Eddie Carvery & Black History in Canada

I saw last week that Eddie Carvery, described by an author as the Hermit of Africville, had died at the age of 79. Eddie was the lone Black resident who continued to live on land that once belonged to the Carvery family, a name once synomymous with the Black community which existed on the Bedford Basin adjacent to Halifax. 

The city refused to provide proper services such as sewer and water to the village and in the 1950s situated a garbage dump nearby. A rail line was pushed through the community. In 1965 the residents were removed by the city and their community bulldozed, including the Seaview African Baptist Church, established in 1849. 

In 2002 Heritage Minister Sheila Copps came to Africville to announce that the park where Africville once stood would be a national historic site and this promise was eventually fulfilled. We lived in Halifax at the time and I was there that day and I imagine Eddie was as well. It was a powerful moment.as former residents and their children and grandchildren sang. 

Eddie began his occupation in 1970 and lived to the end in a trailer on the land even though it was supposedly illegal. The historical site was eventually established and a replica of the Baptist church now stands there, serving as a place of worship and interpretation centre for both Black history and the racism that ended the community.

Eddie Carvery was determined to hold on to the claim to this land and as quixotic as his quest was he should be remembered with respect during this Black History Month and beyond.

Here is the link to a blog I wrote about Africville a few years ago 

https://lionlamb-bowmanville .blogspot.com/2020/02/africville-black-history-month.html

                                               The Original Seaview Baptist Church

I Have a Dream

                                                 Joseph's Dream -- Rembrandt

 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt  and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

Matthew 2:13-18 NRSVue

I have a dream
A song to sing
To help me cope
With anything
If you see the wonder
Of a fairy tale
You can take the future
Even if you fail

[Chorus]
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream.

I have a dream -- Abba!

Yesterday's Globe and Mail newspaper had the colour splash photo and headline Going for Gold and most Canadians know that the Olympic men's hockey final is this morning. 

There was another article tucked away in this edition about dreams and it was a good reminder that most of us have a dream life, although it is often submerged. The author, Karen van Kampen is the author of The Brain Never Sleeps: Why We Dream and What It Means for Our Health. Here is an excerpt from the article:

But what about our dreams? Why does it matter that many of us are dream deprived? In this accelerated world where busyness is currency, we don’t stop and think about our dreams, and we’re robbing ourselves of their many benefits. Dreams fuel the body and the mind while we sleep and also into the next day. Instead of dismissing these nightly stories as nonsense, we should prioritize our dream sleep and value our dreams to improve our waking lives.

The dreaming brain is busy at work while we sleep, helping to consolidate memories and strengthen learning. In dreams, we practise new skills and have our own study sessions as we review new information to make memories stick. One idea is that dreams help us remember by connecting recent events with our current catalogue of memories, which gives this new information deeper meaning. “It’s the equivalent to our brain opening all these drawers in our semantic knowledge and our autobiographical memories and going, does it fit in here and here and here?” says Montreal dream researcher Antonio Zadra. “That’s how we build our knowledge of the world. And it does it in a way that we can’t do in wakefulness because we don’t have that neurochemistry when we are awake.”

                                               Jacob's Ladder -- Herrad of Landsberg -- 12thC nun

I found this piece intriguing because we are going through a tumultuous time in our family with illness in body, mind and spirit for several people we love. There have been deaths in our extended family as well. We realize that we're living in a mild and not-so-mild state of apprehension much of the time. Not surprisingly, I suppose, I've experienced several months of the wildest and most unsettling dreams I can recall. They are vivid and sometimes I awaken because of them, although I don't remember them later, for the most part. 

In our Western culture we tend to use the term "dreams" as a metaphor for wishes, or hopes, rather than actual dreams. Yet in many aboriginal cultures dreams are valued and interpreted. Where does Dr King's biblically inspired vision fall into all this? 

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. 

Martin Luther King Jr. 

