Praying for the Middle East

Prayers for peace 

God, I come to You not as someone strong, but as a person in a place that feels heavy. You know our fears, struggles, challenges; the fear from the sounds of planes and bombs, and the silent worries we carry. Lord, hold us close and remind us that we’re not alone. 

Give us courage to keep hoping, to choose kindness over anger, patience over fear, and hope over despair. Let Your peace reign here in Lebanon, and from this small place, let it spread across the Middle East and the hurting world. Use us to be a light, a listener, and a bearer of Your peace. Amen 

(Prepared and led by Maria Bzdigian, Armenian Evangelical Church of Nor Marash - Christian Endeavor Movement) 

Prayer for the victims 

O God of compassion, we come before You with much hope, lifting up the Middle East to Your loving care. We pray for all who have been injured. Grant them healing in body, mind, and spirit. We remember those who have died. 

Receive them into Your eternal peace, and console those who mourn their loss. We entrust to You all who suffer, the displaced, the fearful, the weary, the broken-hearted. Let Your justice rise, Your mercy flow, and Your peace take root in every land. Amen 

(Prepared and led by Elia Nasrallah, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East- Orthodox Youth Movement)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 NRSVue 

The World Council of Churches invited Christians around the planet to pray for peace in the Middle East yesterday, so I really should have mused about this 24 hours ago.The prayers above and the benediction below are from the prayer resources provided for the day.

 Some people, even some Christians would ask "why bother" because we do a lot of praying and at times it's hard to discern any results. The world seems to be addicted to war and madmen direct the missiles and drones with a Strangelovian fervour. Sometimes they do pray with a maniacal tone that is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ -- I'm looking at you Pete Hegseth. 

Part of the reason I continue to pray is because the alternative is so much worse. Prayer is an expression of hope even when it seems like whistling in the dark. I have literally sung hymns  in the dark (a form of prayer)  when I was afraid and it made a difference in ways it's hard to explain. Sometimes when I wake in the wee hours when every worry is amplified and mumble my way through little prayers and portions of scripture and I'm comforted. 

I'm not so naive as to equate prayers for personal comfort with prayers to end global conflict yet the God I beseech in each instance is the same. 

Some observers are asking whether we have actually shambled our way into WWIII with conflicts everywhere. I would rather continue to seek glimmers of prayerful hope  that to curse the darkness.

“May the unconditional love of the Triune God envelope all people in justice and peace, prospering the work of our hands, so that God’s shalom may reign.”

Praying for the Supreme Court in Canada

It might not surprise you that I've prayed (not a lot) for the Supreme Court in the United States. You might conclude that my prayers aren't exactly efficacious given the dreary outcome of some important rulings. 

This week I am praying for the Canadian Supreme Court as it hears arguments for and against Bill 21, as well as broader questions around the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause.  Bill 21 is a chilling piece of legislation in Quebec which essentially overrides the Charter of Rights and Freedoms regarding freedom of religion and misuses the Notwithstanding Clause, an odd "you're not the boss of me" tool that provinces can use to opt out of constitutional expectations. 

While there has been a lot of excellent coverage of these days of Supreme Court deliberation I'm not sure that most Canadians could give a damn. But our liberal democracy and the right of individuals and communities to express faith could be damned if Quebec continues on this disturbing pat of expunging religion in any form from the public square.

The term Quebec uses for these draconian measures is "laicite" which means secularism which has been borrowed from France where there is also serious restrictions. Even in translation Quebec uses "laicity" rather than secularization to denote a legal framework. 

One writer, Shema Khan, has perceptively identified that "In Quebec, laïcité has become its own kind of religious orthodoxy" to use the headline from her opinion piece in the Globe and Mail. As Kahn, who wears a hijab herself says: The province is devoted to its relentless march toward rigid laïcité; Bill 94 is even more restrictive than France’s similar laws, and Bill 9, which aims to further curtail religious freedoms, is on the horizon. Ironically, it makes Quebec look “more Catholic than the Pope,” as they say, on the issue of laïcité.

