Emancipation Day in Canada

 

We hear a lot about Juneteenth in the United States the celebration of Emancipation of enslaved people after the Civil War. There were slaves in Canada as well but the process of emancipation began much earlier in the British Empire, of which Canada was a colony. This grim history is sadly close to home. In March 1824, in one of the last recorded sales of a slave in Upper Canada (now Ontario), Eli Keeler of Colborne sold 15-year-old Tom to William Bell in Thurlow, which is now part of Belleville. The historic Bridge St Methodist Church which I served until retirement likely had slave owners in the congregation in the early 19th century. 

Tomorrow, August 1st,is Emancipation Day in Canada, an event celebrated for decades by the Black community, although only the second since the formal recognition by our Parliament. Here is a link to a United Church of Canada panel discussion this evening: 

Join us for "Emancipated, But Still Working for Freedom,” a panel discussion with members of the Black Clergy Network in celebration of Emancipation Day, marking the abolishment of slavery across the British Empire, including Canada.

This 90-minute event will be moderated by Adele Halliday, Anti-Racism and Equity Lead at the General Council Office, with panelists:

• Dr. Charmaine Nelson, Professor of Art History and a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Transatlantic Black Diasporic Art and Community Engagement at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University.
• Dr. Carol B. Duncan, Professor of Religion and Culture at Wilfrid Laurier University.
• Russel Burns, entrepreneur and member of the National Indigenous Council of The United Church of Canada.
• Dr. Pedro Welch, retired Deputy Principal of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and former Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Education, and Professor of Social and Medical History in the Department of History and Philosophy at the UWI.

Join for this special online discussion and bring your questions. 

Join us for a Panel Discussion with the Black Clergy Network - 7:30 p.m. EDT, Sunday, July 31.

Emancipation Day celebrates freedom for people of African descent and ended slavery for all people in the British Empire. It reaffirms that all people should be treated as human beings.

An announcement of the sale of enslaved people. It appeared in the Quebec Gazette in May 1785. One of the horrors of slavery was that enslaved people were treated as property rather than as human beings.

 Photo: Quebec Gazette

Pope Francis is home. Will Reconciliation Happen?

 

Last week I wrote in anticipation of the visit to Canada by Pope Francis for a series of apologies regarding the Roman Catholic complicity in the soul-destroying Residential School system. The events took place in several places across the country, including a visit to the site of a former school and a mass in Edmonton that attracted in the neighbourhood of 60,000 people.

Pope Francis did apologize, several times, and I have no doubt that he was genuine in his words. As part of the first apology he said: 

Today I am here, in this land that, along with its ancient memories, preserves the scars of still open wounds. I am here because the first step of my penitential pilgrimage among you is that of again asking forgiveness, of telling you once more that I am deeply sorry. Sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous peoples. I am sorry. I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools.

Sadly, frustratingly for many Indigenous persons, never did Francis acknowledge that it was the Roman Catholic church as an institution which systemically participated in these grievous crimes, or that the church was integrally involved in the realities of colonization. As you can see, he said that he was sorry for the ways in which individuals within the church were perpetrators of wrongdoing. The distinction wasn't accidental, it seems to me. 

Si Pih Ko spontaneously sang in Cree to Pope Francis after his apology in Maskwacis on Monday says she did it for her family members affected by residential schools.The unscripted singing came after the Pope was gifted a headdress that he wore on stage.

On the flight back to Rome overnight Francis was candid with reporters, as he often is, conceding that what happened to Indigenous peoples in Canada was genocide, something he never said explicity during the past week. Genocide cannot be perpetrated by a bunch of "bad apples", it requires a determined level of commitment on the part of institutions, which is what happened across this land. Some Indigenous commentators won't used the term Residential Schools because it suggests that their purpose was education. They see them as a system of incarceration and extinction of culture -- genocide. 

What will come next? Other popes have issued supposedly heartfelt apologies which did not result in a change of culture in the church or restitution. Pope Benedict's lengthy apology to those harmed by the Roman Catholic church in Ireland is cited as an example -- lots of talk, little action. 

