Still Waiting for Indigenous Justice

 

                                                                                Christi Belcourt

Two days ago a para-military force made up of RCMP officers and God knows who else invaded the Wet'suwet'en protest encampment in northern British Columbia. Even though these are non-violent Indigenous resisters who are convinced they are protecting their traditional territory from illegal encroachment to build a controversial gas pipeline they have been treated as criminals. More than a dozen of the protesters were arrested, including two journalists. 

There are a lot of things which could be said here, but what strikes me is that while those of us from what is sometimes described as settler culture are often initially disturbed by the stories we hear about conflicts between Indigenous peoples and those in authority, our indignation and sense of injustice soon gets pushed into the background of our lives. 

Remember the nation-wide concern over the treatment of Mikmaq fishers in Atlantic Canada? They continue to be in conflict with the DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) who have seized gear. There was a widespread outrcy when the unmarked graves of Residential School children were discovered and governments publicly committed funding to do searches around those properties. But there is frustration on the part of a number of Indigenous communities that the money will be provided as reimbursement rather than proactively. There have been promises from the Roman Catholic church about financial compensation and a visit to Canada from Pope Francis to apologize for Residential Schools, but why has it taken public shaming to take action? 

It's little wonder that many Indigenous people are skeptical about anything governments and churches say about healing and reconciliation and that the notion of being part of Canada has little appeal? Our United Church has made efforts toward apologies, compensation, and reconciilation, which is a start. Yet all this reminds us that this is just a beginning and so much more must happen. 

What is, Acceptance of a Champion on Jeopardy?

 I am a Jeopardy quiz show nerd and have enjoyed the shows this Fall because several contestants have not only been repeat champions but have won often enough to qualify for the Tournament of Champions at a later date. A couple of evenings ago one of those trivia smartypants' was defeated by Amy Schneider who won again last night. 

It turns out that Amy is transgender, and she pointed out on social media afterward that she is not the first transgender contestant nor the first winner:

FYI, I am not the first out trans person to appear on Jeopardy (a few friends have asked). There have been a handful before, including one, Kate Freeman, who was the first out trans champion on 12/16/20. My thanks to all of them for blazing the trail!

— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) November 18, 2021

It's importatnt to note that Amy was accepted as a contestant withouit issue and the others on the stage competed with her as they would with any other person. 

Slowly but surely we are coming to the conclusion in just about every sphere of life that people are people who can be accepted for their gifts and skills and intelligence without judgement..There is still resistance and even antagonism in some quarters, but change is happening.

Has this been slower to come about in communities of faith? The answer is certainly yes in some while others have actually led the way. The United Church has ordained transgender clergy and encouraged congregations to be welcoming and accepting. We know of a Roman Catholic school which is not only open to transgender students but has made practical efforts to educate both students and parents.Broadview Magazine of the United Church has published articles which tell the stories of trans persons. I'm of an age that transgender identity was once sinful in my mind, then the source of bewilderment. I have come to what I feel is a healthier and more Christian place of acceptance. I appreciate the transgender persons who have been patient and kind with me along the way. 

It's serendipitous and perhaps providential that Amy has been in the spotlight this week which is Transgender Awareness Week 

Transgender Awareness Week – celebrated annually in November – is a crucial time to uplift the voices and experiences of the transgender and nonbinary community through education and action. The week’s activities culminate on November 20th, Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day in which transgender and nonbinary people and allies across the globe come together to honor the lives lost to anti-transgender violence.

I'll be watching to see how Amy does this evening as a smart women who has earned this opportunity.to be on the Jeopardy stage.  

Now, who will be the new permanent host of  the show?...

Is the New Slogan, Apocalyptic British Columbia?

                                               Rescuing livestock near floode Abbotsford, British Columba

 Not long ago I came across my copy of Super, Natural Christians: How We Should Love Nature, a profound book written nearly 25 years ago by the late eco-theologian, Sally McFague. An American, McFague moved to BC to teach at the Vancouver School of Theology and stayed until her death two years ago, almost to the day. 

McFague fell in love with the extraodinary beauty of the province and the tourism slogan at the time, Super Natural British Columbia, captured her imagination. She inserted a comma after the word "super" to create the title of this small but mighty volume, one which had a profound impact on me.

She would have seen the shifting reality of BC's ecology during the two decades she lived there and witnessed the increased frequency of intense weather events which are almost certainly the result of climate change. And I imagine she would have been devastated by 2021 which has included the terrible trio of a heat dome which killed hundreds of humans and millions of other creatures, wildfires which wiped out vast acreages and communities, and now catastrophic floods which have caused billions of dollars in damage and led to  large-scale evacuations.

 Super Natural British Columbia with its clever spiritual double meaning  could now be Horrifying, Apocalyptic British Columbia: Come for the Beauty & Run for Your Life. 

