Halloween Atonement?

 

                                         Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West

Hello boys and ghouls -- yes this is Halloween, the day of reckoning when we are all realize how much the cost of treats has gone up due to inflation. This morning I heard a radio piece about a neighbourhood in Toronto where homeowners vie for the most elaborate decoration and there is now corporate sponsorship for one household. This really is spooky. 

While Halloween decoration has veered away from ghosts, bats, and witches, they are still out there. So are articles about witches, although they have taken a different turn. They now focus more on the misogyny and hysteria (ironic term) regarding the persecution of witches and witchcraft through the centuries. This is from a BBC piece on an Irish woman, one of two accused of witchcraft and put to death.  The other woman was wealthy and had the connections to survive, even though she'd gone through four husbands and may have been poisoning them. But  was her  maidservant  and took the fall. 

Think of the witch trials and you probably conjure an image of the 16th or 17th Century in Scotland, central Europe or colonial America. But this week, one town is remembering the woman believed to have been the first in Ireland to be executed for witchcraft 700 years ago. 

Kilkenny will host historians and archaeologists, run a service of atonement and an oral history project, and make sure every school gets an educational resource pack about the events of 1324. It is all to remember the “utter miscarriage of justice” and try to “make amends” - so says the dean of the cathedral where the service of atonement will take place.

The reason the dean will be involved is that Christian churches were often enthusiastic persecutors of witches, happy to see them dispatched. 

No portraits have survived of  Petronella de Meath but these actors re-enacted the events at St Canice's Cathedral

There was yet another BBC story about a woman, Alice Molland, who was presumed to be the last person executed for witchcraft in 1685. It turns out this may have been a case of mistaken identity, but presumably the other women named on the plaque assume that dubious distinction. 

I suppose it's important to atone and apologize for terrible misdeeds of the past, but we need to focus on the awful ways women are denigrated, persecuted and even killed today, simply because they want freedom and equality. 

An Entertaining Conclave

Yesterday we braved the rain to sit through some horrific and astoundingly loud trailers in the movie theatre. We were there to watch a suspense film about political intrigue. No, it didn't have anything to do with the impending American election. Conclave is about a fictitious gathering of the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church to choose a new pope. This is a well-reviewed, well-acted film with Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini among the excellent cast. It's fun to see the bunch of them in "liturgical drag", holy and nefarious at the same time. 

Needless to say, Conclave wasn't filmed in the Vatican but there is a sense of those hallowed precincts. The logistics were made a little simpler because when a pope is elected the cardinals are sequestered during the voting process, sometimes for days. No phones, no communication with the outside world.  Ruth checked out the history of these elections later and discovered that choosing a new supreme pontiff by election has a thousand year history and on one occasion took three years!

The NPR summation of the plot is a good one: "Ralph Fiennes plays Thomas Lawrence, dean of the college of cardinals. He’s in charge of managing the vote – as well as the cardinals’ strong and various opinions about the future of the church. They connive, strategize and uncover damning secrets during their deliberations."

How does one go about angling for the job of the best known religious figure in the world? There is a lot of "aw, shucks, I'm not worthy of the honour" stuff but the ambition peeks out from under most of the cassocks. The dean figures he doesn't have the faith for the role and his prayer life isn't what it should be, but never say never. 

We are reminded that there are conservatives and progressives in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church and while the pope is supposedly infallible this doctrine doesn't silence critics -- we are made aware of this all the time with Pope Francis. 

I loved all the detail stuff about casting ballots and sending up black smoke at the end of each day to signal that the election will continue. The cinematography is impressive as well. And Rossellina plays a nun who has a voice

I think my favourite scene, though, is when Cardinal Lawrence addresses the college of cardinals, beginning with some predictable comments about their sacred trust in choosing a successor to the late Holy Father. Then he goes off script to speak about the challenges of the time and the reality of uncertainty: 

Let me speak from the heart for a moment. Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery and therefore no need for faith.

I like that theology. I imagine there will be pushback and even outrage about the portrayal of the process but we were both thoroughly entertained by Conclave and there are twists in the plot right to the end. 

