God Lights Up My Darkness

 

It is you who light my lamp;

    the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 By you I can outrun a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 This God—his way is perfect;
    the promise of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

                  Psalm 18: 28-30 NRSVue

 I woke up this morning, checked the news, and immediately felt despondent. Those of you who know me will understand why. I'm not partial to despots and dictators. After a bracing cup of coffee I got dressed as per usual, putting on one sock at a time, although I may have put them both on the same foot. I gathered up everything I need for a study group on the New Creed of the United Church in Trenton. Life goes on and we blessed in many ways.

I also read the daily psalm which is Psalm 18: 20-30 and it was reassuring, even though I wasn't quite ready to be hopeful. When I feel that I am stumbling in darkness, bewildered and scared, God lights my way. And even though it would be a challenge to outrun my four-year-old grandson, with God I can lap a troop (of turtles?) or leap a wall (of Lego?) While I can't take this literally it does speak to my battered heart and soul. 

The words of a favourite hymn also came to mind, and one verse in particular. I'll do my best to hold on to theses psalm verses and  hymn lyrics through this day. Let's choose not to lose heart. 

3 This is God's wondrous world:

O let me ne'er forget

that though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the ruler yet.

This is God's wondrous world:

why should my heart be sad?

Let voices sing, let the heavens ring:

God reigns, let earth be glad!

A Tale of Two COP16 Headlines

 

The Peaceable Kingdom -- Edward Hicks 

6 The wolf shall live with the lamb;
    the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed[b] together,
    and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
    and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 11:   NRSVue

Biodiversity Cop16: Important Agreement Reached Toward Goal of "Making Peace with Nature"

Cop16 ends in disarray and indecision despite biodiversity breakthroughs

The United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Columbia came to a close over the weekend and who knows what the outcome really was. During the nearly two week event there was little media attention given to this essential gathering. There were probably more reports about stealing and eating pets and geese in Ohio -- does that count as biodiversity? 

The headlines in summation were confusing as well. The organizers declared it a success and offered this:

The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) was suspended in the morning of Nov. 2 but not before countries agreed on an expanded role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in saving biodiversity and a groundbreaking agreement on the operationalization of a new global mechanism to share benefits from digital genetic information. 

“Over the last weeks, we have seen the largest, whole-of-society mobilization for biodiversity unfold in Cali, triggering interest from around the globe. We have seen Indigenous Peoples and local communities, civil society, businesses and financial institutions, sub-national governments, cities and local authorities, women and youth present remarkable initiatives and action. 

And through it all, this COP delivered a seminal message: the time has come to make peace with nature. “From Cali, this UN Biodiversity Conference sent a powerful call to action. It has never been clearer that the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement in a synergistic fashion will make peace with nature within reach."

Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity

This sounds hopeful to me but a piece in The Guardian gave a very different impression: 

Observers said that despite the agreements, Cop16 fell short of what was needed to halt the crisis in the natural world, warning that many governments and UN officials were not acting with the required urgency. They pointed to a lack of leadership from the EU, China, Canada and others who had played a leading role in helping to reach agreements on this decade’s targets just two years ago. 

During the summit, it became clear that many countries were making weak or no progress on crucial aims such as reforming environmentally harmful subsidies, protected areas and even submitting national plans for meeting the targets. 

“We saw insufficient leadership from the wealthier countries, the European Union and France in particular, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, the UK, but also China. The executive secretary of the UN convention on biodiversity was also quite phantomatic,” said Oscar Soria, director of thinktank the Common Initiative. 

Brian O’Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature, said too many countries and UN officials came to Cali without the urgency and level of ambition needed. “The world doesn’t have time for business as usual,” he said. “The suspension of the Cop without any agreed-upon finance strategy is alarming.”

I read all this as "we've talked a lot and came to some aspirational conclusions (once again) but rich countries aren't prepared to put their money where their mouths are." This is disappointing but as Christians we must be committed to making peace with nature, or Creation, as we also call our wonderful, awe-inspiring, biodiverse planetary home. 

You may have noticed that as the elephants and donkeys sparred with one another during this US election campaign there was almost no discussion of climate change or biodiversity loss. The United States will have to be a key participant in any progress toward making peace with Turtle Island...is anyone stealing turtles? God, the Creator and Redeemer, help us all. 