This terrible situation has something of a personal note. My brother and his wife are in BC to visit our nephew and his partner. The other day they left Squamish for a few days on Vancouver Island. The highway was closed behind them because of a rock slide and their ferry was the last for the day because of high winds. They arrived in the breath-takingly beautiful town of Tofina to find that power had been knocked out by high winds. Today they hope to fly out of Abbotsford, which you may have seen has been hard hit by flooding. 

British Columbia is one of the provinces which insists that it can't take more dramatic measures to address the climate emergency because it would undermine its resource rich economy. Yet these weather/climate catastrophes are huge disruptions to the economy and we can already see that this flooding will require billions in infrastructure repair and rebuilding. Experts are already pointing to clearcut logging as a cause for some of the landslides which have closed vital transportation corridors and killed at least one person. 

We can pray for all those who have been affected by the events of the past few days. And we can pray that the scales drop from the eyes of those who are supposed to provide leadership for this generation and generations to come. The slogan Super Natural British Columbia was inspired and needs to take on new meaning in these chaotic times. 

Adele and Maid & Leaving

 We have been big fans of the British singer Adele since the beginning of her stardom more than a decade ago. She is the Queen of Angst with songs of relationship pain powered by an amazing voice. And is there any better song to blast while driving down the highway than Rolling in the Deep?

So, we looked forward to her comback concert (she's been laying low for the past three years) outside at the spectacular Griffiths Observatory in Los Angeles. Somehow that event was a bit cringey as the glitterati audience leapt to its feet after every song. 

What really made me uncomfortable and eventually pushed me up the stairs to bed were the interview segments with Oprah. It was all earnestness in LaLa Land as Adele shared that she had hoped for the nuclear family she never had growing up yet just couldn't make her marriage work. She left for her own wellbeing and happiness after a year, admitting that she really cared for her ex and that they continue to be pals.Yes her son, who is nine, was upset by the breakup but someday he'll be proud of his mom for not hanging in there.Okay.

Then Oprah asked the question, what would you say to women who are staying in relationships which don't make them happy about making the decision to start over? Here is a person whose wealth exceeds $2 billion asking someone who at age 32 is worth roughly $200 million to weigh in on this for women who are trapped in often abusive relationships, fearing that leaving will result in poverty for themselves and their children. It seemed so shallow and tone deaf, even as it was asked in all earnestness. 

On the weekend the CBC personal financial columnist  Rubina Ahmed-Haq spoke about the Netflix series Maid which is about a young woman who courageously leaves a destructive relationship but lives on the edge of financial disaster every day. For a time she returns to her abuser for the sake of her child but eventually breaks free. Ahmed-Haq did an excellent job of demonstrating how difficult it can be financially to start over and it doesn't have much to do with "finding your bliss." When Ruth, my wife, worked as an outreach worker in a shelter for women and children she had many clients who returned to their abusers out of financial desperation, only to be under threat once again. 

Of course we'll continue to listen to Adele's hits and admire her talent. It might be good for her to maintain the mystique of her music and avoid the interviews. We can pray for all those women who are between a rock and a hard place in relationships, and as people of faith we can ask what our congregations can do to provide support for the important work of shelters. And once again I'll remind you that in most congregations I served there were women who making those tough decisions without people beside them in the pews knowing about their struggles. 

Here is a link to the CBC piece: 

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-78-all-in-a-weekend/clip/15878341-rubina-ahmed-haq-maid-real-life

The Dopesick Pandemic

Durng the Covid-19 pandemic we've heard that there has been a sharp rise in alcohol and cannabis consumption, perhaps a form of "self medication" (I really dilike that term) which should be cause for coneern. What is really alarming is the epidemic of opioid drug deaths with many provinces setting new grim records for those lost in the past two years. 

It is certainly my hope that none of you have experienced the loss of a loved one to a drug overdose but it doesn't make this crisis any less real for society. We may have our stereotypes about  those who use and abuse drugs but the reality is that addiction and deaths occurs across the social and economic spectrum.

We hear about major drug busts which break up widespread networks of dealers who market  deadly Fentanyl, a potent opioid. Yet it is deeply disturbing that the drug dealers who may have profitted the most from opioid addiction are supposedly legitimate pharmeceutical companies, sometimes labelled Big Pharma. The company which has been at the focal point of what has unfolded over the past 25 years is Purdue Pharma which developed the drug OxyContin. This company was owned solely by the Sackler family, one of a number of successful companies developed by three immigrant brothers. They were the American Dream success story, the family arriving in the US with nothing, all three sons becoming physicians, and all eventually immensely wealthy.

