The G7 & the Dignity of Chief Crowchild

                                           Chief Steven Crowchild and President Donald Trump

1 Make me a channel of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me bring your love;

where there is injury, your healing power,

and where there's doubt, true faith in you...

 Well, the Orange One arrived at the G7 summer camp, trotted out a few inaccurate grudges about the past, had a cat nap, and left unexpectedly early, before he spoke with several of his counterparts from other nations. So much for being the leader of the free world.

Fortunately he did have a conversation with Prime Minister Mark Carney about free trade and it may have gone well. Let's be honest, we never really know.

There was also a brief exchange between Treaty 7 leader, Tsuut’ina Minor Chief Steven Crowchild, and President Trump as part of the welcoming delegation. Crowchild had mixed feeling about this encounter, wondering if he should be there. He reflected on what transpired afterward: 

Instead of war, I chose peace. Instead of hate, I chose love. Instead of hostility, I tried my best to show humanity. He was just another person, like the ones I greeted before him (some would say a horrible person and we all know many reasons why). I felt strong with my feather hat, which I received a transfer for yesterday, my treaty suit, my beadwork, and good medicine. I stood taller than him as a proud Tsuut’ina. Close as it gets...

These comments reflect maturity and dignity. Well done Chief Crowchild. They bring to mind the hymn, Make Me a Channel of Your Peace based on the words of St. Francis. 

On another note, the RCMP security team is acknowledging that it has installed 8-foot tall critter fencing because Kananaskis is grizzly bear country. I'm assuming that this protection is for the bears, not the humans. 

Culture Begins at the Banquet Table

3 This is the hour of banquet and of song; 

this is the heavenly table for me spread;

here let me feast, and feasting, still prolong 

the fellowship of living wine and bread.

4 Too soon we rise; the symbols disappear. 

The feast, though not the love, is past and gone;

the bread and wine remove, but you are here,

nearer than ever, still my shield and sun.

5 Feast after feast thus comes and passes by,

yet, passing, points to that glad feast above,

giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,

the Lamb's great bridal feast of bliss and love.

                                                  Voices United 459

Today I was going to write about the G7 Conference now underway in Kananaskis, Alberta, with leaders from around the world. 

Since I have time to reflect on this event I'll mention instead that we've been watching the series Tucci in Italy, yet another travelling food show. Actor Stanley Tucci is the delightful host taking us on a tour of the regions of Italy, dish by delectable dish. Well, some of the food seems a bit gross, but Stan reassures us that everything is a culinary wonder. Just a reminder that Tucci is an actor who is rarely the lead of a film yet he makes everything he's in better. You may have seen him as a liberal Cardinal not-vying for the papacy in Conclave.  He was a star in the really good 1996 comedy/drama Big Night about restauranteurs offering a free sumptuous meal to celebrities. 

In Episode One Tucci visits the city of Sienna for the Palio, a thrilling bareback horse race that takes place twice a year in the city square, and has been run for centuries.Thousands of people show up, packing the Piazza del Campo and then they eat. Each district of the city prepares a marvellous meal and the participants eat outdoors. 

The footage for this event was remarkable with its sense of conviviality despite the high competitive energy of the race. It's even more amazing to learn that much of the work is done by volunteers from every walk of life who enthusiastically describe their involvement.

For me this brought to mind the imagery of the feasting Jesus in this lifetime, including the Last Supper. Then there is the prospect of the heavenly feast as an image of God's extravagant welcome. 

I went back to the introduction of a book by Mike Aquilina with the long-winded title Work, Play, Love: How the Mass Changed the Life of the First Christians:

Culture begins at the banquet table. In every religion, at every time in human history, shared feasts have formed—or deformed—the culture. Sharing a meal is the most basic and most binding form of social interaction. Who can eat with whom and when? The question is almost an obsession for many cultures, because eating together means communion. If we eat together, it means that we are part of the same community.

And if we eat together with God, it means God is also part of our community.

