Wildfires and Those on the Margins

There has been a lot in the media recently about the "new normal", which is really the new, ominous, abnormal for California. Fire is ravaging the state once again, with hundreds of thousands displaced, mostly temporarily, and millions without power, sometimes for days on end. California has a population which exceeds all of Canada (just under 40 million) and is the most populous state in the union. Yet the lives of so many are disrupted by these wildfires.

The media allow us to see the extent of what are often towering flames, as well as the destruction of property. Firefighters managed to save the President Ronald Reagan Library but it is now surrounded by a charred landscape. What is the psychological damage which comes from the constant threat of destruction?



Reagan Library

I saw a piece written by a reporter who ventured into an evacuated neighbourhood and came upon a woman who is a cleaner for a well-to-do family. They had fled and neglected to let her know that they were gone and she was stranded outside the house. The reporter tried to call an Uber for her but no one would enter the area. So, she drove the woman to a safer neighbourhood and along the way they picked up another housekeeper in similar circumstance. They passed a gardener who declined a ride, but he too was alone, the homeowners having moved to safety. 

This was a powerful reminder to me that disaster, including calamity caused by climate change generally affects the poor with greater severity. No, they don't own expensive homes which can be destroyed by fire or flood, but they depend on what are often wages which don't sustain them at the best of times. The women picked up by the reporter lamented that if they didn't work they didn't get paid, and they were reluctant to take an Uber once they were in a safer area because of the cost. The climate crisis leads to climate-related inequity. And of course, many other creatures are displaced and killed by extensive fires which leave no place to go. 

As Christians we care about all circumstances of injustice and the plight of the marginalized, human and otherwise. It's a long way from Southern Ontario to sunny California, aka smokey California, yet we can pray for those who are traumatized and displaced by these fires. 

Requiem for Wind Power

Owner of some of the land that turbines stand on and wind energy supporter Jennifer Ackerman.(Photo/John Spitters/Quinte News)

Today the work of dismantling a number of massive wind turbines begins on a rural property in Prince Edward County, not all that far from Belleville. There were to be nine of these turbines, four of them were completed, with the others under construction. All that work stopped when the Ford government was elected in Ontario which led to the cancellation of hundreds of renewable energy projects across the province. The former Liberal government provided rebates, grants, and subsidies for these initiatives and the Conservatives simply shut them down.



The PEC project was controversial because of environmental concerns and perhaps it shouldn't have been approved in the first place. Above is a poster from an earlier time. But the willful, ideological opposition of the current government to alternative energy sources requiem is just plain bad business and environmentally stupid. In the case of the turbines, cancellation of the contract could cost Ontario taxpayers $100 million. What is the sense in this? 

As a Christian convinced that our society must seek alternatives to fossil fuel and non-renewable sources of energy I find the direction of the Conservatives disheartening. I was pleased when a congregation I served installed an array of solar panels with a contract to return the power to the grid. 

There will be a protest at the site today but the deed is done, sadly. Perhaps I should have offered to attend and preside over a funeral service. How many years before the next election? 

Exxon on Trial

 

New York's attorney general is suing Exxon Mobil, accusing the company of defrauding shareholders. 

Exxon refinery in St. Bernard Parish, La., is seen in 2015. Gerald Herbert/AP

"Why does the way of the guilty prosper? 
Why do all who are treacherous thrive?" 

Jeremiah 12:1 NRSV 

When I began my other blog, Lion Lamb, 13 years ago to the month, my second, rather tentative post was about the crime of the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster of thirty years ago which did untold environmental damage which still has repercussions. My indignation arose from the vast profits the oil giant continued to make -- $10 billion US in a quarter -- and how there seemed to be no accountability. I quoted from the prophet Jeremiah as a crie de coeur. I've been earnest about environmental degradation for a long time!



Exxon Valdez disaster and species affected

Have the chickens, or oil-soaked seabirds, finally come home to roost? Exxon is currently on trial in New York State, not for that oil-spill, but for defrauding shareholders by misrepresenting how carbon regulation would affect the company's financial outlook. This is only the second such trial in America but it could open the door for more lawsuits. There is even a Canadian connection here because one focus in the case will be Exxon's investment in the carbon-intensive Alberta tar sands, a project that some investors feel  won't make financial sense under tougher climate regulations. 

