I chatted with my brother the other day about his new-found fascination with nature shows on PBS. He waxed enthusiastic about how biologists in Australia have figured out protection for a small mammal which is inclined to feed on poisonous cane toads, and macaws in South America who eat clay to neutralize the toxins in the berries which are a staple in their diet. He wondered at the complexity of it all, and I do as well. David Attenborough, the 86-year-old nature film maker is his new hero. It happens that our daughter Emily has discovered Attenborough as well.
I commented to my brother that it is sad that some conservative Christians can make no room for evolution in their picture of how God works in the world. They are so committed to a particular view of Creation, including a young Earth, that science goes out the window.The state of Texas has decided to allow Creationists on the board which chooses biology text books, a truly bizarre development.
As we come to the end of our Creation Time themes at Bridge St. United Church I realize I long ago made my peace between science and religion, although there are still unanswered questions which I will continue to explore. All I know is that this is a wondrous world, and it is God's Wondrous World.
What are your thoughts about this? Were you ever convinced that a seven-day creation and a young Earth were the marks of a true Christian? Can you reconcile evolution and Creation easily?
I dropped the acorn when it came to National Tree Day earlier this week. I won't lie awake at night over this faux pas, but I am partial to trees. We actually moved a tree from Bowmanville to Belleville (with permission.) It was a scrawny little excuse for a seedling given to us as a supposedly heirloom lilac by a nursery owner who was dubious about it making it through the winter. It is now two metres tall and seems to be adapting to a new location
The bible is full of trees and a core Jewish text in terms of human destruction of the natural world is the following from Deuteronomy 20:
If you besiege a town for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. Although you may take food from them, you must not cut them down. Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you?
There is also a Jewish New Year of the trees called Tu Bishvat which has become an environmental awareness day for some.
It's interesting that we have a National Tree Day in a country that flourished by cutting trees down for nearly three centuries. There were massive white pines for the masts of the British navy, while pulp and paper mills provided newsprint and fine papers.
I like that someone has entitled a seminar on caring for older trees Respect Your Elders because many species live longer than humans and some are the oldest and largest living things on the planet.
I know I've asked before, but what are your relationships with trees? Are you looking forward to the Fall colours?
Yesterday we drove a mere 15 minutes north of Belleville to the Frink Conservation area for an exploratory ramble. I knew I needed to get out into the natural world after a busy time. Ironically Creation Time was adding to the workload of September, so I made some time for Creation and recreation.
What a great spot! We ended up walking along the edge of the Moira River and could see where we have paddled our kayaks on several occasions. Then we headed inland across a silver maple swamp pictured above. Ruth suggested we traverse the boardwalk without saying a word, as a contemplative exercise. A little later we found yet another "You are Here" sign (the signage is very helpful) and it occurred to us that being in the "you are here" moment is so important. Centering and sifting down, as the Quaker's say, being present with God, is not just something that happens out-of-doors, but we are often aware of God the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer when we push back the "oughts" of life, even for a brief time. Some times we feel swamped by the demands of life, but yesterday being swamped was a good thing.
Have you visited this little gem of a conservation area? Do you need the natural world to feel centred? Where is your "you are here" spot? Would the Frink be a good place for a congregational saunter?
http://quinteconservation.ca/web/images/stories/camping_and_conservation_lands/conservation_lands/areas/frink.pdf
Recently the Toronto Star offered an excellent and hopeful series on four rivers which flow through the "Big Smoke." They are the Don, the Humber, the Rouge and the Credit. These are essentially good news stories of rivers which were once used as open sewers for human and industrial waste. They point out that rehabilitation has involved government along with concerned, often passionate individuals who have made the care of these waterways part of their lives. Rouge River activist Lois James is in the photo above.
As I read the articles it struck me that the notion of healthy rivers flowing through the city is downright biblical (ministers tend to think this way.) There are rivers in the first book of the bible, Genesis, and then another "citified" river in the vision of John in the last book of the bible, Revelation. The restored city of the "new heaven and a new earth" will feature a pristine river with trees flourishing on either side.
In the meantime we can work for the health of the rivers of our communities, including the Moira here in Belleville. We have gone north of the city and kayaked the Moira through quiet country but I liked cycling over it on the way to and from work during our apartment stay during the first two months in the community.
The story is not just "feel good" unfortunately. A couple of the rivers have their headwaters in the Oak Ridges Moraine and flow through land expropriated for an airport forty years ago. That worked in their favour in these past few decades but now the feds have announced that they will proceed with an international airport with all the run-off of de-icing fluid and other chemicals which could degrade water quality. We don't catch on quickly as humans. God help us!
Did you read any of the Star articles? You can google Toronto Star river series with the name of each river. What about the rivers of your lives, wherever you reside? Other comments?
I write this blog reflection at the end of a full week in which I had every intention of posting more Groundling entries. Keeping up with one blog, Lion Lamb, is challenge enough. So even though I am passionate about Eco-faith issues the ideas for blog entries are still-born.
In this week's sermon for Creation Time 3 I will make reference to The Celtic Mass for the Sea written by Nova Scotia's Scott McMillan. It develops the phrase "those who trample on the earth, trample themselves" attributed to St. Columba, one of the Celtic saints. In a day when we speak of shrinking our environmental footprint it seems very current. Scott and Jennyfer Brickenden spoke to a group from the St. Andrew's congregation when I was in Halifax (come to think of it, wasn't disciple Andrew a fisherman?)
I also came upona copy of Newfoundland artist David Blackwood's Master Mariner which depicts an elderly family member whose fishing days are over. There is a scripture reference at the bottom, Isaiah 19:8:
Those who fish will mourn;
all who cast hooks in the Nile will lament,
and those who spread nets on the water will languish.
I had a chance once to ask David where this came from and I believe it was his son who gave him the reference.
We do trample the planet and empty its oceans, but we can always hold out hope as children of the Creator. I spoke with a friend from Newfoundland recently, himself long retired from fishing. I always ask him about the fishery and he told me that this year the cod were back "by da tousands" so there is always the possibility we can right our human wrongs. There was a time when the great cod stocks appeared to have gone the way of the proverbial dodo.
Let's all keep hoping, praying, acting as though we aren't Clodhoppers.
Thoughts?
Biblical. Why is this word trotted out every time there is a disastrous natural event? The implication is that somehow God is behind all this, as if the deity is behind forest fires and tornadoes and deluges which impact human beings. Why don't we drop the "biblical" and at least explore the possibility that humans have an impact on climate and the severe events which seem to be more common. There is near scientific consensus on human-induced climate change, so blaming God just doesn't seem fair or prudent. These are likely unnatural events.
I am saddened by what has happened in both Colorado and New Mexico, two states I have visited in recent years. I have driven through some of the valleys which have been washed out and can understand how abnormally high rainfall levels would create havoc.
A response to the severe flooding in Colorado, which brought three quarters of a year's rain in six days is helpful:
The amount of precipitation isn’t the only climate change-related impact that should be considered; there are other contributing factors that may be making this massive flood event even more dangerous. Subhankar Banerjee writes for ClimateStoryTellers about the connection between climate change, forest health, wildfires, and floods:
In the last decade and a half Colorado (and its neighbor New Mexico) has gone through three major assaults—massive tree deaths, massive wildfires, and now massive floods—each in turn has been called “the worst natural disaster” the region has seen. Each in turn has also made the next one worse—millions of dead trees made the wildfires worse, and we are now learning that the wildfires are making the floods worse.
Why do we have such trouble "owning up" to the effects of our activities as humans? Don't you wonder why we still use a word like biblical in our secular societies?
