Crustacean Compassion?

1 This is God's wondrous world,

and to my listening ears

all nature sings, and round me rings

the music of the spheres.

This is God's wondrous world;

I rest me in the thought

of rocks and trees, of skies and seas,

God's hand the wonders wrought.

When we arrived in outport Newfoundland from Toronto 46 years ago the practical acts of kindness to the new minister and his wife soon began. It came in the form of edibles (not those edibles), everything from fish to moose to rabbits to berries and jam. We were willing to try just about anything but the most unsettling gift was live lobsters. We may have indulged in "surf and turf" once but we discovered that living creatures into boiling water was not for the faint of heart -- shades of Annie Hall. Ruth has a vivid memory of putting the lid on the pot with relief only to have it pushed off by a large claw. 

This morning I recalled our lobster queasiness as I heard on the news the effects on Canada's lobster fishery from a growing movement in Europe. Several countries have already or are considering bans on cooking live lobsters because it is a form of cruelty to animals. In Britain there is an organization called Crustacean Compassion and I must admit I guffawed when I heard the name.

Yet I realize that during my lifetime attitudes toward other creatures has changed, often dramatically. We regard our companion animals differently and cruelty can be a chargeable crime. We have laws about the treatment of the livestock we eat and have restricted the use of animals for testing of products and experimentation for medical procedures. This is all important and what I think most of us would consider progress.

                                                            Saturday Night Live Skit 1982

As Christians we recognize that we are people of a Creator God who brought call living things into being and in our United Church we affirm that we are called to "live with respect in Creation." While we may readily agree that this applies to Fluffy the Llasa Apso, do we share this conviction about Larry the Lobster? 

When Kristi Noem, former Governor of North Dakota, and now former ICE Barbie, admitted in her biography that she'd shot a supposedly untrainable pet dog named Cricket many people were appalled. Did her callousness toward this hound contribute to the hardness of heart she demonstrated toward undocumented immigrants as her minions hunted them down in communities across the United States?

I have never seriously considered becoming a vegetarian or vegan, although I respect those who've made this choice. As an outdoors guy I won't alter my slaughter of mosquitoes and blackflies. And I will never be a card-carrying member of Crustacean Compassion. Still, as we become increasingly aware of the decline of biodiversty and species extinction we probably have a lot more to learn about compassion toward all the critters in God's Wondrous World. 

This is the end of my tale...tail? Anyone want to write a lobster hymn? 

                                                                 Scenes from Annie Hall -- 1977

Iranian Christians in Montreal

 

Pourya Zaganeh (left), pictured here with Anglican bishop Victor-David Mbuyi Bipungu, was Muslim when he lived in Iran but was baptized at St Jax in Montreal after some powerful personal religious experiences. Now he leads a Farsi Bible study at the church. (Photo courtesy of Pourya Zaganeh)

We've been informed during this past week that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the supreme leader of Iran who was "eliminated" by US missiles has been replaced by his son, also a hard-liner. It would seem that the perserve version of Islam practiced by the leadership structure in Iran has not been shaken by the onslaught by the United States and Israel and the citizens of Iran are still in their iron grip. 

We might assume that all Iranians are fundamentalist Muslims but this is not the case. There are moderates in the faith as well as a small number of Christians, despite persecution. I came upon what was for me a suprising article in Broadview magazine, formerly the United Church Observer, about a growing group of expatriate Iranians living in Montreal who have been baptized as Christians in an Anglican congregation there: 

As participants logged into St Jax Church’s weekly Bible study on Feb. 3, the Zoom call filled with the warm echoes of “salam baradar” and “salam khahar”—peace, brother, and peace, sister. The study, held in Farsi, is one of the services the Montreal church has recently added to address the growing influx of Iranian congregants. St Jax has baptized over 140 Iranians since 2020, when it opened as a new Anglican church plant.

“The growth of our Iranian community actually started with a person who was a very dynamic community leader and came here saying, ‘I’m definitely not a Muslim. I’m definitely not a Christian, either. However, I know a lot of Iranians who are trying to explore Christianity, and I’ve looked into where the best churches for them are. It may as well be here,’” recalls senior pastor Rev. Graham Singh. 

