Moses Goes Camping

Moses and the Burning Bush mosaic Joe Moorman 

 Who wouda thunk that a global plague would result in people on different continents enthusiastically  heading to the wilderness, or at least the closest approximation? Here in Canada it's a challenge to purchase camping equipment because the multitude of people who were confined to quarters for months are high-tailing it to the great out-of-doors. 

In some respects this is wonderful. The use of provincial and national parks had been on the decline in recent years, yet it's difficult to book a camping site this summer because of the throngs. While most are respectful, appreciating that they are on "holy ground", others are desecrating both formal campgrounds and back country sites. The garbage left behind, including human waste, is disgusting. 

I wonder whether these newer campers have experienced "come to Yahweh" moments, a sense of the presence of the Creator? For many of us the natural world is deeply spiritual, as powerful as anything we experience in even the most magnificent indoor place of worship. 

Yesterday the ecumenical lectionary (weekly Sunday schedule of scripture lessons) took us to Exodus 3 and the call of Moses. This central figure of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam may not immediately come to mind as being a camper, but he was tending sheep in the wilderness and likely sleeping in a tent or under the stars.

Yahweh, or God, communicates with Moses in a powerful experience which involves the ultimate campfire, a burning bush which is miraculously not consumed. The angel/messenger/God tells Moses to kick off his sandals and come no further because he is on holy ground. 

This story has launched untold sermons with a thousand different interpretations. Preachers always hope for something fresh which speaks to our moment in time. Why not an awareness that God the Creator speaks to us Groundlings in the uncertainty of a pandemic? We can have a sense of the holy through our experience of Creation as a way of healing and restoring hope.

Creation Time and Watershed Moments

1 Shall we gather at the river, where bright angel feet have trod;

with its crystal tide for ever flowing by the throne of God?

Yes, we'll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river;

gather with the saints at the river  that flows by the throne of God.

Voices United 710

We are on the cusp of September, the month when many United Church of  Canada congregations will return to gathering in a physical space for worship after nearly six months of coronavirus hiatus. 

 September 1st also marks the beginning of Creation Time, the "season within a season"  which celebrates God the Creator, within the context of our biblical and Trinitarian faith. Augsburg Fortress press offer an explanation of what Creation Time or the Season of Creation is, and here is an excerpt: 

 ...the Season of Creation recognizes that our relationship with the rest of nature is a religious and spiritual matter that views life as “creation.” The Season of Creation challenges us to reorient our relationship with creation, with the Creator, with Christ, and with the Holy Spirit. While this challenge may have been provoked, in part, by the current ecological crisis and a growing awareness of our place in the web of life, the origins of our reorientation lie deep in our Christian tradition, both in our biblical roots and in our theological heritage. 

During these nearly six months of radically reordering our lives many of us have become more aware of the natural world as a source of solace, even those who would not describe themselves as religious. Unfortunately many governments have taken this opportunity to weaken and dismantle environmental protections, with the United States being a notable example. Here in Canada it's rumoured that the departure of Finance Minister from government was because of clashing views on economic recovery for the country, with Prime Minister Trudeau looking to a greener approach. whatever that means.

The pandemic has also meant that fossil fuel prices have collapsed, changing the economic prospects of nations and provinces such as Alberta. This may be a permanent shift as oil producing behemoths such as Exxon find themselves in dire straits. 

Later in September I will lead worship at Trenton United with the theme of the Watershed. We all live in watersheds which are a source of sustenance and pleasure. We also live in a watershed moment in human history.

This may be the best possible time to recognize Creation Time, even though we are anxious about what gathering again may mean, and we wonder about our survival as congregations. The Creator invites us to live with hope, to express our gratitude for Creation, and to be courageous rather than fearful as we enter into change.

A New Heaven & Earth in Downtown Toronto?

I see a new heaven.

I see a new earth as the old one will pass away,

where the fountain of life flows and without price goes

to all people who abide in the land.

1 There, there on the banks of a river bright and free,

yielding her fruit, firm in her root, the Tree of Life will be.  R

                             Voices United 713

The vision of a new heaven and a new earth in the Revelation of John includes a city, Jerusalem, with a healthy river running through it. Even though it is a downtown river it is crystal clear and there are fruit trees growing on the banks. The Green Bible highlights passages which mention Creator and Creation and those first verses of Revelation 22 is one of them.

