also known as the Acid Rain Agreement with the reluctant United States in 1991. My sense that Mulroney was an Irish terrier on this pact and we are still reaping the benefits today. He was justifiably proud of this recognition. 

We were living in Northern Ontario at the time as I served St. Andrew's United Church in Sudbury. We spent a lot of happy hours and days in Killarney Provincial Park and in those years the lakes were crystal clear because nothing lived in them. This was due to acidification, much of it exported from the US to Canada. The Acid Rain Agreement changed this, including emissions from Inco's smelter superstack in Copper Cliff (near Sudbury) that adversely affected forests in Quebec and the Maritime provinces. We left Sudbury in 1999 but have been back a number of times through the decades. We've been heartened to see the return of aquatic plants and fish to the waters of Killarney. 

There will be a state funeral this Saturday for former PM Mulroney at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. I also hope there is some recognition during the service of his environmental accomplishments because this was holy work and deserves an enthusiastic "Amen!" 

Here is an idea of what the agreement addressed: 

The Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada, hereinafter referred to as "the Parties",

Convinced that transboundary air pollution can cause significant harm to natural resources of vital environmental, cultural and economic importance, and to human health in both countries; Desiring that emissions of air pollutants from sources within their countries not result in significant transboundary air pollution; Convinced that transboundary air pollution can effectively be reduced through cooperative or coordinated action providing for controlling emissions of air pollutants in both countries; Recalling the efforts they have made to control air pollution and the improved air quality that has resulted from such efforts in both countries; Intending to address air-related issues of a global nature, such as climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion, in other fora; Reaffirming Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration, which provides that "States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction"

 

St. Patrick and the Pandemic

 

Caim Prayer

 Circle _________, Gracious God,

keep protection near and danger afar.

 Circle __________, Healing God,

keep hope within, keep despair without.

Circle ____________, Caring God,

keep light near, and darkness afar.

 Circle __________, God,

keep peace within and anxiety without.

 May God, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer

shield ___________on every side.      Amen.

A couple of days ago a loved one went into hospital for what proved to be a successful heart procedure. This is a low-risk procedure, but it was the heart, after all, and it's a challenge not to have some anxiety about even the best physicians messing with our tickers. At the conclusion of a Zoom call the evening before Ruth shared the prayer above, a Caim or "circle" prayer. 

I've used it in the past with those undergoing surgery in the midst of literal circles of family and friends. It is a part of the Celtic tradition that includes St. Patrick, the saint of Ireland recognized today.. 

Cast your minds back to four years ago on St. Patrick's Day (a Tuesday then). We were directed to close down many aspects of our society, including regular gathered worship, for as long as it took to protect us all from the greatest health threat in living memory, the COVID pandemic. For the most part we did what we were told, saving thousands of lives. People did die, others developed long-term health affects, businesses foundered, and so did many congregations. If memory serves me correctly it was this Sunday in 2020 that we were told that our church would close for a couple of weeks in the hope of returning for Easter -- little did we know what was before us. 

We still need our prayers for protection and health and wisdom, both individually and societally. I'm not sure what we have learned from the existential threat of the pandemic. At times it seems that we emerged with a collective chip on our shoulder and a "me first" attitude. Yet I earnestly ask God, three-in-one, to lead us forward and to give us the strength to "keep heart". 

Here is my blog entry from March 17, 2020: 

This is St. Patrick's Day and what an irony that government officials have closed down bars to curtail gatherings where people would ignore a public health crisis in order to drink too much. 

Patrick was a devout Christian of the 5th century, one of three patron saints of Ireland along with Brigid and Columba. Patrick is enveloped in lore but he does represent an alternative, Celtic, stream of Christianity which was egalitarian rather than hierarchical, appears to have honoured women in leadership, and was Creation-honouring rather than "pie in the sky when we die." 



There is a prayer called St. Patrick's Breastplate (below)  which is also known as St. Patrick's Lorica. A lorica was a protection prayer, a safeguard against evil.  The Latin word lōrīca originally meant "armour" or "breastplate"  and referred to the protection worn by warriors heading into battle. 

We are certainly feeling vulnerable and beseiged these days yet we can protect ourselves with our own "wash and pray" lorica and by observing the serious but sensible measures governments have instituted. I'm not a fan of Premier Doug Ford by any stretch, and have been disappointed by a number of decisions by Prime Minister Trudeau since he was elected in 2015 That said, I feel that both have responded strongly to the current threat and deserve our support in the midst of uncertainty. 

We can all pray for those in leadership at every level including health care provider and authorities and politicians. Please pray as well for those who are anxious and frightened by an enemy which is invisible yet has the potential to be deadly.

It seems reasonable to bend a socially responsible elbow to the lorica legacy of St. Paddy, and for all the rich possibilities the Celtic Christian tradition continues to offer.