While Iran is predominantly a Muslim nation, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian and Baha’i communities have rich histories in Iran and continue to gather as minorities, often at risk of persecution under the Islamic theocracy that has ruled since the 1979 Revolution. Although apostasy is punishable by death under the Islamic regime, Christian conversion among Iranians born Muslim is a growing movement both within the country and across the diaspora living in the West. Now, as Iran reels from levels of governmental violence that haven’t been seen since the revolution, Montreal’s Iranians are finding comfort at St Jax.

It's tempting to consider conversion as coercion but it sounds as though the people who have joined this congregation have experienced the Good News of acceptance in Christ in this setting. 

I'm grateful that Broadview shared this story and we can pray for this faith community and all whom they love in a war-torn land. Here is the link to the article:  https://broadview.org/st-jax-church-iranians/

A Canticle to Medieval Women

 I've mentioned that we listen to books together as we travel in our vehicle, downloading them from the library, often repeatedly, until we work our way through. 

We have just finished our most recent tome called Canticle, by Janet Rich Edwards which we both appreciated, although I did moreso than Ruth. A canticle is a song, often a religious song, and this novel is a song of praise to women of courage and faith. 

A review in the Washington Post drew me to the novel and this paragraph sums it up well: 

Edwards, like her late-13th-century heroine, Aleys, is walking a treacherous path. With “Canticle,” her debut novel, she has created a bizarre story of miracles and martyrdom by drawing on equally bizarre stories about medieval mystics such as St. Clare of Assisi, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Catherine of Genoa. Some readers will catch echoes of Lauren Groff’s 2021 novel, “Matrix,” about the 12th-century poet Marie de France, but Edwards’s fidelity to the Christ-saturated imagination of the period is bolder — and, probably, less appealing to those modern readers who want historical women to be sweetened with modern feminist sensibilities like a Communion wafer dipped in honey.

I wouldn't describe the story as bizarre even though it is very different from our perspective of the world today, including the spiritual. I appreciated the many allusions to that era, some of them listed above but also the Beguines. The Beguines were religious lay communities in which the women were devout yet not nuns and were free to leave if they chose. 

As I listened I was reminded of so much I've read about women of that time who found ways to express their faith outside of the often oppressive control of men. They were often mystics who experienced God and Christ in unconventional ways that were viewed as a danger to the patriarchal control of the Church. If they strayed too far from that control their lives could go up in flames -- quite literally. There are also echoes of Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich in this well written novel. 

We agree that there were portions that could have been been edited to a degree but I'm glad we prevailed to the end. 

                                                            Print of a Beguine Woman from 1489

Bedside Manner in Medicine & Ministry

Opinion

A medical tradition worth reviving

I have found making house calls to be one of the most meaningful and satisfying aspects of my work as a family doctor. Although they have long been in decline in North America, there are still physicians fighting to save the tradition

Nicholas Pimlott

The Globe and Mail

Published January 31, 2026

When we lived in Halifax I got a phone call one Christmas Day evening about the death of an elderly woman I had been visiting in hospital, She was the mother of a member of the congregation but I ended up seeing her a number of times. She actually died at home because the family made arrangements for her to receive care there in her final days.

I went to be with the family so that we could pray and commend her to God's eternal care. She and her husband lived in one of the swankiest condominium buildings in the downtown and as I approached the elevator I realized that the man waiting there was my doctor, who, it turned out, was her physician as well. We were both a bit surprised to see the other and we chatted on our way up. 

A few weeks ago the artiicle above was publiished in the Saturday Globe and Mail and it brought to mind that incident. I was touched as I read it because I found pastoral "house calls" to be a deeply meaningful part of ministry, although my role was in spiritual health rather than physical. Dr. Pimlott began his piece with a story about the death of a woman and the solemn and intimate formality, with her care-giver daughter present, of verifying what had occurred. Dr. Pimlott went on to offer some facts and a reflection on the value of home visits:

Before the Second World War, house calls made up around half of all visits between doctors and patients; by 1950, that had fallen to roughly one in 10, and by the 1980s house calls made up just one in 200 of all such visits...

Not long after I started making those monthly home visits to her, the weekly trips to the emergency department suddenly stopped. Whether or not it was because my regular home visits finally had an impact, or because in her new home she had easy access to the help and advice of a nurse, I cannot say. Nor did I ever ask her. Like many doctors, I am vain enough and arrogant enough to think that somehow, I had changed her behaviour. The more obvious truth is that she changed mine. After years of frustration, I had finally stopped treating Isabel as a problem to be solved and began treating her like a person to be cared for.

