Bruce Cockburn, Father Time and Enduring Faith

 

Sun's up, uuh huh, looks okay

 the world survives into another day

and i'm thinking about eternity 

some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.

I had another dream about lions at the door
they weren't half as frightening as they were before
but i'm thinking about eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.

Walls windows trees, waves coming through
you be in me and i'll be in you
together in eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

Up among the firs where it smells so sweet
or down in the valley where the river used to be
i got my mind on eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
and i'm wondering where the lions are...
i'm wondering where the lions are...

Last evening we were part of a sold-out audience of adoring geezers for the Bruce Cockburn concert in Kingston. Cockburn lives in California now but he's making his way across Ontario in a demanding schedule which is impressive for a 79-year-old. Cockburn is a poet who happens to be an excellent musician and we've appreciated his music for nigh on 50 years.

The concert was a retrospective of those years but it also included new songs -- good ones --and new instruments. He's always had a social conscience and we had a reminder of this with Stolen Land, almost 40 years old and written well before the emphasis on reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. 

                                                                                     1979

What really hit me was the enduring emphasis on love and acceptance and on spiritual openness, often through the beauty of Creation. His most recent album, his 27th, is called O Sun, O Moon, a very Francis of Assisi title, and that's the name for his tour.  Cockburn grew up in the United Church (I only recently learned this), had a period in evangelical Christianity, then a "spiritual but not religious" period, and is now part of a progressive Christian community with his wife and daughter. 

Bruce ambled onto the stage using two canes and with a pronounced widower's hump, perhaps the outcome of  childhood spina bifada. He admits to being in daily pain.  He may have looked like Father Time but his passion and poeticism and muscial prowess made this a refreshing and inspiring experience. 

Oh yes, the audience singalong with Wondering Where the Lions Are was sweet. I may have been the only person who didn't know all the lyrics!

                                                                                        1976

                                    ILLUSTRATION BY ASHLEY FLORÉAL for the Globe and Mail

In God's Name, Enough

 I am haunted by the deaths of children in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of these non-combatant residents of a tiny enclave where there is no safe place to go have died during the Israeli military incursion. Any sane person should condemn the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Any reasonable person should understand that the excessive response by the IDF on behalf of the state of Israel in no way justifies the rise in anti-Jewish words and actions. And any person committed to compassion and justice should condemn the deaths of these children and the governments of the world, including Canada and the United States who offer meaningless condemnations of the deaths of civilians while continuing to supply arms and aid to Israel. 

While the number of children killed has fluctuated in this chaotic scenario the total probably exceeds 14,000, according to the United Nations. We have heard of children being burned to death when the IDF bombed a tent city. I saw the photograph of a child lying dead, next to his bicycle, in an alley, shot by a sniper. The Atlantic Magazine published a piece which justifies the murders of children with the phrase "legally killed child." This is shameful, blasphemous, a moral outrage. I would agree with the lament of Joel Kim Booster.

Joel Kim Booster

@ihatejoelkim

The phrase “legally killed child” is so f.....g disturbing to me. To just baldly declare your lack of human decency like this without an ounce of shame makes me feel like we’ve reached the point of no return.

Quote

Writers Against the War on Gaza

@wawog_now

·

May 26

@TheAtlantic published a justification for the murder of Palestinian children today.

When we were in Israel last year we saw young soldiers everywhere, men and women who were in their late teens and early twenties. They were in carefree conversations on trains or while walking on streets. Now these young people barely beyond childhood are killing kids. You may have seen photos of young soldiers goofing around on childrens' bikes in bombed areas of Gaza. How many of those bicycles belonged to children who lie under rubble or have been hastily buried? Their souls are being destroyed whether they know it or not. 

There are times when I want to weep and times when I am furious. In God's name, enough. 

King Charles and a Butterfly

 

Love it or hate it? It would appear that the first official painted portrait of King Charles III has polarized many of those who care to comment.The huge, vividly red work is by Jonathan Yeo, who has also painted Tony Blair, Sir David Attenborough and Malala Yousafzai.

As some of you will know, I'm not a monarchist and while I had affection for her Majesty, Queen Elzabeth II, that does not extend to Charles, for the most part. I am impressed by this painting because the boldness of the colour differs sharply from the stodgy tradition of paintings of nobility. And then there's the butterfly. According to the BBC:

Yeo decided to use some of the traditions of royal portraiture - the military outfit, the sword - but aimed to achieve something more modern, particularly with the deep colour and the butterfly. 

He says he's referencing the tradition of official royal portraits but suggesting that's something "from the past and what's interesting about them is something a bit different from that". 

