Corvids in the Time of COVID

Seeing the birds of Spring is always hopeful and the kingfishers and blue herons are certainly back. Yesterday we cycled along the waterfront and saw a loon close to shore, a first along that stretch of the Bay of Quinte. There are also the birds which are remarkable in their ability to survive and even thrive through the Winter, and they include crows and raven and jays. It's easy to take them and their resourcefulness for granted but we can go virtually anywhere in Canada, including the far north, and find them. In fact, members of this family are present on every continent except Antarctica, adapting to extremes of cold and heat. 

When we lived in Northern Ontario I loved hearing the various caws and calls of crows ringing forth on even the coldest outings and seeing them contrasted against a clear, blue sky and sparkling snow. It really was hopeful. 

Yesterday was International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day, don't ya know. I'm a little dubious about this "day" but why not celebrate 'em? They are remarkable, intelligent, resourceful creatures. They're loyal to each other and some seem to have sense of humour. Hey, any creature spending so much time around humans needs one. 



Elijah Fed by A Raven He Qi

Crows and ravens are vital to the spirituality of Indigenous peoples across the continent and beyond. As I've written before, they are also part of the Judeo/Christian tradition. Remember the raven on Noah's ark, and another feeding Elijah in the wilderness? 

I'm confident that no Crow and Raven parades were cancelled as a result of our global lock-down. I will encourage you to be on the lookout for crows in your spare time. And listen, they are part of the Corvid family. That should qualify them as the official bird of the COVID crisis!
And why not watch this episode of The Nature of Things on crows?

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5fe7ob



Raven Flying Along an Iceland Beach -- David Mundy

Walking with Jesus

Emmaus -- Janet Brooks-Erloff

Today the gospel lesson for this Easter season Sunday tells us of the followers of Jesus who move from despair to hope along a road to a village called Emmaus. In this story found only in Luke the bewildered pair are joined by Jesus, the Risen One, who isn't recognized initially but have their eyes, ears, and hearts opened to them as they walk and talk and eventually break bread together.

It got me thinking about how often Jesus did his best work in the great outdoors and was regularly in peril  or angry when he was in physical places of worship. Here are some examples scattered throughout the four canonical gospels: 

Jesus clarified his sense of divine mission during an extended contemplative sojourn in the harsh Judean wilderness.

He was baptized in a river, far from any architectural place of worship.

When he was overwhelmed by the demands of ministry he climbed a hillside early in the morning for a solitary time of prayer. 

He led a few disciples up a mountain where they had a mystical experience with great figures of Judaism. 

He taught from a hillside in Galilee and fed a hungry crowd alongside the lake called Kinneret. 

He performed miracles in a boat, and on the waters of the same turbulent lake. 

When he struggled with the prospect of death in the waning hours of his life it was in a grove of olive trees, likely under a full moon. 

On the day of resurrection he was mistaken by Mary, the first Christian as a gardener.

Some time after the resurrection he made a shore breakfast  by the lake for the disciples who had returned to fishing. 

It's a challenge to not "go to church" these days and much has been made of virtual worship offered from the places in which we usually gather.Yet scripture presents a broad picture of a Jesus of sky,and water, earth and wind. We have figured out how to be outside a lot during these quarantine-ish weeks, always careful to be physically responsible. We figure our sanity has been saved by immersion in the elements and experiencing the movement from one season to another 

I'm intrigued by the suggestion that as our societies gradually open up, post pandemic, worship may be permitted outside, first, so that the saints can maintain sufficiently safe distance. Maybe it will be one of those "everything old is new again" moments where we revert. even temporarily, to a Creator/Redeemer/Sustainer experience, en plein air. 

Will Jesus, the resurrected Groundling, meet all of us outside the traditional walls of buildings and mindsets? He can make me breakfast or lunch, anytime!

 

Road to Emmaus --Diane Fairfield

Abundant Blossoms

High Park, Toronto, in different times 

During these uncertain pandemic times we find solace in the signs of Spring which we witness while out walking, cycling, paddling. They are always hopeful but this year the appreciation is intensified. A week or so ago we canoed into a maple swamp and delighted in the delicate buds of the trees we drifted past in the silence.