OxyContin was marketted as a sort of miracle pain medication which could be used for just about any complaint and without the danger of other opioids such as morphine which were usually prescribed for extremed pain and end of life circumstances. In truth Oxy is highly addictive and resulted in millions of prescriptions made by doctors who usually unwittingly helped to create the crisis. Very quickly OxyContin became an illicit drug with a huge market for the pills. The nickname Hillbilly Heroin was used because it destroyed the lives of so many in rural areas where is was first prescribed for workplace injuries. 

I made my way through the well-written although very disturbing book Empire of Pain which tells the story of the Sacklers. You may have seen that they recently reached a settlement with prosecutrors. This included a penalty of $4.3 billion US, along with agreeing to divest themselves of Purdue Pharma. They assumed no personal responsibility, none of them will go to prison, and the family wealth is still about $11 billion. How is that for justice? 

There are also two current TV drama series which address the shady world of Big Pharma, the fourth season of Goliath and Dopesick. Goliath is a series about a reprobate lawyer who is a David taking on the Goliaths of politics and industry who often rule and become wealthy beneath and beyond the law. Dopesick is actually about the Sacklers and the affects of the opioid crisis they allegedly understood but continued to promote for personal gain.

I do feel that there is a deeply spiritual aspect to all this (surprise, surprise). Why is it that so many hunger to escape into an alternate reality, with all the risks? Why has our society moved steadily away from religion and that form of spiritual experience and substituted an escapism which can be so destructive? I'm not suggesting that people just "need to get Jesus" but the alternative seems more like hell than heaven. 

The Other Matrix

You probably remember the 1999 movie The Matrix, even if you didn't actually see it.because it was a big hit at the time This science fiction action film had Keanu Reeves and others flying around, fighting, and intoning quasi-mystical stuff.

I want to bring your attention to another Matrix, Lauren Groff's latest novel which has plenty of spiritual stuff in it because its about a convent from the past rather than the future. Groff is an exceptional writer and she weaves a feminist tale about 12th century nuns who become a force to be reckoned with under the leadership of an initially reluctant abbess who is forced into her role because she is the inconvenient daughter of nobility, the child of rape. When in doubt, send your problematic womenfolk to a nunnery. 

While this young women, Marie, arrives without faith she grows into it, alongside her role, and even has mystical visions which guide the convent from poverty to prosperity. The summary in The Guardian is very good:

Matrix is a very free imagining of the life of Marie de France. Almost nothing is known about this pioneering poet except what she tells us, with a self-assertion unusual for her time and gender, in her collection of Breton lais, or romances, and translations of Aesop’s fables. She was probably writing in England, though she came from northern France. Her poetry gives no indication that she belonged to a religious house, though she has been tentatively identified with Mary, abbess of Shaftesbury. Groff seizes on the few hints, rides cantering into the huge gaps, and makes up a life for Marie – a long and full life as a visionary leader, queer lover, writer and mother, or “matrix”, to a thriving community of women.

In an interview with Groff she says that she went to a lecture by a medieval scholar and was so taken by the era that she put aside the novel she was working on to create this story. There are hints of Hilldegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila, all connected to convents through the centuries. Hildegard had remarkable visions which were recorded for posterity and she challenged male authority figures, as does Marie. There is even a labyrinth in Matrix, although what is described seems more like a maze. 

Ruth and I both really enjoyed Matrix and I figure it would make an excellent book club read, whether from a religious standpoint or not. Oh yes, despite the shared emphasis on mysticism with the other Matrix, no one flies about in Groff's novel. 

Entertaining Angels and Nomads

 

 Let mutual love continue. 

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, 

for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 

Hebrews 13:1-2

Yesterday I was finally able to watch the acclaimed 2020 film, Nomadland, a picture which received several Academy Awardsw, including one for its star, Frances McDormand. As the name suggests it is about the people we rarely give thought to who are essentially nomads, moving from place to place for a variety of reasons, including the search for work. McDormand's character Fern, loses her job when the plant where she is employed closes down. When her husband dies she sells everything and hits the road in a van.

The story is gritty, sensitive, and compelling, and the film is unique in that many of the other actors who become Fern's friend's are real-life nomads, some who are dealing with loss, others adrift from any community other than what they experience as they travel.They are people who demonstrate "mutual love" in different ways. 

So many of us have no idea that this group of people exists in our society and often look upon them with a degree of suspicion. In recent months our city, Belleville, has been trying to figure out the challenge of homelessness or the precariously housed. Some councillors and the mayor get it that what we are experiencing locally is a growing reality across the country. Still, at least one speaks about "taking care of our own" and wants to discourage people migrating into the city looking for help. She has proposed cutting funding to the local shelter by 30% because that is the percentage of people from elsewhere who stay at the facility. I'm dubious that she really considers the other 70% to be "our own."

