A Giraffe Lover Gets Her Due

Giraffes on the Ark

We were enchanted by the documentary called The Woman Who Loves Giraffes, the story of Dr. Anne Innis Dagg, who went to Africa as a young woman to study these remarkable creatures. It was 1956 and she was only 23, but she figured out how to get there on her own, having convinced a rancher to allow her to study giraffes on his property. She was the first person to do scientific field studies of giraffes and she faced plenty of obstacles in male-dominated academia. When she returned to Canada she was thwarted in seeking tenure at universities but she continued to do important work with mammal species in this country and she founded a small press for publications. 



A Young Anne Innis

After we had watched this excellent film we wondered why Anne Dagg wasn't celebrated as a Canadian hero and why she hadn't received the Order of Canada. Well, that oversight has been rectified with the list of those receiving the honour in 2019. 

It seems to me that we need to hear more about those who demonstrate courage and determination in understanding and protecting our non-human neighbours. We interpret Jesus' direction to love our neighbour as extending beyond the circle of comfort, as the parable of the Good Samaritan certainly does. 

Surely our neighbours include other creatures, including the improbable and magnfiicent giraffe, which is nearly always included in whimsical paintings of Noah's Ark .Now, more than ever we need to respect giraffes and other species which are under threat. 

Thank you, Anne Innis Dagg,.for your foresight and perseverence .

https://thewomanwholovesgiraffes.com/

 

Climate Crisis Christmas in Australia

Sydney Australia

See amid the winter's snow,
born for us on earth below,
see, the tender Lamb appears,
promised from eternal years.
Hail, thou ever-blessed morn;
hail, redemption's happy dawn;
sing through all Jerusalem,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.

Many of our Christmas hymns are European in origin which means that much is made of conditions which don't really reflect the Nativity, nor the realities of countries along the equator and in the Southern Hemisphere. Our history of colonialism meant that the hymns were exported regardless of those realities.

Christmas falls during  Summer in Australia, and the recent solstice was what Canadians will experience next June. Except that this year Summer has meant exceptionally high temperatures -- one day the average for the entire continent was above 40C for the first time -- along with raging wildfires. The city of Sydney which is renowned for its clear blue skiest has been under a pall of smoke for weeks now. The destruction of habitat for koalas and the death of these unique creatures is a tragedy. In some areas birds are dropping from trees, dying from the heat rather than fire. I read an interview with a veterinarian who was lamenting the destruction of herds of prize-winning cattle because ranchers can no longer find feed. It's now estimated that 500 million creatures have perished in four months. 



Dead Cockatoos in the Australian Outback

It is an apocalyptic scenario, more like the more ominous passages in Revelation than the birth narratives in Luke and Matthew. How can Australians celebrate anything in the midst of such devastation? 

It does seem that the climate crisis denying government is finally recognizing the threat, although the prime minister did head off for a Hawaiian vacation in the midst of the conflagration. 

It's important to pray for those who are working in highly dangerous situations as they fight these fires, and for those who are losing homes and ranches. We can remember the countless creatures which have perished or lost habitat. And a big thank you to Canadian firefighters who gave up a Christmas at home to assist in the midst of this horror. 

We need to acknowledge that even though what is occurring in Australia may seem to be safely on the other side of the world, there is only one planet for us all. The God who came to us incarnationally, as the infant Christ, directs us to care for the Earth, wherever we may be. 

The Dream Time Nativity of Richard Campbell

Merry Christmas dear readers! The other day I came upon this image by Richard Campbell, who is is a well known Indigenous artist in Australia, renowned for producing paintings that explore Aboriginal spirituality and its parallels with the Catholic faith. Living half a world away I'd never heard of him but this painting depicting Mary holding the infant Jesus, with the specific locations of Watsons Bay and Broken Bay, under a canopy of Broken Bay's gum trees, electrified me. This is a world I do not know, yet I feel that I'm there in a mystical way. 

It is amazing that Campbell is still a Christian given that he was taken from his large and loving family at age nine and was separated for twelve years before being reunited with his parents. In Australia these children are known as the Stolen Generation. As with so many Canadian Indigenous children he endured the horrors of a residential school, yet held fast to the faith he was taught by his mother about Christ's all-embracing love and compassion. 

Thank you, Richard Campbell for this painting which includes the "Dream Time" images from the natural world, the gift of Creation. And thank you for your immense courage and Christian witness. 

Crucifixon

Resurrection

The Shortest Day & The Light of Christ

Years ago we read the Dark is Rising sequence of books for older children and young adults, long before we had children of our own. . They are exciting, adventurous, and almost mystical stories about the struggle between forces of good and evil called the Light and the Dark. I returned to The Dark is Rising a year ago and it really is marvelously written and quite a page-turner.