A religious feast brings us together as people of one faith. It’s the most important thing that happens to us. It takes us out of our ordinary daily routine of trying to survive and makes us part of something bigger and more important.

Stanley Tucci wants us to believe that everything he tastes is heavenly and he has the facial expressions and body language to support this. Why wouldn't we believe him, even if he is an actor? 

I wish religion could convey that sense of abundance and delight in word and deed. It was lovely that Trenton United offered a free catered meal last week to mark the 100th anniversary of the United Church. 

As a child we would sing the same communion hymn every time with it's imagery of the foretaste of the festal joy. Should we sing it again from time to time? 

The Hymns of the Creatures

 

Refrain: Called by earth and sky, promise of hope held high. 

This is our sacred living trust, treasure of life sanctified, called by earth and sky. 

2. Precious this gift, the air we breathe; wind born and free. 

Breath of the Spirit, blow through this place, our gathering and our grace

Today the Trenton United congregation will be in the park for worship and there will be a Battle of the Hymns. These events are more like skirmishes, or maybe soccer friendlies, with a degree of passion about favourites but without physical blows -- so far. 

We began our day with the hymns of Creation as we paddled a section of the Moira River before heading to the service. We were greeted almost immediately by the frogs, tenor leopards, and bass bulls. The kingfishers chattered amidst the profusion of avian voices. At 7:15 AM there wasn't any noise from fishing boats until we returned to the launch site. 

I think of The Great Animal Orchestra by Bernie Krause, an acoustical savant who maintains that in healthy ecosystems "All God's Creatures Got a Place in the Choir" (my interpretation.) This is a wonderful premise. 

The human hymns I would choose include Touch the Earth Lightly, God of the Sparrow God of the Whale, Come and Find the Quiet Centre. I'd be happy to sing blasts from the past such as All Creatures of our God and King and This is God's Wondrous World. The latter used to be This is My Father's World, a version which might be okay on Father's Day.

I hope you have a lovely day (it is perfection here) with plenty of singing and listening. 

All the hymns in yesterday's skirmish were Creation related, and we began with a verse from eight different hymns. We voted them down to four, then two. The winner was Called By Earth and Sky from More Voices. The choice for both of us, happy to say. 

No Kings in a US Democracy

 

1 Ride on! Ride on in majesty!

Hark! All the tribes hosanna cry:

O Saviour meek, pursue thy road

with palms and scattered garments strowed.

2 Ride on! Ride on in majesty!

In lowly pomp ride on to die;

O Christ, thy triumphs now begin

o'er captive death and conquered sin.

I Love A Parade, the tramping of feet,

I love every beat I hear of a drum.
I Love A Parade, When I hear a band,
I just want to stand and cheer as they come.

Today's military parade in Washington DC has been described as "military chic" with tens of millions being spent on this chilling piece of theatre. Of course, it has been orchestrated by the Orange Emperor on what happens to be his birthday -- what a coincidence!

This has been quite a week with National Guard troops and Marines sent to California even though this is illegal without the invitation of  Governor Newsome or the LA mayor. . This morning I heard someone on CBC Radio saying that democracy is effectively ending in the States and that while Trump was democratically elected, so was Adolph Hitler. He brought this up, not to make a direct comparison, but because democracy is a fragile institution that can melt away with unsettling speed. 

                                                                  North Korea Military Parade 

Across the United States there will be "No Kings" events today to protest this riduculous spectacle and we need to pray for the wellbeing of the participants. Failed presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, has suggested that Floridians have permission to drive their vehicles into protesters if they feel threatened and a sheriff promised that those who get too unruly will be shot dead.This is totalitarianism, pure and not-so-simple

Palm Sunday is in the rearview mirror in our liturgical year yet I think of Jesus entering Jerusalem from the east as the anti-king from direction while Pontius Pilate arrived from the west as the representative of Rome's might. The contrast invited people to ask, who will we follow and to whom will be bow down. These questions remain. 