Music as Medicine for the Soul

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”  Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” 

When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

                                          Matthew 26: 26-30 NRSVue

1 When in our music God is glorified, and adoration leaves no room for pride,

it is as though the whole creation cried Hallelujah! 

2 How often, making music, we have found a new dimension in the world of sound, 

as worship moved us to a more profound Hallelujah! 

3 So has the church in liturgy and song, in faith and love, through centuries of wrong, 

borne witness to the truth in every tongue, Hallelujah! 

Daniel Levitin is a respected neuroscientist and cognitive psychologist who has written a lot of books,on a variety of subjects including aging and lies. If he wanted to combine his expertise in one volume he might consider a book about a certain aging liar who aspires to be president of the United States.

He has also written fascinating books on music including This Is Your Brain on Music and The World in Six Songs, and he even got an endorsement from a Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney.

Levitin has turned to a Canadian musical icon, Leonard Cohen for the title of his latest book, I Heard there was a Secret Chord: Music and Medicine. The title comes from the song Hallelujah, covered by just about everyone, proving that even a secular society likes a good hymn. I've put the book on hold at the library and I'm looking forward to his latest insights about the medicinal value of the music we make. 

On the weekend I read an article in the Globe and Mail newspaper about music from a different perspective. It was about music producer Eddie Kramer, born in South Africa, now living in Prince Edward County here in Ontario, who worked with some of the greats of rock music including Led Zeppelin and the Beatles. He had a special relationship with Jimi Hendrix, the guitar god who died in 1970 at age 27. Kramer offered an intriguing insight into how Hendrix processed music: 

Jimi and I had this instinctive connection. He didn’t talk about music in technical terms; he used colours. He’d say, “I need more purple,” or, “Let’s add some green here.” For him, reverb was green, distortion was red and each song had its own palette. It wasn’t just about notes or chords – it was about creating a feeling, painting a picture in sound. I haven’t really found that same language with anyone else. With Jimi, I’d just know what he meant. It was a kind of shorthand that made our sessions incredibly dynamic.

I think this is called synesthesia and I imagine Dr. Levitin has offered a scientific perspective on this phenomenon along the way. 

Music has been a powerful part of worship through the centuries and the Judeo/Christian bible has a whole section of musical pieces called psalms, many of which have instructions for the music leaders and the names of appropriate instruments that no longer exist. According to Matthew's gospel, Jesus and the disciples left the Last Supper singing a hymn. 

Lots of us can remember days of powerful singing in larger congregations when the music lifted our spirits into joy or comforted us in sorrow. Even in this day of meagre church attendance in many denominations we still chose to sing our faith as spiritual medicine and I hope we always will. Do we sing in colour? Rock on!

4 And did not Jesus sing a psalm that night when utmost evil strove against the light? 

Then let us sing, for whom he won the fight: Hallelujah! 

5 Let every instrument be tuned for praise! Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise! 

And may God give us faith to sing always Hallelujah!

Eddie Kramer at Electric Lady Studio. The South African-born, Ontario-based producer and engineer worked on some of rock's greatest moments over six decades, from the psychedelic fervour of Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced to the thunderous power of Led Zeppelin’s early albums.

Healthy Housing for the Homeless

Toronto is getting new supportive housing that will have doctors on site, mental health resources, as well as food programs. As CBC’s Ali Chiassion reports, it’s aimed at helping Toronto's unhoused population get back on their feet.

Addressing homelessness is a Hydra-like challenge for municipalties across Canada. Even five years ago we probably had a perception of the prevalence of the unhoused in our society that in no way fits the reality of this moment.  There are so many contributing factors to people ending up "living rough" including addiction and mental health issues. But the high cost of housing and the availability of jobs paying a living wage are part of the picture.

This puts pressure on many services including healthcare. Those who live on the streets can have complex health issues and die younger. So, doesn't it make sense to provide shelter that is more than a temporary fix? 

