A Troublesome Fire as a Threat to Creation

 We have a long-time friend who lives in Loveland, Colorado, a pleasant community with ready access to a variety of experiences of the outdoors. We have visited several times and loved driving up to Rocky Mountain National Park, just over an hour away from Loveland. That area of Colorado is currently affected by wildfires, some of the largest in the history of the state, including one named East Troublesome. Estes Park, which is a mountain town at the edge of the park, has been evacuated because of the proximity of one these fires.

Nearby is Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center, a beautiful spot which our friend recommended we visit. Years ago Ruth and I attended an excellent continuing education event sponsored by the Presbyterians for Earth Care with an excellent roster of speakers, including one of my favourite theologians, Dr. William Brown. His term "groundlings" to describe the first-formed humans of Genesis was the inspiration for the title of this Groundling blog.

I wonder how Highlands is faring in the midst of this calamity? I am reluctant to describe what is transpiring as a natural disaster because the scope and intensity of these fires has been amplified by the human-made (groundling-made?) climate emergency. It's location in the midst of incredible beauty makes it vulnerable to fire. 

We have acted as though God's Earth is too big to fail, to our peril.  Let's hope and pray, groundlings,  that we'll awaken to the threat posed to a groaning Creation and act. 

Migrations and Pilgrimages in 2020

Yesterday was World Fish Migration Day, an opportunity to acknowledge one of the most remarkable annual occurrences in the natural world. Here in Canada fish such as salmon and trout and smelt spend part of the year in large bodies of water, only to return to the streams and rivers from whence they came. 

Here in Ontario people flock to spots where the salmon run upstream in the Fall although, sadly, the original Atlantic salmon are long gone and introduced species such as Chinook salmon are what they are seeing. When we lived in Bowmanville, on the shore of Lake Ontario, the salmon and trout runs were impressive. 

This got me thinking about what has happened globally with the pandemic. 2020 was supposed to be the Year of Pilgrimage for Christian humans and there events planned for cathedrals in the United Kingdom to welcome visitors. There are annual pilgrimages such as the Camino in Spain and the Haj to Mecca. All this changed drastically as a result of the pandemic.

Despite this, the "pilgrimages" of fish and other species continue. The migrations of salmon, and caribou, and wildebeests and the heavenly host of birds and butterflies may be curtailed by climate change and habitat loss, yet the creatures are still on the move.

Surely our human inclination toward meaningful journeys which we call pilgrimages are connected in some way to the manner in which so many of God's creatures migrate. We sense the spiritual value of doing but the physical movement of migration and pilgrimage is necessary and a vital aspect of the experience. 

                                  Rainbow Trout at Bowmanville Creek Fish Ladder

Sheep, and Present-Day Shepherds

#Rewilding - A #BioDiversity Love Story A couple times of year, our forest south of Topsy is a causeway for our sheep. We've chosen not to farm this land - We like the woods to be wild. Our goal is to have wild spaces... 1/3

Our financial system sucks at keeping places wild; Those beautiful trees can be monetized only if cut down For a farm, that temptation is huge: Cut all the trees = mortgage paid off... But then what? What are we working so hard for if we can't be our own Lorax? 2/3

#TopsyFarms can't do much about the rainforests; maybe eat less burgers & avoid palm oil. But what we can do is work to preserve our own wild. Right here. There is value & benefit to us silly humans maintaining wild spaces. Thank you for following our Journey

We visit Amherst Island in Lake Ontario several times a year. It's just over an hour away from Belleville, including the ferry ride, and yet it feels like an escape from everyday life, whatever this is these days. We find places to walk and picnic, we get all bird-nerdy, and on most trips we visit Topsy Farms. Topsy is a sheep farm and more. The shop offers products from wool, to blankets, to pillows, to lamb, and more. We've purchased a variety of 'em and have been pleased by them all. https://www.topsyfarms.com/

We also appreciate that the different generations of the family are committed to living sustainably and honourably in that landscape. We've walked back into the woods on one of their trails and brought our grandlads along to see the lambs. 

Recently their Twitter feed described their efforts to maintain the woodland portion of their land, even though grazing amidst the trees would please the herd, and harvesting, or over-harvesting, would be a welcome source of income. Many places in the world, including New Zealand and Great Britain are addressing the effects of over-grazing and deforestation due to sheep farming. Advocates for a more sustainable form of raising sheep meet strong resistance from some quarters. It' s encouraging to know that this family which obviously needs to make a living from the farm is choosing to look at the bigger picture of the place they live and the planet which is home for all of us. 

                           Topsy Farms -- Amherst Island 

In the bible, sheep represent prosperity in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. And shepherds are a big deal, including King David as a boy. Jesus told sheep and shepherd parables to share the Good News. And most liturgical denominations observe Good Shepherd Sunday. It's a great day to sing The Lord's My Shepherd or any one of several hymn versions of the 23rd psalm.

So, isn't it important for all of us Groundlings to realize that these stories and metaphors aren't just dusty images from the past? 

We can admire and support the present day shepherds of the sheep who are doing their best to care for both their critters and Creation. Thank you Topsy Farms. 

The Right News About Endangered Whales

There is no mention of whales in the bible, at least not in the most faithful translation from the Hebrew. There is a creature called Leviathan named in several Older Testament books and the King James Version calls this mysterious being the "great whale" but in Jewish tradition it is more of a sea serpent or dragon.