Exxon and other oil companies may have known about the impact of human-made climate change for decades and suppressed sharing their own research. More recently oil company execs have conceded that the climate emergency is real, but this is disingenuous, to say the least. 

The current lawsuit will likely be long and arduous but at the very least it is challenging the right of corporate entities to plunder the planet's resources without consequences. Some are wondering if this is Big Oil's moment of reckoning as we saw with Big Tobacco decades ago. 

There may even be answers to Jeremiah's prophetic questions and to those who have challenged the powerful in our time. 

Halloween and a Burial Mound of Plastic

The other day someone from the Twittersphere asked a sincere question about Halloween. How do we share treats without creating lots of plastic waste, including the junk little goblins may throw away on the candy trail?

We talked about this in our home, and Ruth noted that the treats such as candy apples and the cookie witches fingers she used to bake are anathema now. When our kids were young she made them for children we knew, but forget that now.



Go a step or eight farther and we realize that masks and costumes are plastic, not to mention all the plastic pumpkins and horrific lawn junk, create thousands of tons of garbage which is probably not recyclable. Here is a segment from an article in The Cut about a survey in Great Britain which estimates that 2,000 tons of Halloween plastic will be produced there this year:

The survey points out that Brits typically toss about 7 million costumes per year, which shakes out to tens of millions of bottles in plastic waste. All told, 30 million people in the U.K. dress up for Halloween — child’s play compared to the United States, where over 175 million people celebrated the holiday in 2018, according to the National Retail Federation. Of that group, 68 percent planned to buy Halloween costumes.

So, a Celtic pagan festival of the "thin place" between this world and the next is co-opted by Christians as a recognition of the "saints" who have gone before us. Baby Boomers turn it into a retail juggernaut which celebrates empty sugar calories, then create an environmental nightmare. We really are messed up! 

The Drinking Gourd and Heaven

Peter Seeger version of The Drinking Gourd

Things lead to things lead to things on the internet. I really don't need to tell you this, do I? I was reading about some of the "lost" CBC Massey Lectures from the 1960's and discovered that one of the speakers in that series was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who delivered his lecture four months before his assassination. 



Follow the Drinking Gourd -- children's book by Jeanette Winter

Dr. King refers to Canada as the "north star" for Negroes (his term) escaping slavery along the legendary Underground Railroad. He mentions a song called The Drinking Gourd, which is another name for the Big Dipper. It turns out that this song and the stars above provided instructions to slaves making their way northward. He also says that the word "heaven" in spirituals was often code for Canada. 

I had never heard about this but I was moved by the new awareness that slaves seeking freedom made their way to "heaven" following this constellation which may be the only one many of us can identify. 

Thank God that things lead to things, lead to things...

Can Our Future Get Greener?

Yesterday I walked down the street and voted Green in the Canadian federal election. I would as soon be dropped in a vat of boiling Alberta oil as vote Conservative because of its non-plan regarding addressing climate change and the sneakiness of Andrew Scheer. Justin Trudeau managed to sell out by buying a pipeline for votes he didn't get out West and bailed on integrity to garner votes in Quebec, which he didn't get. Duh. The NDP ran an interesting campaign which did speak to climate issues, but wasn't as strong as the Green platform.

So, I decided that the Greens would be my party of choice even though there wasn't the slightest hope of election in our riding and the Liberal candidate (who was re-elected) is hard-working and seemed to serve our area well. Was that quixotic on my part -- which sounds so much better than foolhardy? Perhaps. And yet I have grown impatient as a grandparent who cares about the future for my children and grandchildren and the inaction of a government which says this is an urgent issue and then acts otherwise. I just had to take the plunge and vote on principle. 



In case you missed it, in June, the House of Commons voted to "declare that Canada is in a national climate emergency." This will require lawmakers to "make deeper reductions in line with the Agreement's objective of holding global warming below two degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius." This seems to have meant all of nothing.