I wish that I'd done a series of sermons on the dreams of the bible because there are a lot of them. There was Joseph, and Jacob, and anothr Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. A lot of "Js" here! These weren't just "that was bizarre" dreams. They changed the trajectory of our Judeo/Christian faith 

Decades ago I earnestly started a dream journal and kept it at my bedside. I was inspired by a book by Morton Kelsey but I soon fell off the dream wagon. Maybe I need to revive the practice. For now I'll "dream" of a gold medal for Canada, even though a loss would be a nightmare. 

Black History & The Faith Dreams of a Free People

 It seems that every year I renew my resolve to read lots of books about Black History during the designated month of February. And as I get closer to the end of the month I feel somewhat guilty that I haven't done better in my reading and in my writing through this blog. 

I have books that I haven't yet delved into but one I read last summer while in outport Newfoundland is called Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya Miles. The title alone captivated me but this creative biographical book was praised in reviews so I bought it and took it with us on vacation.

I was far from disappointed and there is an almost mystical quality to the way Miles explores the life of Tubman who came into this world as Araminta or "Minty" Ross. Miles maintains that 

Harriet Tubman is arguably the most famous Blackwoman ecologist in U.S. history, although she has not traditionally been viewed that way. She was a student of organisms(human and nonhuman), habitats, and inter-relationships. Her sources of strength were as much natural as they were "supernatural." And more than that, her "repeated journeys into slaveholding America" required "ecological confidence" in the words of Kimberly Ruffin. She studied the elements of nature around her, connecting with plants, trees, animals, and stars...

I could quote so much more but the confines of a blog entry limit me. What is astonishing is that while Harriet Tubman was illiterate she had a profound knowledge of scripture and a never-ending sense of God's presence with her, providing the courage to liberate herself from slavery and many others, journeying from the safety of Canada and the free states back into danger in order to do so. 

One reviewer desribes the book as brilliant and spectacular and I certainly agree. 

I have yet to read another acquistion about Tubman, the Pulitzer Prize winner titled Combee by Edda Fields Black.  Sooo many books, so little time...

Jesse Jackson: "I am Somebody!"

 

                                                     Jesse Jackson on Sesame Street 1972
I am...somebody! 

This was the beginning of a stirring "call and response" used in many settings, including Sesame Street, by Baptist preacher, Civil Rights activist, and presidential candidate Jesse Jackson. Jackson died earlier this week at the age of 84. He had faded from public view as he aged and dealt with Parkinson's Disease yet he was a significant figure in America for many years.

 From left, civil rights advocates Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 3, 1968, a day before King was assassinated. (Charles Kelly/AP)

Jackson was accused by critics of being a performer, of stretching the truth at times, and of personal moral failure, but he was at the front lines of change during the turbulent 1960s and beyond. Of course, similar accusations have been made against Civil Rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jesse grew up poor and Black in the South and found his was into the non-violent movement of Dr. King that often put him in danger. 

While Jackson's two attempts at securing the Democratic presidential nomination failed he arguably opened the way for President Barack Obama, even though they didn't always get along. 

I admired Jackson despite the criticisms and he deserves to be recognized for his oratorical prowess and ability to help the dispossessed believe that they mattered. That is so important to an authentic gospel message that is still needed today.

I heard Dr. Jackson when he came to Sudbury's Laurentian University in the early1990s as a guest of the lecture series. It wasn't long after he'd appeared on Saturday Night Live, the late night sketch comedy show. Theodore Geisel -- Dr. Seuss -- had recently died so Jackson read a portion of Green Eggs and Ham as part of the SNL news report. During the Q & A at Laurentian someone in the audience asked him to reprise that moment and actually had a copy of the book with him but Jackson graciously declined. 

Thank God for Jesse Jackson. 

A Board of Peace?

President Donald Trump and other world leaders attend the signing ceremony of the Peace Charter for Gaza at the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, 2026. Credit - Harun Ozalp—Anadolu/Getty Images

They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,

    saying, “Peace, peace,”
    when there is no peace.