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATE IN A CEREMONY TO HONOUR THE NATURAL WORLD IN THE “GREEN ZONE” OF COP16. MOLLY ROBSON / GLOBAL WITNESS

In Memory of Ruth, Norah & Courageous Women Through Time

                                                Naomi and her daughters (Ruth & Orpah) Marc Chagall 

So [Naomi] said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”  But Ruth said,

“Do not press me to leave you, to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people and your God my God.
 Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus to me,  and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”

When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

                                                       Ruth 1:15-18 NRSVue

 Yesterday I realized that one of the Sunday lectionary readings was from the Hebrew scripture book of Ruth. It's about a Moabite woman who marries outside of her clan only to have her husband and the other men in his immediate family die. Rather than return to the shelter of her family she elects to travel with her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Bethlehem, her hometown. It's a remarkable story of courage, of love, of creating new bonds of kinship. Although the book of Ruth is only a few chapters long it is a story with a happy ending,  and as Christians we are aware of Ruth in the genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of the gospel of Matthew.

As it happened Ruth, my partner in life, was working away at transcribing one of her late mother's diaries.This is a labour of love and curiosity she's sharing with a couple of her siblings as they have worked away to discipher their mother's tiny and quirky writing. Her mother grew up in Leamington Spa, Great Britain, and as a young woman experienced World War II in her village not far from Coventry, one of the cities extensively damaged by a German bombing raid and bombs fell in her town. Along the way she left her job in a shop and joined the Wrens, the nickname for the Women's Royal Naval Service. She left home as a 20-year-old to do so despite the disapproval of her fiance, who was in military service himself.  

                                                                             Norah (right) as a Wren

 

 This young man didn't become her husband and, instead, she fell in love with a Canadian serviceman who was seconded to a chaplain and would eventually become an ordained minister and moderator in the Presbyterian church. So far, no one has discovered how Norah decided that she wouldn't marry Jack and that Max was the man for her. There is a tantalizing gap in the diary entries during the war. 

Eventually Norah and Max married and she emigrated to Canada. She came on a warbride ship to Halifax and when we lived there we saw exactly where she arrived in this country. Then she travelled by train to Montreal where she was met by her husband and began a new life.She became a minister's wife at a time when there were conventions about that role "and Rev. Mrs Max Putnam poured..." The story of her diaries is of a free-spirited young woman who loved the movies and dances and seemed to have unlimited energy for cycling and walking outings with a gaggle of friends. She attended worship weekly and taught Sunday School in Britain, but did she have any real sense of what was ahead of her as a mother of five children with an endlessly busy clergy husband? Did she feel stifled by the expectations? The diary entries end abruptly the day she lands in Canada. 

I never met my mother-in-law because she died before I met Ruth but I hear and see her intrepid spirit in the person I've be with for 50 years. 

Even today there are so many stories of refugee and immigrant women from many cultures who summon the courage to start over, often with little prospect of being reunited with distant loved ones. We saw this with the Syrian refugee families sponsored by many Canadian faith groups and the Vietnamese "boat people" decades before. 

What did faith have to do with their decisions whether it was Christian, or Muslim, or Buddhist? Did they pray for the strength to go to a distant land? They deserve to be honoured and admired for who they were and will continue to be in the memory of those they love. 

Max and Norah

Are the Lies Winning?

 

 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

John 8:43-45 NRSVue

I've been thinking a lot about lying lately and you can probably guess why. In two days Americans go to the polls on what is the official voting day in the presidential election (millions have taken advantage of advance voting) and the lies are thicker on the ground and in the air than Autumn leaves. One of the candidates lies almost every time he opens his mouth and as the campaign draws to a close they torrent of falsehoods is increasingly venomous. Recently the New Yorker offered a podcast with the unsettling title: The Lies Are Winning: “We’ve moved from a moment of alternative facts with Kellyanne Conway to now embracing the idea of lies,” Jane Mayer says.

During the one presidential debate the Orange Menace lied, absurdly, about immigrants stealing and eating cats and dogs in the small city of Springfield, Ohio. This assertion and Kamala Harris's  facial expression in reaction was the funniest moment of the debate. Sadly it set off a frenzy of threats against immigrants and both the mayor of Springfield and the governor of Ohio later insisted that this wasn't true. When VP candidate Vance was pressed on this issue he conceded that the story was made up -- a lie -- but insisted that this was necessary because the media wasn't covering issues the way they wanted. Little wonder that there is a "The Lies Are Winning" headline. 

At the risk of sounding cynical, politicians are inclined to lie but we all are, or at least we "fudge the truth" or veer into "truthiness." Leaders lie during times of war, supposedly to keep spirits up during dark times. We lie rather than hurt the feelings of those we love. Lies can be much more sinister and individuals do so for self-preservation, even under official or unofficial oath, or to escape the consequences of destructive behaviour in relationships. Lying undermines trust and can be lethal.