As Christians we can keep in mind that our bible is full of stories of nomads, beginning in Genesis, right through to Jesus and his disciples. Often they were "sleeping rough" and on the last night of his earthly life Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a campsite for pilgrims. As uncomfortable or bewildered as we may be at times, how can we harden our hearts?  

I wouild certainly recommend Nomadland. And we can ask how our communities will be practically compassionate to those who may be 

God's Artistry and Ours

 I'm leading worship at Trenton United Church tomorrow morning, a gig I was asked about back in August. Along the way to deepest, darkest November we took in a current exhibit at the wonderful McMichael Canadian Art Gallery called Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment. As the name suggests, these women were not invited or included in the unfolding of art movements in the first half of the 20th century despite their originality and talent because of their gender.

We found the exhibit fascinating and as we meandered through the rooms I pondered the parallels between artistic expression for these women and the role of women of faith, past and present. So often women have been stifled in roles of leadership and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ simply because they were not men. I decided that I would explore this theme in worship and discovered, to my delight, that the Hebrew scripture passage for the day in the lectionary is the story of Hannah, a woman of deep faith and prayer who is initially dismissed by the men in her life before being recognized as blessed. 

 

                                                           Hannah's Prayer -- Durga Jael Bernhard

As some of you know, my undergraduate degree was in art history so through the years I've used visual images to illustrate sermons, as I will tomorrow. Many people have told me that they are visual learners and benefit from seeing as well as hearing. 

I don't think it was an accident that these thoughts welled up for me while I was in an art gallery. I have visited art exhibits in galleries in many different countries and often had a sense of the transcendent and even the holy. 

The Templeton Religion Trust  has been a grant to a team of scholars who are Measuring the Spiritual Dimension of Art, to use their title. The introduction asks "What if religions explored the seemingly immeasurable, spiritual effects of art? What if art could change the way we think about God?'

Dr. Kutter Callaway and his team emphasize the centrality of art to the human experience by referring to our species not as homo sapien, but instead as “homo aestheticus.” Our experience of beauty is central to the way we understand our reality physically, psychologically, and spiritually. 

I am intrigued by how this will unfold, aware that the immeasurability of both art and faith are aspects of their appeal and power. 

In the meantime, why not join us tomorrow morning, either in person or online? 

Does a COP26 Agreement have a Prayer?

 Today is the final day of two weeks for the COP26 climate summit which has taken place in Glasgow, Scotland. Tens of thousands of delegates have attended, as well as thousands more who never made it through the doors of the conference centre but were defiinitely a presence in alternative symposiums and on the streets.

Before the summit begain I assumed that I would be writing regularly about what was unfolding because we are at a critical point for the planet as it heats up, we experience more catastrophic weather events, and biodiversity diminishes. Many jurisdictions around the Earth have declared climate emergencies, so we supposedly recognize the urgency of our situations. Leaders from many nations said the right things in the first few days of COP26 and were long on earnestness and short on plans and targets. 

I found that I was overwhelmed by the volume of news even though I've been deeply interested in these issues for decades. At times it is a challenge to figure out whether there has been any substantive progress and today's CBC headline in not overly encouraging: Nations at odds over how to keep 1.5 C goal alive as UN climate negotiations enter final day. 

While this is not a surprise it is discouraging. One climate activist describes the final, watered down draft statement as "weasel words' used to let wealthier nations off the hook on subsidies to fossil fuel comglomerates. You may have heard that the largest contingent to COP26 is from the fossil fuel industry, a special interest which probably shouldn't be there at all, or at least not with a signficant voice. Why are we providing welfare to companies which have lied to us about their knowledge of climate change for more than 50 years and have extracted untold billions of dollars while they've done so? 

As people of faith and as those who affirm that Jesus, is the Christ, the "first-born of Creation" we can live with both urgency and hope in care for the Earth.  Pope Francis intended to participate in COP26 but those plans changed. He has urged Roman Catholics to pray for the outcome of this day. According to the New York Times: 

“Time is running out,” Francis said. “This occasion must not be wasted, lest we have to face God’s judgment for our failure to be faithful stewards of the world he has entrusted to our care.” 

The summit, the pope said, was meant to address “one of the great moral issues of our time: the preservation of God’s creation, given to us as a garden to be cultivated and as a common home for our human family.”

These are blunt but honest words, and we too can pray for the integrity of Creation. 

What Does Remembrance Mean Today?

Remembrance Day Ceremony Belleville 

 We cycled to the cenotaph this morning for the Remembrance Day ceremony, an opportunity we couldn't pass up given that some years November 11th is wintry. Last year we observed the eleventh hour of the eleventh month in Ottawa, albeit on TV. Why weren't we at the cenotaph? Ah yes, COVID. 