Major Barbara & Lieutenant Margaret

 

A guy on a bicycle had a major prang and we ended up at the Shaw Festival. A good friend of good friends, an experienced cyclist, went off the road while on a group ride and ended up in hospital. As a result he couldn't attend a performance of Major Barbara by GB Shaw and we bought the tickets. We got to spend time with folk we really enjoy and see the performance but we feel really badly for the injured friend.

According to the AI summary: 

"Major Barbara" by George Bernard Shaw is a play that explores the intersection of religion, social responsiblity and wealth. It centers on Major Barbara Undershaft, a dedicated Salvation Army officer, whose beliefs are challenged by her father, Andrew Undershaft, a wealthy arms manufacturer. Their worlds collide as she grapples with the implications of accepting donations from morally questionable sources and questions the true nature of salvation and societal structures. 

                                                            Lieutenant Margaret Farmer (Mundy)

The play was written over a century ago but it certainly sounds current, doesn't it? The plot touched  because my late mother grew up in the Sally Anne was a Salvation Army officer for several years before

 leaving to become a part of the United Church in the early 1950s. She was Lieutenant Margaret and

 I'll never know if she saw a production of Major Barbara. 

 

Trenton United & an Anniversary Little Forest

 

                                                                To Live With Respect in Creation 

On Sunday morning our Trenton United congregation celebrated the 100th anniversary of the United Church of Canada and the 10th anniversary of the amalgamated TUC congregation. 

Our board chair spoke about several "good news" projects including the impending planting of a Little Forest as well as a tree on the church property. The "forest" is a grove of native tree species to be planted along the Trent River in collaboration with Trent Valley Conservation Authority. Members have been invited to contribute funds and each gift has become a leaf on a tree on a wall in the sanctuary. The goal of $1,000 has now been realized.

                                                                      Trent River Parkway

I spoke at Trenton United a year ago about attending a seminar put on by Little Forests Kingston https://littleforests.org/ and wondered if such a project could happen on the church property. I'd like to think I planted that seed but I may be out of my tree. This alternative is a great idea, as is the tree planted on the hill at TUC for all to see as they pass by. Members will be invited to take part in the planting of the trees along the river. 

During the sermon time in the service this past Sunday I noted some signficant moments in the journey of the United Church during my years in ministry. One was the 1996 addition of the phrase "to live with respect in Creation" to our New Creed, now more realistically the Middle Aged Creed. 

We have a signed print of the Gary Crawford image (above) created for an illustrated booklet of this statement of faith -- look closely and you may be able to make out the phrase. It is perfect for the project we are undertaking, wouldn't you say? 

Walter Brueggeman & the Prophetic Imagination

 

The theologian Walter Brueggeman has died at the age of  92. He was a "is he still alive?" person having a remarkably long and prolific career. He wrote 58 books, many essays and articles, and he spoke in many settings.

He was a fearlessly challenging voice calling Christians out of complacency and compelling us to be biblical and honest in our modern society. Perhaps his best known book was The Prophetic Imagination, written nearly 50 years ago, and a million seller, no small feat for a religious book. Drawing on the witness of Moses, Jeremiah, and Jesus he invites readers to go beyond notions of prophets as fore-tellers or even social agitators. These figures challenge us to move beyond numbness in the face of oppression, whatever the cost, even to the cross. 

Long a supporter of the modern state of Israel Brueggemann changed his mind. According to Wikipedia:  

Originally a strong supporter of modern-day Israel and its biblical claims, Brueggemann later repudiated Israel for what he believed to be its exploitation of "ancient promises" to create a "toxic ideology," and then affirmed his belief that it was not anti-Semtitic to stand up for justice for Palestinians.

I would have to agree. As we learned that Walter had died we also heard that Greta Thunberg, the environmental activist was arrested with others while on a ship headed for Gaza and the tragedy in progress there. Once again the right-wing media has expressed contempt for Greta and Trump says she's in need of anger management classes. She responded by saying that the world needs more women like her, both true and hilarious, especially given Trump's never-ending anger issues.

I wonder what Walter Brueggemann thought about Thunberg and her at times strident voice, calling the world to account? Did he consider her prophetic even though she doesn't seem to have much interest in God? 