Here's what I'm hoping, as a Christian, a proud tree-hugger,  and a concerned citizen of Canada and Turtle Island. A chastened Liberal government should act on Elizabeth May's suggestion that an all-party climate action "war cabinet" be implemented to develop a national strategy. Why not appoint her as chair, allowing Catherine McKenna to maintain her role as Minister of Environment and Climate Change without the whole thing seeming partisan? May has been consistent through the decades and worked for the Conservatives under Mulroney, when the party actually cared about the environment and got the notion of conserving.

And make sure the BQ is involved in this working group. Some of us may shake our heads over the election of so many Bloc Quebecois MPs yet this is a province which has been involved in a carbon cap and trade program with California for several years. Ya, it's basically the same one the dopey Ontario Conservatives axed.  

I know, I know, you think the dementia is taking hold of my aging brain. But do you really think that the blundering Liberals and Conservatives are on the right path?  I'm going to pray that this minority government will be pushed toward policies which will allow us all to "live with respect in Creation." 

Amazonia & New Paths for the Roman Catholic Church

There is a three-week conference being held at the Vatican called the Amazon Synod which is a prayerful reflection on the South American region's cultural, ecological and spiritual challenges and identify new ways for the Roman Catholic Church to minister to its people. The vast area spans nine countries -- Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname. It has approximately 34 million inhabitants, including 3 million indigenous people from nearly 400 ethnic groups who speak over 200 languages.

The full title of the synod Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology and is at the mid-way point.The conversations include the very nature of the priesthood in a region where Roman Catholics are terribly under-served and no help in sight from the traditional models of clericalism. There is also discussion about the immense threat to the Amazon rainforest, including the fires which have been burning unabated. 

Pope Francis has also placed an emphasis on hearing from Indigenous peoples of the region and honouring their cultural traditions within the context of Christian faith. An outdoor ceremony included the planting of a tree from Assisi to honour St. Francis, and women danced. 



Of course there are conservative church leaders who are criticizing Francis and called the synod apostasy and pagan. One mocked the feathered head dress of an indigenous representative which is rich, considering some of the "liturgical drag" of cardinals. Francis actually encouraged clerics to "dress down" for this gathering. 

Yesterday Francis met with 40 Indigenous representatives and listened to their concerns. It was an important gesture given the history of colonialism in the Americas which the Roman Catholic church readily supported. 

I admire Francis and all those who are supporting these hierarchy-shaking discussions. I pray that he be heard, and more importantly, that the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon region be heard and honoured. 

Voting as Though Your Life Depends On It

Nearly 5 million Canadians voted in the advance polls this past weekend and many of them were motivated young adults who see the climate emergency as a key electoral issue in this election. The irony is that their demographic is less religious yet they are more inclined to recognize the existential threat to the planet and humanity climate change represents. While they might not name it this way, they appreciate that "ecology" and "economics" are connected in the root word, oikos, which translates as both family and household. We have failed to keep our house in order and Christians have been complicit in this, sad to say. 

Here in an opinion piece from the Calgary Herald by Bruce Wilson, a former general manager of engineering for an oil and gas major who is now a consultant for the transition to a low-carbon energy future and a non-profit board member. It has the intriguing title: Vote like your life depends on it – because it does.

Have a read:
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-vote-like-your-life-depends-on-it-because-it-does

October Song

Vanderwater CA Ruth Mundy

I cycled to the gym for a workout this frosty morning and spent my allotted time huffing and puffing in a weight room with no windows. I do so for the good of my muscle mass but it is definitely not my favourite form of exercise.

When I got back we talked about a walk given that the next couple of days will be rainy and soon we were on the way to the Vanderwater Conservation Area north of Belleville. We made our way along the edge of the Moira River to a spot where the water tumbles over plates of limestone. The river level is low so we could make our way almost across. In the height of Spring run-off the water roars along this stretch. 

The sound of the rapids was literally music to our ears with each rill and rivulet offering a different song. The shuffle through fallen leaves and that distinct rustle of wind through Autumn treetops offered different notes. These sounds were augmented by some stunning colour and that distinctive earthy smell of Fall. We may be constantly asking one another to repeat what was just said at this stage of life, but we can still enjoy the sounds of each season. 