Here are a couple of paragraphs from a recent CBC article about a positive initiative in Toronto, a city where up to 10,000 individuals are sleeping on the streets and in parks and woods each night: 

A new housing project for those who live on the streets and frequently end up in the emergency room is set to welcome its first residents in Toronto this month, supported by one of the largest hospital networks in Canada.

The University Health Network (UHN) has partnered with Fred Victor, a non-profit housing organization, to provide 51 permanent homes with health and social supports to homeless people who use its hospitals the most. The hope is that the project will ease pressures on hospitals while also providing stable care for vulnerable individuals.

"What we're trying to build is this continuum of care out from the hospital, where people can be discharged to a safe and stable setting that is their home," Dr. Andrew Boozary, the executive director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine at UHN, said in an interview. "The treatment for the homelessness crisis is housing and, beyond housing, there needs to be these health and social supports in place."

Dunn House has begun to receive residents since this article was published at the beginning of October. When I was growing up Fred Victor was Fred Victor Mission, supported by the United Church. So many outreach projects have their origins in faith communities although today the religious background has been downplayed or scrubbed from the "About Us" link on websites. Fred Victor does offer this background: 

Our humble origins can be traced back to Mary Sheffield, a dedicated teacher and a member of the Metropolitan Methodist Church (later renamed Metropolitan United Church in 1925), who founded a Sunday School in 1886 for “rough and neglected boys.” This small Sunday school grew into a bustling mission which took a radical approach by serving people that were largely ostracized from society at this time. Hart Massey, a businessman and philanthropist, later funded the construction of the flagship Fred Victor location on Queen and Jarvis in 1894, named in tribute to his late son. 

                                                                                    Mary Sheffield 

Today many congregations, including the one we attend, host food banks, meal programs, and warming centres, and these are compassionate responses to a huge need.  Housing is a very different challenge. Recently Crossroads United Church in Kingston was set to have a supervised small village of tiny houses established on a portion of their property and funding seemed to be in place. This funding was withdrawn after a violent incident in a homeless encampment the downtown of the city. How does halting this project address the crisis of homelessness? 

I think this University Health Network/ Fred Victor partnership makes so much sense and I hope that it expands and inspires others. We know that in Finland the Housing First policy has reduced homelessness. It can be done. 

When I rummage around in the cluttered attic of my brain I figure I first heard about Fred Victor Mission through the Live/Love initiative of our United Church Mission and Service Fund in the 1970s. Congregations were invited to choose projects for sponsorship before the M&S Fund moved to a national, integrated fund. We are still called to live love as the disciples of Jesus. As is so often the case, I come back to the small scale version of Timothy Schmalz's Homeless Jesus sculpture kindly given to me by the artist. 

The Promise of Restored Fortunes

 

                                                       A Joyful Ruth at Ein Gedi, Israel, April 2023

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

    like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears
    reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    carrying their sheaves.

                           Psalm 126: 4-6 NRSVue

In April of 2023 we spent 16 days in Israel, as regular readers will know. We visited with one of Ruth's sisters, a step-sister with whom she is close, and her husband. We were well aware that our theological perspectives were and still are very different yet they were very hospitable and we had a wonderful time. 

We went with a degree of trepidation and also some guilt because we were well aware of the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. We could not have foreseen the horror of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, only six months after we were there, nor the grinding destruction of Gaza by Israel and the staggering loss of life. 

This is a wordy introduction to the fact that we wanted to return to Israel once more to explore places that we couldn't visit back when I led tour groups to Israel. Our hosts were wonderfully accomodating in this regard, listening in advance to our interests and building an itinerary to "make it so." 

I had been intrigued for years by the story of David, the rebel, sneaking up on the sleeping King Saul at the spring and cascade of Ein Gedi in the Judean desert, choosing not to kill the monarch who wanted him dead. We went to this oasis and nature park and while it was late Spring there was still water flowing that we waded through on our hike to what's been called the David Falls. We were literally experiencing a watercourse in the desert/ 

Since our trip I often think of places we visited and the connection to passages of scripture I'm reading. Visiting Israel can make these biblical stories come alive and today's lectionary psalm, 126, is one of them. The exiled people of Israel have the promise of return and they seek restored fortune like the watercourses of the Negeb that dry up for months at a time, only to be replenished by the rains of Winter and Spring. 