"In history of art, the butterfly symbolises metamorphosis and rebirth," he explains, fitting for a portrait being painted of a monarch who has recently ascended to the throne. 

The butterfly is also a reference to the King's long held interest in the environment, causes "he has championed most of his life and certainly long before they became a mainstream conversation". 

Yeo says it was Charles' idea after they talked about the opportunity they had to tell a story with the portrait. "I said, when schoolchildren are looking at this in 200 years and they're looking at the who's who of the monarchs, what clues can you give them? 

"He said 'what about a butterfly landing on my shoulder?'".

In tradition the butterfly is also a traditional Christian symbol, although not found in the bible. Charles is a Christian and was soon back at church after surgery and an unexpected diagnosis of cancer so even though the painting was done before this unwelcome news the butterfly is a hopeful sign. 

For Charles faith and care for Creation are intertwined. In his Christmas address last December the King offered ""Honouring the whole of creation is a belief shared by all religions. To care for this creation is a responsibility owned by people of all faiths and of none. We care for the Earth for the sake of our children's children."

God bless the King, and save him. 

Caravaggio is Having a Moment

The Ecce Homo was authenticated this month as a work of the Italian master’s last years. Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images

Last month I mentioned the Netflix series Ripley and the recurring theme of Caravaggio in this adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley. In this version the villain, Dickie Greenleaf, is a mid-twentieth century sociopath fascinated by the late sixteenth century painter, also a sociopath, who was dead at the age of 38. 

Caravaggio was recognized for his extraordinary talent and was in high demand to create religious works, bread and butter for painters of that era. His use of light and shade --chiarascuro -- resulted in marvellously atmospheric images. But he was a drunk and a womanizer and he stabbed a man to death in a fight, sending him into exile. No one is sure what illness caused his untimely death although its unlikely that he would have lived to old age for a number of reasons. I find his personal story, his subjects, and his unique talent, captivating. The head of Goliath in the painting below is likely a self-portrait which suggests that he had a macabre sense of humour. 

                                                               David with the Head of Goliath

Caravaggio is having a moment, thanks to the recent discover of another painting from his limited lifetime output. Here is the description from The Guardian:

Four centuries after it was painted, three and a half centuries after it arrived in Spain and three years after it came perilously close to going under the hannger for just €1,500, a lost, luminous and lovingly restored Caravaggio has gone on display at the Prado in Madrid. 

The Ecce Homo, painted in the Italian master’s dark and desperate last years, made headlines around the world after experts at the museum spotted it in an auction catalogue and rang Spain’s culture ministry to share their suspicions that the painting had been misattributed.

Despite it being billed as the work of the circle of the 17th-century Spanish artist Jose de Ribera, the specialists were pretty sure it had in fact sprung from the brushes of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.

Ecce Homo will be returned to the new owner, purportedly a British national living in Spain, who purchased it at auction for a staggering 36 million euros -- about 53 million Canadian dollars.

Caravaggio would probably have been delighted at the news and gone on a bender to celebrate.

 

Andrew Scott in Ripley (2024), viewing, from left, Caravaggio’s The Calling of St Matthew (1599–1600), The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602), and The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (1599–1600). Photo: Netflix © 2023.

Salman Rushdie and the Hallelujah Chorus?

I have almost finished reading Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie. In August of 2022 Rushdie was on the stage at a Chautauqua event in New York State when a young man rushed forward and stabbed him 15 times. Rushdie was 75 at the time and he was injured in his face, including an eye, as well as his neck and chest. How he survived some would call a miracle, although as he points out, he doesn't believe in miracles as an avowed atheist. The knife thrust that destroyed his eye stopped just short of piercing his brain. 

The young man who attempted this murder was an Islamist zealot who hated Rushdie in keeping with a fatwah declared against the author in 1988 because of the novel called The Satanic Verses. Over the years Rushdie lived under tight security in Great Britain and there were a number of thwarted assassination plots. 

Critics, some of them high profile, felt that Rushdie brought this on himself by essentially provoking Islamic extremists. He points out that a novel is words, not deserving a death sentence. I recall starting The Satanic Verses and quitting quickly. It turns out that the novel has been described as unreadable by many and it wasn't read by his assailant nor likely by any of the others who tried to take his life. I wondered why he chose to be so provocative at the time but I agree that the response was disturbing in its violence. 

I have found Knife to be compelling -- it is so well written. Rushdie was at death's door and few of his doctors figured he'd live, let alone recover. His resolve to get better is impressive, as was that of his relatively recent wife (his fourth.) That he has resumed writing and is determined to find meaning in life is inspiring. 

