The Peril of Pilgrimage in a Climate Crisis

 Have you ever been a pilgrim? As in, set out on a journey with an element of physical challenge and with a spiritual purpose? A pilgrimage is different in intent from tourism, although there has been a tendency to term tours of places such as Israel as pilgrimages. 

 Our son, Isaac, walked the 820 kilometre Camino de Santiago in Spain over the course of a month when he was nineteen and went on his own.  Of course, he met many other pilgrims along the way from a number of countries and of all ages.

Spiritual pilgrimages have been popular through the ages and different religions have encouraged them. Jesus and his family made their way to Jerusalem when he was a boy and he travelled to the city for Passover during what Christians now call Holy Week.  The Haj of Islam is one of the pillars of faith and a requirement for those physically able to fulfill it.

Pilgrimages were not quests as such, nor crusades (God forbid), but often demanding and even dangerous peregrinations (same root). There were elements of adventure and camaraderie (think Canterbury Tales) but in many situations there were bandits and even hostile locals. Procuring food and staying healthy were challenges. along with the uncertainty of weather in unfamiliar lands.

What about climate uncertainly as a threat, as distinct from weather? As the tragedy of cataclysmic flooding in Nepal and Tibet has unfolded we've been told that dozens, if not hundreds of those killed or missing were pilgrims from different religions. This region is considered auspicious  with mountains and rivers considered holy. According to the New York Times: 

The area is also sacred to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and those who follow the Bon tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Visiting Kailash is not about conquering the mountain. It is about surrender, a belief that the journey itself draws pilgrims closer to the divine. 

Hindus believe Mount Kailash is the home of Shiva, the god of destruction, transformation and meditation, and his wife, Parvati. The mountain is also an impressive topographical feature, a natural pyramid that slices 21,778 feet into blue Tibetan skies...A typical pilgrimage involves walking around the entirety of the mountain, about 33 miles, over several days...

Neelam and Ramesh Sharma, a couple from Queens, undertook the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash as part of their retirement. The pair, both in their 60s, have not been heard from since the flood.Credit...Ariadna Riley

I listened to an the head of an organization in the States that has put together these pilgrimages for more than 20 years and never lost anyone. It would seem that this entire group was swept away. All these deaths are terribly sad, but also ominous signs of the times. 

Observers in the country and around the world are saying that the collapse of a portion of a glacier which precipitated the flooding is a grim example of the climate calamity. Glaciers around the world are receding or becoming unstable. You might recall that a few years ago a funeral was held in Iceland for a glacier that is effectively gone in a land of glaciers. Glaciers in western Canada are facing a similar predicament, changing the seasonal flow of vital water.

Is it possible to step back from our foolish ways for the sake of the Earth and all living things? It will require a spiritual transformation along with the efforts of nations to do so. 

You are the Apple of My Eye...Really!

 

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
    incline your ear to me; hear my words.

Wondrously show your steadfast love,
    O savior of those who seek refuge
    from their adversaries at your right hand. 

Guard me as the apple of the eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings,
 from the wicked who despoil me...

Psalm 17: 6-8 NRSVue 

I was reading the psalm for today, Psalm 17, and came upon a phrase that I realized was not uncommon in the days of my youth but seems to have disappeared from regular usage. It is "you are the apple of my eye" a curious term of affection.

It is found in at least five passages in the King James Version Hebrew scriptures but as I did some admittedly quick research I discovered that no one seems to know what it really means other that it refers to God's affection and care for us when we are beset by hostile humans. That is comforting news and Good News. 

 Somehow this phrase has weathered the passage of time and still appears in the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, and  I like that. Shakespeare, a KJV contemporary, employed it as well. 

There are some examples of the phrase out there other than scripture even if we don't use it often anymore. Stevie Wonder included it in "You are the Sunshine of My Life" although that hit song is now more than half an century old!

You are the sunshine of my life
That's why I'll always be around
You are the apple of my eye
Forever you'll stay in my heart

And then there is a 2024 Korean romance film with this name. How did that happen?

Of course, dear readers, you are the apple of my eye for reading these musings, even if you roll your eyes as you do so. 

Today is the Feast of Creation in Christ

Our symbol for 2026 - Immersion in Living Water - is a symbol of  renewal and birth: water flowing from the Temple as a sign of God’s caring and healing for us. We are called to step into the water, until we are so deep that we must depend on God’s grace to sustain us. Those who receive this water are invited to become sources of life for others, allowing God’s love to flow through them into the world. And thus the water of God will become in us “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” , as Jesus promised (John 4:14).

The Symbol invites Christians to a spiritual immersion - praying together while contemplating water from rivers, sources, fountains, baptismal fonts, lakes and sea, inspired by the Spirit of God, working together for the renewal of Creation.

This Symbol also urges us to dive into the “tears” of creation (Romans 8:22-23), by allowing our hearts to be touched by the suffering of our brothers and sisters. Indeed, the Season of Creation is also an appropriate time for fraternal closeness and solidarity with the vulnerable and the poor, chiefly those who suffer from environmental degradation. We can learn from their stories, from their resilience, from their commitment, and together keep hope alive.