The poignancy of this passage for me is that the Jewish people worked toward the re-establishment of a state of Israel in the late 19th and 20th centuries, a return from exile. Today displaced Palestinians have the same hope in the same land. This is a spiritual and practical desire for Jews and Arabs yet conflict and destruction has gripped the region and it is hard to imagine moving beyond tears and weeping to a place of joy. 

The Red Dot is Ein Gedi, beside the Dead Sea, adjacent to the West Bank,  and not far from Gaza to the West. 

An Apology for "a sin on our soul"

Yesterday President Joe Biden of the United States travelled to an Indigenous community where he made a formal apology to those who had suffered abuse in what were called Indian Boarding Schools.

According to the New York Times: 

During a visit to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, Mr. Biden decried what he called “a sin on our soul” and promised to do more to make up for the federal government’s former policy of forciblyremoving Native American children and putting them in boarding schools where they faced abuse and neglect that led in some cases to death. 

“The federal government has never, never formally apologized for what happened — until today,” the president told a cheering crowd that included families afflicted by the policy. “I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did. I formally apologize. It’s long overdue.”

Perhaps it's our Canadian tendency to say "sorry" that led us to issue a similar federal apology regarding what were called Residential Schools in June of 2008, more than sixteen years ago. I recall listening to this apology live on the radio while driving  and pulling over in order to listen. Even then it seemed too long in coming. 

The phrase I found striking was "a sin on our soul", a recognition of moral culpability before the Creator. In the United States 19,000 children attended the boarding schools and 1,000 died. In Canada 150,000 were in residential schools and 6,000 died. The difference in these totals is stunning and shameful, truly a monstrous sin, an affliction on our collective Canadian soul. 

I appreciate that Biden used this phrase, knowing that in both the US and Canada Christian denominations were willing partners in this genocide. In 1986 the United Church offered its first apology to Indigenous Peoples followed by the 1998 apology for its role in Indian Residential Schools. Since 2008 the UCC has been actively engaged in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), which was created to address the history and legacy of Indian Residential Schools. The United Church is responsible for 15 residential schools operated between 1849 and 1969. 

This American apology comes days before the federal election and we'll see how the billions of dollars worth of promises made by this administration will be carried out by either of the presidential candidates. We can hope that this is a step toward healing, truth and reconciliation. 

The United Church apology in 1998 included these words:

“We pray that you will hear the sincerity of our words today and that you will witness the living out of our apology in our actions in the future.”

Amen. 

Praying With My Feet in Presqu'ile

 

Yesterday I left Belleville as dawn was breaking for Pontypool, near Lindsay. My purpose was taking daughter Jocelyn to the new Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough but I left early so I could be there as our two grandkids got on the bus. That was fun and the museum delivered on this second occasion to walk through the display hall. There are 115 canoes and kayaks on exhibit, I overheard from a tour, and another 150 in storage. 

The trips up and back were an unexpected bonus with glorious Fall colours along the way. As I drove north from Port Hope the sun was rising, turning stands of deciduous trees into stained glass windows. to my surprise I found myself quite emotional because of the unanticipated beauty. 

My plan was to scoot directly home after our outing but as I approached the Brighton exit from Highway 401 I had a carpe diem moment and headed down to Presqu'ile Provincial Park on Lake Ontario. I settled on the short Jobe's Woods trail and it was marvelous. At one point I decided to kick my feet through the leaves and was transported back to childhood. 

It occurred to me that swishing through Autumn leaves is a unique seasonal sound unfamiliar to most of the planet's population and that I was praying with my feet. I've written in the past about "prayer walking" a contemplative form of sensory sauntering akin to the now popular forest bathing. We might consider prayer with our eyes and ears as well as our hearts and minds, so why not our feet? 