Among the numerous expectations for the Roman Catholic church is a renunciation of the Doctrine of Discovery, actually a series of papal declarations beginning in the late 15th century which spuriously justified the invasion and colonization of lands in different parts of the world and the subjugation of Indigenous peoples. 

This renunciation, along with repatriation of Indigenous sacred items, and reparations in various forms might mean that healing and reconciliation can occur. It's not too late, although many of the survivors of abuse and cultural genocide are aged. Now Pope Francis, now. 

Here is Indigenous activis Cindy Blackstock's post-apology "to do" list which is pointed and comprehensive.

https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2022/07/26/Post-Apology-To-Do-List/

Medical Assistance in Dying and our Faithful Response

 I have been asked by the Faith Development Committee at Trenton United Church, our home congregation, to lead a study and discussion group on the subject of Medical Assistance in Dying this Fall.I will do so, God being my helper, and I look forward to where this will take me and whoever participates. 

I have been involved in discussion about MAID for years and had the Rev. Rob Oliphant, a United Church minister and Canadian Member of Parliament come to Bridge St. Church about the legislation before it was passed because he was one of the co-chairs of the joint Parlimentary and Senate working group which framed it. On a hot Friday evening in May of 2016 nearly 100 people from the congregation and broader community arrived to listen and pose their questions. A newspaper report included some of Rob's comments about the process of developing legislation: 

“Every human life is sacred, but also our task was to make sure people have the best quality of life and to begin to respect their decisions,” said Oliphant, answering questions interview-style by Bridge Street United Church’s Rev. David Mundy.
“This is end of life care for people who have come to that point where they have a grievous and irremediable disease, where they have intolerable suffering and where they have capacity to make a decision to end that journey.
“Our question wasn’t about life or death, living or dying. Our question was about intolerable suffering and a gracious death and how we would come to that.”

Since that gathering six years ago a lot has happened and we will cover as much ground as possible in our discussions. Here is the announcement which will go up regarding the series, and as always folk who are not part of Trenton UC are welcome to participate. 

Medical Assistance in Dying and our Faithful Response
(Wednesdays Sep 28th, Oct 5th, 12th @ 10:15 AM)

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

In 2016 Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) became legal in Canada. Both before and after this legislation passed communities of faith from different traditions responded, some in strong opposition and others, including the United Church, with cautious support.

Together we will explore what the bible and our tradition say about the end of life and death, and how we can navigate the reality of MAID faithfully and compassionately.  Please sign up on the sheet at the back of the church or by contacting the office.

This will be a hybrid in-person and online study group.  The in-person gathering will take place in the Middle Auditorium at the church, and online participants can connect on Zoom through the following link:
Online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86914198434

Below this are some of the questions which have already come to mind as I begin my preparation: 

What do the bible and our faith history say about the end of life and our choices in this regard?

Is it a sin or is it mercy to provide Medical Assistance in Dying? 

What is the history around Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada?  

Are the underlying premises of palliative care/hospice and MAID in opposition or can they be complementary? 

Why does the legislation around MAID keep changing? 

Should faith communities offer support for those choosing MAID? 

The Hymn Society & Global Joyful Sounds

                                                             Hymn Society Conference 2022

...be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...

Ephesians 5:18b, 19,20 NRSVue

III. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.

IV. Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.

         from John Wesley's Directions for Singing -- Voices United 720                       

 Last week the Hymn Society of the U.S. and Canada met in-person, for the first time in three years. There are lots of events which can take place virtually but making music online, including hymns, pales by comparison with the blending of voices in a shared space. 

The event which took place in Washington DC this year marked the one hundredth anniversary of the society. The gathering of 300 or more was titled Sing the Word God Imagines and it included music from around the globe. According to Religion News Service 

Rahel Daulay, a Methodist who had traveled from Indonesia, was explaining the proper way to dance while singing a hymn she had brought from Southeast Asia — bending knees slightly “to humble yourself” and turning toward one’s neighbors, palms together at the chest. Then turn forward, lift up the arms and hold the hands upward.