            Jeremiah 6: 14 NRSVue 

We're all in favour of peace in our world, aren't we, including those of us who are followers of Jesus, the Christ, the Prince of Peace? We celebrate the end of conflicts and engage in peacemaking through international bodies.

So, shouldn't we be enthusiastic about the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace convened in the United States today. This is the "brain child" -- is this an oxymoron -- of President Trump who has decided that the United Nations Security Council which deliberates within a building in his country isn't up to the challenge of brokering peace in the world. This board will be the greatest ever, because that's the way he talks, and he will chair it and be the boss of everyone else. Those who choose to participate are expected to pony up billions of dollars to be part of the club.

The original notion was to develop and effect a reconstruction plan for devastated Gaza but since then it has careened all over the map, quite literally. Most European countries have declined invitations to take part, in some cases noting that their constitutions do not allow them to be part of a body with one nation calling the shots. Some will send observers. Canada was invited and then disinvited (pout, pout) a development I consider a badge of honour. 

Among the nations agreeing to get on board are Saudi Arabia and Turkey, hardly shining examples of peace and good government. Israel, the country which has destroyed Gaza will also be represented. Russia also received an invitation but there is the small issue of an international warrant for Putin's arrest as a war criminal. It seems that there will be a number of foxes in this henhouse. 

Scripture, both in the Older Testament and the New Testament, offers warnings about bogus

 claims of peace by false prophets. Hmm. While I suppose we can pray that some good comes from this meeting and the ones to follow, seeing is believing. 

Oh yes, the Vatican has declined the invitation to join the Board of Peace, to the annoyance of the White House. 

When Lent and Ramadan Coincide

 

You desire truth in the inward being;

    therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

                   Psalm 51: 6-9 NRSVue

This is the first day of the Christian season of Lent, although the Trenton United Church Ash Wednesday service has been pre-emptively cancelled because of an impending snow storm. This is ironic given that the psalm for this solemn day includes the phrase "wash me, and I shall me whiter than snow." Perhaps an Ash Wednesday snowball skirmish would have been a refreshing change.

It was traditional during the 40 days of Lent to do some serious fasting as a form of repentance and contemplation.I recall chatting with a brother in a Cistercian monastery about the rigours of doing farm work during Lent and the blessed relief that came with breaking the fast at Easter.  In the United Church we've never been big on fasting and we'd probably be more inclined to hold a potluck dinner to earnestly discuss why it wouldn't be just to make some people abstain from food.

I see that this is also the beginning of the Islamic observance of Ramadan, 30 days of fasting which Muslims definitely take seriously. Can there be common ground between these two religious traditions? 

There is a little gem of an article in the latest issue of Broadview magazine by Samuel Dansokho called Fasting Toward Resurrection. Samuel grew up as a Christian in Senegal where 90 percent of the population is Muslim. He loves fasting in Lent as a time of vulnerability and awareness, his hunger and thirst as an offering rather than deprivation. I recall chatting with a Muslim teenager at our local mosque about his first Ramadan during which he fasted and how important this practice was for him. 

I don't imagine I'll take up fasting from food at my advanced age but i do respect those who do so in both Christianity and Islam. 

I would happily fast from snow removal but I better make sure the batteries for my electric snowblower are charged up and ready to go -- whiter than snow, whiter than snow...

The Apostle, Robert Duvall

None of the three contestants in this recent episode of the Jeopardy Invitational Tournament figured out the correct response to this Final but it was Boo Radley, the enigmnatic figure in the 1962 classic film, To Kill a Mockingbird. 

The actor was a young Robert Duvall (first film role) who has died at the age of 95. Duvall went on to be nominated for an Oscar a bunch of times and won for Tender Mercies. He was in The Godfather and Apocalypse Now and so many more roles where one says, "right, he was in that!" One headline described him as a chameleon because he could shift into just about any role in any genre.

