Is Nature Good for the Soul?

 

Our five and two-thirds year-old grandson (precision is important to him) went for a walk with his grandparents yesterday. He is an active little guy, more than ready for the rough and tumble of the soccer field and the playground. He was pretty excited by the big puddles on the rode and wanted to see a dead frog twice. At the same time he enjoys solitary moments and said "I love the quiet" as he ambled along. His three-year-old brother and one-year-old cousin also really enjoy being outside, looking and listening and exploring. 

This all does my heart and soul good, because I'm committed to being what I like to call a "be-wildered outsider," finding those places which nourish both both body and spirit. I am a more complete and whole person when I'm out-of-doors and I often experience God in an ecstatic way, filled with wonder and awe. 

It happens that the results of a survey about Canadians and nature was reported yesterday. The Toronto Star offered this:

A survey for the Nature Conservancy of Canada indicates Canadians feel happier when they are connected to nature, but fewer are making the effort the get out of the house. The online survey of 2,000 Canadians found 87 per cent of respondents felt happier, healthier and more productive when connected to nature.

 But 74 per cent say that it is simply easier to spend time indoors and 66 per cent say they spend less time in nature than they used to. It also found more than 80 per cent of respondents are concerned that accessible natural areas will not be there for future generations and that 94 per cent of Canadians are aware of the physical and mental health benefits of spending time in nature.

There is nothing overtly religious here, yet it's evident that Canadians are aware of the spiritual, mental, and physical benefits of being outside. It's a matter of getting off our butts and out there. We'll support our adult children as they raise their children to appreciate the natural world. I'm delighted that they are limiting screen time and making regular efforts to be outdoors with their kids.

A March for All Things Bright and Beautiful

 
 
    All things bright and beautiful,
    all creatures great and small,
    all things wise and wonderful:
    in love, God made them all.
   
  Each little flower that opens,
    each little bird that sings,
    God made their glowing colours,
    God made their tiny wings

This past Saturday a crowd numbered at 10,000 souls gathered in London, England's famed Hyde Park to begin a march through the streets in support of "all creatures great and small." It was called The People's Walk for Wildlife and it concluded at Whitehall where a manifesto for wildlife was delivered by march leaders to politicians. The manifesto points out the significant decline in more than half of Britain's species over the past 45 years. Birds and insects are disappearing as encroachment on wild spaces increases and the use of pesticides continues. Sadly, Britain is now considered one of the most nature-depleted countries on the planet. 




I wondered if a similar event could happen in Canada? There are 30 million more people in Britain than this country in a much smaller land mass. We take for granted the diversity of species and we have what seems to be plenty of critters, including an over-abundance of mosquitoes. Yet we know that the birds and bees are declining here as well, for similar reasons. For songbird species the loss of habitat in Central America affects their numbers and Monarch butterflies face a similar challenge in Mexico. Many of our larger mammal species are vying for existence with humans in shrinking wilderness areas.


The beloved hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful is British and very much part of the traditional repertoire of the United Church. It celebrates diversity and is likely based on Psalm 104, a wonderful celebration of all the creatures of the Earth, with hardly a mention of human beings.

Perhaps we need to be on the streets in our thousands and tens of thousands to declare the importance of the web of Creation.  

Visiting a Volcanic Cathedral

 

 Yesterday I wrote in my Lion Lamb blog about visiting an old convent on Terceira, one of nine islands which make up the Azores. The baroque chapel was fascinating, to be sure, but we visited another spot while on the island which gave us a stronger sense of the holy. It is a massive hole in the ground, the largest hollowed out volcano on the planet. We knew what we were visiting but had no idea that we would descend hundreds of steps into a breath-taking cavern.

The steps lead down the volcano chimney that is lava free today, uncommon in most volcanoes, and a tunnel and staircases offer access to the caves below. At the bottom there is a crystal clear lake formed by rainwater, with unique stalactites and stalagmites. The Algar do Carvão is one of the few volcanoes in the world you can visit and the only one in which visitors can explore a volcanic chimney and secondary magma chambers. The volcanic eruption that took place at Algar do Carvão 3,200 years ago created rock rich in silica. Then, a second eruption, 2,000 years ago happened in the same place.

 

There is a powerful, cathedral-like quality to this space and it's not surprising that musical events are held within it. People often sing, spontaneously, and sometimes they choose religious music. Looking up there is an opening to the sky above with rich vegetation around the rim. We were filled with a sense of awe, which is part of the goal of human-made religious spaces. This cathedral was born of the active processes of the planet and surpassed many of our human efforts which can seem feeble by comparison.