Do you recall when I asked whether there were hymns about the marvels of Winter and reader Shirley wrote delightful lyrics in response. I wonder if there are any hymns that extoll the wonders of Fall colours, brisk temperatures, drifting leaves? 

I hope you are able to "seize the day" for a walk in the woods, wherever you may be. Please praise the Creator while you're out there, and kick a few leaves along the path.

A Tyrant as a Saviour?

 

John Kelly, former chief of staff for then President Donald Trump has made the shocking assertion that his boss admired Adolph Hitler and wished he had generals like the Nazi leader, a mass murderer who plunged the world into war and killed six million Jews.

Kelly described Trump as a fascist and former joint chiefs of staff, General Mark Milley, has offered a similar asssessment. In a presidential race too close to call one of the candidates is considered a threat to the constitution and the American people by those who worked in his previous administration. 

A couple of years ago I read a book about the rise of Hitler and fascism in Germany called The Nazi Menace. One of my biggest take-a-ways was that many in the hard-nosed military considered Hitler a buffoon initially and by the time they realized the level of threat he posed the momentum of support could not be stopped.

 We know that in Germany the Fuhrer was supported by many Christians who participated in the persecution of Jews. In the United States there are millions of right-wing Christians, labelled Christo-fascists by some, who have pledged blind support to Trump despite his reprehensible character. One of them is Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham. There seems to be nothing Trump says or does that deters them in their fealty which borders on idolatry.

I have refrained from labelling Trump as a Hitler wannabe yet it sounds as though he was and likely still is wistful about the dictator's absolute power. He has become more open about the tyrannical reprisals he will undertake if re-elected. 

As the Nazi's rose to power in Germany there were Christians who saw what was unfolding, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoeller. They were courageous in their opposition and in 1934, five years before WW2 commenced they issued a theological statement, written largely by theologian Kar Barth, meant to counteract the false loyalty of church leaders to Hitler. The Barmen Declaration includes six theses:

1. The only source of revelation is the Word of God — Jesus Christ. Any other possible sources (earthly powers, for example) will not be accepted.
2. Jesus Christ is the only Lord of all aspects of personal life. There should be no other authority.
3. The message and order of the church should not be influenced by the current political convictions.
4. The church should not be ruled by a leader ("Führer"). There is no hierarchy in the church (Mt 20, 25f).
5. The state should not fulfill the task of the church and vice versa. State and church are both limited to their own business.
6. Therefore, the Barmen Declaration rejects (i) the subordination of the Church to the state (8.22–3) and (ii) the subordination of the Word and Spirit to the Church.

I wonder who would pen a cogent and uniting theological statement challenging Trump and those who bow the knee to him? There are certainly plenty of Christians in the United States who oppose what Trump stands for but their voices seem to be drowned out by those who claim allegiance to Christ yet want a tyrant to be their saviour. 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. 

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. 

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. 

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemoeller 

Spooktacular Faith

We have new neighbours next door and they are a lovely younger couple who seem disinterested in Halloween. Phew. The previous renters were there for a decade and we got along well, although they developed an obsession born of yard sales that eventually had me seriously considering buying a pellet gun. From Thanksgiving on their front yard was infested with Halloween inflatables that proliferated. I know, rationally that they were picked up at the yard sales but part of me wondered if they were spawning in the night. 

Halloween, actually All Hallows Eve, is a religious holiday gone mad, now a billion dollar industry. It was meant to be spooky, the thin place between this life and the next, connected to All Saints and All Souls. Instead it has become "spooktacular", a ghoulish secular spendfest (said the curmudgeon). After all, isn't this in good fun? 

Recently I was intrigued by the headline Making Christianity Spooky Again, actually a review of a new book called Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age by Rod Dreher. 

According to the review: 

 Dreher argues that the contemporary West is disenchanted. This term can mean many things, but Dreher defines it as “the evaporation of a sense of the supernatural within the world, and its replacement with a belief, sometimes unacknowledged, that this world is all there is.” A disenchanted society is materialistic, rationalistic, individualistic, and hedonistic. It is unspooky. It is not open to the transcendent, the divine, the mysterious, the inexplicable. It is closed off by design.