Cooper is now well into her eighties but she has published a picture book which I had to buy which is based on a poem she wrote in the 1970's called The Shortest Day for a Winter Solstice event which has continued to the present day. I like it because it brings in Christian imagery and Hannukah and Diwali, all celebrating the power of both darkness and light. The illustrations by Carson Ellis are wonderful.

In an interview Cooper spoke of returning to the theme of light and darkness and her childhood experience of being in an air raid shelter during WWII with only the light of a candle. When the bombs exploded close by the candle would shake and flicker. 

As always we celebrate the birth of Christ, Light of the World, in this season, but I appreciate the inclusivity here as well. And the visual reminders that darkness and light are more than metaphors, they are a reality of all of Creation. As we move past the Winter Solstice we need all the light we can muster. 

Praying for Pictou

Albertans have been doing a lot of grumbling about the decline of the fossil fuel industry in that province, and while other Canadians may ask why they didn't see this coming its a bleak prospect to be unemployed at Christmas -- ask GM workers in Oshawa.

We have lived in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and realize that Atlantic Canada has struggled with a "boom and bust" economy forever, it would seem, and check out the employment rates in those provinces. They too depend on natural resources, from the sea, and the forest, and yest, oil and gas extraction. In so many of these places across the country the companies are significant employers until they conclude they are no longer profitable. Too often they close shop and slink out of town, leaving human destitution and environmental damage which they won't pay to clean up. 

I was caught off guard today when the Nova Scotia government stuck to an earlier decision to set a deadline of the end of January 2020 for the Northern Pulp mill near Pictou to stop dumping toxic effluent near a First Nation. The mill has been given five years to come up with an alternate plan but the proposed solution was to have it flow into the Northumberland Strait -- 85 million litres a day -- a day!

This will almost certainly mean the closure of the plant and the loss of thousands of jobs. It is a grim prospect for these employees and is so often the case, they will pay the price for the decision the company has made not to comply. The premier of Nova Scotia announced a $50 million transition fund, but that won't replace employment for so many. 

On the other side  fisheries in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia as well as Indigenous rights organizations are relieved the government has shown the fortitude to follow through on what has been a difficult decision. 



This is never easy for governments which are caught between a rock and a hard place. Yet there are consequences to irresponsible industry. We hear now that many ranchers in Alberta are angry because resource companies have walked about from rigs on their land because they are no longer productive. Indigenous communities downstream from the tarsands have experienced significant problems  And think back to the huge outcry in Newfoundland when the cod ran out because of federal mismanagement and rapacious over-fishing. The moratorium resulted in the end of a way of life. 

We can pray for Pictou and this region, realizing that there has already been division and anger. God be with the churches attempting to celebrate Christmas in the midst of what is terrible news for some and a hopeful outcome for others. 

Advent Outside

This is my third Advent/Christmas season since retirement but the first when I didn't have a sense that I was supposed to be doing something --many things -- for which I was responsible but not prepared. And I have enjoyed the contemplative nature of Advent which was never possible in the midst of so much planning and doing. Some years I thought I was well prepared only to be faced with a funeral or three. Alas, deaths can't be scheduled without the prospect of criminal charges.

I've been thinking about the lovely little book, All Creation Waits, as we have bundled up and  rambled about during the past few weeks. Here is what I offered back in 2016, my last Advent before retirement. I'm pleased that my perspective has changed. 

Sunday, December 04, 2016

All Creation Waits in Advent

This is my 37th Advent Season as a worship leader and yesterday I admitted to our son Isaac, also a United Church minister, that "the thrill is gone." Actually, Advent has never been that exciting a time in the church year for me. For all the talk of anticipation of the coming of the Christ there is a certain pensiveness to this season.  And I don't like this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. It is just too dark and gloomy and I can hardly wait for the Solstice so that the daylight will begin lengthening, inching their way toward summer fullness.



Each year I look around for resources that are fresh and offer a different perspective and the book All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings does just that. Boss created her own Advent Calendar for her children years ago, with each day a reflection on a creature. Now she has penned a book with beautiful illustrations by David Klein. Her introduction to Advent is excellent, and the descriptions of the various creatures in winter are informative. Here Boss describes the one of the first creatures from twenty years ago:

I drew a turtle behind the door of December 1 because, days before, my son’s godmother had sent me her meditation on turtle as a symbol of the soul in its dark season. And because I knew my son, like all children, liked pictures of animals.