Little wonder that the bible takes a dim view of lying with plenty of warnings about this sin in both the Older and Newer Testaments. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells his listeners to be honest, that a yes should be yes and a no should be no. He also describes the devil as "the father of lies" and says that he is being rejected because he is a truth-teller. You would think that this would set off alarms and sirens for evangelical Christians in the US who are casting votes but it seems to be "don't confuse me with the bible, my mind is made up." Where did all those WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets of the 1990s go? 

We can never embrace or condone lying, even though it will always be a part of human existence. Lying is a sin, telling the truth is a virtue -- the bible and Jesus tells me so. I wish this mattered in all elections and in every facet of life. 

The Time Change & Circadian Spirituality

Deep peace of the running wave to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

Deep peace of the shining stars to you

Deep peace of the gentle night to you

Moon and stars pour their healing light on you

Deep peace of Christ, the light of the world to you. 

                                 Celtic Benediction

A circadian rhythm is a natural 24-hour cycle of physical, mental, and behavioral changes that occur in the body. It's also known as the "body's clock". Circadian rhythms are controlled by a biological clock in the brain, and are primarily influenced by light and dark. They affect many important bodily functions, including: Sleep patterns, Hormone release, Appetite and digestion, and Body temperature.

This morning I sat in the gloom and listened to yet another earnest annual piece on CBC Radio about what we all know as "the Time Change." Then my Globe and Mail newspaper arrived with a front page headline on the same subject. For most of my adult life -- half a century? -- there have been discussions about ending the semi-annual changing of the clocks described as Daylight Saving and Standard Time. The former is an absurd term when you consider it. We humans can't manufacture or save daylight. Our planet continues its relentless elliptical orbit around our star and in the Northern Hemisphere we pay the price for where we live in Winter when the Sun casts its wan and miserly light upon us for a few hours in  the day. 

Historians tell us that in medieval Europe large portions of the population were inclined toward a form of hibernation in the colder, darker months to conserve energy. Today we are enlightened, literally, flicking the switches to goose our internal clocks, Seasonal Affective Order be damned. 

We're also informed that changing the clocks messes with our Circadian Rhythms, a term that always conjures up swarms of grasshopper-like insects for me. It is actually the natural 24-hour brain cycle by which we function as critters, humans included. 

What is the equivalent of the Circadian Rhythm in our spiritual lives, including our worship gatherings. Every year congregations attempt to prepare the faithful for the time change, only to have a couple of bewildered people show up far too early or wander in late. Most religions have patterns for worship and some individuals include a daily time for prayer and reflection. Monastic communities are ordered by the "offices", gathering seven times each day to chant the psalms or some other forms of prayerful worship. 

These are worthwhile but I wonder how we might become more attuned to the patterns of the Earth rather than imposing our will upon them? In a broad spectrum of Indigenous communities around the globe spiritual expression is tied to the planetary rhythms. Judaism does begin the Sabbath at sunset and all three of the Abrahamic religions set festivals according to the moon, including our Christian Easter. 

One of my most profound spiritual moments this year was on the afternoon of the solar eclipse. We were in a farm field next to a huge marsh, and as the sky went dark the confused Spring Peepers joined in a great chorus until the sun shone again. There was something about those few moments that connected me to Creator and Creation in a way that's hard to explain. 

Will the Time Change conundrum be resolved in my lifetime? I'm not holding my breath. I might give some more thought to the notion of Circadian Spirituality. 

All Saints Day & Life's Greatest Mystery

 

1 For all the saints, who from their labours rest,

all who by faith before the world confessed,

your name, O Jesus, be forever blest.

Hallelujah, hallelujah!

Voice United 705

Last evening we sat outside to distribute candy to the costumed cuties coming to our door. It was so mild I was in a tee-shirt, a far cry from some Halloweens where we were trying to figure out how to get costumes over parkas when we lived in Sudbury decades ago.

It was All Hallow's Eve, a Celtic Druidic recognition of the "thin place" between this life and the next, coopted by Christians. Along with All Hallow's Eve the church celebrated All Saints (November 1) and All Souls (November 2).

This got me thinking about the exhibition, Death: Life's Greatest Mystery, which we attended at the Royal Ontaro Museum earlier this year. It was so popular on the free admission day that the line-up went down the block and well around the corner. At the time I wrote that it was fascinating to see families there, with parents explaining to children what they were seeing. A lot has been said about living in a death-denying culture, but not in this crowd. 

Death is a profound mystery and a grim reality for all creatures. We do our best as humans to create rituals of meaning and as Christians we affirm our hope that because of Jesus' death and resurrection we are eternal beings. I've included a few images from the exhibition for your perusal. I quite like the notion of being buried in a death boat to take my on my final earthly voyage but I doubt my family could me convinced. 

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.