At one point Ruth raised her arms and exclaimed "thank you God!" which really was the best sort of response in the moment. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 

Thanks for the Harvest in Newfoundland

Emaad Alktifan, left, and Nezar Khalif at the start of this season at Murray Meadows Farm. 
(Gavin Simms/CBC)

Give thanks, my soul, for harvest,
for store of fruit and grain;
but know the owner gives so
that we may share again.
Where people suffer hunger,
or little children cry,
with gifts from God's rich bounty
may thankfulness reply.

Voices United 522

There was a nice article this week on the CBC Newfoundland website about these two new Canadians, Syrian immigrants in 2015. Through a government initiative they have partnered with a local farmer to grow crops which are common in Syria but unusual in Canada. Despite the misgivings on the part of the host farmer, Brian Kowalski says the "the farm has never been more productive as it has been this year" and the produce sold out every week at the farmers' market. They will expand planting of the Middle Eastern vegetables next year

Kowalski was impressed by the teenagers of the one family who were involved in the tending and harvesting of the crops. They were hard-working and happy. 

We urbanites can forget that in earlier generations Christians celebrated Thanksgiving as a a harvest festival, with examples of the "ingathering" decorating church sanctuaries. The roots (root veggies?) for this celebration are found in Judaism, and it happens that today is the beginning of Sukkot, or the harvest festival. 

Whatever our background, we can give thanks to the God of Creation, of growth and harvest and abundance. As host Kowalski aptly commented:

"It's been such an amazing year … speaking of Thanksgiving, I can't be more thankful for the amount of work that the kids did this year." 

I Otter Enjoy Being a Senior

River Otter photo Paul Marsh

Tuesday of this week was my birthday, an auspicious one which means more senior's discounts, or so I'm told. The weather forecast was perfect for getting out on the water, so that's what we did, heading to a section of the Salmon River north of Napanee. We like it there because we're almost always the only humans on the water, there are no buildings along the banks, and it is relatively quiet in terms of human-made noise. We paddled without conversation for lengthy portions of the two hours, soaking in the silence. There was also the pleasure of colour, the changing leaves of the deciduous trees. While it wasn't full-on Fall glory, it was lovely. 

I'd have to say that the greatest pleasure of this foray was seeing otters. Shortly after we started out I whispered to Ruth that I thought I had seen the sinuous tail of an otter arc up and then under the water. We waited, quietly, then up popped a curious head in front of the canoe, very much as you can see in Paul Marsh's photo above. We saw this one and another twice more as we continued along the river.

As some of you know, I've written about my love of otters which we've been blessed to see in rivers and lakes in various locations, as well as much larger sea otters in the Pacific Ocean. They are smart, and curious and playful creatures and fun to watch. 

Otters figure prominently in Celtic Christianity as companions to solitary monks and as symbols of living in two worlds, water and land, as we are invited to live in both this material world and the spiritual realm. We had an otter stained glass piece made as a reminder of this symbolism. 

I've decided to take these otters, the only ones we've ever seen on the Salmon, as a sign from the Creator to live fully and playfully in both this earthy world and in spiritual, celebrating God's gracious gifts. I hope they show up again!

A Temple in the Trees

Wutai Shan near Bethany Ontario

On the weekend I saw in the news that a massive Buddhist temple complex was to be dedicated near the village of Bethany in Southern Ontario. And since we were in the area we did a swing up through the lovely hills to Wutai Shan. It is the first of four planned gardens on About 1,350 acres of rural land has been purchased for the construction of four massive Buddhist gardens by the Buddhist Association of Canada. Wutai Shan is the first to be developed of the four, with a projected total cost of $80 million. We were there on the day after the dedication and meandered about the votive sculptures. 

I am not a Buddhist, obviously, and I respectfully disagree with Buddhism's non-theist beliefs. I do admire its commitment to meditation and contemplation and beauty, as well as a willingness to address suffering honestly. Many Christians, including monk, mystic and activist Thomas Merton have entered into meaningful dialogue with Buddhists, including Thich Nhat Hanh. 