He was also Academy Award nominated for playing the evangelical preacher Sonny Dewey in The Apostle. Duvall fincanced it, wrote the script, directed, and starred in the picture because he was fascinated by the theatricality and the flawed yet sincere faith of many of these preachers. Here is an excerpt from a 1998 article and interview:

What does Duvall think of southern Christianity and revivalist preachers in general? He has a fascination for them which began more than thirty years ago when he visited a Holiness church in the small town of Hughes, Arkansas. He says that he was intrigued by the cadence, rhythms and honest faith he witnessed in the songs and tent meetings there. For Duvall, these revivalist tent meetings are “an important part of American culture.” The preaching is “a distinct American artform.”

“The best preacher I ever met,” says Duvall, “was a 96 year-old black man from a little church in Hamilton, Virginia. He seemed to me more spiritual than the Dalai Lama or Mahatma Gandhi. This guy was great. He had a great cadence of preaching, a great honesty.”

Duvall invited a Jewish film-director friend and his Catholic wife to hear him preach. “It was terrific,” Duvall recounts. “The director told me a year and a half later that he could never get the preacher entirely out of his mind. He was that impressive. A lot of these preachers are phony, but a lot of them are not.”

The Candian talk show host, Dini Petty, did a great interview with Duvall back and he describes how some of the other preachers in the flim are the real deal. So here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXVCSCtzT_o

                                                                     Boo Radley and Scout 

Water at the Bon Echo Rock

                                               Ruth in Repose in Bon Echo Provincial Park (note the sign)

The LORD said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ 

                      Exodus 17: 5-6 NRSVue

Three days in a row last week we visited different Ontario Provincial Parks -- Presqu'ile, Bon Echo, and Sandbanks. The days were sunny and cold and we had a feeling that the weather would some become milder and our truly Winter opportunites might come to an end. 

At Bon Echo we cross-country skiied in to the narrows of Mazinaw Lake, a spot with a wonderful view of this large body of water with it's cinched waist. To the north is the majestic cliff rising 100 metres, a place considered sacred by Indigenous peoples for hundreds of years with pictographs along the base. In another time it was also the site of a lodge which catered to Christian clergy and artists, including members of the Group of Seven. 

                                                            Old Man and the Ski(s)

There was plenty of snow on our way through the pine woods to the lake and the surface was frozen after a prolonged cold spell. Still, we chose cautin and travelled along the shore to the narrows which were open. We've experienced this open water in other years, even when we were sufficiently confident to ski across to the cliff. 

The narrows can be incredibly busy during camping season with inexperienced paddlers doing their bumper car imitation. On Friday we sat in the silence with no one else around and savoured our "communion" picnic of sandwiches and tea. The sun reflecting off snow and ice and open water was stunning and we felt blessed. 

Today's psalm reading was from Psalm 78 and refers to Moses striking a rock in the wilderness to miraculously provide water to God's people. Even though our wintry moment was half a world away from the parched Negev Desert there was a sense of the miraculous in our experience. We make a point during our outdoor excursions to pause and acknowledge the Creator, taking nothing for granted. 

I assure you we did not drink from the icy waters of Mazinaw Lake, nor did we swim. I did take the plunge last October -- holy Moses! -- but I wasn't even slightly tempted on frosty Friday. 

                                                         Bon Echo -- AJ Casson, Group of Seven 

The Discipline of Walking in the Light

 

A scoundrel and a villain goes around with crooked speech,

 winking the eyes, shuffling the feet, pointing the fingers,
 with perverted mind devising evil, continually sowing discord;

on such a one calamity will descend suddenly, 

   in a moment, damage beyond repair.

 There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil,
 a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family.

Proverbs 6:12-19 NRSVue

This passage from Proverbs was one of the daily readings this past week and for some reason a certain politician came to mind as I read about crooked speech and sowing discord, the latter phrase twice. Proverbs is not a book of the bible I'm inclined to visit but these verses were so powerful in this discordant, violent time we find ourselves in. 