We have paddled and explored wilderness rivers through our lifetime but I am also partial to urban rivers which have been shown respect as part of Creation. Too often suburban and urban waterways have been used as conduits for waste, or buried, out of sight and mind.

I'm impressed by the 1.25 billion dollar project well underway in Toronto which will transform the mouth of the Don River from an industrial wasteland into marshland, as it once was, and an urban park. This will benefit many species, including humans. and mitigate flooding in that portion of the city. Ultimately over a million cubic metres will be excavated and rearranged, much of it needing cleaning because of the toxic substances dumped in the area over the decades.

By the time this park is opened fully in 2024 2 million herbaceous plants and 5 thousand tree will be planted, while 3 kilometres of new waterfront access will be created, along with 11 kilometres of new park space. I am impressed that work on the project continues and is on time despite the pandemic. 

I'm delighted that the vision for this transformation is more than "pie in the sky." This certainly fits my notion of a new creation and I would like to think that Jesus approves  It might be worth travelling down the Don Valley Parkway to explore it when its completed. 

Apocalypse Now in the USA

 

We have been grateful for rain in recent days here in Southern Ontario although we'll be pleased if it holds off while we're camping this week. The drought and high temperatures of the hottest July on record were nothing compared to what's happening in California. Death Valley experienced the highest temperature ever verified (54 degrees Celsius) and the drought there has meant massive wildfires which are among the largest ever experienced in the state. Virtually everyone who is honest, from the governor to fire officials, to scientists say the conditions have been exacerbated by climate change. Old growth forest has been burned, including protected areas, and thousands have been evacuate. 

Meanwhile, Iowa experienced an  unusually strong and long-lasting line of thunderstorms called a derecho which battered vast acreages of corn and soybeans in what looked to be an excellent harvest. Hundreds of thousands were left without power for days..

These catastrophic events are happening with greater frequency in America even as the Trump administration dismantles laws which protect the environment and withdraws from international climate agreements. 

Through the decades I've tried to understand conservative Christians who are rhapsodic about the return of Christ in an apocalyptic extravaganza which will destroy the Earth as we know it. Why they would anticipate that the Christ of love and compassion would return this way is beyond me. And why can't they look around them and see the human-made devastation which is affecting the planet which was brought into being by the God they claim to worship and revere. The apocalypse, or cosmic cataclysm is at hand for those who will open their eyes. The Creator waits for us to respond. 

Loving Polar Bears --- from a Distance

 

When the film An Inconvenient Truth was released in 2006 it got a lot of attention around the globe, won an Oscar, and was instrumental in former Veep Al Gore being presented with a Nobel Peace Prize the following year. Not bad for what is really an illustrated talk about what we then called climate change rather than the climate crisis or emergency. It was the right documentary at the right time.

Along with the praise there were the critics who felt that Gore's conclusions were extreme in their interpretation of the science. More than a decade later some of those conclusions may actually have been optimistic. And some mocked a brief animated segment about polar bears risking extinction because of diminishing Arctic ice. A lack of ice makes it difficult for the bears to hunt and they risk starvation. The image of the starving bears was greeted with derision by climate change deniers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whWvXkK0HJ8

A recent study of two-thirds of the 19 populations of polar bears in the Arctic (there are about 25,000 polar bears remaining) suggests that they may in fact face extinction by the end of the 21st century. Decline is already well under way in southern areas, with the Southern Beaufort Sea sub-population reduced by 40 percent, to about 900 bears, in the first decade of this century. 

This seems to be the constant refrain about species around the planet, with comparatively few success stories of  protection and restoration (thankfully there are some.) And every time scientists describe their findings they are met with indifference or hostility by those who are ideologically disposed toward climate change denial. 

There are references to bears in the bible, but there ain't no white ones. It hasn't stopped illustrators from including them on Noah's Ark. because we all think they're cute providing they're not 20 metres away. 

I figure it is our Christian responsibility to protect all species, regardless of the the cuteness factor. The intricate balance of Creation is essential to existence.