Our wonder was at the immense variety of Creation and thanks to the Creator. I'm so glad we didn't miss this opportunity at the conclusion of a busy vacation.  

Rise For Climate & Pray for Change

 

Confession. You may be reading this blog at the time when I planned to hold a brief worship service by the water in Belleville. I've been aware for months that today, September 8th is Rise for Climate day across North America and in more than 90 countries around the world. I wasn't aware of any planned events in this community but I figured we could have a contemplative worship experience because I am convinced that the crisis of climate change is a spiritual issue as well as a monumental environmental challenge. 
 


I had lined up a good musician to lead us through Morning Has Broken and I planned to remind whoever came that we are on Mohawk land and that Kateri Tekakwitha is a homegrown, Mohawk saint of the Roman Catholic church who is now strongly associated with environmental themes. I planned to bring along my Robert Lenz icon which depicts her 
amidst the birches, with the turtle as symbol of the Earth.

What happened? I wasn't sure how to get the word out and lost my resolve. When I see the lovely forecast I'm annoyed with myself, but that's life. 
 
 
The global effects of climate change can seem overwhelming and insurmountable and we can lose hope. Surely, though, we must pray for the kindling of hope, and trust that "God so loves the world" that God came to us in Christ for the redemption of all Creation. 

Would you have attended the service? Do you want to smack me upside the head for not going ahead? Is climate change a spiritual matter?  

The Hubris of the Anthropocene

 

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

    Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger.

 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

 Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
    and crowned them with glory and honor.

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet...

Psalm 8: 1-5

 Anthropocene 

Relating to or denoting the current geological age, 
viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence 
on climate and the environment --the Anthropocene period.

The Toronto International Film Festival is underway and one of the documentary film festivals with buzz is Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, a collaboration between Jennifer Baichwal,  Edward Burtynsky and Nick de Pencier. Actor Alicia Vikander is the narrator.

 I have been a fan of Burtynsky's massive, majestic,  disturbing photos of the human-created and dominated landscape. They are a grim reminder that seven billion humans are overwhelming the planet, something we are increasingly aware of with our vast oceans filled with plastic and pesticides in our breakfast cereal. We are also aware the patterns of climate including the jet stream and ocean currents are almost certainly being altered by human activity, a scientific verity that some politicians and religious people refuse to accept. The film is not meant to be "preachy" (a lousy term!). Instead it visually invites us to see what is before us around the Earth.



Pieter Brueghel the Elder 1563


There are passage of scripture, including the psalm above, which are interpreted, conveniently to support the notion that humans, the "anthro" in anthropocene, have the God-given right to take from the planet whatever they choose.When I look at the film poster it brings to mind the cautionary tale of the Tower of Babel found in Genesis, when humans get too big for their britches and their hubristic construction project comes tumbling down.

Living with humility rather than false pride (hubris) is a regular theme in scripture. Even if we believe we have a special place in Creation this requires responsibility and the ability to listen for the voice of the Creator. 

Who knows, this film and the Anthropocene project about to open at the Art Gallery of Ontario may help to awaken us further to our need for simplicity, humility, and reverence for the Earth. 

 

Take this Environmental Job and Shove It!

 
Nicolas Hulot

 1    Touch the earth lightly, use the earth gently,
        nourish the life of the world in our care:
    gift of great wonder, ours to surrender,
        trust for the children tomorrow will bear.

2    We who endanger, who create hunger,
        agents of death for all creatures that live,
    we who would foster clouds of disaster,
        God of our planet, forestall and forgive!

3    Let there be greening, birth from the burning,
        water that blesses and air that is sweet,
    health in God's garden, hope in God's children,
        regeneration that peace will complete.

4    God of all living, God of all loving,
        God of the seedling, the snow and the sun,
    teach us, deflect us, Christ reconnect us,
        using us gently and making us one.

 Shirley Erena Murray

 An environment minister in a country with the "green" message of "make our planet great again" goes on a radio show to promote the environmental record. Instead he gets partway through the interview and declares that he quitting. Hand-picked for the role, he is so exasperated by the lack of action by his government that he shocks everyone by spontaneously saying "enough!"

As improbable as this sounds, it's what happened in France last week.

PARIS (Reuters) - French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot resigned on Tuesday in frustration over sluggish progress on climate goals and nuclear energy policy, dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron’s already tarnished green credentials. 