We also have flowering trees in our backyard, including plenty of lilacs, honeysuckle, serviceberry, dogwood, and a cherry tree. They are all such a gift, both visually and olfactorily (yes, an actual word!) There is a gratuitous abundance to the blossoms of trees which somehow echoes the lavish love of God the Creator and Redeemer. 

I was saddened to hear today that the city of Toronto will close High Park to visitors during this year's cherry blossom season, as well as other parks where the trees are in bloom. It's understandable because High Park is crowded every year during blossom time. Our younger daughter, Emily, lives a few blocks away and walks there less in this brief span than at other times because of the press of people. The city really has no other choice to ensure public safety when physical distancing is essential 

This said, we all need to experience beauty in days of dread, don't you think? The city is setting up cameras so that people can virtually experience the blossoms, but we know it won't be the same. The good news is that the trees will blossom despite the absence of human beings. And there is always next year, God willing. Make sure you look around you, day by day, and give thanks for every reminder that seasons and circumstances change. 

The Christian Origins of Earth Day

John McConnell and the Earth Flag

Much has been made of this day, April 22nd as the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Many celebratory events were planned but, sadly, they have been curtailed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It could be argued that we got the 50th anniversary wrong by a couple of years, anyway. John McConnell, son of a Pentecostal preacher and a committed Christian, was a peace activist of the 1950's and 60's. Over time he made the connection between peace amongst humans and making peace with the planet. According to his widow, Anna,  McConnell came up with the notion of an annual Earth Day in 1968 and declared it to be on the vernal equinox, which is around  March 20 or 21. Anna said he called the celebration a “global holiday” and designed the trademark Earth flag in 1969 as his symbol of universal inclusion to a universal priority.



Original Earth Day buttion

McConnell introduced the idea of a global holiday at the UNESCO Conference on the Environment after a devastating oil spill off the coast of California in 1969. He also designed the flag which is often recognized as the Earth flag that same year. 

McConnell felt that his proposal was usurped by Senator Gaylord Nelson, who is celebrated for founding Earth Day, Nelson was certainly a conservationist and environmentalist who was instrumental in promoting this day which now has international recognition. 

I'm grateful for McConnell's vision and legacy and that he was motivated by his Christian faith. It can be an encouragement to all of us Groundlings to "live with respect in Creation."

Interfaith Earth Day Celebration

Prayer for Creation (said together) 

All humankind is one vast family, This world, our home. 
We sleep beneath one roof, the starry sky. 
We warm ourselves before one hearth, the blazing sun. 
Upon one soil we stand, and breathe one air, 
and drink one water, and walk the night beneath one luminescent moon. 
The children of the Universe are we, family of one blood,
 Members in one worldwide family, this Earth, our home.

Interfaith Earth Day worship -- National Cathedral, Washington, DC. 

The 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd (Wednesday) was going to be a big deal, celebrated in many ways by many groups, including faith communities. The coronavirus pandemic altered these plans immeasurably, around the planet. "Me in my small corner" was scheduled to lead worship at Trenton UC yesterday in keeping with this celebration. Instead I offered some thoughts online and we cycled along the Belleville waterfront to give thanks to God, the Creator. 

Somehow the National  Cathedral in Washington DC managed to offer a multi-faith service yesterday afternoon to honour Earth Day. It appears that most faith groups participated, which is wonderful. Through the decades Christians have become increasing aware of the importance of honouring the planet which God brought into being. We have also discovered that this is vital to other religious traditions, which shouldn't surprise us. 

It is as important as ever to address the climate crisis which could result in a level of chaos for humanity which far exceeds what we are experiencing because of COVID-19. And it is essential for people of faith and good will everywhere to give thanks for our planetary home and live with purposeful hope for the benefit of all creatures.

Here is the order of worship for the service at the National Cathedral which began with an Indigenous blessing for the land and the singing of We’ve got the whole world in our hands 

https://cathedral.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/0419-EarthDay-Interfaith.pdf

Groundlings and Earth Sunday

 Ruth communing with a huge pine tree

Happy Earth Sunday, Groundlings everywhere! This Wednesday is Earth Day and over the years an increasing number of Christian congregations have dedicated the Sunday closest to April 22nd as a celebration of creation and God, the Creator. This appreciation of creation is not Creationism, the scientifically unsupported notion of a young Earth and a literal six-day creation. Our celebration is a recognition of the abundance and diversity of life which God has brought into being and which we are called to respect and cherish. 