 I notice from photos that the majority of participants were longer in the tooth, so were chiropractors stationed throughout the building? Not only is it important that Christians from churches in Europe and North America embrace music from other parts of the world, they are often the places where Christ's church is thriving and substantially younger. 

This is not a new theme for the Hymn Society. Back in 2003 it met in Halifax, Nova Scotia where I was pastoring a downtown congregation. The theme then was From Age to Age and From Land to Land. I attended some of the sessions at nearby venues and on the Sunday morning a sizeable contingent of participants were in attendance at St. Andrew's. After the service I chatted with one hymn writer from the States who has pieces in Voices United and the next day I took him and his partner for a ramble on an area beach.

 In our congregation, Trenton United, Rev Isaac and music director Dianne, invite, nudge, and cajole us into singing hymns which are contemporary and often originated in other cultures. We never "sing the songs of Satan" but I wonder if some members consider them as such!

As long as we have breath we can sing our praise to God, three-in-One, and we can be both comforted and enlivened by the hymns of our faith. Remembr to sing lustily and with good courage, but no diva bawling permitted 

V. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct  from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.

VI. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

      from John Wesley's Directions for Singing -- Voices United 720

Another Virus & Living Beyond Stigma

 

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.  As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? So where are the other nine?  Did none of them return to give glory to God except this foreigner?”  Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Luke 17:11-19 NRSVue 

When I first heard about an illness called Monkeypox a couple of months ago it sounded bizarre. Monkeypox? Really? Back then I joked with a guy at the gym that if I was going to get some form of pox I'd aim for a higher primate such as an orangutan or mountain gorilla. 

It turns out that this new-to-us infection is no laughing matter and the World Health Organization recently  declared a Global Health Emergency regarding Monkeypox. In a short period of time Canada went from a few cases in Quebec to roughly 700 spread across the country. Monkeypox can result in serious illness and even death, depending on the variant. And while this virus is transmitted by close contact, that includes through aerosol droplets.Sound familiar? 

I realize that this should matter for all of us, including Christian communities, for a number of reasons. It is a reminder that we live in "a small world after all" which as we have discovered with the deadly COVID pandemic can have dire consequences when it comes to illness. And that a health crisis in one part of the world can soon affect people on other continents regardless of their affluence or access to medical care. We have no cause to be arrogant of dismissive. We have seen that COVID has stretched our healthcare system to its limits with concerns that it is now effectively broken. 

There is also the issue of stigma, with efforts made to point out that while it has been most common amongst men have sex with men, this is not the only form of transmission. Stigmatizing others for any reason is not consistent with our understanding of the Good News of Jesus Christ. In the late 1980s I began visiting men hospitalized with HIV/AIDS and I recall my own fears and the still pervasive societal rejection. 

We can also appreciate that the Smallpox vaccine all but eliminated the possibility of contracting Monkeypox but the eradication of Smallpox in many nations meant that this vaccination was no longer deemed necessary. Canada and other countries are rushing to provide Monkeypox vaccine for those who are at higher risk. When we choose to be vaccinated against any disease it is obviously for our personal benefit but also for a greater good. I wish the scales would drop from the eyes of those anti-vaxxers, including conservative Christians, who engage in bizarre conspiracy theories or magical thinking about Jesus' protection. Why not be grateful and appreciate vaccines as a form of healing, a gift from God?  

In the bible there are a number of stories about the fear of leprosy, now seen as a range of skin ailments,  and the stigmatization of those epers. In both Older and Newer Testaments healings take place, through grace, courage and compassion. Jesus healed lepers, including a group of ten, both physically and psychologically, with the outsider, the Samaritan expressing gratitude. 

We can take this latest health challenge seriously and compassionately in our outlook and action, including prayer.