Of course, lots of critters go unmentioned in scripture but they are all part of what we hope will be the teeming diversity of Creation, as God the Creator intends it to be. Some whale species were nearly hunted into extinction during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries even though this grim reality was thought to be impossible. Humans became more and more efficient at killing them as the demand for whale oil and other whale products grew.

 Now watching and admiring whales has become a far more lucrative industry, not without a different set of concerns for the well-being of these breath-taking mammals. While some species have rebounded to healthy populations we'll never have an accurate picture of their former abundance. A species such as the North Atlantic Right Whale is in a precarious place with so few remaining it may not survive. These were  "right" for whalers because they move slowly and float when killed. While they are no longer hunted, they seem to be prone to collisions from ships which results in their demise. 

When I heard last week that not a single Right Whale has been found dead in Atlantic waters through this season I was encouraged. We saw a mother Right Whale and calf off Grand Manan Island years ago and since then I have been particularly interested in the fate of this endangered population, Some years the statistics have been so gloomy I've wondered whether we'd witnessed something akin to the Great Auk, a once abundant bird, now extinct.

Researchers wonder whether new rules for ships in the Bay of Fundy, along with changes to fishing gear, and reduced shipping traffic because of the pandemic has resulted in this moderately hopeful news. They figure its going to take a number of similar years and the birth of lots of calves before there is cause for celebration. 

Just the same, I'm offering up prayers of gratitude for what feels like good news in the midst of so much that is discouraging. It's possible to change our destructive ways for the well-being of creatures great and small. 

St. Francis and the Birds

 

                                                 St. Francis Preaching to the Birds -- Giotto circa 1300

We were putting together wee bags of bird seed this week for this morning's service at Trenton United. Son Isaac is our pastor and he knows that we have a number of feeders so we offered to get these ready. This is the Feast of St. Francis and many Protestants have embraced the twelfth century mystic's love of Creation. Lots of congregations now hold Blessing of the Animals services although they are probably suspended in this pandemic year. 

Francis is reputed to have preached to the birds, hence Ike's decision to distribute the sunflower seeds this morning. I'm sure he's figured out how he'll doing this is a COVIDly responsible way. He's planning to use an image from the Taize Christian comunity in France, where he lived for a year. The stained glass is in one of the Taize worship spaces and we actually have a poster of it in our home. 

We've been reminded again recently of the alarming loss of biodiversity around the world including the disappearance of an estimated 3 billion birds in North America during the past 50 years. This is a staggering number. 

In this season of migration we can celebrate the birds and the bees and all of the Creator's critters. And if we cherish them, we will protect them. 

Praying Green

I'm so ancient that I first met and spoke with Elizabeth May, Canadian Green Party Leader, back in the days before she assumed that role in 2006. May was an environmental activist and author at the time and had spent time as an advisor to the environment ministry during the Mulroney years.

She came to Sudbury to encourage those who were concerned about the Lands for Life consultation process for Crown Lands in the province. I was the minister of a downtown congregation and made a presentation on behalf of Friends of Killarney Park at one of the Round Tables. After her address at Laurentian University we chatted for a few minutes When I mentioned my profession she immediately began talking about the importance of faith as a way of staying hopeful, and that she was considering the Anglican priesthood at some point in the future. That was more than 20 years ago, and since she's my age that goal may not be realized. 

Despite my admiration for May, the last federal election was the first time I voted Green. Every time I considered doing so I ended up holding my nose and voted strategically. I just couldn't do it after the Liberals made bold promises to be environmentally responsible, only to spend billions buying an aging pipeline. More than a million Canadians made a similar choice. 

I've come to realize that the Greens are the best fit for my vision of Canada and my sensibilities as a Christian, as a Groundling who wants governments to honour and care for Creation, even if they don't use that term. 

Tomorrow the Green Party will elect a new leader, and there are eight interesting candidates for the role. I won't be voting, but I will be praying. I've come to realize that the Greens have been prophetic in a number of areas where governments have coopted their ideas, not just regarding the environment. As we face a Climate Emergency for the planet we need strong leadership in the party as much now as ever. We can all pay attention to the outcome of the vote, and say a few prayers as well. 

You can find the candidate profiles here:

https://www.greenparty.ca/en/leadership-contest#contestants

Sticking it to an Anti-Green Government

 

Well, I suppose I can "stand down" with my Sharpie after a recent court decision here in Ontario and the response from the provincial government. A Superior Court judge with brains and a knowledge of the law ruled that the Ford government couldn't force its political agenda on independent businesses. You may recall that the Ford gang mandated placing stickers on gas pumps with what was misleading information about the federal carbon tax, designed to curtail harmful emissions. 

The government proposed hefty fines for those who didn't comply, although they never followed through on the threat.  I was so annoyed by this heavy-handedness that I was prepared to deface them with my Sharpie in an act of civil disobedience, although Ford's graffiti never went on pumps on the Tyendinaga Reserve where we usually purchase fuel. 

Much to my delight, the noxious stickers wouldn't stick --oh the irony -- and now they can disappear. I appreciated that the Green Party created their own sticker to counteract the misinformation.

Protecting the environment should always be a priority for governments, something that the "open for business" Conservatives need to understand as integral to a strong bottom line. 

As a Christian, caring for Creation is both a priority and a sacred trust, mandated by scripture. So as a person of faith, and a responsible citizen,  I will keep my marker ready for action And I'll be watching what this government does every day, as well as when the next election rolls around.