Yesterday we visited the 900-acre very rural farm of long-time friends. The house and barns are still well maintained but no one lives there and we were alone on the property in. There is a mix of fields and woods, running to the Mississippi River (Canadian version) with a long cascade called Ragged Chutes. 

It was the best sort of isolation, although we didn't feel alone with deer and grouse and wild turkeys making appearances, towering maples and pines around us. The roar of the river was almost mesmerizing, and it too seemed to be a living entity.  It made me think of  the late Thomas Berry's comment that  "The universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, Not [a collection] of objects to be used."

                                              Ragged Chutes

We walked and sat for a couple of hours and gave thanks to God for the beauty around us, something we do virtually every time we venture out for a walk, or paddle or cycle. We've come to realize that this intention, which we do with a brief ritual each time, is a helpful and important exercise in gratitude and humility. 

This Earth Sunday isn't quite what Trenton United, our congregation, had in mind for this year. After Lent/Holy Week/Easter Sunday Rev. Isaac would have taken a well-deserved rest and I was scheduled to lead worship on the theme. Instead we cycled along the Bay of Quinte before the rain and appreciated the signs of Spring.

Thanks be to the God who chose to be present to us as the Groundling, Jesus, while we acknowledge that every day is Earth Day. 

Oh yes, on yet another walk this past week Ruth coaxed me to do an improv stand-up reflection which she filmed with her phone. I found a passage from Isaiah and shared some thoughts It's on the Trenton United twitter feed now and only 3 minutes. 

https://twitter.com/TrentonUnited

A Passover Haggadah & The Promise of the Land

Passover 2020 will end tomorrow, so I'm a little late in drawing attention to a new resource published in February and already sold out in its first printing. According to Religion News Service (RNS) 

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, the Jewish publisher Behrman House issued a new Passover Haggadah with an environmental theme rooted in caring for the Earth. “The Promise of the Land,” by Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, is intended to guide Jews at the Passover Seder through the biblical story of their liberation from slavery with a newfound ecological emphasis.

I appreciate Rabbi Bernstein and have another of her books, The Splendor of Creation. Bernstein  founded Shomrei Adamah,  Keepers of the Earth, the first national Jewish environmental organization in 1988. Here is the mission, according to her website:

Shomrei Adamah's mission was to illuminate and make accessible the ecological roots of Jewish tradition and to inspire Jewish individual and institutions to care for the earth and act on her behalf.

This Haggadah interests me, and I'll probably order a copy in another printing. Hey, a ragtag band of God's people who had lived for generations in slavery figured out how to survive in the harsh wilderness for decades before arriving in the Promised Land. Sure, there was some divine intervention along the way, but the Israelites obviously adapted and became attuned to an environment very different from the one they had known.

Take a look at Rabbi Bernstein's website. It certainly inspires me.

http://www.ellenbernstein.org/

This interview is worthwhile as well.

https://jwa.org/blog/promise-land-interview-rabbi-ellen-bernstein

Is Experiencing Spring Illegal in 2020?

Are you as confused as we are about what is legal in terms of "outing and abouting" these days? We get all the dire warnings about physical distancing, which is very important, but are we okay to go outside?  There are the signs on provincial 400-series highways telling us bluntly to stay home. Meanwhile, there are a growing number of articles saying that in order to stay healthy in body, mind, and spirit. we need to exercise and, if possible, do so outside.

Part of the challenge is that we don't all live in the same circumstances of population density. In Toronto people are cheek by jowl, so parks and beaches have been closed and hefty fines for violations are a threat. But the other day we were cycling by the Bay of Quinte and I stopped to ask two police officers - from an acceptable distance of course -- if what we were doing was permissible. We were assured that it was and when I explained that we had been paddling and walking in less frequented areas we were given the okay on those activities as well. We have stopped going to provincial parks because they're closed but we've found other places to walk. 

We are very, very grateful that the pandemic which has deeply affected us all became a reality as we approached the season of Spring rather than the beginning of Winter. Evidence suggests that  COVID-19 emerged last November but we didn't realize that at the time. Can you imagine a Winter under house arrest?