                                                                Jesus Heals a Leper Mosaic

Teach us to Pray -- Reflecting on the Lord's Prayer

                                              Church of the Pater Noster (Our Father) Jerusalem 

[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

He said to them, "When you pray, say: 

Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

 Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

 And do not bring us to the time of trial."    Luke 11:14 NRSVue

 On Sunday morning we went for a kayak paddle, then a swim, before arriving for worship at 10:00, just in the nick of time -- aren't we virtuous? It was a warm morning and it got even warmer because we were directed by the greeter into the balcony. Our two grandkids had decided this is where they wanted to perch, so up we climbed. 

The lectionary gospel reading for the day included Luke's brief version of what we call the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father, although Rev. Isaac (their father, our son) used another scriptural text as part of a summer preaching series. Just the same, we did recite the Lord's Prayer, as is the practice in many mainline denominations, and while it was on the screen I noticed that the nine-year-old I was sitting beside prayed with confidence, seemingly from memory.

This was a poignant moment for me. I grew up reciting the Lord's Prayer in school each morning, along with singing the national anthem.  Years later when our young family moved to Sudbury, Ontario there had just been a successful legal challenge to including prayer in schools by a local lawyer titles Zylberberg v. Sudbury Board of Education. Isaac, our oldest child was six at the time and entering Grade 1. He was at the vanguard of schoolchildren who no longer recited the prayer in that setting. I convinced our Worship Commitee to move the Lord's Prayer to a place in the worship service before the children exited for Sunday School so that they would learn it. Our children's choirs often led that congregation in a lovely sung version of the prayer, complete with actions. 

Even though many us may have droned our way through the Lord's Prayer mindlessly in school, it was a communal experience of prayer which I still consider important.

Here is the irony. Our Trenton grandchildren attend a French Catholic school where they regularly recite the Notre Pere, en Francais. Apparently what prays around comes around. 

I'm sure most of you have your recollections of reciting the Lord's Prayer in a variety of settings. 

The Lord’s Prayer (Alternate Version from the New Zealand Anglican Prayer Book)

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.

The Mystery and Courage of Forgiveness

 

                                                                        Cliff and Wilma Derkson

A few weeks ago there was a full-page obituary in the Globe and Mail newspaper for a person most Canadians have never heard of. Cliff Derkson was a 76-year-old former art teacher, a gentle man who was never interested in public attention, although he and his wife Wilma received it because of the high-profile murder of their daughter, Candace, in 1985. Candace was 13-years-old when she was abducted, then killed while walking home.

Despite the pain the Derksons experienced at the time of their daughter's death and their grief throughout their lifetimes they drew upon their Mennonite Christian faith to offer forgiveness to her unknown murderer. Wilma was generally the spokesperson for the couple and I've blogged about her books on their journey of forgiveness, one of which I used as one text in study groups. Sadly, their were critics of their outlook and some even suggested Cliff of being the murderer. He continued to lead a quiet life but when he eventually wrote his autobiography he observed: "I was struck over and over again at how  pervasive the concept of forgiveness had been in my life.  It was right there in the beginning."

In the Anabaptist tradition, which included Mennonites and Amish, the approach is generally to declare forgiveness no matter how grievous the harm, perhaps developed in the crucible of persecution in earlier centuries. It is very different from the perspective in many Christian circles that forgiveness comes with time. While this commitment to immediately declaring forgiveness may seem incomprehensible to some of us I've never doubted the Derksons sincerity. I do wonder if I could ever forgive in this way in similar circumstances. 

While I've been meaing to write about Cliff Derkson's story it has come to mind as Pope Francis is in Canada to offer apologies to Indigenous people who were done great harm through the Residential School system. The abuses were a form of soul murder, and there were children who physically died from neglect. 

Some Residential School survivors and their descendents have already said they are prepared to forgive, and many of them are still Roman Catholics. Others are waiting to hear whether the apology or apologies are sincere, with commitment to action. Still others are boycotting the events during the visit and creating alternative opportunities to gather. Some condemn the Roman Catholic church as evil and irredeemable. 

It is not for any of us to say whether or how forgiveness should be offered. Forgiveness is at the heart of Christian faith but we must humbly concede that it is a mystery which we endeavour to comprehend and express through our lifetimes, through the grace of Christ.   