We llve in a moment when we need fewer tyrant wannabees and more prophets. 

Here is a paragraph from a 40th anniversary review of The Prophetic Imagination by Nathan Brown:

Prompted by one of his students, Brueggemann’s focus is sharpened in “A Postscript on Practice” in the second edition, bringing together specific examples of what prophetic imagination looks like in contemporary culture. Key to faithfully living out the call to prophetic imagination is resistance to the dominant culture, its assumptions, and its supposed inevitability. Prophetic imagination will insist on seeing, feeling, and responding differently to people and society around us. And leaders with prophetic imagination will seek to build communities in which this imagination is shared, fostered, and lived out in ways that change society and culture.

Ocean & Our Ecological Elders

 

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom you have made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.

25 There is the sea, great and wide;
    creeping things innumerable are there,
    living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships
    and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

Psalm 104: 24-26 NRSVue

David Attenborough (99) is one of the world's public-facing ecological elders, along with other notables such as Jane Goodall (91) and Canada's David Suzuki (89). Being spokespersons for the planet seems to result in longevity, despite what is often dire news.

Attenborough has created what may be his swan-song documentary, although you never know with this remarkable man. He made his first nature film in 1954, a very good year. This possibly ultimate doc is Ocean, and you can guess the subject. We watched it last evening, the day after World Oceans Day, and as people who seek out the ocean somewhere most years we found it quite moving.

                                                                    Young David Attenborough

I wrote in my journal last night that it has all the makings of a wellcrafted, three point sermon, which it is, in the best sense of that word. 

It begins with an invitation into the wonders of our oceans and seas, the extraordinary diversity of the cradle of life. Thanks to drones and sophisticated underwater cameras the footage is breath-taking.

It moves on the bad news, essentially the indictment of our sinfulness as a species, because of hubris and greed. There are now 400,000 trawlers and factory ships roaming the oceans in search of the creatures therein. Some of the largest patrol the waters of Antarctica, hoovering up untold tons of krill, an essential creature in the foodchain. They are turned into pet food, among other products. The trawlers are clear-cutting the ocean floor, with a so-called by-catch that often exceeds the targetted species. 

We found this section anxiety-producing, but we hung in there for the good news of possible resurrection -- okay, I'm adding my gloss in terms of theological jargon. Attenborough took us to marine reserves in different oceans where coral and kelp and fish are re-establishing with remarkable speed and abundance. Somehow species thought long gone have found there way back and are flourishing. 

Of course there are no actual boundaries to these zones and fishers working outside them are seeing catches increase. It demonstrates that what makes sense for conservation has commercial benefits as well. We also see how whale populations are rebounding, in part because of the whale harvesting ban established in 1986. 

We came to the end of Ocean hopeful and mindful that Canada along with a number of other countries has committed to a United Nations High Seas Protection Treaty. So far only 31 countries have signed on and so its hoped that at the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in France this week there will be momentum to reach the 60 countries needed to ratify the treaty.

We watched Ocean at home but if you have the opportunity to see it on a bigger screen, choose that option. We would probably watch again if it comes to a theatre nearby. Meanwhile we are counting the sleeps until we return to outport Newfoundland in August, Creator being our helper. 

1 I feel the winds of God today; today my sail I lift,

though heavy oft with drenching spray and torn with many a rift;

if hope but light the water's crest, and Christ my bark will use,

I'll seek the seas at his behest, and brave another cruise.

The Prophet Joel, the Early Rain, & the AQI

 

Do not fear, O soil; be glad and rejoice,
    for the Lord has done great things!
 Do not fear, you animals of the field,
    for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

 O children of Zion, be glad, and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    the early and the later rain, as before.
 The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

                                                 Joel 2: 21-24 NRSVue

This morning a fine rain began in our area and we are grateful. We have gardens, vegetables and flowers, and there is nothing like precipitation from above to let them flourish. I looked at the AQI -- Air Quality Index -- and it was a reassuring 2 on the scale after an unsettling 10 on Friday. It was only a couple of years ago that I found out what the AQI is but there are times now when I check it regularly. 