I chatted about this with Ruth over our morning coffee (I'm a fun guy to start the day) and we touched on the phrase in the Prayer of Jesus, "deliver us from evil." We repeat it every Sunday morning to the point that it becomes rote but it is essential. 

It's hard not to be discouraged these days when it does seem that feet run toward evil yet the writer of Proverbs goes on to offer encouragement, Yes, we need to be clear-eyed about the threats we face but the values of our forebears and the presence of God will sustain us and guide us in our sleeping and our waking. 

Walking in the light is a discipline and our hope in Christ. 

20 My child, keep your father’s commandment,
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them upon your heart always;
    tie them around your neck.

22 When you walk, they  will lead you;
    when you lie down, they will watch over you;
    and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

              Proverbs 6:20-23 NRSVue

The Pitt and an Unexpected Blessing

 May you be gentle and loving, clear and sure. 

May you trust in the unseen providence that has chosen you to be a family. 

May you stand sure on your ground, and know that every grace you need will unfold before you — like all the mornings of your life.

from To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings." Father John O'Donohue 

We have been watching Season 2 of the emergency room drama The Pitt, and while we're still impressed it doesn't have the same power as the multiple Emmy Award winning first season. The exception for us so far is episode three with two scenes we found moving, one I may describe at another time.

                                      Nurse Practitioner Donahue and Dr. Langdon

A doctor, a male nurse practitioner, and the dad of a boy who has managed to lodge marbles up his nose are musing on fatherhood as they problem-solve. The physician, Dr. Langdon, shares a prayer, a blessing he learned during hard times. It was written by the late John O'Donohue, an Irish priest who died in his sleep at the tender age of 52. How did this priest find his way into the script of a medical series? Star of the show and script writer Noah Wyle explained in an interview: 

"John O'Donohue is an author that I got turned on to several years ago by David Crosby's widow, Jan — a good friend who was looking for some koans of wisdom to help her through a difficult time," Wyle shared. "His 'Book of Blessings' I found to be just absolutely beautiful. Every one, on every subject, had some really lovely phrasing, and some really lovely wisdom. So he's just been in my back pocket."

That personal connection eventually found its way onto the page.

"When it came time to writing this scene," Wyle continued, "it's three fathers in a room with a kid that won't sit still — and that's a rare thing to get. Donahue [the nurse] is a new father; he's got a baby at home. Langdon's got [slightly] older kids. And fatherhood doesn't come with a manual. So you've got three guys in there talking about their experiences of being fathers."

We like that Wyle includes the stuff that has influenced him on life's journey.

A curioius connection with O'Donohue in our family. When our son, Isaac, walked the Camino de Santiago, an 800 kilometre pilgrimage walk, as a 19-year-old he took the priest's book Anamchara with him. An older Irish pilgrim saw Ike with the book and mentioned that he was friends with the author. A couple of months after he returned from Spain Isaac received an autographed copy of the book in the mail from his walking companion. 

Blessed are those who Mourn in Tumbler Ridge

                                                                  Tumbler Ridge Memorial

The massacre of innocent children in a small BC town, along with a teacher and family members of the perpetrator, has shaken Canada. We are not accustomed to school shootings in Canada, thank God, and as always mass killings results in shock, even when we are far from the events. 

It was appropriate that Members of Parliament took time in the House of Commons for solemn reflection and leaders of the political parties offered heartfelt statements of condolence and support. Many members, including Prime Minister Carney, were moved to tears. Yves Francois Blanchet. leader of the Bloc Quebecois made an exception to speaking only in French as he offered his remarks. 

                                                                       Prime Minister Mark Carney

Elizabeth May the acting leader of the Green Party, a party of one in the House, spoke through her emotion to address this horror. May is a Christian who in a conversation I had with her at Laurentian University 30 years ago told me that after she was Prime Minister she would become an Anglican priest. Neither aspiration has come to fruition but her faith continues.

May quoted scripture in her remarks, a reference from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Here is a portion of what she offered: 

We are not just a nation, we are a proud nation. We are also a family.