Again, this week we can pray for those who were harmed so deeply by Christ's church, including those who attended United Church run Residential Schools. 

                                                Pope Francis arrives in Edmonton, Sunday July 24th

Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, United Church Moderator

               The Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, United Church Moderator elect

 When I heard a few months ago that there was only one nominee for Moderator of the United Church at this year's General Council I figured it was a sign of the times. While we aren't giving up hope for our denomination, many of our assumptions about how we live and work together have changed. The position of Moderator, essentially our spiritual leader, once drew a number of capable nominees and lively discussion around who was best suited to the position. 

Yesterday General Council elected Rev. Carmen Lansdowne and we are fortunate -- blessed -- that the sole candidate in 2022 will be a capable leader, well suited to our time. It seems providential that on the same weekend Pope Francis arrives in Canada to apologize for the shameful reality of Residential Schools  the United Church has chosen an Indigenous person for this important role. I was a commissioner to General Council in 1992 when the United Church elected the Reverend Stan McKay as the first, and until now, only Indigenous person to lead a Canadian denomination. Thirty years later, the Rev. Lansdowne is the first woman. We can ask the Creator to give Carmen wisdom and courage as she guides us in the next few years. 

 Here is the CBC news item from yesterday about the election. I'm glad there is some coverage amidst the media focus om the pope's visit. 

A minister in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has become the first Indigenous woman to lead a religious denomination in Canada.

On Saturday, the United Church of Canada elected Rev. Carmen Lansdowne as its new moderator. The position makes her the institution's spiritual leader and public representative, while policies and doctrine are overseen by a general council.

The Heiltsuk (Haíɫzaqv) Nation member, also known as Kwisa'lakw, helms First United in the Downtown Eastside. It offers food, housing and showers to low-income residents."Our safety nets are not adequately responding to their needs," Lansdowne said in an interview.

Churches should be "speaking truth to power" on issues like poverty, housing, Indigenous rights, and climate change, crises that "play out" tragically in the Downtown Eastside, she said. "But they're issues that affect all Canadians. I think the church should have something to say."

Mary the Tower in the Heat of Summer

 

Yesterday was the annual Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, an occasion which is not exactly a high priority for Protestants, not to mention that it's tucked away in the heat of summer. Some of the Roman Catholics I follow noted it, but that wasn't enough to get me writing. 

Last evening I read a sermon (something I almost never do) by Diana Butler Bass at the recent Wild Goose Festival in the United States. It was entitled All the Mary's and drew on the scholarly explorations of Elizabeth Schrader who have been devoted to unravelling the confusion over Marys in the Gospels. Butler Bass looks at Luke 10:38-42 and John 11. In the intro to the sermon Diana concludes with: "I invite you to imagine with me --What would Christianity [have] been like if we'd known about Mary the Tower the entire time? What does it mean for us going forward?"

The sermon deserves a thorough reading or hearing but I was struck by Butler Bass's invitation to consider Mary of Magdala as a "towering" figure in the New Testament. Magdala was a fishing community whose name meant tower, hence Mary Magdalene. While in the history of the church this Mary was mythologized as a woman of ill repute, there is no evidence for that conclusion -- one more example of the demeaning and sexualization of women? 

Using Schrader's exploration of texts in the original languages Butler Bass posits that the Martha in John 11, the story of the raising of Lazarus is actually Mary and that her "yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God" is a Christological statement on par with Peter's "you are the Messiah" in Mark 8. If Peter is the Rock, why don't we recognize Martha/Mary as the Tower. 

Have you dozed off yet? While this scholarly premise is above my pay grade I really like the notion of Mary the Tower. Beyond Schrader's premise, which is worth considering, Mary Magdalene was faithfully present as Jesus died an agonizing death on the cross. She was the grieving and astonished first witness of the Risen Christ outside the empty tomb on Easter morning. And she was the first evangelist, sharing the Good News with the disciples who were hidden away in sorry and bewilderment. 