Wildfire smoke was streaming into not just into our region but all the way to Newfoundland. When we did venture out briefly our eyes and throats were stinging.  As thousands have been displaced in Western provinces and Northern Ontario we are reminded that there are no borders for  borders for climate change related calamity. 

When I searched out today's psalm I noticed that there was also a reading from the book of the prophet Joel and I'm bible-nerdy enough to realize it included the verses above about the return of abundant rain in a parched land. This chapter also contains ominous verses suggesting that the people's unfaithfulness has led to disaster, not only for humans but for the land itself. 

Fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame burns.

Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
    but after them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.

Joel 2: 3 NRSVue

People who live in the areas now being consumed by fire, including Indigenous peoples,  point out that they are suffering for the sins of those who live elsewhere . The smoke we experience in Southern Ontario is in some respects a modest warning about what is unfolding around the world with growing intensity and uncertainty. The land isn't just burning, the fires are so fierce that the soil is incinerated to the point that growth isn't possible.

An old insurance term of absolution for responsibility  is "act of God" but its clear that we can't blame the Creator. And now there are places where insurers won't cover clients anymore because of the high risk of disaster. 

We might wonder why we would place any trust in a Middle Eastern prophet from more than 2,000 years ago, but how are we feeling about 21st century politicians? In an opinion piece in the Toronto Star the other day John Vaillant, the author of the award-winning book Fire Weather, called out our new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, as someone who should understand the issues of an economy addicted to fossil fuels and the need to shift away from carbon. Now that Carney is PM he appears to be doubling down on the "energy superpower" rhetoric even as our country is on fire. 

I want to trust in the benevolent Creator of those verses from Joel for today. Yet we must be humble and attentive to the warnings about fire and desolation for those who have a disregard for Creation, including those of us who claim allegiance to the God of life. Perhaps we will need to shed tears of contrition before there can be celebration. 

Can we be Deep, Bold, and Daring as the United People of Christ?

 

Spirit, Spirit of gentleness,

blow thro' the wilderness calling and free,

Spirit, Spirit of restlessness,

stir me from placidness,

Wind, Wind on the sea.

4 You call from tomorrow, you break ancient schemes,

from the bondage of sorrow the captives dream dreams,

our women see visions, our men clear their eyes,

with bold new decisions your people arise.  R

                            Voices United 375

Today many United Church of Canada congregations from sea to sea to sea are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the denomination even though the actual date is June 10th. In some communities multiple UCC congregations are coming together for celebratory services combining Pentecost, the birth of the Christian church, with our natal day a century ago. 

At Trenton United we will enjoy a catered meal following the service. And I've been asked to share the reflection/sermon time with son Isaac, who is the called minister at TUC. This is a privelege even though this makes me Father Time. When I joked with him about this he came up with the graphic at the bottom of this blog. That'll teach me. 

When the United Church was born not everyone in the amalgamating denominations was happy. About 150,000 Presbyterians decided that they wouldn't join. There were  Methodists and Congregationalists who weren't thrilled either. In many communities the congregations became United without really being united. I wrote once about the two United Churches in downtown Oshawa across the street from one another for decades although both have closed now, casualities of our secular times. Change can lead to turbulence in any time. 

In our message time we will both share about our experiences within the United Church. Isaac was born in Newfoundland where I was sent for my first pastoral charge.  He grew up in active congregations where a  lot was offered for kids but when he was a teen I did try to discourage him from answering his call to ministry because I was aware of the changing times. The Holy Spirit was at work in him despite me and he has made his own way forward as a Christ-follower and Christian leader, despite the challenges. 

You might search out the Trenton United Youtube recording of the service and hear what we have to say. 

I do hope that the United Church will be "Deep, Bold, Daring" in whatever time God gives us in the days ahead. I hope the Holy Spirit won't allow us to be complacent and that we will be faithful to Jesus as the Living Christ. 