Thanks to Boss and Klein for this lovely Advent gift. Next Sunday which is Advent III we'll hear from Isaiah about the blooming of the desert, so this book may become a sermon illustration!

Confessing to Our Christmas Trees?

We were rather smug about getting our Christmas tree early this year, our seventh from a Bancroft farm called Switzers which sets up here in Belleville every December. They weathered the economic downturn of a decade ago which put many growers out of business and are doing well. We notice that their urban forest on the corner is diminishing rapidly, which is encouraging. 

We realized when we got home that our tree has both a fork into two stems about half way up, and a twist. When we first put it in the stand we couldn't find a spot which didn't look wonky, although now it is splendid, I must say. It was a living, growing creature, and while an actual tree is much more of a delight to the senses and environmentally responsible I always feel a little guilty. Should I apologize to this tree, which is probably ten years old, for taking its life for a few weeks of nostalgia and family pleasure? 

Back in September there was a brief media kerfuffle about a chapel service at Union Seminary in the States where there was an apology or confession regarding the treatment of plants which involved bringing in various herbage to make the visual point -- I don't think any conifers were involved. Some of the headlines were scathing and a few Christians huffed and puffed about the "theological bankruptcy" and paganism of this relatively brief service. 



Union Seminary "Confession to Plants" Chapel Service

Shortly after the reporting and criticism the prof who organized the event wrote a response in Sojourners magazine. As you'll read, what happened was thoughtful and not goofy at all, even if it was...unusual. Hey,  I'm not inspired to gather our family around the tree for an act of contrition on Christmas Day, but I get what the students at Union were up to. When we confess our sins publicly or privately it is a transaction of sorts, which involves God and possibly the person or persons whom we've offended. Why not Creator and creation(s)? 

It's worth pondering. And those of you with fake trees are off the confessional hook!

Last week our chapel service was called Temple of Confessions.

As we gathered in the narthex of James Chapel, I gave an introduction that included these words:

Many of us have a disconnected relationship with nature and relate to nature as outside things, as "it." Today we will try to create new connections by talking to the plants, soil, and rocks and confess how we have related with them. Confessions are also forms of mending relations, healing, and changing our ways. We are all manifestations of the sacredness of life and the "we" of God's love is way beyond the human, so let us confess to “each other" including plants, soil, rocks, rivers, forests.

We processed into the chapel carrying plants and placed them on soil. Immediately people started to come to the plants, to confess their forms of relation or non-relation. One student said something that stuck with me: “I don’t know how to relate to you in this subjective way. I am afraid that if I do I might discover a level of pain that I don’t know whether I can bear.”

I think her reaction sums up the beauty of the ritual. By confessing, we are able to perceive something new. We experience what were the objects of nature – animals, plants, trees, forests — as subjects, with their own full life and experience. They become to us what many sacred scriptures have claimed: a full part of creation, just as we are. And for Christians, who are called to confess their sins, they may take seriously what Jesus said: Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5: 23-24)

Confession is a basic practice in Christian tradition. It involves vulnerability and requires openness. It invites a response of kindness, empathy, support. Our confession at our ritual hoped for what all Christian confession promises: healing and transformation. We looked to a new relationship with the earth, and thus with God. Ritual confession involves pausing, listening, and a new way of being. Confession can run the risk of a naïve and sentimental idealizing of the earth and of nature, but this practice sought something deeper — to expand faith as we recognize the interdependence of life and relinquish the death-dealing habits of our human autonomy in relation to our mastery over the natural world.

The Grinch & the Gospel at COP25

I felt a little like the Grinch stealing hope when I expressed my doubts about the COP25 international climate conference a couple of weeks ago. I questioned the value of bringing together thousands of people for a carbon-costly event at which resolutions are passed without binding agreement and action plans. I wondered as well about the parallel events for NGOs and faith groups, given the propensity for inaction in the bigger picture.

Unfortunately the two weeks of COP25, plus a couple of frustrating days of extension as leaders attempted to hammer out an agreement on concrete goals turned out to be a step back rather than forward as some of the biggest polluter nations, including the United States, stonewalled. 

To make matters worse, fossil fuel corporations were present and allowed a forum while groups of Indigenous peoples and young people were literally shown the door when they showed up to protest. It's hard to imagine how these Grinches were allowed to have a green-washing voice when in truth they were leaving a lump of coal and a bucket of crude. 