How did it become all about Peter as the go-to guy for the genesis of the Christian church and that whole papacy thing? Um, was it because he was a guy? 

I encourage you to ponder this, and maybe give a listen to Diana Butler Bass's sermon. Mary the Tower...I could get used to that moniker. 

https://dianabutlerbass.substack.com/p/all-the-marys#details

https://dianabutlerbass.substack.com/p/mary-the-tower (text)

Here is another link to a blog entry about Mary by Rachel Held Evans who died an untimely death in 2019

https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/mary-magdalene-the-witness

Pope Francis and Walking Together

 It's been hot in recent days so we took advantage of an overnight cool-down to get out early in our kayaks. It was before 7:00 that we launched on a stretch of the Moira River north of Belleville so we had the river to ourselves. The Moira was a travel route for Indigenous peoples in the past and I thought of them during our tranquil paddle, well aware that Pope Francis will arrive in Canada this weekend for what he is calling a "pilgrimage of penance." 

During six days beginning Sunday Francis will visit major centres across the country in the Walking Together trip, meeting with Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors as he apologizes for the Roman Catholic church’s grim legacy. He will also visit Iqaluit, with that community's large Indigenous population. and he may visit a residential school site where there are the unmarked graves of children who died because of malnutrition and poor medical care. 

When an Indigenous delegation spent most of a week with Pope Francis at the Vatican earlier this year he offered an apology at the conclusion which came as a surprise to some. While Francis acknowledged the evil of the abuses he spoke of the individuals who perpetrated them, not the church as an entity which engaged in cultural genocide. 

As I've listened and read and watched Indigenous leaders and commentators there are several themes which emerge about what should happen during the few days Pope Francis is in Canada.

One is a broad and honest apology for the role of the Roman Catholic church in residential schools, not just acknowledging the sins of individuals.

Another is a commitment to the repatriation of the many artifacts and sacred objects which reside at the Vatican. While these are considered historic gifts to the Roman Catholic church they are not regarded this way by Indigenous people. 

There needs to be a renewed commitment to financial reparations, which other denominations have fulfilled. The Roman Catholic church in Canada has failed miserably in honouring promises to raise funds while finding money for other projects. 

There have also been numerous requests for Pope Francis and the Roman Catholic church to renounce the Doctrine of Discover, the Papal statements beginning in 1493 which granted Christian explorers to claim land and engage in colonization around the world, including in Canada. While this seem like old history, it has symbolic significance and a repudiation of the doctrine would be meaningful. We should note that the United Church of Canada repudiated the Doctrine of Discover a decade ago, in 2012, as did the World Council of Churches. 

This papal visit is important and a huge commitment for 85-year-old Pope Francis, whose health has deteriorated over the past year.He certainly won't be doing much physical walking with those he visits.  We can pray that he has the moral strength to express his penance through concrete action for the sake of reconciliation and healing. 

We can also pray for all those who are residential school survivors and those who have experienced intergenerational trauma. 

Woof if you Love Jesus?

Is there a case for Animal Spirituality?  

In Genesis, the first book of the Jewish scriptures and the Christian bible, God engages is the prodigious work of Creation, with swarms of creatures in the waters, and the air, and on the land given life. In this first account of Creation (there is another that follows) humans are created last in God's likeness, to "hold sway" over the fish and the fowl, the domestic and the wild beasts. While there seems to be a unique agency for humans, all these other species are God-breathed, so do they have souls? 

This has been the subject of theological discussion for centuries,  although in the 17th century the philosopher Rene Descartes took Western thought in a disastrous direction. He posited that animals were merely 'mechanisms' or 'automata' – basically, complex physical machines without experiences. 

My first consideration of whether non-human animals have souls or the potential of an afterlife came in a philosophy of religion course at Queen's University nearly 50 years ago. Millard Schumaker was the remarkable professor and he opened me to a possibility I'd never considered before. He didn't suggest that "all dogs go to heaven" or that creatures could be Christian, or any other religion. He did invite us to ponder whether other sentient animals might have a spiritual life. I can say that there are cats and dogs I would rather encounter in heaven that a number of humans, including a select few members of congregations who I would readily consign to...I won't go there. 