Meanwhile, hundreds of teachers and educational support workers and other government workers have lost their jobs already, not because they didn't their work well but because they where a hijab or a turban or a kippah. As I wrote recently, parents have been told that they can no longer go on school trips with their kids or volunteer in school libraries for the same reason. People are no longer allowed to pray in public places. It is all misogynistic, Islamophobic, xenophobic, and racist. Just writing about this makes my blood boil. This is secular fundamentalism and it isn't Canada. 

                                                              Good Friday Procession in Quebec City

Next week is Holy Week for Christians and I know that there will be Good Friday processions in Quebec. Quebec's Roman Catholic bishops have joined in condemning the legislation but I doubt that any of the processions or outdoor Stations of the Cross will be cancelled or restricted. And church bells will ring on Easter morning without the religious police showing up. But of course, this isn't about restricting Christians even though most Quebecers have long abandoned the once omnipresent Roman Catholic Church. 

I hope you'll be praying with me about the outcome even though I might be disappointed once again. 

Musicians for Water

 

But let justice roll down like water
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5: 24 NRSVue

 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’

John 7: 37-39 NRSVue 

 When we head toward Pontypool, Ontario. on our way to visit two of our grandchildren (and their parents) we usually pass through Millbrook (pop 1500) and see the sign claiming musician Serena Ryder as their own. Serena has won lots of awards including seven Junos and even hosted the event.  Her song Stompa was a huge international hit and she's on the Canadian Walk of Fame. 

I had a brief conversation with Ms Ryder on a shuttle bus to Santa Fe airport years ago. She was on tour and played there and I was heading home after some retreat time at Ghost Ranch, north of the city. To my surprise she said that she would like to go there because she was a fan of the artist Georgia O'Keeffe. I told her that I'd been staying at Casa del Sol, the retreat centre at Ghost Ranch, just down the dirt road from O'Keeffe's isolated home, now a museum of sorts. This is an arid part of the state where water is precious, although Ghost Rance is not far from the Chama River and I have waded in it. 

                                    Georgia O'Keeffe looking over the Chama River, 1961 

                                                           Chama River 1937 

I see that Serena is joining other musicians, including Sarah Harmer, also a longtime environmental activist, for a benefit concert tonight called Musicians for Water Last year Sarah received a Juno Humanitarian Award presented by David Suzuki. 

Here is a description of their concert: 

Ontario has over 5,000 active gravel pits and quarries—far more than the province needs. While the industry claims a supply shortage, the government actually has licenced 13 times more than the construction industry uses each year. The real problem isn’t supply; it’s how these projects are fast-tracked without considering the bigger picture. This approach puts the Headwaters region in southwestern Ontario—where eight major rivers begin—at serious risk, disrupting natural flows and polluting rivers that feed the Great Lakes, threatening drinking water, farms, and ecosystems.

I'm always encouraged when artists, including musicians, take up the many causes of environmental care and protection, raising awareness and funds. 

This past Sunday was World Water Day  and while it doesn't seem possible, Canada may be on the verge of a water crisis with more regions experiencing drought. Glaciers are disappearing and rivers are running dry. Canada's extensive wildfires are the outcome of drought and agriculture depends on timely rain and irrigation. 

Patient readers will know that I've written about the spiritual and practical importance of water many times, including Jesus, Living Water. So I'll declare this evening's concert "holy", even if the musicians don't quite see it that way!

Protecting Creation in Holy Week

 

                                                        Costa Rica National Parks 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

                               John 3:16-17 NRSVue 

The Central American nation of Costa Rica has a positive reputation for environmental protection and has tied this to a robust eco-tourism industry. Many years ago my late mother took family there, including grandchildren, and one of the highlights was a tour of a river national park, complete with crocodiles along the shore and a boa constrictor in a tree. 

I read recently that authorities will launch a nationwide operation of patrols and surveillance involving hundreds of  personnel to prevent poaching and the illegal trade in animal and plants species. They will be present in national parks but also set up roadblocks to check vehicles.

What caught my attention is that this will take place from March 28 to April 5 and authorities describe this as a Holy Week operation. I've never heard of an environmental protection blitz tied to a religious season but this one will commence this Saturday, just before Palm Sunday and end on Easter Sunday. 