We can be grateful to those who spoke truth to power, even though doing so must have been disheartening. given the outcome of COP25. On December 8th there was a worship service at which 
Rev. James Bhagwan, General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, was a preacher. He asked "How long before the world recognizes that we have broken the covenants?" His message reflected the urgency of climate action for the Pacific region, where islands are already disappearing beneath rising sea levels, and these islands represent people's homes, but also their traditional land, and the seat of their culture and history.

A panel followed and here are some of the observations, including one from a United Church of Canada representative. 

"If we want to declare a climate emergency, it is for us to define how we change what we believe, how we act, to find a balance that allows us to work together as a human population on this earth, and how we can be in balance with everything around us in creation." Rev. Tony Snow, United Church of Canada.

"We must all have the opportunity to make a change, as a society, that we all unite with the same cause, because we all want to live in a fair, dignified, and clean world." Sebastian Ignacio Munoz Oyarzo, Lutheran World Federation

"The language that we use, how we talk about who God is, these are all important issues of how we tackle climate change... We always talk about the earth as 'Mother Earth'. When the earth is feminine, that is why it is so easy to dominate the earth as we have dominated women for all of our human history." Grace Ji-sun Kim, Earlham School of Religion

All Earth is Waiting

The Hyde Advent Day 14

1 All earth is waiting to see the Promised One,
and open furrows await the seed of God. 
All the world, bound and struggling, seeks true liberty; 
it cries out for justice and searches for the truth.


4 In lowly stable the Promised One appeared.
Yet, feel that presence throughout the earth today, 
for Christ lives in all Christians and is with us now; 
again, on arriving, Christ brings us liberty.

Advent Hymn All Earth is Waiting (vs 1 & 4) Voices United 5


During the liturgical season of Advent we attempt to get outside as often as possible. In part it's because here in Canada the daylight hours shrink and the weather can be discouraging. Walking in the woods and by water makes us feel human during a time when hibernation and binge-watching of television is a great temptation.

It is good for our bodies and spirits to be out where other creatures still forage and hunt. We can also note that "all earth is waiting to see the Promised One.", not only humans.

I came across one of the images posted by UK artist Catherine Hyde (previously unknown to me) as part of a series for Advent. I don't know if she is simply connecting with a general notion of Advent anticipation or if she has her own Christian sensibilities. All I know is that these are powerful and mysterious paintings which are votive, contemplative, drawing me into a deeper sense of what Advent can be. 

https://catherinehyde.co.uk/



The Hyde Advent Day 10




The Hyde Advent Day 15

A Midnight Clear?

It came upon the midnight clear, 
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold,
'Peace on the earth, good will to all,
from heaven's all-gracious King!'
The world in solemn stillness lay
to hear the angels sing.

 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[b] praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

Luke 2:8-14 NRSV

I presided at a lot of Christmasy Advent 4 and at least 70 Christmas Eve services during nearly four decades of pastoral ministry. I even did a half dozen or more Christmas morning services when Christmas fell on a Sunday. I just couldn't bring myself to say, "oh well, it's Christmas, so we'll ignore Jesus!" 

My relationship with the later service was kinda love/hate, especially in the earlier years when it began at 11 and we were getting home after midnight. I was a zombie through too many Christmas mornings with our kids.

Just the same, I loved the contemplative nature of the service. We nearly always celebrated communion and concluded indoors with candle-lighting. We did sing It Came Upon a Midnight Clear at least one service every year, and usually at that one. For nearly 30 years we also went outside at the conclusion to sing Silent Night., a tradition I inherited from St. Andrew's UC in Sudbury where it was thirty below some years! If we were fortunate or blessed the sky would be clear and we could see the stars above. That was the circumstance for my last service at Bridge St. UC in Belleville.

It has occurred to me that in a time when light pollution and air pollution are on the increase around the planet we can't take the "midnight clear" and "calm and bright" for granted. I'm assuming that the heavenly host described in Luke's gospel were not light-polluting even though the glory of the Lord shone about them. 

I doubt that Mary and Joseph would have been looking for the Milky Way or the alignment of planets as Jesus was born, but I hope in was dazzling for certain poor shepherds!

Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.

Young People as Creation Care Leaders

Autumn Peltier -- Chatelaine Woman of the Year

Time magazine has named Greta Thunberg as its Person of the Year for 2019, and who good argue with this choice. Even though Thunberg has been a lightning rod for pathetic Old White Fart disdain and even hatred she has brought the climate crisis to the fore in a way no one has been able to do. 

It's important to note that during COP25 the United Nations climate conference which is in its second week in Madrid Greta chose to step back from the microphone to allow Indigenous youth from around the world to speak. This was a gracious choice and a reminder that we humans tend toward creating superstars and saints who have provide inspiration and perspective, but are not the only voices.