Yesterday I saw the abstract for a two-part article called The Case for Animal Spirituality by Paul Cunningham. Have a read and see what you think: 

This is the first part of a two-part article that presents the theoretical and empirical case for nonhuman animal (hereafter, ‘animal’) spirituality. Part 1 discusses the relevance of evolutionary theory and species differences for understanding animals’ capacity to have spiritual experience, conceptual issues related to defining animal spirituality, and methodological considerations pertaining to the use of analogical reasoning and animalcentered anthropomorphism as heuristic strategies in the study of animal spirituality. Behavioral and ethological evidence bearing on the existence of awareness, perceptual experience, self-awareness, and meaning-making in the absence of human language in animals is presented. 

Part 2 examines evidence for six biopsychosocial capabilities in animals that are proposed building blocks of human spirituality—cognition, imagination, emotion, moral sense, personality, and value-life. Part 2 concludes with a discussion of the implications of animal spirituality for society’s treatment of animals, humanizing an inhumane human biocultural world, and advancing understanding of human spirituality. 

The Betrayal of Trust in Christian Communities

 

We have family members, a couple, who have actively participated for several years in what is really a constellation of Christian communities known as The Meeting House. While it's roots are in the Anabapstist tradition which is hundreds of years old it has a contemporary vibe. Notice that the name doesn't include the word "church" and the founder, Pastor Bruxy Cavey, has used terms such as "Jesus follower" rather than "Christian" because of the sadly negative connotation of the descriptor, Christian, especially related to conservative faith. 

Cavey has been a strong communicator through the years, in worship and lectures and books, and charismatic in a strange way given that he's looked more and more like his Saint Bernard dog. While his theology has been more conservative than my own in some respects,  his approach has been innovative and drawn in many people who were disaffected with organized religion, including lots of young adults. Some of the places for worship are more conventional but a number have met in movie theatres. As a result there are now close to twenty Meeting House locations in different communities, urban and rural, with the message for all of them provided each week by Bruxy via video link ...until a few months ago. 

Last December the story broke about an intimate relationship the married Cavey had with a woman half his age. As the days unfolded it was revealed that this began as a counselling relationship and had extended over several years. Not only was this cause for immediate dismissal from The Meeting House and his denomination, criminal charges were laid last month. In addition, members have been informed that there are other historical circumstances of staff members who have been dismissed, charged, and convicted of crimes without the congregations being aware. 

All this has left The Meeting House reeling with a significant drop in attendance and revenues. It does seem that the current leadership has attempted to be conscientious and transparent but huge damage has been done. 

I've refrained from reflecting on what has transpired since the first unsettling revelations because I knew I would simply be speculating about the whole mess. It has become progressively worse, though,  and I do wonder about the structure of some of the larger churches with pastors who are essentially celebrities. There are other examples, mostly from the States, land of the megachurch. Does their revered status cause them to lose perspective and avoid necessary accountability? It some instances concerns and accusations have gone unheeded with the victims being further victimized. Power can corrupt even the most sincere of shepherds, but some of them are wolves in sheep's clothing. 

In the end the flock, or in this case flocks, who suffer as well, often shaking faith to the core. Where will those who've already left go for spiritual support and Christian nourishment? 

James Webb & the Voice of the Nova

 

Lord of the star fields

Ancient of days
Universe Maker
Here's a song in your praise

Wings of the storm cloud
Beginning and end
You make my heart leap
Like a banner in the wind

Oh, love that fires the sun
Keep me burning
Lord of the star fields
Sower of life
Heaven and earth are
Full of your light

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
     Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger.

 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are humans that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

Psalm 8:1-4 NRSVue

I've written about Bruce Cockburn more than once through the years and I think I've identified Lord of the Starfields as my favourite Cockburn song, although during his recent Belleville concert there were plenty of noteworthy pieces.