While this may just seem quirky it got me thinking about the themes of Holy Week leading to Jesus' crucifixion. We reflect on how Jesus was treated unjustly and humiliated before his execution. Some Christian theologians write about the ways in which we crucify Creation and that Jesus' death and resurrection are for the salvation of all creatures, not just humans. 

A couple of decades ago this was condemned as heresy but as we are increasingly aware of the destruction of habitat, the reduction of biodiversity, and the effects of climate change there is a greater willingness to connect Creation and Incarnation as we we consider what it means to be "saved", even amongst some more conservative writers. Rather than being apostasy, we are opening our eyes to the broader picture of salvation -- for God so loved the world.

I've shared the painting above before by the late Indigenous Blake Debassige. It is in the chapel of the Anishnabe Spiriitual Centre on the way to Manitoulin Island. As you can see, Christ is crucified on a tree wth creature on the branches. It is a powerful image. 

I don't know why Costa Rica decided on Holy Week as the period for this operation to protect the environment but it is cause for pause. 

Sarah Mullaley on the Road to Canterbury

 

                                       Sarah Mullaly on the path to Canterbury

Sarah Mullalley was elected as Archbishop of Canterbury in January of this year and has faced a lot of grief from the beginning. The most vexatious challenges come from the impressive fact that she is the first woman Archbishop to head the world-wide Anglican communion. Their has been resistance and some silly bishops decided to elect a male archbishop in protest but these misogynist toads stepped back from their hissy-fit. 

Last Tuesday Mullalley began what may be a first, or at least the first in a long time. She walked from St. Paul's Church in London to the magnificent Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop, A couple of weeks ago her official page described what was then the upcoming pilgrimage: 

The new Archbishop of Canterbury will next week (Tuesday 17 March) embark on a 6-day walking pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, as part of her spiritual preparation for her Installation service at Canterbury Cathedral on Wednesday 25 March.

It is the first time in modern history that an Archbishop of Canterbury has undertaken a pilgrimage of this nature in the lead-up to their Installation.

The Most Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, along with her husband Eamonn, will be walking the 140km route along the Becket Camino from St Paul’s Cathedral to Canterbury Cathedral, reflecting her journey from Bishop of London to Archbishop of Canterbury.

On the weekend they completed their trek, having stopped at churches along the way for visits with clerics and Church of England members. I am impressed by this feat given that she's in her early sixties and covered 23 or 24 kilometres a day on average. I hope there were worthwhile conversations as they were hoofing it as well.

Even if we've never read the Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14th century we're likely aware that these are two dozen short stories told from the perspective of pilgrims on the road to Canterbury. It's speculated that there were to be 30 pilgrim tales, multiplied by four, but Chaucer up and died. 

Mullalley's walk demonstrates a respect for this long tradtion of pilgrimage reflecting her own journey of faith. It also pokes a dignified Anglican finger in the eyes of her detractors, few of whom could have huffed and puffed a few blocks from St Paul's. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are filled with humour and he might have written a jolly and even ribald story about this outing. 

I figure we should all be praying for Archbishop Mullalley in these turbulent times for Anglicans around the world. May she experience the guidance and comfort of the Holy Spirit and be treated with respect. 

As I prepare to begin my ministry as Archbishop of Canterbury, I am grateful for the prayers and support I have received from people here and around the world. "To be welcomed into the city and diocese of Canterbury is an immense privilege and I am grateful to be sharing in this moment with people of all ages and backgrounds from across the Church of England, the Anglican Communion, our nation and the world. "Our world today needs the love, healing and hope that we find in Jesus Christ."                              Archbishop Sarah Mullaley 

                                                  Canterbury Pilgrims -- William Blake 

Remembering COVID-19 in Faith Communities

A week ago I led worship at Trenton United and before the Prayers of the People I put on a blue face-mask and asked the congregation if they remembered wearing something similar. Just about everyone nodded yes because it was the requirement for safety just about everywhere when the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we made our way in the world.

I noted that Sunday March 15th 2020 was the day six years ago when the Trenton congregation held it's last service before the provincial shutdown of March 17th. We were told that we'd cease worship for a few weeks -- little did we know -- and the United Church soon mandated closures and provided financial support for congregations, including for remote worship equipment.  

