Tree Day and Tuckamore

From the United Church of Canada Creed Booklet -- Gary Crawford

We're recently home from a three week vacation on Change Islands, a small community on islands adjacent to the much better known Fogo Island perched in the North Atlantic. It was cool on a number of days, especially in the morning, so we put in a fire in the woodstove to warm the delightful but poorly insulated old house we were staying in. People do harvest wood on Change Islands but at about 15 square kilometres of total area, and with lots of bog and rock, the source of wood is limited. This means that lots of residents import firewood from elsewhere in the province. The same is true for lumber used in building projects. 



Tuckamore

When we hiked coastal trails we were amazed at how the tuckamore,  a Newfoundland term for gnarled and tangled stands of stunted spruce and balsam fir would protect us from the strong winds. These trees are dwarfed and weathered into swept-back, sculptural shapes by the harsh growing conditions.There were no majestic trees to inspire awe and wonder, but we appreciated the shelter.

Yesterday was National Tree Day in Canada and I'm grateful to the Creator for the weird and wonderful trees of windswept Newfoundland. Also when we hiked the many trails on Change Islands and Fogo we read brief Creation Time prayers along the way, including some which gave thanks for trees. Perhaps I'll write a prayer in praise of the warmth of a wood fire and the strange beauty of tuckamore. 

Pope Francis and Care for Creation

It would be hard for me to claim that I'm not a church nerd while admitting that I follow Vatican News on Twitter. Pope Francis perplexes me at times and yet I'm encouraged by his outlook on the environment and Creation care. His Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home encyclical is a more sophisticated document on the subject than just about anything else published by a Christian denomination. Here is a summary of Francis'  appeal to pray, reflect and act to protect an endangered environment in a message released to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

Pope Francis underlines that “this is the season for letting our prayer be inspired anew by closeness to nature, which spontaneously leads us to give thanks to God the Creator.” Our prayers and appeals, he says, “are directed first at raising the awareness of political and civil leaders”, especially those governments “that will meet in the coming months to renew commitments decisive for directing the planet towards life, not death.”

During this month, the Pope says that it is “a season to reflect on our lifestyles, and how our daily decisions about food, consumption, transportation, use of water, energy and many other material goods, can often be thoughtless and harmful.”

Now is the time, he adds, “to abandon our dependence on fossil fuels and move, quickly and decisively, towards forms of clean energy and a sustainable and circular economy.  Pope Francis also invites people to learn from “indigenous peoples, whose age-old wisdom can teach us how to live in a better relationship with the environment.”

In the message the Pope urges the faithful undertake prophetic actions.  “Many young people all over the world are making their voices heard and calling for courageous decisions”, he comments. 

Pope Francis stresses that, “we owe them real answers, not empty words, actions not illusions.”

To this I figure all Christians and all those who care about the planet could say "Amen!"

Backyard and Epic Monarch Adventures

Our daughter, Jocelyn, takes a walk around their 3.5 acres just about every day with our granddaughter, who turned two last Sunday. They do so in all weather and through the seasons. They have been keeping an eye on Monarch Butterfly caterpillars, the chrysalises, and then, fittingly on Labour Day,  a couple of emerging butterflies. 

For me it is wonder-full that mother and daughter have experienced this together over the weeks. And I am delighted at how many Monarchs we have seen this year, as have many other people. The efforts to reduce pesticides and encourage the growth of milkweed may be succeeding. We humans regularly and seemingly defiantly act as though we are in the "terrible twos" when it comes to God's biblical injunction to be loving stewards of Creation. It's encouraging when we "play nice" with other creatures for a change.  



Sara Dykman's Epic Adventure Route

In honour of Creation Time read this piece from Orion Magazine called Biking With Butterflies by Sara Dykman.  Sara followed five generations of monarchs 16,000 kilometres on her bicycle, from Mexico to Canada and back: trailing the migration and lending my voice to the efforts underway to protect it; visiting schools; presenting at nature centers; and talking with reporters. 

Whether it is the backyard delight or the epic adventure, This is God's Wondrous World. 





Monarchs in Mexico, Winter 2018

Amazon in Flames

Over the past ten days we've learned that there are raging fires in the Amazon region, far more than in the past. Observers have noted that the Arctic, one of the coldest regions of planet Earth, and the Amazon, one of the wettest have been on fire this year, an ominous reality which is almost certainly a result of climate change. 

The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, nicknamed Captain Chainsaw and Trump of the Tropics has actually resisted international offers of assistance to fight the Amazon fires. He is a racist and an anti-environmentalist who may well be encouraging farmers and ranchers to set fires in order to clear land and force out indigenous peoples. He has farcically blamed environmentalists for starting the fires to draw attention to their work. When Bolsonaro was elected at the end of last year I wondered if those outside the country realized what a dangerous man he is and that his agenda threatened one of the most diverse and complex ecosystems on the planet. The evidence is now clear. 