With the James Webb Space Telescope so much in the news I continue to have mixed feelings about "going cosmic" when we have so much to address here on planet Earth. Why spend billions to explore our solar system and universe when half of the world's population is now vulnerable to the extremes of climate change? We now know that the billions spent in the 1950s and 1960s to "boldly go where no man has gone before" was more about a competition for supremacy between the United States and Russia than exploration. And now its the billionaires who are engaging in space travel as a vanity project. 

And yet...when I look into the night sky from a remote location I experience a sense of wonder and awe which is profoundly spiritual. I know I am viewing a miniscule portion of a rather ordinary galaxy. I can still revel in the vastness of it all and be humbled by the spectacle of Creation beyond my imagining.

Recently the JWST was launched successfully from the United States, a ten billion dollar project which went well over budget. The hope is that ot will far surpass the Hubble Telescope in the clarity of its images and give us information about the distant past and formation of the universe, as well as the present. 

“Today, we present humanity with a groundbreaking new view of the cosmos from the James Webb Space Telescope – a view the world has never seen before,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “These images, including the deepest infrared view of our universe that has ever been taken, show us how Webb will help to uncover the answers to questions we don’t even yet know to ask; questions that will help us better understand our universe and humanity’s place within it.”

It's not surprising that a number of faith writers have offered perspectives on this achievement with lots of thoughts about the importance of wonder, tempered with concerns about human hubris and maintaining a perspective on the realities of our troubled planet. 

Maybe we can agree that being awestruck is essential to our humanity and that we can praise the Creator, the voice of the nova. 

Awareness of the divine begins with wonder.

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Voice of the nova

Smile of the dew
All of our yearning
Only comes home to you

Oh, love that fires the sun
Keep me burning

Listen Up to Creation

 We were in Toronto over the weekend, principally to visit with our younger daughter Emily, and to take in two art installations/exhibitions. One was the Ed Burtynksy event as part of Luminato and the other a special exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto -- more to follow on these. 

Emily lives downtown so yesterday, Sunday morning, we were up early and she suggested we drive a few minutes to Tommy Thompson Park, aka the Leslie Street Spit. This human-made "spit" was fill from various demolition and excavation projects in the city beginning in the 1950s and it protrudes several kilometres into Lake Ontario at the bottom of Leslie St. It would never happen today for a host of reasons, including environmental concerns. 

While politicians fussed and dithered over what would become of what began as an eyesore nature stepped in. Despite a base of concrete chunks, bricks, and rebar -- often polluted -- plants and trees told hold and critters decided this would be a reasonable place to live. Today more than 300 bird species and various reptiles and mammals call this home. 

We arrived just past 6:30 AM and there were few others about. We walked for a while and came upon a Bike Share stand, so off we cycled. We saw rabbits and beavers and a mink but it was the presence of birds and birdsong which was music to our ears. The CN Tower is visible from the spit as well as the Toronto skyline of towers but the dawn chorus was underway. Just before 7:00 an almighty din of music started up, likely from a club or party boat. We were a couple of kilometres away, so imagine the poor condo neighbours. That sort of racket is illegal at that hour, but it persisted.

This is World Listening Day, but the opportunity and ability to hear the sounds of Creation is a gift on any day of the year. As I write I hear the wonderful music of falling rain which has intensified and lessened over the past couple of hours. I hear it passing through the leaves of the nearby birch trees and dripping from the eaves. And there is birdsong. These sounds are a gift from the Creator.

Here is a description of World Listening Day: 

• to celebrate the practice of listening as it relates to the world around us, environmental awareness, and acoustic ecology
• to raise awareness about issues related to the World Soundscape Project, World Listening Project, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, and individual and group efforts to creatively explore phonography
• to design and implement educational initiatives which explore these concepts and practices.

July 18 was chosen as the date for World Listening Day because it is the birthday of the Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. Schafer is one of the founders of the Acoustic Ecology movement. The World Soundscape Project, which he directed, is an important organization which has inspired a lot of activity in this field, and his book Soundscape: The Tuning of the World helped to define many of the terms and background behind the acoustic ecology movement.