 In our prayers last Sunday I remembered those who died, those who provided courageous medical care, and all those, including school children, who experienced lasting effects from the isolation. I also encouraged folk to celebrate that we figured out how to continue in ministry as Christ's people despite the challenges. 

I saw this week that on the following Sunday in 2020, March 22nd -- today - the late Pope Francis invited ecumenical prayer as the crisis unfolded. I have no recollection of this but we were all a bit distracted at the time. As I read his invitation to prayer it struck me how pastoral he was and prescient. 

I wonder what response there will be to the next health crisis considering the nonsense of the so-called Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. It was the Invasion of the Selfish and other protests erupted across the country. Most Canadians understood the importance of the "greater good" and the per capita deaths in this country were a third of the United States.

Here is a portion of what Pope Francis prayed:

“I invite the heads of the churches and the leaders of all the Christian communities, together with all Christians of the various confessions, to invoke the Almighty, the All Powerful God, by reciting contemporaneously the prayer that Our Lord Jesus has taught us,”

  “We wish to respond to the pandemic of the virus with the universality of prayer, of compassion and tenderness.” 

“Let us remain united. Let us make our closeness felt to those who are alone and to those who are most stricken.”

 let us also express “our closeness to doctors, to health workers, nurses, volunteers” and “to the authorities that have to take hard measures, but ones that are for our good.”

“let us show our closeness to the police, the soldiers who try to keep order always on the streets, so that the things the government orders for our good can be done,” indeed “let us be close to everyone.”

Paul McCartney, Not Running

Well that was strange. I wrote a blog about the new documentary, Paul McCartney: Man on the Run -and somehow another blog-in-the-works showed up today. 

As longtime Beatles and McCartney fans we had to watch but it confirmed what we've long known, that we've never been Wings fans and never will be. But I did appreciate the portion of the doc about the period as the Beatles were breaking up and Paul assessed what would come next in an interlude when he wasn't on the run.  

He's said that one of his goals was to grow up and at age 27 he chose a remote farm in Scotland to get that underway. He'd purchased the run-down property on the advice of his accountant but he had no real interest in it, But when he needed a hidey-hole from the oppressive media he went there with wife Linda and their kids to start over. He puttered and repaired and played, generally becoming a regular human being after years of being part of one of the most popular bands in the world. He also wrote music even though he'd thought of giving it up after a decade of a magical collaboration with John Lennon. Both McCartney and Ram were products of that time of creative fermentation. 

Here we are in the season of Lent when lots of Christians chose to honour Jesus' forty days in the wilderness before his public ministry began by participating in different forms of reflection and self-denial. I'm not comparing Paul with Jesus ( John once compared the Beatles with Jesus and it didn't turn out well) but it is interesting that many people have needed their wilderness, or at least pastoral, interludes to recharge and reassess life's meaning. 

During my years of ministry I had a couple of sabbaticals of several months and they were rejuvenating and spiritually enriching. The irony is that day-to-day, Sunday-to--Sunday ministry can become a soul-sapping grind. During one of those sabbaticals I spent a couple of months on a back-of-beyond farm at the end of a dirt road. Ruth was working but came for a three-day weekend every week and we loved the solitude. I also grabbed pockets of time for a few days or a week along the way, including three periods at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. This is place of wild beauty where Georgia O'Keeffe painted and Oppenheimer was filmed, All these experiences were important, 

McCartney was one third of the way through his long and energetic life (to date) when he headed to the wilds. He's reinvented himself several times since then. I've never read or heard anything about Sir Paul's spiritual inclinations but renewal takes many forms. Sometimes we need to stop, look, and listen to experience the holy. 

Here's a link for the CBC Radio interview with Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville about working with McCartney and making the film : 

https://www.cbc.ca/arts/q/documentarian-morgan-neville-tells-paul-mccartneys-post-beatles-story-9.7134562

Eid-al-Fitr in Jerusalem

 

   Worshippers pray outside the Old City on Friday morning. Photograph: Lorenzo Tondo/The Guardian

Three years ago next month we were in Jerusalem at the confluence of Jewish Passover/Pesach, Christian Holy Week/Easter, and Islamic Ramadan. While there were cautions about religious tensions and an increased police and military presence in the Old City we moved around freely and there were no incidents of violence. 