Although still inadequately compensated compared to office visits and not always convenient to do, I have found making house calls to be one of the most meaningful and satisfying aspects of my work as a family doctor. They have provided me with insights into the lives of my patients that have helped me to better understand and care for them, and they have deepened my sense of connection to them.

I did have occasions when I was present as parishioners "shuffled off this mortail coil" and it was always a powerful experience. Thankfully, most visits were pastoral  in nature with conversation and perhaps a scripture reading, a prayer, and sharing in holy communion. I had my own version of the doctor's bag, a lovely walnut-cased communion set, and a visiting bible, a small version I would have trouble reading from now because of the tiny print. 

As with Dr. Pimlott there were individuals I didn't really want to visit and neither did the excellent pastoral care ministers I worked with through the decades in multiple-staff congregations. One imperious old soul insisted on holding court in her bedroom with the stock market scroll on the TV. I eventually convinced her to turn off the set for the time I was there. 

I'm grateful that son Isaac, also a United Church minister, visits congregants, mostly older,  where they live. As with physicians, home pastoral visits by clergy have been on the decline for decades. More than once colleagues opined that they didn't have time to "sit around drinking tea" (a direct quote) and I wondered what they were doing that was so much more important than this aspect of ministry. Of course, there are so many cautions and rules about time spent alone with vulnerable persons but compassion is still essential. 

While I will readily admit that I often felt mildly guilty that I wasn't keeping up with this ministry of presence in Christ's name I have no regrets for the time I "wasted" with my parishioners. 

Reproductions of The Doctor, a painting by 19th-century British artist Luke Fildes that depicts a house call to a sick child, hang in many modern family doctors’ offices.

The Crisis in Cuba and Christian Witness

 

                                                       Matanzas Theological Seminary

The United Church of Canada expresses its unwavering solidarity with Cuban Mission and Service partners and the people of Cuba. At a time of deepening interconnected crises, the United Church condemns the recent  executive order (opens in a new tab)issued by the Trump administration, which declares a national emergency and establishes a process to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to Cuba. This threatens the right to life and the wellbeing of Cubans. 

We spent time as tourists in Cuba on several occasions over time although we haven't been there in at least 15 years. Even though we enjoyed the respite from the cold of Canadian winters we became increasingly concerned about the the oppressive regime generally and the lack of religious freedom, despite statements to the contrary. We were very aware that tourism was an economic engine for the country and those who served us in resorts were dependent on Canadian dollars to lift them above poverty.

Now, thanks to an American embargo on Venezualan oil entering Cuba, most tourism has ground to a halt and the country is suffering from power outages and serious food insecurity. People have no money and are starving in the dark. This embargo is punitive for average Cubans who have no say over government policy. Canada is trying to figure out how to offer aid to those who need it most. 

On one of our trips we visited a Christian seminary in the city of Mantanzas, a simple oasis in the midst of the poverty. At the time the United Church had am active partnership with the seminary and our son, Isaac, considered doing a portion of his theological education there. We toured the grounds and saw the extensive vegetable gardens which provided produce for the seminary and the broader community. We had brought with us cloth and sewing supplies for a collective sponsored by the seminary and we met with the coordinator later in Havana. They simply didn't have the money for or access to these supplies within the country. 

I have been thinking about this Christian witness in Mantanzas and about the ministries of the Roman Catholic church in Cuba. A spokesperson for the RCs said recently:

“Food prices are rising. Medicines are scarce, medical services have been reduced, and surgeries are limited only to those whose lives are in danger. Access to drinking water has become more difficult because many people depend on water trucks, and without fuel, they cannot reach them.”

In this context, the Church — poor and among the poor — offers a pastoral ministry of charity and consolation. “It is in the area of charity that we are perhaps being renewed and continually growing, as we see increasing needs and experience the Lord’s call to serve Him in the poor,” he said, recalling the many assistance efforts carried out — often with great difficulty — for the most vulnerable.

The prospects for Cuba are bleak and while President Trump has mused about a "friendly takover" of the country, starving the poor is not a form of liberation. 