Today there were several hundred people on hand, although not the numbers of gatherings before the pandemic. People were observing a reasonable distance and our national anthem was canned music rather than sung by participants. 

I had mixed feelings this year, although the gratitude was there, as always. Both our fathers served during WW2 so when the old veterans salute I get a lump in my throat. There were prayers as well, and a scriptural reminder that there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend. 

I think that an opportunity was missed though in this year when flags which had been at half mast because of the discovery of the unmarked graves of Indigenous residential school children were raised prior to Remembrance Day, then lowered again this moring. I wish that this had been acknowledged in some way and that there was mention of Indigenous veterans. Apparently that did happen in nearby Trenton. Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory is nearby and while they had their own ceremony it would have been good to have a representative here to remind us of the 300+ members of the reserve who served during the two world wars. 

This past Sunday morning our two Trenton grandkids told us that the following day, this Monday, was Indigenous Veterans Day, something I was probably aware of in the recesses of my mind but hadn't considered. They attend a French Roman Catholic school which is impressively inclusive in many ways.

Speaking of inclusivity, I was struck as well that it was two Christian pastors who took part this morning without recognition of other religious traditions. They fulfilled their duties with dignity but perhaps the day has come to widen the perspective in our pluralistic society. 

Francis Pegahmagabow was a Canadian First Nations soldier, politician and activist. He was the most highly decorated Indigenous soldier in Canadian military history and the most effective sniper of the First World War. 

Study Groups are Holy Ground

 

I've returned home from Trenton United where I conducted the second of two study sessions on the relationship between Christians and Muslims using the excellent United Church resource called That We May Know Each Other as our foundation, with plenty of additional and topical material. During the pandemic I've offered study groups of varying lengths and on a number of subjects including one on Jewish roots of the Sermon on the Mount and another on prayer. 

I'm always impressed by the willingness of people to participate and their excellent insights into our subjects. I may be the teacher but I'm also a learner, both in my preparation and as I listen to perspectives which often haven't occurred to me. There is so much wisdom and spiritual depth amongst United Church folk! There are newcomers to these groups most times but a fair number of "usual suspects" as well. I've enjoyed getting to know people at Trenton UC in this way.

As with most things churchy the pandemic has presented challenges for study participation and discussion. One study group was entirely online during deepest, darkest lockdown, but the others have been an in-person/online hybrid. It's odd to have several members of the group on a screen while others are in the room. And those who are physically present are physically distanced and wearing masks.Often I'm repeating what someone has offered so that others can hear, always hoping I got it right. What we once took for granted in terms of sitting around a table or in a comfortable circle went out the COVID window.

We think of joining together for worship as holy, but study groups and discussions are holy ground as well. My spirit is uplfited in the presence of others seeking understanding and growth in the Christian life. Now, what next?...

A Meal Ministry & King of the Road

 

Yesterday, Ruth, my wife, did her weekly shift with the lunch program at Bridge St. United Church here in Belleville. She has missed perhaps three or four Monday's in the past year and is part of a wonderful group of committed volunteers who were there even when there were no vaccines.  During the 20 months of the pandemic this program has offered nutritious lunches every single day, including holidays such as Christmas and Easter with the average currently at about 100 guests per day.

The temptation would be to consider this to  be a grim reminder of the inequities of our society with the sad stories of those who ae reduced to standing in line for a meal to make ends meet. Yet Ruth speaks regularly of the folk who express gratitude every time, and who engage in snippets of friendly conversation. They far outnumber the handful of grumps and those whose mental health of substance abuse issues cause them to be a little unpredictable. 

She also shares with me the moments of humour. Some of the guests are fun-loving and funny. Yesterday a guy who regularly sings in line got to the table with the three volunteers and launched into King of the Road, the 1960's hit by Roger Miller. He sang the first line and pointed at the women who to his surprise knew the words and sang the next line. They made their way through the first couple of verses of the song together, then he was on his way with a sandwich and soup.

Jesus was remarkable during his ministry in that he put aside dogma and doctrine to be present to those who approached him with many needs in body, mind and spirit. And, yes, he had a sense of humour -- think about the camel going through the eye of an needle. We are in this human endeavour together, and both music and a chuckle can be part of the spiritual journey. 

Trailer for sale or rent
Rooms to let, 50 cents
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes

Ah, but two hours of pushing broom
Buys a eight by 12 four-bit room
I'm a man of means, by no means
King of the road

Sabbath & The Right to Disconnect

 

                                                                          from the Toronto Star

 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Exodus 20:8-11

On the weekend I listened to a CBC Radio Fresh Air interview with Bianca Boyd, Chief Operations Officer for Edelman Advertising, explains why her company has a policy against contacting employees after hours. The segment was related to the proposed "right to disconnect" legislation in Ontario which would prohibit companies with a threshold number of employees from requiring workers to essentially work when they weren't officially on the clock. Edelman Adverstising instituted this policy in 2013 and even though they are in a high pressure industry with deadlines it has been successful. Boyd offered that the disconnect for employees, including herself, allowed them to be just as productive while reducing burnout. 