And so we sing of God the Spirit,

     who from the beginning has swept over the face of creation,

     animating all energy and matter  and moving in the human heart.

 

We sing of God the Spirit,  faithful and untameable,

  who is creatively and redemptively active in the world.

 

The Spirit challenges us to celebrate the holy

  not only in what is familiar,  but also in that which seems foreign.

 

We sing of the Spirit,  who speaks our prayers of deepest longing

  and enfolds our concerns and confessions,  transforming us and the world.

                            From a Song of Faith, United Church of Canada

The Good Guys & Bad Guys in War

 

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.  And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.

Matthew 5: 38-40 NRSVue 

There are good guys and bad guys in wars. Everyone knows this and each side portrays itself as on the moral high ground. Sometimes holy texts are cited to claim God's blessing and give permission for combat and even slaughter. A long time ago the Christian church developed the notion of a "just war" with criteria for what that sort of conflict would entail. 

This is what is proclaimed and preached, yet Jesus certainly never said it. He must have shocked those who heard him urge that in conflicts we turn the other cheek when we are struck. Societies have never liked pacifists, often holding them in contempt, even putting them in prison or executing them. 

                                                      Russian conscripts 

During the week we've heard that those we feel are the bad guys in the unjustified Ukraine/Russia war are approaching a grim milestone. Within a few weeks a total of a  million Russian soldiers will have been killed or wounded, 250,000 dead. Ukraine has suffered terrible losses as well -- 60 to 100 thousand deaths -- but the totals for Russia are staggering. Young people, mostly men, are thrown into battle with little training, let alone any understanding of why they are there in the first place. They are loved and mourned  because they have died, and to what end? 

We know that the Russian Orthodox church in the major denomination in both Russia and Ukraine. It is a hideous reality that church leaders in Russia have endorsed the war and support Vladimir Putin, a megalomaniac. How can they do so, and how can they justify being in opposition to Ukrainian brothers and sisters in Christ?  

We continue to pray for peace, despite our discouragement and sense of the folly of it all. 

Surely Jesus weeps. 

Tabernacle, Revisited

 

                                                                   Life-size Tabernacle model at Timna 

 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the Israelites assembled before the king at the festival that is in the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites carried the ark.  So they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 

                             2 Chronicles 5:2-5 NRSVue 

                                                              Model of the Ark of the Covenant 

Earlier this week one of the daily scripture readings was from the Older Testament book called 2 Chronicles. I appreciate that this wouldn't be on your go-to list of scripture scanning but I thought I would take a look, even though I was actually searching out the psalm.

2 Chronicles 5 is about the completion of the temple of Jerusalem under Solomon as a permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark contained the two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments and was the focus of worship for the people of Israel as they made their way through the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land. It was kept in a portable tent called the Tabernacle set up along the way. The tent and all the "holy hardware" were entrusted to a designated priestly group for assembly at each site. 

This could have been one of those "shrug and move on" passages except for our experience in Israel a couple of years ago. Ruth's sister and brother-in-law took us to Timna National Park, a remote and stunningly beautiful area in the Negev desert to the south of Israel. There are remnants of Egyptian culture thousands of years old including the remains of a temple and petroglyphs.We were able to crawl around in passages which were ancient copper mines. This may also have been on the route for the nomadic people of Israel as they moved toward their destination. 

                                                                       Timna sandstone columns 

Our brother-in-law was keen for us to visit a life-size reproduction of the Tabernacle within Timna, owned and operated by the Christian ministry which employed him. It was created by a man in Germany and he went there, purchased it, and shipped in to Israel where they pieced the puzzle back together in this remote location with permission of the Israeli government. The two guides offer tours, both a Christian and generic version, depending on the groups that show up. 

This may sound, well, quixotic at best, and while it was interesting, the park in general was more fascinating for us than the Tabernacle. 

There have been plenty of Tabernacle churches over time including a United Church in Belleville that was torn down. This name is a tribute to the "holy of holies" that was an unlikely priority for a people on the move. 

