Spirited Pentecost for All Creation

 

                                        

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 

 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 

 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 

 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

                                 Acts 2: 1-4 NRSVue

COME, HOLY SPIRIT COME

 COME AS THE FIRE – AND BURN 

COME AS THE WIND – AND CLEANSE 

COME AS THE LIGHT AND REVEAL

 CONVICT – CONVERT – CONSECRATE UNTIL WE ARE WHOLLY THINE!

This is the Feast of Pentecost in the Christian liturgical calendar. It is our opportunity to emphasize the magnificent, chaotic infusion of the Holy Spirit into a group of dispirited followers of Jesus who were still in mourning after the death of Jesus. Although they had received the Resurrection promise of Easter they didn't know which way to turn. 

We often describe Pentecost as the birth of the Christian church and it was an event that revived hope through wind and fire and new ways of speaking. I wonder how we can invoke the transformative work of the same Holy Spirit as we struggle to find our way forward in the  face of the crisis of climate change. 

Surely we understand by now that this is not Chicken Little "the sky if falling" alarmism. Here in North America we are already into a destructive wildfire season that is intensified by intense winds and drought. We hear of extreme environmental events almost daily, including heat warnings in India and parts of Europe. We could be tempted to hide away in the places we wish were sanctuaries of comfort while all of Creation is groaning. 

We need to find a common language for change that goes beyond talking past one another at Dis-United Nations environmental conferences to quench the destruction and revive Creation. We need courage to speak the truth that ecology and economy are not separate silos but interconnected.  

I see that last month a group of fourteen Liberal Members of Parliament, including former Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, sent a respectful yet challenging letter to Prime Minister Carney expressing concern about environmental rollbacks and a lessened commitment to climate change mitigation. I admire their courage in doing so. We need so much more of this from our elected leaders. 

                         St. Andrew's United Church Sanctuary Door, Sudbury, Ontario Jordi Bonet artist

How do we as Christ's people  kindle a different sort of Holy Spirit wildfire which will change the narrative of our societies for the healing of our planet? Today we will delight in time with all four of our grandchildren,  a blessing in our lives, and I want this change. 

Another of the passages often read on Pentecost Sunday is from one of the apostle Paul's letters where he speaks of the suffering of Creation and the saving hope of redemption for all, not just humanity.  Come Holy Spirit, come. 

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 

We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor,  and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

            Romans 8: 18-25 NRSVue

May God who established the dance of creation,
Who marvelled at the lilies of the field,
Who transforms chaos to order,
Lead us to transform our lives and the Church
To listen to the voice of all creatures,
That reflect God’s glory in creation

Is it Possible to Grieve with Hope?

 

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 

                             I Thessalonians 4: 13 NRSVue

In today's Globe and Mail there is an honest, powerful opinion piece by Danielle Crittenden,  the author of the recently published Dispatches From Grief: A Mother’s Journey Through the Unthinkable. It begins: 

If you suffer a tragedy, there will be no shortage of people offering hope. “You’ll get through this.” “It’s hard now but it will get better.” “You’re strong – and one day you’ll realize this will make you stronger.”

It’s a kind impulse. It’s a generous impulse. But it’s also the most unwelcome impulse.

Two years ago I suddenly lost my eldest daughter, Miranda. She was 32. The cause was complications from a brain tumour she’d had removed five years earlier, along with the pituitary gland it had destroyed. Her doctors had assured Miranda and us that she would live a full, healthy life. That didn’t happen. One February morning, the call came. Miranda was gone, and so was my life as I knew it.

Her loss is literally unimaginable. In paragraph after paragraph Crittenden dismantles some of the response  to her loss by usually well-meaning folk who had no intention of being "Job's comforters" but said and did things with the desire to console when there was no consolation. She also describes the grief as a pathway to personal growth that hasn't been helpful either. 

There was a time where rituals and encouragements around grief were largely the domain of religion. Sometimes they have been been awful to the point of cruelty with a happy-clappy "Jesus is Risen" approach that actually deepens profound grief. 