It's good to see that a coalition of Christian groups is speaking out about the disaster which is unfolding. This is from Religion News Service:

On August 22, the Ecumenical Forum ACT Brazil, a council of Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church, released a statement saying the Bolsonaro administration’s policies “led to a surge in devastation of the environment” in the country.The next day, the National Conference of the Bishops of Brazil released a statement that did not mention the president by name but said, “This is not the time for insanities and absurdities in judgement or in speech.” The bishops demanded urgent action to save a “region that is crucial for the ecological balance of the planet.” This week, the Catholic bishops of the Amazon are gathering in the state of Pará to attend the last preparatory meeting for the upcoming Synod for the Pan-Amazon Region, which will be held in the Vatican in October.

While the Amazon fires are occurring a continent away, borders and ideologies should not be impediments to addressing what is unfolding both as a human rights and ecological issue. We can pray for the safety of those who are raising their voices within Brazil because of a government which will not stop at violence. 

Remembering Workers in Transition

 Kentucky ocal miners protest for lost wages after mine declares bankruptcy

This is Labour Day in North America, the yearly opportunity to celebrate a labour movement which began to ensure that workers would have decent hours, living wages, and safe conditions. There are still parades in cities across the continent, including in Toronto, but they have grown smaller. The public has grown less supportive of unions and the movement through the decades. often unaware that what they take for granted in terms of working conditions and wages did not come easily.

Today I suggest we pray for those labourers who are in industries such as coal and oil which are changing rapidly and leaving tens of thousands unemployed. They are not villains because they work in fossil fuel industries and the prospect of retraining, relocating, perhaps losing homes is something which we should all understand.

I notice that the Green Party of Canada has identified a recent federal Task Force on Just Transition as a key to what they term "just transition." 
https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/task-force-just-transition.html

“But now Canada has set a standard with the report of the Task Force on Just Transition for Canadian Coal Power Workers and Communities. The Greens fully support the seven principles and 10 recommendations from that landmark report,” said Ms. May. “Our budget and platform contain a commitment to the $300 million recommended by task force members to establish community support and a jobs bank.”

Among the key recommendations from the report are locally-driven transition centres for communities disproportionately impacted, a pension bridging programme, and comprehensive funding for workers to retrain and stay in the labour market.

Ms. May said that the fear and anxiety among workers in the fossil fuel industry is understandable. “They are concerned about their families and communities, the stability of their future livelihoods and identity. We will listen to and respect their concerns. Workers are key to making a just transition work for our economy, and for their communities.



Fishers confront Minister John Crosbie in 1992

The United Church has long supported the notion of just work with just pay, and we are committed to environmental responsibility as part of a sustainable future. Ruth and I will soon be in Newfoundland, where I first served in ministry nearly 40 years ago. The cod fishery was on the verge of collapse, a catastrophe which ironically forced the migration of thousands of unemployed Newfoundlanders to Alberta for work in the oil industry. 

This Labour Day we can say a pray for those who will be in transition and pay attention to what all the parties include in their platforms as we approach a federal election. 

A Season for All of Creation

Creator of Life,
The Earth is full of Your creatures, 
and by Your wisdom you made them all.
 At Your word, the Earth brought forth plants 
yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit, 
the waters teemed with swarms of living creatures of every kind, 
and world was filled with every kind of winged bird, 
walking animal, and creatures that creep upon the ground.
Mountains, plains, rocks, and rivers shelter diverse communities, 
and through the changing seasons Your Spirit renews cycles of life.
During this Season of Creation, 
open our eyes to see the precious diversity that is all around us. 
Enlighten our minds to appreciate the delicate balance
maintained by each creature.
 Inspire us to conserve the precious habitats that nurture this web of life.
In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, 
Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today begins a mini-season in the Christian liturgical year called Creation Time. As some of you know from either experience in my congregations or my blog entries of past years I observed Creation Time in the weeks of September and early October for a decade or so before retirement. It is an opportunity for Christians to gratefully acknowledge God, the Creator, to celebrate the wonder of the complex web of Creation, and to ask how we might "live with respect in Creation," as the United Church New Creed invites to do.



Not every congregation celebrates Creation Time, even in liturgical churches which are conscious of the importance of caring for our planetary home. I'm not sure why because this is an opportunity to address the almost daily bleak news about environmental degradation and the climate crisis in the hopeful framework of our Christian faith. 

Each year there are more resources for Creation Time which are not hard to find, online, and they come from around the world and from many different denominations. Four years ago I led a study group on Pope Francis' excellent encyclical called Laudato Si: On the Care of Our Common Home and I've decided to reread it this year. It had just been released and I read it in preparation for the study on an island off the coast of Newfoundland. I will read it again in the same setting, a place of rugged beauty which reminds us every day we are there of the magnificence of Creation. 

Perhaps you can take time to honour the Creator and Creation each day from now until October 4th (the Feast of St Francis) in some way. 

http://www.usccb.org/about/leadership/holy-see/francis/pope-francis-encyclical-laudato-si-on-environment.cfm

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i9Zp1eEGKKxq2O2X4ycvE-vrNQrPKDNx/view