I think this is an accurate assessment although it seems to me that there is plenty of yearning out there for the spooky, in strange and perhaps not so wonderful ways. The Halloween obsession may be an aspect of that longing, and so are sporting events with tens of thousands of fans who gather in parking lots beforehand for "communion." The Taylor Swift world tour is an astonishing phenomenon which seems to be seeking transcendence. 

The weird existence of megachurches in the United States could be an example as well. Music is a vehicle for what is often the equivalent of a concert tour rather than a worship experience. We were in Jerusalem and the Garden Tomb on Easter Sunday morning two years ago and while I don't doubt the sincerity of the leadership (the guest preacher was quite good) there was a sense that it was orchestrated. Dare I say I appreciated the birds and the butterflies in the trees and bushes the most. 

I don't have a straightforward answer for re-enchantment of Christian faith in our North American setting yet we might begin by asking how we are open to "the transcendent, the divine, the mysterious, the inexplicable."  There is a lot about the mystery of my faith in Christ I don't understand but I figure that's a good thing. 

On Easter Eve in Jerusalem we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchure, a freaky ancient church where worship somehow conveyed mystery, wonder and, yes, the best sort of  spookiness. Thank God, Three-in One. Happy Halloween?!

An Archbishop & Medical Assistance in Dying

1 God sees the little sparrow fall,

it meets his tender view;
if God so loves the little birds,
I know he loves me too.

Refrain:
He loves me too, he loves me too,
I know he loves me too;
because he loves the little things,
I know he loves me too.

A few days ago George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, (head honcho of the Church of England) urged bishops in the British House of Lords to support a private members bill to legalize assisted dying. In what is a signficant shift in outlook from an earlier day Carey said that what we term Medical Assistance in Dying is“necessary, compassionate and principled. The sad history of scientific exploration… is that church leaders have often shamefully resisted change. Let’s not follow that trend.” 

While Carey claimed that the majority of Anglicans support legalizing assisted dying lots of Christians do oppose it, as do denominations such of the Roman Catholic Church. I read a Guardian article in response to Carey in which the author was concerned that a reductionist, right or wrong, yes or no, approach is not helpful and I would agree.  

Assisted dying, or MAID, has been legal in Canada since 2016 and before the legislation was passed I invited MP and United Church minister, Rob Oliphant, to speak to a packed house gathering here in Belleville. Rob was a co-chair of the parliamentary committee which made recommendations regarding MAID  to the House of Commons. Some of those were put aside, considered too controversial, but assisted dying was legalized in June of that year. At the meeting of mostly older folk a number expressed their desire to have the MAID perameters broadened to include those with dementia. They didn't want to become a burden to their families. 

While I support the legalization of MAID, a shift from my own perspective of a few decades ago, I continue to have strong concerns about protecting the vulnerable in our society, including those who live with disabilities, those who are cognitively impaired, and those who are poor. I figure this is a biblical imperative and that we must be prayerful and discerning as our society balances compassion and justice. 

It happens that I read about George Carey on Saturday, the same day the Globe and Mail included an article about MAID. Here are a couple of paragraphs from this piece: 

Last year in Ontario, 116 of 4,644 MAID provisions, or 2.5 per cent, were identified as “track two,” a category reserved for patients whose deaths aren’t reasonably foreseeable. That’s down from 121 such cases in Ontario the year before.

“MAID has uncovered and put a light on these vulnerable people,” said Konia Trouton, a member of the review committee who is also president of the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers, or CAMAP. “I think clinicians who are jumping into this work do have to engage more in very careful analysis of everything that might impact someone’s ability to cope.”

I hadn't been aware that along with the safeguards in place before MAID is administered there is a post mortem review process. 

Ontario has a dedicated team of nurse coroners who review about 400 MAID cases a month after the fact, according to Dr. Huyer. The new 16-member expert committee’s job is to identify worrisome trends or shortcomings in how MAID is being carried out, and to recommend improvements to governments, regulators and front-line providers.