Not long ago I wrote in anticipation of this day as the Feast of Creation in Christ, marking the beginning of the Season of Creation concluding on October 4th, the Feast of St. Francis. The United Church has announced that it will join with other denominations around the world with the goal of celebrating today so I'm baffled that no liturgical resources are provided on our website to do so. 

The Anglicans in Canada have developed a really worthwhile Feast of the Creator resource, including scripture passages and eucharistic or communion prayers  https://www.anglican.ca/resources/feast-of-the-creator/

One of those prayers was written in British Columbia with specific references to that setting, including Indigenous peoples. There is an invitation to adapt the prayer for different regions across the country and since I was in outport Newfoundland when I read through the document I've taken a stab at doing so, even though I'm venturing into Anglican territory!

May God be with you 

And also with you 

Lift up your hearts 

We lift them up 

Let us give thanks to God our Creator 

It is right to give our thanks and praise 

It is right at all times and in all places to thank and praise you Creator of all. 

We praise you here in the land of the Beothuk of old, the land of the Micmac and Innu today, 

where harvests from forest and sea are alongside towns and outports and industry. 

We praise you at a time when the body of earth is broken again and again. 

We give thanks for our place in the story of salvation. Our ancestors journeyed with you in creation and migration. They depended on the land, were displaced from the land and displaced others from their lands. They knew you in tents and cities, on mountains and by wells, in families and in dreams, and through wilderness prophets who spoke of cedars and listened to ravens. 

Together with angels and ancestors, codfish and eagles, gannets and caribou, whales and resilient tuckamore, we join our voices with all creation in this ancient honour song:

Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might 

Heaven and earth are full of your glory. 

Hosanna in the highest. 

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. 

A Lion Lamb Thank you

 

I'll take a moment to offer thanks to readers through the past couple of weeks (and always!) We were away on Change Islands, Newfoundland, as you might have seen in yesterday's blog. This is a marvellous and remote place of raw beauty at the edge of Canada. 

 When I go away I blog in advance for the days I'll be absent, a challenge when I'm gone for a while. It is work to do so but this is also an opportunity to catch up on subjects that have piqued my interest and I just haven't got around to. 

My Lion Lamb blog will be 20 years old in a couple of weeks and while social media has largely moved on from blogging I continue. I'm fascinated that in a world which has become desacralized in many respects, to our peril I feel, the sacred and holy continue to push up in discourse in nearly every sphere of life, like wildflowers through cracks in pavement. 

I will also offer an apology for not responding to every comment while away because it's frustrating to do so on my phone. In fact, I managed to inadvertently delete one of Roger's observations about Star Trek during this absence and I've done so to others in the past. It wasn't intentional even though Roger is a Habs fan. 

Again, thank you for reading and I'll keep at it for a while, God willing. 

Refuge in the Silence on Change Islands

 

                                  Our refuge is the house  to the upper right of the photo

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to mount Horeb, the mountain of God.

There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up."

When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."

Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground

     Exodus 3:1-5 NRSVue 

A week ago today I was sitting on the deck of the 100+ year old house we stay in just about annually on Change Islands, Newfoundland. These islands have a little over a hundred year-round inhabitants and while they are busier in the summer they aren't a tourist destination like the nearby Fogo Island. 

Last Sunday I went outside to sit and ponder in the relatively windless calm, a rarity in Newfoundland. I was almost overwhelmed by the absence of human-made noise which is omnipresent in our world. We are inclined to be up early at home and go out to our deck before the often-time strident hum begins. We hear the dawn chorus and the breeze in surrounding trees. Even still, we may also hear trains being shunted on tracks a kilometre away, or a siren, or air-conditioning units. None of these sounds were evident last week. No one was heading out fishing or cutting grass. 

                                                        A sunset from the deck on Parson's Lane 

                                                     My re-read while on Change Islands this year

Ruth joined me outside last week as I was reading resources for the Feast of Creation in Christ which will be celebrated ecumenically on Tuesday, September 1 or next Sunday. As we looked out on the sea we agreed that the silence, other than the cries of gulls and terns and crows. was an almost palpable presence. There was the profound sense that we were on the "holy ground" of Creation and Creator we hear about in one of this week's lectionary passages. 

There were once four churches on Change Islands but the United Church is now closed as is the Pentecostal building. The tiny "Hanglican" and "Harmy" congregations gather intermittently as their priest and officer is able to include them in the schedule. Last week there was no service on the islands at all so we were a congregation of two, giving thanks for the solitude and beauty. 

We did visit the beautiful old St. Margaret's Anglican while we were there and I opened the 175-year-old King James Version bible to the theme "Living Water" verses for the Feast of Creation from Ezekiel. It seemed appropriate to do so for this "out to pasture pastor".

Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish once these waters reach there. It will become fresh, and everything will live where the river goes. People will stand fishing beside the sea from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 

 On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

Ezekiel 47 9,10,12 NRSVue