We love each other.

Today, our hearts are broken. 

I think of Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”, but that comfort may feel far, far away right now if you are in Tumbler Ridge. Know wherever you are that we are praying for the injured, for the 12-year-old little girl fighting for her life in hospital. We will be with you this day, yes, and whether we are believers or not, we are all one in the human family and we hold you all close. If there is ever any opportunity for us, as individual members of Parliament, to do anything to alleviate the pain, the suffering and the grief of the people of Tumbler Ridge, we are with you today.

We always will be.

I hope we do love one another in this country and that those who want to turn this tragedy into an anti-transgender hate-fest will be rebuked and sllenced. The families of those who lost loved ones and a grieving community deserve better. Jesus also said, Blessed are the peacemakers. 

                                                                             lizabeth May

Antoni Gaudi, Architect and...Saint?

 

"God, our Father, who inspired your servant Antoni Gaudí, architect, with a great love for your Creation (...) Grant me success in fulfilling my task and deign to glorify your servant Antoni, by granting me, through his intercession, the grace that I ask of you (state your request). Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen."

There is a detective series from Spain, City of Shadows, in which the grisly murders occur at various buildings in Barcelona designed by the visionary architect, Antoni Gaudi. One of those buildings is featured in the poster above. It's a great premise and we watched a couple of episodes but the torture and subtitles got to us. 

I have written about Gaudi more than once in relation to the Sagrada Familia church, a building begun in 1885 and nearing completion more than a century later. The plan is to consecrate the church some time in 2026. 

This year is also the 100th anniversary of the death of Gaudi and there is hope that this year a decades long effort to recognize Gaudí as a saint of the Roman Catholic church will be realized. Another architect, Jose Manuel Almuzara describes Gaudi as the "architect of God" and hands out cards with a photograph of Gaudi on one side and the prayer above on the other.

                   

                                                                                    Antoni Gaudi

The Vatican declared Gaudi "venerable" last year, so it may happen. While my respect for the architect wouldn't be increased or diminished by a designation of sainthood I do feel that his creativity was God-given, but I think this of a lot of artists, whether they are sacred or secular in intentions. 

I do appreciate the Vatican's description of Gaudi:  

Born in 1852, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet accepted the task of directing the project of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in 1883. His focus was making art a hymn of praise to the Lord and he considered it his mission to make God known and bring people closer to Him.

                                                   Inside Sagrada Familia 

Harmony Fit For a King

 

   Our philosophy

‘Harmony’ is a universal expression for the order, connection and balance found in nature. 

The Harmony philosophy sees everything in nature as interconnected, including ourselves. This means taking a holistic approach to the challenges facing our planet, and looking to solve these challenges by working with nature, rather than against her.  King's Foundation 

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Last evening Ruth and I agreed to watch the first few minutes of the new documentary. Finding Harmony: A King's Vision, narrated by Kate Winslet.  We weren't holding out much hope that this would be much more than a vanity piece for King Charles III -- how much would the monarch want to reveal about himself when the role requires a certain distance to create the image of royalty? We live in a day when royal families have limited power and are more inclined to ribbon cutting that "off with their heads!". 

Our skepticism seemed to be confirmed at the outset as Charles' regal entourage rolled up to a stately country home and he was greeted like a scene from Downton Abbey. This was Dumfries House, a historic estate purchased and restored by Charles as the home for the King's Foundation, https://kings-foundation.org/finding-harmony-a-kings-vision/ an organization dedicated to seeking environmental and relational harmony in Britain and around the world. Children and seniors come to Dumfries House to enjoy the grounds and to learn about small scale agriculture.

We discovered that the Foundation is involved in a rain forest preservation project in Guyana and an educational program in Afghanistan that has been allowed to continue under the Taliban. 

We got to see clips of  comments made by Charles going back more than half a century in which he called for the reduction of the use of pesticides and the promotion of organic growing. He was described as a kook in the media in often  bold headlines. 