We did not go up on the Temple Mount where the Al Aqsa Mosque is situated although I have been there a couple of times before, doffing my shoes before entering for a moment of reflection. We were in the large plaza at the base of the Western Wall and both Al Aqsa and the Golden Dome were quite visible before us. 

    Al Aqsa with the grey dome, The Golden Dome, and the Western Wall Plaza to the left 

Today Muslims in and around Jerusalem are lamenting that on this final day of Ramadan called Eid-al-Fitr they have been denied access to the Temple Mount, an important aspect of this time of fasting and contemplation. According to The Guardian: 

For the first time since 1967, al-Aqsa mosque – Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site – will be closed at the end of Ramadan on Friday, with tensions rising among Palestinians as Israeli authorities keep the complex shut, forcing worshippers to hold Eid prayers as close as they can to the sealed site.

On Friday morning hundreds of worshippers were forced to pray outside the Old City, as Israeli police barricaded the entrances to the site.Because of security concerns related to the US-Israeli war on Iran, on 28 February Israeli authorities had effectively sealed off the mosque complex in Jerusalem to most Muslim worshippers during Ramadan. 

The reality is that Israel has increasingly restricted access to the Temple Mount for Muslims and there have been a number of incidents of provocation by right-wing members of the Netanyahu government who have gone to this contested area despite protests. It is shameful that an area considered holy by the three great monotheistic religions has become the focal point of so much tension. 

Eid Mubarak or "blessed feast" to Muslms around the world as they celebrate Eid al-Fitr to conclude Ramadan. As hard as it is to imagine an end to these religious tensions we can pray for a new way forward. 

Cesar Chavez & Betrayal

 

                                                                            Cesar Chavez

When I was a young man half a century ago,  I became aware of the United Farm Workers, a social action group in the US started in 1962 by Mexican Americans Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. The goal was better working conditions and fairer wages for those who harvested America's produce. There were plenty of protests but the UFW worked then, as it still does, to promote nonviolence and to educate members on political and social issues. The gains made by the UFW likely affected the way migrant workers are treated in Canada as well, although in both countries there is still much to be done. 

Chavez was a Roman Catholic who connected these efforts to his Christian faith but he was also ecumenical, understanding that liberation was a guiding principle of different religions. There is a book with the title The Gospel of Cesar Chavez which shares his thoughts on faith and social justice. 

                                                                          Dolores Huerta, centre 

This week we've heard the stunning news that Chavez was a sexual predator who raped underage girls, some of whom were the children of friends. And co-founder Huerta, now 95, says that he raped her as well. While there were rumours of his vile activity his offences were kept quiet out of concern that it would undermine the cause. 

Of course this was all a gross violation of the gospel, and the sort of grim story we've heard far too often about individuals in power, mostly men, a fair number of them purporting to be guided by the light of Christ in their mission and ministry. 

Every time evidence like this comes to light, particularly about people who claim faith, I am disheartened, shaken.  There is no doubt that Chavez was instrumental in effecting change for so many downtrodden and exploited people. Yet there is simply no justification for his betrayal of trust and perhaps we need to be far more cautious about attributing "saintly" qualities to those who then live and act in such terrible ways. 

A Wicked Bible?

 

A 1631 copy of the Bible that includes the text "Thou shalt commit adultery." Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

We will be in a museum today contemplating dinosaurs with our 5-year-old and 8-year old grandchildren. Libaries and museums are marvellous places offering insights on the world that inform us and stretch our imaginations. Many of them are under threat due to underfunding and authoritarian control. 

I would love to wander through a new exhibition at Yale Library which explores the history of typos across five centuries. Visitors will see corrections that were listed inside copies of works by James Joyce, Upton Sinclair and Nicolaus Copernicus.