 When he explains why he doesn't believe in any religion he's thoughtful although not original. There are plenty of other atheists who share his perspective. While he grew up in a non-religious family, Islam was the religion of his area in India and he expresses respect for aspects of  the tradition. He does speak about being influenced by Christianity, having lived in Britain. He loves the music, singing hymns such as O Come All Ye Faithful, as well as the Hallelujah chorus. Salman Rushdie and Adeste Fidelis seem an unlikely combo.  He appreciates 1 Corinthians 13 and Psalm 30 from the King James Version and was moved when he visited the Sistine Chapel. He is not impressed by the extremes of American Christianity which of course are enough to make many of us profess atheism.

I would encourage you to read Knife. It's a fascinating story of overcoming personal adversity. I will polish off the final pages on this rainy day. 

When Church is hot as...

 I reluctantly cycled to the gym before church this morning because I have an aversion to going into a windowless space for exercize on a glorious morning. The gymn was humid and I was glad to emerge into the light of day once again. 

The gym does have air conditioning and it will likely be on soon, but the vast majority of older church sanctuaries in Canada do not. Some have added cooling to church halls and other spaces and worship moves to those areas through the Summer. The reality, though, is that the months of warm and hot weather have increased, even in the North formerly known as Frozen. We have flirted with 30C on a number of days, unheard of even 20 years ago. 

Does this have an effect on people's willingness to attend a service because of the heat? Lots of aging churchgoers have respiratory issues and they may chose to stay home on those stifling, humid days. Lower attendance affects congregational giving even though many of us contribute through Pre-authorized Remittance now. 

More and more we're hearing about the need for better legislation to protect workers who are required to labour in high temperature situations. There is also concern that those who are house-bound or in long-term care residences suffer when their living spaces aren't adequately cooled -- it can be a killer. Should athletes be required to practice and play in deadly heat. All this is a recognition that climate change has altered our environments in ways that are destructive. 

I've never seen any denominational recognition of this reality or read any articles on the subject. I suspect that there will never be any governmental concern expressed about places of worship. We have all but disappeared from the public view. It is one more reminder that when we ignore our credal phrase "to live with respect in Creation" we do so at our peril.  

Mr Bates & Ms Vennells & Justice

 

Did you watch the British series, Mr. Bates vs the Post Office when it was on PBS a few weeks ago? It is a docudrama about what has been described as the greatest miscarriage of justice in modern British history. Here is a synopsis:

A faulty IT system called Horizon creates apparent cash shortfalls that cause Post Office Limited to pursue prosecutions for fraud, theft and false accounting against a number of subpostmasters across the UK. In 2009, a group of these, led by Alan Bates forms the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance. The prosecutions and convictions are later ruled a miscarriage of justice at the conclusion of the Bates v Post Office judicial case of 2019.

The four-part series is well-acted and well told and totally outraging. These employees of the Post Office, about nine hundred of them, were dismissed, often bankrupted, and a few went to prison. Several took their own lives. There is lots of evidence that employees of Fujitsu, which created Horizon, and the executives and lawyers for the Post Office were aware that the program was faulty yet insisted that the postmasters were thieves and liable for the errors.

                                                                    from Mr Bates vs the Post Office 

The injustice is appalling but what really struck me is that the CEO of the Post Office at the time, Paula Vennells, was also an Anglican priest. Supposedly a committed Christian, she led worship at her local parish church and was purportedly a candidate to become the bishop of London. Meanwhile, she defended her corporation vigorously despite growing evidence of the faulty program, all for the bottom line and the image of the Post Office. 

There is a scene in the series when Ms Vennells is in the pulpit and reading a passage of scripture of which she was fond. It's from 1 Kings and is called the Prayer of Solomon:

“Now, Lord my God … give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong … in administering justice …”

The wisdom of Solomon seems to have escaped Ms Vennells who testified over several days last week during the inquiry into what went so terribly wrong. She expressed her deep sorrow and acknowledged mistakes and att one point she wept, which didn't sit well with some of the victims. 

Those who were wronged did have their convictions overturned and hundreds of millions of pounds in restitution will be paid. They have finally been officially exonerated after their nightmare. The actual Mr Bates, one of the accused, has been a remarkably tenacious advocate for the others for many years. This must be very satisfying. 

It's really unlikely that Ms. Vennells, who was paid the equivalent of a million dollars a year (Cdn) in her final year of employment will be prosecuted except in the court of public opinion and perhaps in answer to a higher power. May God have mercy on her, mercy not shown to the postmasters.