As a pastor I tried to travel a careful road on which we acknowledged the grim reality of death and mourning while affirming our resurrection hope in Christ. I won't claim to have always been adept at this but I attempted to be as genuine as possible. I found that any groups I offered on grief were well attended but no one came because they were seeking platitudes. There were some participants who had experienced shocking losses and others who watched elderly loved ones leave this life for the next. Grief was real and often lingering in all these circumstances. I came to appreciate that grief affected every person differently and I had no right to impose timelines or make assumptions. 

There were funeral and memorial services in which I included the passage above in a framework that is described so thoughtfully by New Testament Scholar N.T, Wright in a brilliant post on X. I appreciate that Wright acknowledges the apostle Paul's personal grief and a recognition that misusing this passage that his grief is "a standing rebuke to the shallowness that forbids Christians to grieve on the ground that all shall be well."

Tom Wright

@profntwright

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2h

Paul's deep, constant, and unresolved grief is a standing rebuke to the shallowness that forbids Christians to grieve on the grounds that all shall be well. Earnest preachers have sometimes read 1 Thess 4:13 as forbidding grief of all sorts, whereas what that passage forbids is grieving of a particular kind ("after the manner of pagans who have no hope"). To hold firmly to the Christian hope is not to pass beyond grief; indeed, not to grieve is not to love, since grief is the form love takes when the beloved is taken away. Paul himself speaks elsewhere (Phil 2:27) of the grief he would have had if Epaphroditus had died ("grief upon grief," he says); no suggestion there of simply "rejoicing that his friend had gone to a better place." As long as death is real, grief is real too. If it is not acknowledged, and expressed appropriately, it can be poisonous. At the same time, it is vital to learn the lesson that this deep and inconsolable grief can co-exist with the joy and celebration that fill the previous four chapters. The many-layered texture of Christian experience has room for both, and more besides. Learning how to live with these different layers, giving each its proper place, is part of Christian maturity; pointing to this task, and helping people to engage in it, is a vital part of Christian ministry. What happens between Romans 5-8 and Romans 9-11 at the level of literature must be facilitated at the level of prayer and Christian self-understanding. -Romans, The New Interpreters Bible

Seeing the Forest & the Trees

 

“We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were.”

                                             from the 1986 United Church Apology to Indigenous Peoples 

When Canadian scientist Suzanne Simard published her book The Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest to considerable acclaim in 2021 I purchased it and deeply appreciated her insights. Simard concluded through her research that trees have ways of communicating in mutual support with networks of fungi aiding the process. She was also convinced that in areas that were being cut it was essential to leave what she termed mother trees, the larger trees that have a unique role in nurturing younger growth. Although she had worked for the forestry industry she realized that clear-cutting caused irreparable damage to the complexity of soil and plant interdependence even though replanting took place. 

I recently finished her new book When the Forest Breathes:  Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World. She continues on the themes of interdependence based on the rigorous research she undertook with a long-time scientific partner, her adult daughters, and committed graduate students. The outcome distressed me as she described the compacting and destruction of forest floors by massive machinery. Protests against clear-cutting old growth trees in British Columbia seemed futile.

After the mother tree was published Simard faced strong resistance from some members of the scientific community including persons she had mentored and supported through the decades. This was devastating for her.

She is forthright about her treatment for breast cancer and slow recovery on the way back to working in the field. Her vibrant mother developed dementia and other serious illnesses leading to her choice to leave this life by Medical Assistance in Dying. A brilliant grad student died in a ski accident leaving Simard and many others in profound grief. 

A key element in Simard's recovery was connecting with Indigenous communities in BC and in the Amazon region. She realized that these peoples had been practicing a sustainable and reverential form of harvesting the forest for centuries with a wisdom ignored by Western science and resource depredation.

I was moved by her acceptance and humility as she absorbed these insights while understanding the continuing importance of Western science. There is the realization that everything is connected to everything in ways that are both spiritual and measurable. David Suzuki has also benefited from Indigenous wisdom and he too has been criticized.

I ponder all this from the perspective of a Christ-follower who desires health for our planetary home. So often Christianity became entwined with colonialism in subjugating  Indigenous peoples around the planet. We did so out of arrogance and to our peril. Our Judeo/Christian scriptures and heritage honours Creator and Creation yet we chose to ignore this in service to imperialism. I am grateful that Simard has stayed true to her science and has also opened herself to a wisdom that honours all of Creation. 