As it turned out, we were meeting our younger daughter and her partner after the church service yesterday, and they both work for companies which are good employers but often have expectations to work beyond the parameters of a regular work day. We camped with them this past summer on an island to which we paddled in canoes. Both spent time addressing situations at work through their "smart" phones which so many of us have come to realize are stupid and demanding connection devices which we simply can't live withouit anymore, or so we think.

For the past three thousand years people of the Judeo/Christian tradtion have been aware of the divine mandate to "cease and desist" not as a suggestion but a commandment. The notion is that God disconnected to savour the excellent work of Creation, so as part of that creation we should as well.

Attending worship on a Sunday, or Saturday, or Friday, depending on tradition, may seem quaint or achaic, but isn't it the original "right to disconnect"? When we go to church we have that period of time that is God-focussed and labour-free. Ya, ya, I know I'm retired, but surely those who lead far more hectic lives need an oasis of tranquility and reflection. We'll see if anything comes of this legislation, and in the meantime we can hope for more forward-thinking companies such as Edelman. Everyone needs a sabbath. 

Remembering our "Saint" Margaret

                                                                   Margaret Emily (Farmer) Mundy

 We'll soon make the drive to Trenton for Sunday morning worship, and during the service we'll acknowledge those "saints" from our family of faith who have died in the past year. This is a poignant morning for us because it is the third anniversary of the death of our mother, Margaret Mundy, at the ripe old age of 92 years, 10 months. Mom had been living with dementia for a while but still knew her two sons and we were at her side when she slipped from this life to the next. 

Mom was a person of deep faith and resurrection hope so despite our loss we were grateful that she moved past the shadow world of dementia into the light of Christ. She grew up in the Salvation Army and served as an officer before leaving to become part of the United Church. While living in Toronto as a single woman she found her way back to a SA community with friends from her early years. In her obituary we described her death as "gently promoted to glory", a nod to that background. 

Two of the  lectionary readings today are about valorous women of faith, a rarity in the lectionary. One passage is from the book of Ruth, the climate refugee,  an intimate story of loyalty, faith, and new beginnings. The gospel lesson is about an unnamed woman, a widow who is noticed and honoured by Jesus because she is generous despite her poverty. Both were vulnerable, perhaps considered inconsequential in their societies, yet still remembered. The gospel passage is a excellent story for our personal remembrance because Margaret was a very generous person to her family and the causes she supported even though she lived modestly. 

My mother overcame a host of challenges including the sudden death of her mother when she was in her teens and starting over after divorce. As sons we admired her immensely and for us she was a model of the Christian life well lived. She was a saint in the best sense of that term and she will be in my heart and mind this morning. 

Youth Climate Prophets at COP26

                                                      Greta Thunberg in Glasgow 

Do not let me hear Of the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly, Their fear of fear and frenzy, their fear of possession, Of belonging to another, or to others, or to God. The only wisdom we can hope to acquire Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless. T.S. Eliot

 You probably know about Fridays for Future, the global movement of young people drawing attention to the Climate Emergency for Planet Earth, It began when 15-year-old Swedush teen , Greta Thunberg ditched school one Friday for a solitary vigil in front of the parliament building. Improbably (prividentially) her protest has taken hold amongst youth around the world with millions participating in rallies, including half a million in Montreal a couple of years ago. 

Greta is in Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit and yesterday, a Friday, thousands took to the streets as a challenge to leaders who are supposed to be making decisions for the wellbeing of all living beings, including humans. In her address to the crowd Greta declared the summit already a failure, in part, I imagine, because the G20 leaders of wealthy nations had already backed away from some ambitious proposals and neither China nor India have been represented by their heads of government. China, India, and the United States have not committed to a significant reduction in the use of coal, which largely negates the willingness of other nations to do so. 

Canada has made the right noises about reducing coal consumption domestically but Canada exports 15 to 18 million tonnes of thermal coal each year, an amount that has the potential to produce 33 to 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. 

                                                 Fridays for Future Climate March during COP26

I'm glad that these young people are so vocal and understand in ways that their supposed elders don't that there is an urgency to the issues of climate change which requires action beyond vague, targetless statements. Greta may be correct, as jarring as her statement was, midway through COP26. There are more climate rallies today in different cities and many of the participants will be young. 

 As I've said before, Thunberg and other youth are the uncomfortably honest prophetic voices for our time. They have been scorned and derided by politicians, including former US president Voldemort, but Jesus did say that prophets do not always receive the honour they deserve. Is the God of Creation speaking through them? 