I discovered online that there were about 123,000 deaths of all kinds in Ontario from June 2022 to June 2023 so MAID represented about three percent. The percentage of people availing themselves of assisted dying has increased during the past eight years, certainly, but the average age is still around 78. I'm not clever enough to figure out what the number of "track two" deaths is as a percentage of 123,000 but it is miniscule, thank God. 

That said, every life is precious and Jesus said this explicity in a time when life was often "nasty, brutish, and short." Today a lot of Christian denominations are struggling to survive, let alone engage in important ethical and moral conversations, including the ongoing one concerning Medical Assistance in Dying. Still, we can't leave this to legislators and justices and at the very least we can pray for discernment and wisdom as the followers of the Loving and Living Christ.  

Until Tomorrow...

 

This morning we are leaving early for Bon Echo Provincial Park, a gem in our provincial system and only 90 minutes away -- lucky us. We are well aware that a forecast of 20+C as we approach the end of October is an opportunity not to be missed, so off we go. The park is now closed for the season, but where there is a will there is a way. This may be our final paddle of the season, although Ruth would probably roll her eyes at this statement. I'm not to be trusted. 

I sat down to write a blog on a subject that is complex and realized I couldn't do so before we departed. It would take too much musing and condensing, so I'll probably wait until tomorrow. I find that some of the subjects I address, always through a spiritual lens, make my aging brain hurt as I attempt to distill what can be complex issues and reflections into a few paragraphs. This is more challenging in some respects than an essay or sermon.  Sometimes I'm satisfied with the outcome, other times not, but I persevere. 

I ask myself, from time to time, why I continue what is now an archaic social media format when there are more current options. In part it is that every day I am doing my best to sort through the tsunami of information to make sense of how I might receive it as a follower of Jesus. Too much of what is described as Christian isn't, in my estimation. It is reductionist tribalism that has little to do with the radical message of compassion and love Jesus lived and died for. And because I'm stubbornly Trinitarian in my faith the proclamation of the Resurrection continues to give my hope in what can seem to be a chaotic world. 

So, until tomorrow...

Creeds & Affirmations in the UCC 100th Year

There is no longer Jew or Greek;

 there is no longer slave or free; 

there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28 NRSVue -- is this the first Christian Creed? 

 This morning I'll make an announcement about the study group I'll be leading for the next three weeks at Trenton United. This is the 100th anniversary year for our denomination, so why not look at the creeds and affirmations that have provided "maps" for our faith through that century? 

We'll look at a couple of passages from the New Testament which may have been the first creeds, some of the historic heavy-hitters, and a couple of comparatively recent affirmations created by the UCC. In week two we'll consider the images created to accompany what has been called the New Creed, even though it's now more than 50 years old.

Are creeds just a yawner? I hope not! You're welcome to join us and if there is interest in an online component I'll make it happen. 

Mapping Our Faith: Creeds and Affirmations of Faith as the United Church turns 100

Do creeds, historical and recent, still matter for a 21st century Christian faith? Are they important in the United Church or we not a "creed crowd?" 

Why do we have a creed dating back 1700 years in our hymn book? 

Join us in for three Wednesday mornings of conversation as we explore these "maps" for our faith. 

Week 1 Dusting off the Mothballed Creeds 

October 23, 10 AM

Week 2 The Not-so-New Creed in Word and Images (1968)

October 30 10 AM 

Week 3 A Song of Faith, the Rodney Dangerfield of UCC Statements of Faith (2006)

November 6 10 AM 

We are not alone,
    we live in God’s world.

 We believe in God:
    who has created and is creating,
    who has come in Jesus,
       the Word made flesh,
       to reconcile and make new,
    who works in us and others
       by the Spirit.

We trust in God. 

We are called to be the Church:
    to celebrate God’s presence,
    to live with respect in Creation,
    to love and serve others,
    to seek justice and resist evil,
    to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
       our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
    God is with us.
We are not alone.

    Thanks be to God.