Reading Scripture, Seriously or Literally?

A king is not saved by his great army;

    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
 The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
    and by its great might it cannot save.

 Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,

to deliver their soul from death
    and to keep them alive in famine.

 Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and shield.
 Our heart is glad in him
    because we trust in his holy name.
 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

                                                     Psalm 33: 16-22 NRSVue

I attempt to read scripture regularly using the daily schedule of lessons provided through the ecumenical lectionary. My goal is to peruse the psalm on a daily-ish basis although I often read from the other prescribed passages for the day. Some of the "smitey" psalms are alarming but most of what I read is thought-provoking, inspiring and even emotionally touching. This exercise takes a matter of minutes each day and from time to time I wonder how it is that I fall off the scripture wagon. The "tyranny of the urgent" seems like a lame excuse when I'm non-gainfully retired.

Mainline denominations such as the United Church of Canada tend to claim that they take scripture seriously but not literally, but what does that mean. A current article from the Christian Century by Stephanie Perdew asks important questions about biblical literacy or perhaps more accurately illiteracy amongst mainline/oldline Christians. Here are two from an introductory summary: 

1.  Perdew recalls a conversation with some mainline Christians in which they lamented not having conversational “weapons” to use with White Christian nationalists. How equipped do you feel to discuss the Bible or history with people who strongly disagree with you? 

2. Perdew notes that it is popular for churches in her circles to say, “We take the Bible seriously but not literally,” as a way to distance themselves from fundamentalism. Unfortunately, Perdew laments, it often seems that mainline communities don’t take the Bible seriously or literally. What is your reaction to this observation?

These are honest and to the point. Through my years of congregational ministry I led studies on lots of subjects and always made a point of relating our explorations to scripture as our sacred north star.

 I also offered lectionary based groups including one for a decade which was made up mostly of elderly women with a smattering of men and younger (than them) adults. I was impressed by how well versed and wise they were, with members often coming from denominations that were more literally biblically-based. They left because those churches were too rigid and "us and them" but they brought their biblical foundation. 

When we lived in Sudbury there was a family whose teens had a strong knowledge of scripture and it turned out that the mom grew up as a Mennonite so bible reading were important. 

Biblical literalism usually isn't. It is a bias that often cherry picks scripture in a dismaying manner and ignores essentially aspects of Jesus' message of inclusion and compassion echoed in the New Testament letters. I've had interesting conversations with supposed literalists where I pointed out inconsistencies with this claim. 

I did love that the old United Church Observer magazine featured biblical cartoons by Cuyler Black who brought his wacky sense of humour as a guest speaker when I was at St. Paul's in Bowmanville. 

This morning I read the daily psalm, 33, and it included the verses above. I wonder what MAGA Christians and Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War, have to say about this one? Weak, it sounds very weak... 

Senseless Hatred in San Diego

People stand behind police tape at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

 We have seen it so often. Some guy or guys decides that Jews or Muslims or even Christians are a threat to the world. So they arm themselves with military style weapons and murder people they've never met at synagogues, mosques and churches. Their victims aren't armed or engaged in nefarious activity. They are worshipping or attending school or just chatting in front of their institutions. 

It happened again two days ago when a security guard and two worshippers at a mosque in San Diego were killed by two boys aged 17 and 18 who were so possessed by hate they committed this terrible act. The guard was a father of nine who was beloved by many. He managed to sound the alarm to teachers at the adjacent school before the fatal confrontation.

I noticed that a nearby church immediately opened its doors to provide shelter for the evacuated schoolchildren. Within a few hours a California Jewish organization issued a statement decrying this crime based on religious hatred. Ultimately, we should all know that prejudices and violence against any religious group puts us all people of faith at peril. I think of the Muslim community which provided solace and financial support to the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh a few years ago after a gunman killed a number of people. 

It is bizarre that so often it seems that that it is the fundamentalists within religious groups, whatever their stripe, who foment discrimination and threat. In the United States and Canada there are Christian extremists who are no longer quiet about their contempt for those who practice other religions. In Israel there is a disturbing rise in anti-Islam and anti-Christian violence perpetrated by Jewish fundamentalists. In some African nations Islamic extremists kidnap or kill Christians. It is hatred that becomes an idolatrous religion and it is all so senseless and a spiral into hell on earth. 