I'm not sure to what extent the United Church connection has continued but we can pray for Christ's church in all its expressions in the country. Here is a link to the United Church response to the current situation:

https://united-church.ca/news/new-us-tariffs-target-cuba-united-church-offers-solidarity-cuban-people

                Various moments from the social pastoral ministry of the RC churches in Havana

Living Water

 

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” (although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized),  he left Judea and started back to Galilee.  But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 

 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

John 4: 1-7. 13-15 NRSVue 

Both Lower Trent and Quinte Conservation Authorities have issued warnings about high water levels in rivers and streams due to heavy rain and rising temperatures. The message is that banks might become unstable and flooding is possible. These are important cautions although I'm somewhat pleased that they are necessary. Last year drought in our region was so sustained that water levels dropped alarmingly, wells dried up, and many dependable channels became a navigation nightmare. Our waterways need to be replenished. 

                                                               Samaritan Woman at the Well -- He Qi 

Wouldn't you know that the gospel reading for this Sunday in Lent is exclusive to John, the story of the encounter between Jesus and a woman at a precious source of water, a well. It looks as though our pastor (and son) Isaac will tie what is the lengthiest conversation between Jesus and any person in the gospels to International Women's Day, a thoughtful choice. In the back-and-forth of this exchange Jesus, the Jew, promises the Samaritan woman Living Water, even as she provides him with a drink to quench his thirst. 

Although this story abounds in symbolism, as is the case with so much of John, it is also a reminder of the value of water for daily sustenance. Finding sources of water and managing them was a vital part of every day, often women's work. Some of you may have read James Michener's novel, The Source, which unfolds the complex history of the region through countless generations with the focal point  of a particular water source. In years past I would recommend this entertaining saga to those who were going on trips to Israel and Ruth read it before we visited in 2023. 

The paucity of water in places around the planet due to global heating is becoming a crisis and even in normally watery climes such as ours is cause for concern. While we watch the extensive bombing of Tehran in Iran, there is another emergency for this city of well over 10 million.  Officials have been warning about Day Zero, when the taps run dry as the country has endured six consecutive years of severe drought.

When we read the story of the Samaritan Woman we appreciate that Jesus is offering a deeper spiritual truth to this rejected person, a message of hope and acceptance. Perhaps we can also rethink the symbol of  Living Water as the precious resource that brought the two of them together in the first place. Water is sacred in many religions, complete with rituals and liturgies. 

Am I suggesting that the seemingly endless snowfall of this Winter was actually a blessing? I'll let you decide!

The Cruelty of Bill 94

                                                                         Asma Qureshi 

The madness of Bill 94 continues in the province of Quebec. The bill, adopted last Fall, introduced a further set of secularism measures  banning the wearing of religious symbols for all school employees, students are prohibited from wearing face coverings, and the ban on religious symbols now also applies to parent volunteers at schools.

At the time former education minister Bernard Drainville said "In Quebec, we made the decision that the state and religion are separate. And today we say the public schools are separate from religion. " 

Now the ban on symbols and apparel extends to parent volunteers at schools. I've written before about how this targets Muslim women more than any other group because of the hijab head covering. Even though finding volunteers in schools is a challenge one mother will no longer be able to offer assistance in her childrens' library. Another has been planning an end-of-school meal for her kids and their classmates but won't be permitted to serve it.

Asma Qureshi, who wears a hijab, has volunteered in various capacities for seven years at the same school Khan’s [llbrary volunteer] children attend , including this year helping to organize a lunch for her daughter’s graduating class.She and her husband, who owns a restaurant, are donating all the food.

“One of the things that hit me hard is that when I asked if I could participate in that event and be there to distribute the food, I was told I couldn't because of my hijab,” Qureshi said, adding she’s feeling a mixture of hurt, sadness, anger and shock. 

Seven years of generous service to children. What if a parent showed up to volunteer wearing a toque, or a beret but was known to be a Muslim or a Jew? Would the secularism police be called in to make a judgement about the head covering as a "stealth" kippah or hijab? Who does this really serve, and doesn't it deepen the "us and them" prejudices that lead to hatred and misunderstanding? 

According to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms we are all guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion. Quebec is still a part of Canada, isn't it? 

Rembrandt, Rediscovered

  In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.  Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.  But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. Once when he was serving as priest before God during his section’s turn of duty,  he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to offer incense. 

 Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside.  Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified, and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. 

Luke 2: 5-- 15 NRSVue

With my art history background stories about "lost and found" paintings and prints are catnip for me. Recently a set of 35 Rembrandt etchings were discovered in a folder left to a Dutch woman by her grandfather years before. This is an important reminder -- never throw out anything! 

Rembrandt is in the news again, this time in the form of a "lost"  painting from 1663 which was known by experts. disappeared for more than 60 years, only to be rediscovered and authenticated by experts. The rightfull owners presented Vision of Zacharias in the Temple for tests at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. According to the BBC

Rembrandt was 27 when he created the painting, which depicts the Biblical scene when priest Zacharias is told by the Archangel Gabriel that despite their age, he and his wife will have a son, John the Baptist.

The museum said Rembrandt had given the Biblical story an innovative twist. Instead of depicting the Archangel Gabriel visibly, he only suggested his presence. In doing so, he departed from established visual traditions and introduced a new way of representing this subject.

Rembrandt deliberately chose the decisive moment, just before Gabriel reveals his true identity.It is one of the few history paintings Rembrandt created during this period. At the time, he was primarily producing portraits, which were highly lucrative.

Rembrandt was in high demand at that stage of his career and spent his wealth faster than he made it -- why not? As he aged and was no longer the painterly flavour of the day he careened into bankruptcy and disrepute. Yet he produced another extraordinary work, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as he neared the end of his life. The late theologian and priest, Henri Nouwen offered:

Rembrandt is as much the elder son of the parable as he is the younger. When, during the last years of his life, he painted both sons in Return of the Prodigal Son, he had lived a life in which neither the lostness of the younger son nor the lostness of the elder son was alien to him. Both needed healing and forgiveness. Both needed to come home. Both needed the embrace of a forgiving father. But from the story itself, as well as from Rembrandt's painting, it is clear that the hardest conversion to go through is the conversion of the one who stayed home

I would encourage you to snoop around in your New Testament and read the rest of the story of Zecharia. And while you're at it, turn to chapter 15 of Luke for the Prodigal Son.  It's interesting that these two biblical paintings are from stories told exclusively in gospel of Luke. Hmm...who will unravel this mystery?...

The Fleeting Glory of a Lunar Eclipse

 

This photograph illustrates the various phases of a total eclipse, as seen on September 7, 2025.  (Annegret Hilse/Reuters)

The heavens are telling the glory of God,
    and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
    and night to night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
    their voice is not heard;
4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth
    and their words to the end of the world.

                       Psalm 19: 1-4 NRSVue 

Two mornings ago we watched the lunar eclipse between 5AM and 6AM, standing outside, intermittently, in the cold and the dark. Dare I admit that we didn't set an alarm for this event, we regularly awaken at this ungodly hour! 

We couldn't see the "blood moon" phase but we did watch the progression of Earth's shadow creep across the face the face of our natural satellite. I could see the pockmarks on the Moon's surface with my binoculars. We weren't awestruck, nor did we bow down in fear and wonder (too early in the morning), but we both thought the sight was pretty cool. Yesterday I wrote about the wonders of Creation here on Earth but this was a taste of venturing out into the universe. There is a theory that the  moon was once a part of the Earth, flung away from the outer layers of our planet. Another plausibe theory is that it's made of cheese. 

I've seen in the past week that two churches in the British Isles have followed the lead of others to display images from our solar system within their buildings. On the Isle of Man 11,000 showed up to see Mars: From the Imagination to Science by Luke Jerum over the course of a month. 

The same artist will be displaying  a large-scale installation depicting the sun at Grimsby Minster in North East Lincolnshire for four weeks.more than 400,000 high-resolution photographs of the sun's surface and observational data from Nasa. While I imagine these installations are quite  impressive there is something about viewing the skies not-up-close-and-personal that is truly awesome, as many of us experienced with the solar eclipse two years ago. 

On this Sun-ny day in Southern Ontario we can give the Creator the glory and perhaps ponder the night sky as well. 

Deep peace of the running wave to you.

              Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

              Deep peace of the shining stars to you

Deep peace of the gentle night to you

              Moon and stars pour their healing light on you

                             Deep peace of Christ, the light of the world to you.