                                                    Climate Rally in Belfast, Ireland, today

Diwali & Listening Across Faiths

                                                       Diwali Celebration -- Belleville Market Square 

Nearly a month ago there was a gathering in Market Square in Belleville to celebrate the Hindu festival called Diwali, anticipating what was the actual date of November 4th, which was yesterday.  We were out of town, otherwise we would probably have attended,  but there were upwards of 300 people on hand to take part in what was the first such celebration in our small city of 50,000.

 Diwali is one of the biggest festivals in India and observed across religions. People clean their homes, decorate every corner with lights, lamps, flowers, and candles. Families also perform what's called Lahshimi Puja nd pray to the goddess of wealth to bless them with health, wealth, and prosperity.

I am a Chistian and not a polytheist, so my outlook of faith is not the same as Hindus. Still, I've had interesting and mutually respectful conversations with Hindus through the years. Nearly forty years ago I was on a flight from St. John's Newfoundland to a job interview in Ontario. The person sitting next to me was a civil servant who was originally from India. When he found out I was a United Church minister he shared that his children attended a United Church Sunday School because the group of  Hindus in St.John's was small and he wanted them to have a sense of religious connunity. I was a bit surprised and impressed at the same time. Through the years I'm come to realize that cross-cultural and interfaith understanding is essential to a healthy society and doesn't require me to compromise my own faith. 

In 2016 the United Church published an educational document alled Honouring the Divine in Each Other, one of a series of studies which included Jewish/Christian and Muslim/Christian dialogue. I've included the link here. I sense that not many congregations have used these well-prepared documents for conversation along the way, but I'm glad that they exist and they reflect our ethos as a denomination. In a world of so much religious strife it's important to uphold the ways in which we can find common ground and understanding. 

Here is the link: 

https://united-church.ca/sites/default/files/study_honouring-divine-each-other.pdf

Indigenous Voices at COP26

Activists hold a memorial at Cop26 for the 1,005 environmental defenders murdered since the Paris agreement. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Long before my people journeyed to this land your people were here, and you received from your Elders an understanding of creation and of the Mystery that surrounds us all that was deep, and rich, and to be treasured. 

We did not hear you when you shared your vision. In our zeal to tell you of the good news of Jesus Christ we were closed to the value of your spirituality. We confused Western ways and culture with the depth and breadth and length and height of the gospel of Christ...

                       United Church of Canada Apology to Indigenous Peoples 1986 (continued below)

 When the United Church of Canada made it's first apology to Indigenous peoples in 1986 a recognition of colonization was key to the message. Christian denominations around the world have been coming to grips with their roles in imposing European culture and values on Indigenous peoples, including the mindset of rampant resource exploitation which has contributed to the current climate crisis. It is only in the past few years that we are recognizing that Indigenous practices and spirituality honoured Creator and Creation and that the misrepresentation of the biblical message undermined caring for the Earth and put ecosystems at peril.

Currently thousands of national leaders and representatives from a multitude of organizations are in Glasgow, Scotland, for the climate summit known as COP26. So are members of Indigenous communities from around the the world who want to be heard as they challenge assumptions about how to address the climate emergency. Here are a couple of paragraphs from coverage by The Guardian yesterday: 

.Activists in Glasgow reject ‘big business’ approach to climate crisis as they commemorate murdered land defenders

 As world leaders inside the Cop26 conference centre in Glasgow boasted about pledges to slash greenhouse gas emissions and end deforestation, indigenous delegates gathered across the river Clyde to commemorate activists killed for trying to protect the planet from corporate greed and government inaction.

At least 1,005 environmental and land rights defenders have been murdered since the Paris accords were signed six years ago, according to the international non-profit Global Witness. One in three of those killed were indigenous people.

The dead include Berta Cáceres, winner of the prestigious Goldman prize for environmental defenders, who was shot dead at her home in Honduras in March 2016 for opposing the construction of an internationally financed dam on a river considered sacred by her Lenca people.

Not only do nations need to address the issues of justice and safety for Indigenous land defenders, we can develop the humility which admits that we have made a mess of the environment with our mindset of plunder. Discovering how Indigenous spirituality cab be incorporated into our practices is essential. 

We imposed our civilization as a condition of accepting the gospel. We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. As a result, you, and we, are poorer and the image of the Creator in us is twisted, blurred, and we are not what we are meant by God to be. 

We ask you to forgive us and to walk together with us in the Spirit of Christ so that our peoples may be blessed and God’s creation healed.

  from the United Church of Canada Apology to Indigenous Peoples 1986

The United Church is Singing!...soon

 

Then Let Us Sing!...maybe!...someday!....depending on who you talk to!.