In the midst of this tragedy we can be vigilant in condemning religious prejudice in all forms, speaking our truth when necessary. Those of us who follow Jesus, the Jew, can make peace in our thoughts and words and deeds. We can support interfaith dialogue and understanding and promote solidarity. 

 God of us all, comfort those who mourn in San Diego. 

A Magdalen May 1 Chorus, Male and Female

                       

Two years ago I wrote about a May 1st tradition in Oxford, England, where the Magdalen College Choir climbs high atop the city and sings to the crowd gathered below. The tradition is more than 500 years old but it seems that everything old is new again, In 2014 about 14,000 cheerful early-birds gathered and last year 16,500. This year is was 18,500. 

I noted that in many places in Europe May1st is May Day, acknowledged as the first day of Summer, which is hard to grasp. This year we were still freezing our tushes off on May 1 across much of Canada. 

Wildflowers are gathered, dancing around a maypole takes place, and bonfires are lit. The origins of these festivals are ancient and pre-Christian but we could argue that Europe is now post-Christian in many respects. The choir was created centuries ago to sing the daily church services in Magdalen College Chapel yet much of the crowd below looks pleasantly pagan. 

                                                       Oxford at the crack of dawn, May 1, 2026

The front row of the choir will look different next year as for the first time in five centuries girls will be included in the choir. Here is an article about the change: 

For the first time in its history, the world-renowned choir of Magdalen College is admitting girls to sing alongside boys as choristers.

Founded in 1480, the choir has become one of the most highly regarded ensembles in the UK and is best known for singing to welcome the dawn from the Great Tower of Magdalen College each year on May Morning. The Choir has appeared at the BBC Proms and toured the USA, France, Sweden, Holland, Portugal, and Spain in recent years. Having previously recorded for the Harmonia Mundi and Opus Arte labels, the Choir released its first album on the CORO label in 2023.

The choir’s 16 young choristers are drawn from Magdalen College School, originally founded as the Song School for the College, which on 2 February announced its plans to become co-educational from 2027. The College subsequently took the opportunity to consider how best to integrate girls into the musical life of the Chapel and has now decided to offer choristerships on an equal basis to both girls and boys aged between eight and 13.

Sure they have their 500 year old Spring tradition, but do they have trilliums? 

Saints and heavenly choirs preserve us, girls alongside the boys. What will be next? 

Joana Texeira and Pax Butchart on May Morning. 2026

(Image: Newsquest)

Good Shepherds and Sheep Detectives

 

1 The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want;

he makes me down to lie

in pastures green; he leadeth me,

the quiet waters by.

We were at the movie theatre a couple of months ago and saw the trailer for an upcoming film called The Sheep Detectives. It's about sheep who are...detectives. Trailers usually convince us of the movies we don't want to see but this one looked genuinely funny, so we decided to go when it came to town. 

I'm here to say that it is funny, clever, even touching -- sort of Knives Out meets Babe. It has a great cast including Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson as humans, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, and Patrick Stewart as sheep, along with many other strong actors. The animation (animal-ation?) is impressive as well.

Sadly, the good, wool-only shepherd of the flock, Jackman, is murdered and his flock is bereft until one of them steps up to lead them. For years the shepherd has read them cozy murder mysteries each evening, so why don't they solve the crime? 

I'll keep the wool over your eyes in terms of whodunit but there are some moments of a religious nature that I'll share. One of the suspects is the local vicar and we meet him as he introduces the parable of the Lost Sheep during a worship service and we see a Good Shepherd stained glass window.  

Later in the film a world-wise and weary ram attempts to explain to his two sheep-sleuth companions what church and God are. He  admits that it's confusing because God is a Shepherd but he is also a Lamb. But the Lamb is also Bread and humans eat the bread. It is delightfully bewildering and during my ministry I had occasions when I tried to explain all this to children and adults with varying success. 

There are poignant moments in the story as well with some reflection on the nature of grief, avoidance of our mortality, and our hopes for the afterlife. Hey, it has it all, so go and see it! The Lion LAMB blogger signing off for today...