World Wildlife Day & Celebrating Creation

 

Finding ourselves in a world of beauty and mystery,

   of living things, diverse and interdependent,

   of complex patterns of growth and evolution,

   of subatomic particles and cosmic swirls,

we sing of God the Creator,

the Maker and Source of all that is.

 Each part of creation reveals unique aspects of God the Creator,

   who is both in creation and beyond it.

All parts of creation, animate and inanimate, are related.

All creation is good.

We sing of the Creator,

   who made humans to live and move

   and have their being in God.

In and with God,

   we can direct our lives toward right relationship

   with each other and with God.

We can discover our place as one strand in the web of life.

from A Song of Faith, United Church of Canada Creed

Two mornings ago I was at the Frink Conservation Area fairly early and between the hour and the cold (-15C) I had the place entirely to myself, at least in terms of humans. It was sunny and tranquil except for birdsong as I made my way to the Moira River. I trained my binoculars on the eagles nest on the far side and to my delight the pair of them were visible, head and shoulders, until one of them bobbed out of sight.I was bouyed by seeing them for the rest of the day although I was also happy to view the variety of birds at our feeders. Last week we walked at Presqu'ille Provincial Park and on the road out we came upon four deer feeding on cedar. One of them stood up on its haunches to get some tasty morsels. Again, a gift.

Yesterday was World Wildlife Day and it got me thinking about the importance of appreciating Creation and Creator. Unfortunately, the loss of biodiversity and habitat due to human activity as well as the effects of climate change mean that the astonishing abundance of our planet, unique in the solar system, are diminishing rapidly, and bird species are highly vulnerable. We have become an urban species so the wonders of the natural world are less accessible to billions and while eco-tourism is on the rise it is a privilege of the realitvely wealthy. 

As I read through the psalms on a day-to-day basis I'm struck by how often abundance and diversity are celebrated as gifts from the Creator. And humans are warned against hubris, which I assume includes a President who dismantles environmental laws and, yes, a Prime Minster who seems to be losing the narrative on what the United Church describes as "living with respect in Creation" in one of its creeds. 

Only four years ago our Canadian government set an important target for conservation of federal land declaring:

The federal government has set the goal of conserving 30 percent of Canada’s land and water by 2030, because science shows that nature needs our help in order to reverse the decline in biodiversity, better fight climate change, and maintain a strong, sustainable economy.

This is a laudable goal -- one of the best initiatives of the Trudeau era --  recognizing that "economy" and "ecology" share the root word for "home". Yet we likely won't meet it. We can still aspire to it as a nation and pray for it as followers of an earthy Christ. 

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
    the world, and those who live in it,
2 for he has founded it on the seas
    and established it on the rivers.

                                 Psalm 24: 1-2 NRSVue

It's a Small World After All

It 's a world of laughter
A world of tears
It's a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world

 [God] shall judge between the nations
    and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
    neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob,
    come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!

Isaiah 2:4-5 NRSVue

Again this year we will travel to Newfoundland and a house on Change Islands adjacent to Fogom loaned to us by a kind friend . He is a Newfoundlander by birth but he flew for Emirates Airlines for years and has now retired in Dubai. He spends about a quarter to a third of the year on Change Islands and we fit around his schedule. We reached out to him when Iran retaliated against US and Israeli attacks, including with drone strikes in Dubai. He assured us that he was safe but he's heard the explosions. We hadn't been aware that Dubai was so close to Iran, one of the leading proponents of international terror. 

A couple of years ago we nervously stayed in touch with Ruth's sister and brother-in-law who were still living in Israel. After the October 7 2023 attacks by Hamas and Israel's destructive response they were vigilant in paying attention to alerts about incoming missiles. One Sunday morning as they left church they saw Israeli missiles intercepting Hamas rockets in the sky to the southwest. When they moved to the States it took time to address their constant anxiety from that time. 

It's hard for us to grasp that we know people who have dealt with these sorts of threats as we live in the relative security in Canada.

 We were also part of sponsorship for Syrian refugees who fled their country because of threats to their safety and there are Ukrainians who fled their country living in our community. 

 Yet this is the reality for so many -- untold millions -- and there are no guarantees of safety as geopolitical realities can change in a heartbeat. How do we sort through the endless barrage of information? 