                                   Beaver Meadow Conservation Area -- photo: Ruth Mundy

Today we traveled to Prince Edward County and the Beaver Meadow Conservation Area where we met not a single human, although the posted sign let us know we were allowed to be there. 

 As we began our walk we thanked the Creator for the beauty around us. At one point we noticed flowers covering just a few square metres in one spot -- why there? To our delight trilliums were pushing up through the leaf duff from last Autumn. By the marsh the spring peeper frogs were yakking it up. At another spot we stopped to listen to the clatter of branches in the hardwood portion of the woods. It was heaven on earth for us, and so hopeful. 

We are law-abiders, and convinced that physical distancing is an act of Christian love in the midst of our present-day plague. But we'll be out amidst the communion of non-human saints until we're told otherwise. 

Blue Skies Smiling at Me

New Delhi, Before and After the Shutdown

Blue skies

Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see

Bluebirds
Singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds
All day long

Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly

Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on

There are lots of versions of this song, and you might start with Ella Fitzgerald. move on to Willie Nelson and finish up with Canadian Diana Krall. I might have chosen scripture as the lead in to this blog but I can't recall a single reference to a clear blue sky in either the Hebrew Scriptures or the New Testament. Please enlighten us all if you know of one. There are several references to the dome of the sky in the first chapter of Genesis and the Creation story.

Here's a startling reality of the global shutdown which is a result of COVID-19, a plague of almost biblical proportions. The sky is bluer and clearer than it's been in years, in some places decades, the way God intended it to be, we might suggest. There are lots of before and after photos from Asian countries and the Indian subcontinent showing a stark contrast. In some cities in India the air quality can register 25 times what is considered safe but within days of the mandatory quarantine there levels have dropped below the safe baseline. A city that hasn't seen the Himalayan peaks in 30 years can now seem them clearly. 

The irony is that because billions of people bustled about in vehicles and factories churned away the sky was seldom clear and air quality was poor enough to kill those with compromised lungs. We're told that polluted air probably results in coronavirus sufferers getting sicker and even more likely to die. Now the air is breathable in a lot of places and the sky is blue, but these same people are expected to stay inside where they aren't able to enjoy it.

I' may be just "blue-skying" here, but what if we learned from all this and worked toward a better way of living on the planet? Do you think the Creator would approve? 

Here's Ella:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB-xqDZbEVQ

                                 Werner's Nomenclature of Colours

Easter, Unplugged & Outside

 

Bay of Quinte, early Easter morning -- photo Ruth Mundy

God of resurrection,

you have rolled the stone away

and the tomb of our world has been opened wide.

With the dawn has come a new creation.

Let our celebration today

empty our tombs,

renew our lives,

and release your power;

through the risen Christ we pray. Amen.

                                          Voices United 174

Through the decades Easter Sunrise services did not appeal to me, at all. In the earlier years I was presiding at services for several congregations. I was also pastor of congregations where we had more than one service on Easter morning, not to mention Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and even Holy Saturday gathering during Holy Week. I love the outdoors, but why would I want to freeze by a lake in the cold of March or April. 

So, what did Ruth and I do early this morning? Down to the Bay of Quinte we ventured, with a bible and fixin's for communion. We walked through the decayed remnants of an industrial area and out to a point where we could witness the dawn. And despite the forecast the rain held off and there was a sunrise. It was mild and virtually windless and we found a sheltered spot where the waves lapped against the rocks. Ruth read a prayer and we also prayed for our family and others. 

                                            Home Communion set used through four decades of ministry

I read the resurrection story from Mark rather than the beloved passage of Mary's encounter with Jesus from John's gospel. Mark was almost certainly the first of the gospels and scholars tend to agree that the earliest versions declared the empty tomb and resurrection promise but ended with an admission of terror and fear. This is such an honest report of how Jesus' followers responded to what was Good News. 

This seemed to be more appropriate on an Easter when we're all wondering what will come next in the face of a pandemic which has dumped our assumptions about what is normal in the world on their keesters. In our circle of friends and family there is anxiety and fear and, yes, terror. These aren't wimps, and many are Christians but what we are experiencing is unprecedented. 