World Environment Day & Plastics

 I'm well into a mystery novel that involves two murders, one in Antarctica, the other in rural Britain, each improbably related to the other. It is one in a series of clever "birder murder" books written by a Britsh/Canadian, Steve Burrows, including A Foreboding of Petrels. Yesterday I came upon a conversation in this novel which mentions Point Nemo, the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, the location in the Pacific Ocean farthest from land. It's named after Captain Nemo from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Even there, the ultimate "middle of nowhere", there is evidence of micro-plastics. 

Last night I saw that today is World Environment Day and this year's theme addresses the omnipresent threat of plastic on our planetary home. Here is a portion of the UN description of our challenge:

Plastic pollution permeates every corner of the planet—even in our bodies in the form of microplastics. World Environment Day 2025 calls for collective action to tackle plastic pollution.

By drawing inspiration from nature and showcasing real-world solutions, the campaign will encourage individuals, organizations, industries, and governments to adopt sustainable practices that drive systemic change.

This year’s World Environment Day comes exactly two months before countries meet again to continue negotiating a global treaty to end plastic pollution.

This hits home in many ways. Our Canadian government is making noises about becoming an energy superpower, which really means ramping up the production of fossil fuels. Oil does produce energy and it is also the source for plastic. Is this who we want to be as a nation thanks to the trade threat of our southern neighbours. 

It also occurred to me last evening that we had been out in the water earlier in the day, kayaking along a stretch of the Moira River where we saw green and blue herons, turtles and wild iris. Paddling is almost always a spiritual experience for us and at one point I stopped to acknowledge Creator and Creation. I am aware, though, that both our venerable canoe and our kayaks are made of plastic. It's likely that many of the birds we see have plastics in their bodies, as do we. 

 When "kayaktivists" have formed flotillas to block oil tankers critics note that the boats are made of plastics and the protesters have probably driven to the launch site in gas-powered vehicles.  

While we can't escape the use of plastics we need to remember that their widespread usage only took off during WII. They have become an addiction with products we purchase often wrapped in multiple layers of the stuff. We can reduce the production in mindful ways for the good of all living creatures. God help us if we don't. 

 

The Hajj 2025

 

                                                                  The Kaaba circled by pilgrims 

I saw something along the lines of "5 things to know about the Hajj" which suggested that this annual Islamic pilgrimage was about to get underway. I was surprised because it seems early, and in a way it is. Because of the calendar employed to set the dates the Hajj is about ten days earlier each year. In 2022 it commenced on July 7th. 

The annual hajj pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam, and this year over a milloin Muslims from around the world expected to take part. The event was severely restricted in 2020, the first year of the COVID pandemic but the Saudi government allowed 10,000 younger, healthy pilgrims, mostly from Saudi Arabia, to attend. 

This year also marks the 100th birthday of Malcolm X, the American civil rights activist who was a Muslim. He was active during the same period as Martin Luther King Jr., a Christian pastor, and both were assassinated in their 30s. 

Malcolm was raised a Christian and while in prison converted to a strange form of Islam practiced by the Muslim Brotherhood. Although he became a central figure in that movement his concerns about it led him to explore his faith and he adopted a more traditional Islamic practice. Ten months before his death he took part in the Hajj for the first and only time: 

Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as practiced by people of all colors and races here in this Ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all other prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.

This was a transformative experience for Malcolm, as is evident in this portion of a letter from April 1964. 

The Hajj can be a dangerous experience because of the sheer volume of people and efforts have been made to reduce the number of pilgrims each year to prevent the stampedes that have killed many in the past.  We can pray for safety and spiritual deepening for all those who attend these next few days. 

Inside the Grand Mosque, pilgrims circle the Kaaba, a sacred, cloth-draped structure, while they pray.

Pilgrims make their way to Mina where they pray and stay overnight.

Pilgrims pray at Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have delivered his final sermon.

Pilgrims gather pebbles in Muzdalifa on their way to a ritual in Mina.

Pilgrims return to Mina to symbolically cast stones at the devil and stay for several nights in the tent camp.