Perhaps the timeliest of the lot is an an infamous 1631 edition of the Bible, which lists “Thou shalt commit adultery” as the seventh commandment  earning it the nickname “the Wicked Bible.” According to a Smithsonian article; " By the time the mistake was discovered, 1,000 copies had been printed. The British king Charles I reprimanded the publishers, fined them £300 and stripped them of their printing license...Nearly all the Wicked Bibles were destroyed, and only about 20 known copies survive. In the copy on view at the Beinecke, someone fixed the error by hand, adding “not” to “Thou shalt commit adultery.”

We know that a certain warmongering president sells his special bibles to the gullible and I wonder if anyone has checked to see if this version is "wicked." This erroneous commandment would apply to Trump, a number of the members of his cabinet and his "spiritual advisor" Paula White. 

Truthfully, I'm more concerned by all the passages about justice and mercy and care for the marginalized effectively edited out of bibles these days. That really is wicked. 

House of Guinness & Philanthropy

I would wish a great lake of ale for the King of Kings;

I would wish the family of heaven to be drinking it throughout life and time. I would wish the men of Heaven in my own house; I would wish vessels of peace to be given to them. I would wish joy to be in their drinking; I would wish Jesu to be here among them. I would wish the three Marys of great name; I would wish the people of heaven from every side.

 Olay, this is a prayer attributed to St. Brigid of Ireland, not St. Patrick, but she is one of the three patron saints of the Emerald Isle and we know that plenty of beer will be flowing on this St. Patrick's Day. I do enjoy a nice craft beer but I've never been much of a drinker and even less so as the years pass. A lake of ale would create problems for me I won't go into here.

There is definitely a long tradition of imbibing in Ireland and the Guinness brand is certainly a part it, going back to the 18th century.We have been watching, with a bit of eye-rolling, the imagined shenanigans of this clan in the series House of Guinnness. While it seem to be something of a Peaky Blinders wannabe it has its moments. 

The writers have chosen to include the family's progressive philanthropic efforts in the 19th century which impacted Dublin's and even rural Ireland's social landscape into the 20th century. They financed numerous hospitals, housing projects, and educational institutions, leading to transformative effects on the city’s social fabric. They created what we might call social housing for workers and the poor. 

I have snooped around trying to find out who were the motivators in this staunchly Protestant  family for their enlightened outlook and whether religious convictions were involved but I haven't been successful. 

I'm sure the blessing of all three saints is upon their charitable legacy whatever else they got up to.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, and bottoms up, perhaps a stout!

Luminous Jessie Buckley & Grief

 

I have always been spooked by vampire films (Sinners) and I'm a 'fraidy cat when it comes to monsters (Frankenstein) and as I age I'm brittle in viewing violence (One Battle After Another.) I willingly concede that all three of these movies deserved honours at the Oscars and we have started into all of them but sighed and went elsewhere. We may return to them, or we may not. 

We did go the cinema to see Hamnet and were pleased that Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for her moving role as Agnes Hathaway/Shakespeare. She is an actress with remarkable range, simply hilarious in Wicked Little Letters. In Hamnet she embodies a fiercely independent woman who discovers love, including the love for her children. I found her depiction of grief when she loses a child totally believable in a way that no words could describe. 

Through my years in pastoral ministry I was witness and companion to grief hundreds of times and came to realize that it was unique to each person in its expression. Hamnet explores the way loss can shake relationships and even destroy them because the way it is manifested can be so different. I realized that some people moved forward with resilience and others were never over their mourning. There were and are no right or wrong responses.

There are critics of the film that suggest it is too slow moving -- this wasn't a Marvel flick! -- and that the story itself was implausible, although it is historically accurate that their boy died, probably of the plague. In the movie Shakespeare works through his profound grief at son Hamnet's death by writing a play called Hamlet which is about loss and the ghosts that haunt us. To me it is one of those stories that may not be factual but is true. 

Well done, Jessie Buckley. Long may you grace our screens!

Forevergreen & a Greater Love

  

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

                          John 15:13 NRSVue

We have seen two of the animated short films nominated for this evening's Academy Awards, The Girl Who Cried Pearls and Forevergreen. Both of them are stop-motion stories and both of them are quite lovely. It is a remarkable art form in our world of CGI and AI and whatever new "I" I don't know about.