In recent weeks a Canadian teen from Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Autumn Peltier, has received recognition for her role as chief water commissioner of the Anishinabek Nationa First Nations and spokesperson about the climate emergency. She too has addressed the United Nations and speaks about the sacred trust of water. Peltier is Chatelaine magazine's Woman of the Year and she has been named by the BBC as one of 100 inspiring and influential women for 2019, the only Canadian who is recognized.

Obviously this is not a contest to identify the most worthy teen activist, and there are actually many more from around the planet who are making a difference where they live and beyond. I do appreciated that the Indigenous young people are comfortable in speaking of traditional ways and knowledge which include the spiritual.

I am saddened that our Judeo/Christian tradition has too often pushed the sacredness of Creation into the background, despite scriptural support. We can learn from these young people who bring different perspectives which may revitalize our own. 





Donald Trump -- the most immature person on the planet

Respect and Wonder in Creation

Snow Sifting Through Frink Centre Trees Photo: Ruth Mundy

Ruth attended am out-of-town co-workers' reunion on Sunday, so getting to church in Trenton wasn't logistically possible. Instead we headed out early to the Frink Centre, one of our go-to spots for a walk. At 8:30 in the morning we had the trails to ourselves and we soaked in the tranquility and beauty which was enhanced by the recent snowfall. We started out on the marsh boardwalk before making our way back across the road to the Moira River and along the maple swamp. This was a contemplative and reverent walk and we were quietly grateful for the showers of blessings, aka snow drifting down from the evergreens.

We did meet one person, a guy carrying a camera with a telephoto lens which seemed half his body size. We probably all would have been content with a simple "hello, nice morning"  in passing, but somehow we ended up in conversation. It was obvious he loved his photographic pursuit of birds, particularly pileated woodpeckers. This day he was on the lookout for barred owls, and we could share that we'd seen both in these woods.



Barred Owl at the Frink Centre photos: Ruth Mundy

We moved on to a more sobering discussion of climate change. He commented on the increasing number of blow-down trees in the woods he walks, and the decreasing numbers of birds. We all agreed that the dawn chorus of birds in Spring and Summer has grown fainter over time. He's been taking pictures for more than 25 years and shrugged his shoulders at the lack of concern by those who just don't see the "signs of the times"  (my biblical interpretation) because they aren't necessarily walking the woods and seeing the changes. With smiles we all bid farewell and went on our way.

This walk involved both "live with respect in Creation" and "live with wonder in Creation." It was holy even though our planet is less whole with each passing year. We don't like missing worship in our Christian community yet we benefited as "be-wildered outsiders" once again. 



Snow Crystals on Moira River Ice Photo:Ruth Mundy

The Church in the Forest & the Forest in the Church

Earlier this year a good friend headed to Ethiopia with a group of intrepid pals to explore some of the cave churches of the country. They did plenty of hiking and climbing, the latter to access these fascinating places of worship carved into cliffs. Thanks, but no thanks.

I mentioned something I'd seen about church forests, the oases of green sustained around ancient church structures, and they did visit one. Over the centuries deforestation for grazing land and other forms of agriculture has left these as unique examples of biodiversity in the midst of arid landscapes.

Recently I sent my friend a link to a short film about these church forests which I found quite inspiring. It is about a forest ecologist, Alemayehu Wassie Eshete, who has been working with the priests of these church forests for more than a quarter century to study the interconnection of church and forest. He maintains that “a church, to be a church, must be enveloped by a forest.”

One of the priests says that when a person plants a tree, the tree prays for the person to live longer.and that the forest represents a garden of Eden. The churches are situated at the centre of each forest, but the forest is in the church as well. They are built of wood, and the paintings are coloured with natural dyes from plants. 

Back in August Ethiopia planted hundreds of millions of trees in a single day as part of a green initiative for the country. Much was made of this record-breaking project but of course it will be many decades before it comes to fruition. In the meantime, these gems of old growth biodiversity prevail.

The author of the New York Times article which introduces us to the film concludes with these thoughts:

For me, these little blips of green forest rising out of vast swaths of deforested brown earth represent hope. They are a powerful intersection of faith and science doing some good in the world. 

E.O. Wilson, in his book “Half-Earth,” declared the church forests of Ethiopia “one of the best places in the biosphere.” They are proof that when faith and science make common cause on ecological issues, it results in a model that bears repeating. We have the blueprint of life held in these tiny circles of faith, and that’s something to rejoice over and protect and expand with every resource we can muster.

Amen!

I hope you can watch the film here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/opinion/church-forests-ethiopia.html