Our time by the water was a declaration of hope, even though there was an element of whistling in the dark. It was more singing in the dawn, actually. The choir was the birds of the air, and we saw a kingfisher, a blue heron, our first swallows of the Spring. A swan took off nearby and we could hear the sound of wind through its wings. 

Before we left the house we sang some Easter hymns with an awareness that so many favourites have rather triumphalist and even militaristic theology. And then there is "Welcome Happy Morning" which claims that "hell today is vanquished, heaven is won today."

It struck me that so many have been experiencing hell on earth, but there will be more to the story, God willing. Whatever these next weeks bring we want to live with hope, both with and beyond fear, trusting that Christ is with us. 

Christ is Risen!

Is Nature Smiting Us with a Virus?

Pope Francis presides over a moment of prayer on the sagrato of St Peters Basilica on March 27.

 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in[o] hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes[p] for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Romans 8:22-25

Religion brings out the worst and best of people in a time of crisis. Christian congregations and agencies are doing their best to support the most vulnerable during this COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of Christians have stayed home during the holiest time of the year, choosing not to gather for worship to "flatten the curve" of the spread of the deadly virus. Of course there are the nutbars of every religion who insist that it is their right to come together, regardless of the threat. Some claim that they are protected by the blood of Jesus from this plague. I wonder if they have doctors or if they look down on those who've received chemotherapy when they develop cancer?

It shouldn't surprise us that some are claiming that this is God's judgement on the world or on their particular nation. So, why would the Creator smite the vulnerable elderly, who are often the most religious people in our societies, and the selfless healthcare workers who are caring for them? A TV preacher has offered goofy exorcisms of the virus, as though it could be banished by his histrionic prayers. It's bizarre.

During this past week Pope Francis mused in an email interview with The Tablet and Commonwealth magazines, that this pandemic may be one of "nature's responses" to humans ignoring the current ecological crisis.He also said  the outbreak offered an opportunity to slow down the rate of production and consumption and to learn to understand and contemplate the natural world.

While I appreciate that Francis is attempting to bring a perspective on all in this in the context of the climate crisis it feels dangerously close to personifying nature as a force which metes out punishment akin to an angry God or a malevolent Satan. I suppose we're all trying to make sense of this invisible enemy.

We are told that in areas where peoples' lungs are compromised by air pollution there is a much higher risk of dying from this respiratory illness. We have also come to take for granted travel around the globe, and we know that this has allowed the virus to spread rapidly. 

I do agree with the pontiff that this is an opportunity to reconsider how we define the "good life". Can we appreciate that the global disruption of how we do business and provide healthcare and govern ourselves in this crisis may be a foretaste of something much more catastrophic if we ignore the "signs of the times" of the ecological emergency? 

Fish and Good Friday

While shaving before not heading out to church this Good Friday morning I heard an interview on CBC Radio with the cheerful owner of one of the outlets of Ches's Famous Fish and Chips in St. John's Newfoundland. I enjoyed fish and chips at the original location, decades ago. Usually on Good Friday they feed the five thousand, or at least a multitude of people for whom this is an essential aspect of the day, whether they are observant Christians or not. Because of COVID-19 it is phone orders and take-away only, and their busiest day of the year will be down by 90%. 



photo: Stan Collins 

It is has been a long-standing practice of Roman Catholics to abstain or fast from red meat on all Fridays, with fish as a substitute. Pope Paul VI loosened the rules in the 1960's so this tradition is no longer observed in the way it once was. In earlier centuries herring was the fish of choice because it was easily preserved but it was replaced by cod as the favourite because it was abundant and readily salted for transport by European fleets fishing off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

There is still a custom in some Newfoundland communities to offer free fish for the taker on Good Friday, a lovely act of generosity. When we were on Change Islands, Newfoundland, last September it was a big deal that the fish plant was open to process cod for even a brief time. 

The reason I'm writing about this in my Groundling blog is because of fish, and its increasing scarcity around the world. Cod was once considered inexhaustible but the collapse of the Newfoundland stocks due to over-fishing made it a rare treat. During the pandemic the demand for fish has dropped dramatically, which is hard on those who fish for a living. Will it mean a resurgence in some species because they are allowed to rebound? Who knows. 

 Now we probably all have a hankering for fish and chips, but where to find it?...