 Hulot, a former TV presenter and green activist who consistently scored high in opinion polls, quit during a live radio interview following what he called an “accumulation of disappointments”.
“I don’t want to lie to myself any more, or create the illusion that we’re facing up to these challenges,” Hulot said on France Inter. “I have therefore decided to leave the government.” 

Hulot was among Macron’s first ministerial appointments following his May 2017 election victory. His inclusion helped to sustain a green image France had earned 18 months earlier by brokering the Paris Agreement to combat global greenhouse emissions.But the centrist president has watered down a series of campaign pledges on the environment, including a commitment to cut the share of nuclear power in French electricity to 50 percent by 2025 and boost renewable energy. 
 


In the United States the directors of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior are shills for the industry-first, environment-last policies of the Trump administration. Sad to say, Catherine McKenna, Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change makes a lot of "sunny green ways" statements but they aren't backed up by action which makes the hard choices about climate change and the future of the planet.

On this Labour Day, which falls during Creation Time, should we admire Nicolas Hulot for his on-air, take this job and shove it" tantrum? Perhaps we all need to get crankier about what is happening to the planet, even us meek-and-mild Christians. If Jesus could throw over a few tables in the temple...

Oh, Beautiful!

  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, 
what you will eat or what you will drink,
 or about your body, what you will wear. 
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?   
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, 
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
 And why do you worry about clothing? 
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 
  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 

                                     Matthew 6:25-29

We were on the Salmon River by 7:30 this morning, taking advantage of a reprieve from the rain which was supposed to commence in the early hours. We've been canoeing a lot this summer rather than kayaking because Ruth took a tumble off her bicycle on a trail in Algonquin Park a month ago. It's a bit easier to load a canoe on the roof of a vehicle and two paddlers in one vessel helps. 

This shift back to canoeing has meant that I'm often asked to edge in toward something along the shore which might make for a good photo. This morning Ruth wanted to take a picture of water flowers our grandsons saw when we were out with them. They wanted to pick them, but we explained why it would be good to leave them for everyone's benefit. 

Today is the first Sunday of Creation Time for 2018 and we took time for drifting contemplation as we paddled a stretch of the river between Highway 2 and the 401, North America's busiest highway with more than 400,000 vehicles a day. The irony is that the "wildest" section of this paddle is closest to the 401, and even early in the morning the hum of traffic is evident. Still we saw the herons and kingfishers and turtles...and the flowers.

 

In his excellent book, Nature as Spiritual Practice, Steven Chase quotes theologian Dorothee Soelle who identifies five possible "responses to seeing a flower":

Ah!
Oh beautiful -- I want it, but I will let it be!
Oh, beautiful -- I want it, I will take it!
Oh beautiful -- I can sell it!
So?

How do we receive the gift of the world around us without needing to possess or commodify it? As people of an incarnational faith, how do we experience the God made known in Jesus, who paid attention to the world around him and asked us to consider the birds and the flowers for a life beyond anxiety and fear? 



 

Groundlings in Creation Time

 Yesterday Ruth and I paddled on the Moira River, early in the afternoon. We paddled through the gauntlet of shoreline fishers, with their cigarette smoke and blaring country tunes. Soon they and the racket of the O'Brien bridge were fading behind us and we entered into the quiet of the tranquil river. This may have been the calmest we've ever seen it, at a time of the day when the breeze tends to come to life. It allowed us to experience clouds and birds in flight on the surface of the water. 

When we arrived at the rapids below Plainfield we found an eddy to dwell in, to absorb the sight and sound of the rushing water. There were no other watercraft of any kind, again a rarity, although it's never particularly busy. I noticed a feather on the surface close to where we were sitting in the canoe and I edged closer so that Ruth could take a photo.

 

The experience was lovely even though we were only on the water for an hour or so. We saw herons and kingfishers fly across the river and disciplined ourselves to watch their reflection. It was a unique paddle, as each one is through the seasons with which we are blessed in this country.

Today marks the beginning of Creation Time for 2018. This is the mini-season of the Christian Liturgical Year which will stretch over five weeks until the Feast of St. Francis on October 4th. Many Canadian churches will begin this time on Sunday, September 9th, because of Labour Day Weekend and extend it until our Thanksgiving Sunday which will be October 7th this year. There are many themes for these weeks, and the Rise for Climate Day of Action will fall on September 8th. 

Whatever your congregation does (or doesn't) undertake I hope that all of us as people of faith will make time to contemplate the beauty around us during this season devoted to Creation. I suppose none of us makes time, do we? We order our days according to what is most important to us. As we bid farewell to Summer and embrace Fall I encourage you to celebrate the fullness and fecundity of Creation.