                                              King Charles with his subjects at Cluckingham Palace 

At Highgrove, Charles' home since the 1980s, he has been involved in habitat restoration for biodiversity and saving heirloom plant species, including various vegetables. He keeps chickens in a coop with the cute title of Cluckingham Palace and we see him feeding them and gathering eggs. 

Charles has also hosted Indigenous elders and leaders from around the world at Highgrove, as part of his conviction that Indigenous approaches to the harmony of nature, including humanity, is essential. Near Highgrove there is a community created by the King in which all the homes have ready access to green spaces. 

                                                    Highgrove private chapel for King Charles

I know that Charles is a person of Christian faith with an expansive and respectful perspective on interfaith dialogue. I would have enjoyed learning more about how his faith influences his outlook on harmony in Creation. 

We did see the chapel he built on the estate for individual contemplation -- don't we all have one? -- with an inscription from Evening Prayer in the  venerable Book of Common Prayer, "Lighten our darkness we beseech thee", appropriate given that he is the "Defender of the Faith" for the Church of England. 

The documentary includes home movie footage of Charles outdoors as a child. He speaks of the influence of the Queen Mother, his grandmother, in learning to love nature. 

As you can gather, we watched to the end and felt that Finding Harmony was worthwhile and inspiring. That opening scene of the royal entourage does remind me of the immense personal wealth of the King. Can we achieve harmony on our planet when there is such a gap between rich and poor? 

You might want to seek out the documentary and draw your own conclusions. 

The Scream & the Climate Emergency

  When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to [Jesus] privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”  

Jesus answered them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places:  all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

“Immediately after the suffering of those days

the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven,

    and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Matthew 24: 3-8, 29

When the Pacific island volcano called Krakatoa erupted in 1883 it created a tsunami that swept through that part of the world, causing widespread destruction and death. It also resulted in a "volcanic winter" as the ash created  a pall over much of the planet which blocked the sun. It also resulted in vivid sunsets of unnatural colours. Many wondered if this was a sign of the biblical End Times and there was an existential dread that affected people whether they were religious or not. Humans have always attempted to make sense of the signs of the times, politically, religiously, and in the natural world. Sometimes we get it right, often we get it wrong. 

One of the persons disturbed by what he was seeing in the skies above Norway was a young Edvard Munch, the artist best known for his omnipresent painting known as The Scream. Art historians suggest that the garish skies were Munch's representation of the ominous evening scenes he witnessed as an impressionable young man. 

This image has been pilfered to be applied to everything from tee-shirts and mugs. One of the several versions of the painting was stolen at the beginning of the Winter Olympics of 1994 in Lillehammer and recovered, unharmed, three months later. 

There is a certain currency to The Scream in the midst of the Climate Emergency, the unnatural disaster which is shaping our marvellous planet. So many nations including Canada seem to be backing away from a commitment to address the causes of climate change. While the United States is on a reckless path of denial, our federal goverment is making a host of scary decisions to dismantle the modest gains the Trudeau adminstration made. Catherine Mckenna, a former environment minister has expressed her concern and Steven Guilbeault, also a fomer environment minister, quit the Carney cabinet in disgust. 

We don't want to be Chicken Little alarmists about the changes we are witnessing around us.  Yet we could do with some mighty rebel yells as environmental scientists plead for governments to pay attention to what is unfolding. The massive marches in cities around the world as part of then-teen Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future seem like some distant dream rather a hopeful movement that took hold only a decade ago. Greta at age 15 spoke to the United Nations and the World Economic Forum in blunt and honest language. 

Maybe we all need to lean out our windows akin to the scene in the 50-year-old film Network (1976!) where the unhinged yet prophetic news anchor Howard Beale told his audience to lean out their windows and yell "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore!" 

Actually, I'll choose to pray and act as a Christian whose deep desire is to love Creation and Creator, not only for myself but for generations to come. We may need to do some unfettered "birth pang" screaming as well.