While the lyrics above are from a corny Disney song they are surprisingly apt for the time in which we live. We now know within minutes about situations that are grim and seemingly insurmountable. It makes the world smaller and scarier. 

I'm grateful that we are part of a faith community that upholds those who suffering around the world every Sunday morning. We ask for peace in the Middle East even though it seems almost impossible. We want solutions that don't involve the deaths of innocent people and the sickening expenditures of wars that we're told aren't really wars. 

We are often invited to respond with financial support by the United Church in situations of dire need. An aspect of our gratitude as Christians is to act with compassion and concern. We aren't helpless or hopeless even when circumstances seem dire. We choose to walk in God's light. 

Galileo, Psalm 145, & the Heavens

I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
    his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall extol your works to another
    and shall declare your mighty acts.

They will recount the glorious[a] splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works I will meditate.

They will proclaim the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
    and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

                                      Psalm 145: 1-7, 21 (of 21 Verses)

In January a historian spotted a verse or verses from a psalm in a very old manuscript. This note is now attributed to Galileo, a discovery that intrigues me. 

Here is the description from an article in the Smithsonian Magazine: 

Historian Ivan Malara spotted the inscriptions in January while leafing through a 1551 copy of the Almagest at Italy’s National Central Library of Florence. Malara realized that a loose page in the text—a second-century C.E. astronomical manual by the Greco-Roman polymath Ptolemy, which asserts that Earth is at the center of the universe—contained a transcription of Psalm 145. The handwriting was reminiscent of Galileo’s, an astronomer often lionized as the “father of modern science.” Additional annotations in the book’s margins similarly matched Galileo’s hand.

There are lots of reasons to remember Galileo, not the least of which is the conflict between the astronomer and the Roman Catholic church regarding his proposition that our solar system is heliocentric solar rather than geocentric .Galileo was tried for his supposedly heretical premise that the Earth and other planets were in orbit around the Sun rather than the Earth being at the centre. He did avoid torture or execution but as the result of two trials for heresy he was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life and ordered not to promulgate his dangerous views. 

It isn't widely shared that Jesuit astronomers came to similar conclusions shortly after Galileo did but it took until 1992, a mere 359 years, for the RC Church to admit it was wrong. While the inquisition of Galileo is often cited as evidence of the anti-science outlook of the Church the RCs have an astronomical observatory near the Vatican and another in Arizona. Guy Consolmo, the director of astronomy for the Vatican believes in science and religion working alongside one another rather than as competing ideologies.

You may have been aware that six planets were in alignment Saturday night, all of them in orbit around the sun. And early tomorrow morning there will be a lunar eclipse. Set your alarm!

I would love to know what portion of Psalm 145 captured Galileo but I suppose we'll never know. It's hard to imagine that he was kindly disposed toward religion as his life progressed yet we can thank the Creator for his contributions to our understanding of the heavens. 

                                                           Vatican Observatory

Black History in Quinte Region

 

Yesterday was the last of February and the final day of Black History Month. I attended an event at Belleville Public Library along with 65 to 75 others titled Black Roots in Belleville and the Quinte Region with Dr. Nikki Clarke as the presenter. 

Even though the "Quinte Region" aspect was a bit thin the event as a whole was certainly worthwhile and Dr. Clarke was engaging. I discovered that in February of 1926 Carter G. Woodson initiated the first celebration of Negro History Week which led to Black History Month. He chose February to honour the birth month of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. I also found out that 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of Black History Month in Canada.

I am aware that in the early 19th century there were enslavers in Belleville, including a couple of families associated with Bridge St. Methodist Church, eventually Bridge St. UC, the congregation I served as lead minister. No one suggested we include that aspect of our history in our 200th anniversary info. 

I was intrigued to hear that Belleville was also a stop on the Underground Railroad, the conduit for enslaved people escaping the United States on their way to Canada. I would have enjoyed learning more about that aspect of Belleville's history along with the places of worship for those who chose to live in the town of that era. 

I sat next to a charming young man named Kharington Petgrave who is a teacher and Social Justice Educator in Peterborough. I enjoyed our conversation about his work before and after the presentation. 

The event as a whole was uplifting and even playful at times. There were also reminders during the hour that anti-Black racism exists in Canada and that while progress has been made we have a long way to go. Kudos to BPL for holding this event. 

                                                                           Kharington Petgrave