The United Church of Canada has let us know about an initiative called Then Let Us Sing which will bring together musical resources for our denomination in an unprecedented way along with encouraging hymn and chorus writing. This will be what is desribed as a portal to existing musical resources and those which are being written and developed.

It may seem that the timing is a little off given that many congregations have just returned to in-person worship and lots of them aren't singing yet. The news release suggests a running start for this project with a launch date ot three years from now. I should mention that our congregation, Trenton United, resumed in-person worship at the end of May and decided to allow singing behind our masks. As odd as it seemed at first it was so meaningful to bring words and melody together as acts of individual and corporate praise. Yes, we were worshipping when we weren't allowed to sing, but this was so liberating.

In a Groundling blog back in January I wondered why there are so few hymns which praise the season of winter and two of you offered thoughtful ideas about possible music. Perhaps I should attempt to come up with a couple of verses as a response to the Then Let Us Sing initiative. Here is the info blurb to inspire all of you. 

Then Let Us Sing! is a new online musical portal, available in the fall of 2024. It will contain most of the pieces you’ve come to love from Voices United, More Voices, and Nos voix unies, plus a growing collection of NEW music. This digital platform will provide copyright cleared to all available hymns for print, projection, and streaming.

This resource is an investment in the faith formation and spiritual health of our United Church. It will provide adaptable tools to worship and music leaders, strengthen our ecumenical relationships, and introduce new music regularly to make this a living resource.

Here is the website https://thenletussing.ca/

Loss, Love & Hope on the Day of the Dead

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

                                                  Hebrews 12:1-2 NRSV

Our two Trenton grandchildren are in French school, which means that we are regularly in awe of their skills in a language we spent years supposedly learning in the public system, to no avail. They enjoy quizzing us on French words and are pleasantly surprised when we translate them correctly. They have little conversations about bodily functions en francais which we are alerted to by the giggling. 

This is also a Roman Catholic school which recognizes certain religious holidays. On the weekend they were telling us that Dia de los Muertos was coming up  today, successfully venturing into Spanish. Along with the Day of the Dead this is All Souls Day, and both traditions honour the dearly departed, remembering and cherishing those we have loved and lost. The Day of the Dead is very much part of Mexican culture and generally more playful or joyous, with humorous stories shared about those who have moved from this life to the next. Our conversation meandered around to the wonderful animated film Coco, which uses the theme of the Day of the Dead to tell a story of loss and hope. 

Years ago at this time  took part in a seminar at Ghost Ranch, a Christian retreat and conference centre in New Mexico. There were a couple of what seemed like garish and macabre altars to celebrate Dia de los Muertos until I asked a few questions. 

I think it's lovely that the grandkids are learning about these traditions because we are part of a society which doesn't address death and grief all that well. Whether this is All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead, we can recall our loved ones with all their foibles and strengths, don't you think? And we can affirm the "cloud of witnesses" as people of resurrection hope. 

A Sugar High & All the Saints

 

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

all who by faith before the world confessed,

your name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Hallelujah, hallelujah!

We had fun trick-or-treating with two of our grandchildren last evening. They are still at that stage where they can hardly believe that they get so much loot for free and race from house to house in the quest for more.

Our secular, sugar-high  Halloween is the remnant of  All Hallows Eve in the Christian calendar while today is All Saints and tomorrow is All Souls. The three days are a recognition of the fleeting nature of our earthly existence, the "thin place" between this life and the next, and the cherishing of those "saints and souls" who have gone before us.

Recently I saw an article about the death of a long-time friend and colleague of former pope, Benedict, and his response to the news of his passing.  You may recall that Benedict took the unprecedented step of resigning from the papacy and was succeeded by current Pope Francis. Benedict is now in his 90's as was his friend. Accorading to a Crux article Benedict wrote to the abbot of the friend's monastery:

Of all my colleagues and friends, he was the closest to me. His joyfulness and his deep faith always attracted me,” Benedict said.“Now he has reached the afterlife, where certainly many friends await him,” he said, adding, “I hope that I may join them soon.

I was no fan of Benedict as pope but his response to a personal loss is touching. How many of us as Christians who live in resurrection hope wonder what the afterlife will be like and whether we will be reunited with those we have loved and lost?  In congregations I have served we've acknowledged those who died in the past year on a designated  All Saints/Souls Sunday in November. It has been a moving experience, particularly for those whose loved ones are amongst those named. 

Whether we have total confidence that one day we will be reunited with loved ones, or live with a mixture of uncertainty and hope, we need comfort and a sense that all lives are cherished and not forgotten. 

God be with all of you who are experiencing the poignancy of loss and desire to affirm the mystery and promise of the resurrection in Christ Jesus. 

3 O blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

yet all are one within your great design. Hallelujah, hallelujah!