A New Creed is a brief and well-loved affirmation of faith used widely in our worship 

(1968; rev. 1980, 1995).

https://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-wild-robot-biodiversity-conference.html

 

The Unsettling Genius of James Ensor

 

                                            Christ's Entry Into Brussels in 1889 -- James Ensor 

1 Ride on! Ride on in majesty!

Hark! All the tribes hosanna cry:

O Saviour meek, pursue thy road

with palms and scattered garments strowed.

                                       Voices United 127

If it were possible to be tele-transported to distant lands, avoiding the discomfort of cramped travel and the nasty carbon footprint, I would immerse myself in thought-provoking and soul-stirring art exhibits.I often feel pangs of loss when I see what's unfolding in museums and galleries hither and yon. 

The latest to pique the sin of covetousness explores the work of James Ensor, a Belgian artist of the second half of the 19th century. According to a New York Times article: 

The case for Ensor’s prescience is being made this month in Antwerp, Belgium, where several simultaneous exhibitions are exploring the artist’s fascination with masks and masquerade as part of the 75th anniversary commemorations of Ensor’s death. Although he isn’t an international household name like his contemporaries Claude Monet, Edward Munch or Vincent van Gogh, at home in Belgium, Ensor is revered as a national treasure.

I have long been fascinated by an Ensor painting called Christ's Entry Into Brussels in 1889 and over the years I used it in worship during Holy Week. It has been described as a parody but I've always considered it an invitation into the drama of that strange procession with Jesus on a donkey making his way into Jerusalem, asking how he might enter our reality. It is a challenge to find Christ in the midst of the crowd. 

Christ's Entry is huge in scale, measuring 2.53 m × 4.31 m (8 ft 4 in × 14 ft 2 in). It was so large that Ensor was unable to work on the whole painting at the same time, nailing part to the walls and allowing the rest to drape on the ground. As with so many artists Ensor was a visionary and an eccentric. Ride on, Ride on in Majesty. 

James Ensor’s “The Skeleton Painter” (1896), which is on display in “In Your “Wildest Dreams: Ensor Beyond Impressionism” at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, in Antwerp, Belgium.

Credit...K.M.S.K.A.

The Trauma of War in the Middle East

Yesterday we were in Kingston to meet up with family members who are here from the southern States for a few days. They had lived in Israel for the better part of four decades as leaders in a Baptist ministry, in a country that doesn't countenance Christian missionaries or any form of proselytizing. We are miles apart in theology and political outlook yet we have a warm connection and they were wonderful hosts when we visited Israel for a couple of weeks last year.

We were a bit nervous about our time together and prayed about the direction of our conversation. In the end we enjoyed our few hours together. What proved to be unsettling was hearing about the emotional toll of living in Israel for nearly eight months after the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas has taken on both of them. The conference centre and camp run by the Baptists became a refuge for displaced Israeli families and the work was all-consuming. They lived in an area where jets screamed overhead in those first weeks, sirens warning of rocket attacks sounded regularly, and on several occasions they saw Iron Dome missiles intercept Hamas and Hezbollah rockets high above. 

They carried on in their work and everyday lives until their departure and while they are establishing a new life back in the US something as simple as a police siren triggers a visceral response. He has been an active, upbeat guy all his life yet he has been dealing with significant physical health issues which doctors figure have been brought on by stress. Thankfully they are responding to treatment. They hear from friends who live in areas such as Nazareth about the increase in rocket attacks from Lebanon. Other friends have children in the military and are constantly concerned about safety. 

We continue to be appalled by the deaths of civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and now Lebanon. The actions of Israel are unconscionable and it's likely we are at odds with our family members on this. We are hugely disappointed by the unwillingness of many countries, including the United States and Canada, to push harder against the indiscriminate killing. At the same time, the folly of war profoundly affects everyone involved, even those who have supposedly found a way to safety. An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. God help them all. 

Israel bombardment in Lebanon

Read about a small but hopeful victory for eco-justice in today's Groundling blog 

https://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2024/10/a-small-victory-for-eco-justice.html