One reviewer offers a summary of the latter of these two: 

“Forevergreen” is a storybook come to life, even though it’s a rather familiar story. It plays like a more energetic, and even more emotionally-manipulative version of Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree.” That it ends with a biblical quote — I’d say which one, but it’s a spoiler — only cements the film’s identity as a blunt morality tale.

I've already been the spoiler, naming the verse above which comes from the story of Jesus and his disciples as they share in the meal we have come to term The Last Supper. I'm not so sure that the message of self-giving love is all that blunt, at least in terms of the biblical reference. As a form of evangelism I feel that the Christian filmmakers who I think are Disney animators have been quite restrained.

I've discovered that people who may love certain allegorical stories such as the Chronicles of Narnia are totally unaware of what may seem to be overt religious imagery such as the sacrifice of Aslan, the lion. It's quite possible to enjoy them and even be moved by them without that awareness. In the case of Forevergreen the verse comes at the very end in unassuming print. There is no final Last Supper or Crucifixion image, which would have been over-the-top. 

You can click here and decide for yourself. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4EPW7JUMTM

 

Watershed Wisdom, Watershed Discipleship

 We know that when ice encounters warmth it becomes water and when water is heated it becomes steam. There has been steam coming out of my ears this week as the Ontario government made the announcement, after "consultatiion with the public", that the 36 conservation authorities in the province would be consolidated into nine. I responded to the invitation to provide feedback to this plan and the survey was clearly meant to steer around any critiicsm or resistance, let alone informed science. 

I listened to an CBC Radio nterview with associate professor Michael Drescher from the University of Waterloo School of Planning about these changes. He reminded us that conservation authorities are watershed based and that the local wisdom of those who work in them helps to mitigate flooding and erosion and maintain water quality. In other words, they protect the environment and humans with place-based knowledge and acquired practical understanding. 

Prof. Drescher also reminded us that the Ford government did away with the Endangered Species Act in Ontario and has reduced development seitbacks from wetlands from 120 metres to 30 metres. Even though municipalities, fees, and federal government provide a large percentage of funding it is the province making these decisions. Can you understand why I'm steaming? 

Here is the link to the interview: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-193-fresh-air/clip/16203178-ontario-plans-decrease-number-conservation-authorities.-heres-one

We have spent time in many of the Conservation Areas in both Quinte and Lower Trent Conservation Areas and we feel blessed, literally, by these oases of nature. As the decades march on I've become more convinced of the necessity of  a "grounded" approach to caring for Creation. Sometimes I become discouraged and angry but I want to maintain hope despite what unfolds around us. 

Years ago the theologian Chet Myers introduced the notion of Watershed Discipleship, a bio-regional approach to how we as Christians inhabit the Earth. In a prophetic article in Geez magazine ten years ago Myers offered: 

A talk in 2009 by Brock Dolman, a permaculturist in Northern California, really sold me. “Watersheds underlie all human endeavors and form the foundation for all future aspirations and survival. The idea is one of a cradle,” he said, cupping his hands into a little boat. “Your home basin of relations is your lifeboat.” “Our watershed represents a community,” he continued, “every living organism within this basin is interconnected and interdependent.” This represents the most viable “geographic scale of applied sustainability, which must be regenerative because we desperately are in need of making up for lost time.”

What would it mean for Christians to re-centre our citizen-identity in the topography of Creation, rather than in the political geography of dominant cultural ideation, and ground our discipleship practices in the watersheds in which we reside? Five years ago I began to explore an approach I called “watershed discipleship” with other faith-rooted organizers and educators around North America. “Watershed discipleship” is an intentional triple entendre:

• recognizing that we are in a watershed moment of crisis. Environmental and social justice and sustainability need to be integral to everything we do as inhabitants of specific places;

• acknowledging the bioregional locus of an incarnational following of Jesus. Our discipleship and the life of the local church inescapably take place in a watershed context;

• and implying, as Todd Wynward added, that we need to be disciples of our watersheds, learning from and recovenanting with the local “Book of Creation.”

                                                                                from the Narwhal