Shambala Mountain Centre Colorado

I have visited several Buddhist retreats and temples through the years, in Colorado and Cape Breton, as well as here in Ontario. I'm struck by the care given to finding places of natural beauty as "auspicious places" and there is a sense of tranquility in these locations. 

Laura Kay Johnson has noted that the Buddha spent all of the major events of his life amid the natural forest and the tree became the most sacred symbol throughout the Buddhist world - the Bodhi tree. The first Buddhist communities were forest dwellers and Buddhist monks initially lived under trees in natural surroundings.  In Buddhist literature nature was never treated as something 'outside' the human realm but rather as an extension of human love.

Of course, Jesus spent most of his ministry en plein air calling fisherman as disciples, preaching on hillsides, telling parables which involved planting and harvest. He spent time outside and in solitude to renew his connection with the Creator God, his parent. 

Yesterday's visit to Wutai Shan was worthwhile and a reminder once more of the importance of celebrating the Creator in Creation. 

Gampo Abbey Cape Breton

Climate Plans and the Canadian Election

I'm just going to be honest and say that I am royally pissed off at the federal Liberals for their double-speak on the environment in a number of areas, most egregiously in the purchase of a pipeline. The Regressive Conservatives have no concrete, costed plan for addressing the Climate Crisis, despite assuring us that they understand that human-created climate change is real.

So, who do we vote for in less than two weeks? Here is a link to an article in Chatelaine magazine outlining and grading the environmental platforms of the Green, Conservative, Liberal and NDP parties. The authors are an economist and climate scientist. I was delighted to see that the scientist is Katharine Hayhoe, evangelical Christian and relentless spokesperson for the clear science which indicates that humans are ignoring the circumstances which imperil the planet. As I've said often, Hayhoe has a remarkable ability to tell the truth and be hopeful. Recently she was named a United Nations Champion of the Earth. What a cool superhero vibe that honour holds! Is she now able to leap tall buildings, carbon-neutrally, of course?  



In their introduction they offer:

A thermometer isn’t blue, red, orange—or green. It doesn’t give us a different answer based on which political party we support. But increasingly, today, our perspective on climate change—Are the impacts serious? What should we do to fix it?—depends not on the science but rather on our political ideology.

Take a look at their conclusions. 

https://www.chatelaine.com/living/politics/2019-federal-election-climate/

In Gratitude for St. Francis

Why did I post about the Feast of St. Francis on my Lion Lamb first today? We will never know. Click on the photo above to get some information about the Roman Catholic patron saint of animals and ecologists. It was Pope John Paul II who made this declaration in 1979, only forty years ago.

The current pontiff, Francis, is the first pope to be named after this 12/13th century mystic. One of his greatest strengths is an a broad understanding of eco-faith, expressed eloquently in Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home 

Here is the link to today's Lion Lamb blog:

https://lionlamb-bowmanville.blogspot.com/2019/10/all-creatures-great-and-small.html

Carbon Pricing 101

 Dr. Dianne Saxe

During my years of ministry I encouraged members of different congregations to vote in elections at every level of government and to be informed about the decisions they made at the ballot box. I was never partisan but I noted the debates which would address social justice and environmental issues. I was accused by a few of being "too political" for suggesting that they encourage their favoured candidates to participate in these debates. Go figure. I do feel that it is a sacred trust to choose leaders wisely.

The federal election in Canada is just three weeks away and pundits are noting that the environment and particularly the climate crisis is becoming a key issue. Four of the five parties -- if we're willing to call the People's Party of Canada a legitimate party -- have named climate change as a key issue. The Progressive Conservatives say that they will address climate change although they are vague about how and are opposed to any form of carbon pricing. I wonder how many Canadians have a clear picture of how carbon pricing works and are concerned that it is just another tax grab.

I noticed recently that Dr. Dianne Saxe, environmental lawyer and former Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (Premier Ford eliminated her position) has offered her PowerPoint explanation about carbon pricing and it is really helpful. Take a look...and vote!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wi0svmezkqqgbzj/2019-09-19%2020%20Climate%20Crisis%20and%20Carbon%20Pricing.pdf?dl=0