Refugia, Refugios, for All Creatures

  

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, 

and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 

Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, 

though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, 

the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

Psalm 46:1-4 - King James Version 

A dozen years ago I was so spiritually and psychologically exhausted after nearly 30 years of pastoral ministry that I needed some time away. I spent a couple of months on a remote farm at the end of a dirt road in the wilds north of Kingston. Ruth continued to work but would come up for three days every weekend. We both loved the solitude and remember this time fondly. We remain friends with the owners from whom we rented the old farmhouse who still live just down the road. 

Our son Isaac had walked the Camino pilgrimage route in France and Spain several years earlier and he told us about the refugios, the pilgrimage hostels in which he stayed with others making the 800-kilometre spiritual trek. I decided that this dead-end farm was actually a new beginning, a safe place, my refugio, and I wrote about it. 

So, I was intrigued by a CBC piece back in July about the work scientists are engaged in to document more than 12,000 species worldwide that are experiencing range shift — everything from fish to bees to caribou to grasses to berries to trees.

One of them, Gretta Peci  is a marine ecologist at the University of Tasmania and lead author on a recent study of range shift in the journal Science.  She says ""We're literally living through a redistribution of life on Earth, Even though this is my bread and butter that I work on, it really does blow my mind ... the extent of this phenomena." 

Ultimately, these species are seeking what scientists call climate change "refugia" — areas where they can survive at a time of environmental instability. 

What really caught my attention was the use of the term "refugia" to describe the geographical and climate areas where species and ecosystems can bide time while they adapt to change. Another way researchers describe this phenomena is "slow lanes" for survival, but refugia resonated with me. 

I'd never really considered that the refuge of Psalm 46 refers more broadly  to Creation, even though we usually assume this assurance is for humans. It's not just humans -- Groundlings -- who need places of refuge, and while refugia is used as a scientific term there is also a spiritual element to this, at least for me. All God's creatures are meant to have places of safety, not only in terms of protected areas such as parks and reserves, but as places where they can thrive as the climate crisis changes everything. 

Canada's boreal peatlands are one of the areas scientists are looking to preserve as the climate changes. (Submitted/ Michel Rapinski)

Ears to Hear

Gracia Lam

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy 

Do you hear what I hear 

Ringing through the sky shepherd boy 

Do you hear what I hear 

A song, a song High above the trees 

With a voice as big as the sea 

With a voice as big as the sea 

12 

An ear that hears and an eye that sees.

    the Lord made them both.

Proverbs 20:12 The Hebrew Bible -- Robert Alter Translation

 Yesterday I was awake in the wee hours of the morning so didn't feel all that energetic as the day began. We decided to head out for a paddle just the same, and our kayaks were already on the roof of our vehicle. Because it was a bit breezy we chose a section of the Salmon River which is within the Tyendinaga Reserve, less than half an hour away.

 It is quite pretty but not our usual first choice because of the prospect of  noise. Highway 2 is nearby for a good portion of the stretch we paddle and Highway 401, Canada's busiest, is to the north. There is also a train trestle which sees frequent crossings. Yesterday, a Saturday morning, a din began just before 9:00 AM, an unexpected roar which we realized was the nearby motorsport park. There are a few cottages and a couple of farms along the river and we tried to imagine what it's like for these folk when the raceway is under full throttle. And what is it like for the creatures along the river, including the domestic animals? 

The paddle which we hoped would calm our spirits didn't. Yes, we saw turtles and blue herons and an osprey. The monarch butterflies and dragonflies were out in abundance. These were gifts from the Creator, but the assault on our ears made it difficult to be grateful for the experience. 

A couple of days ago I listened to a repeat broadcast of a CBC Radio The Current episode from February about the implications of our noisy environment and it includes a conversation with David Owen author of Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World:

"Especially since the Industrial Revolution, we've produced a lot of very loud sounds — sounds that we didn't really evolve to cope with — and it's taken a toll on our hearing. We evolved in a very different sound environment — thunderstorms and waterfalls and growling animals and things like that." 

Alas, we spend a fair amount of time repeating ourselves to one another, a constant reminder of our failing hearing. Owen notes that we don't become deaf in our sixties, it is a gradual process which is the result of the endless assault on this marvelous sense.

 As I've noted before, Jesus said "let anyone with ears to hear listen." This is also a message of the prophets. Surely this includes our ability to hear the chorus of Creation in a time when we are drowning out the sounds of other creatures, to our physical, psychological, and spiritual peril. During the first couple of months of the pandemic people noted that the quiet, even in cities, was a gift.  Being able to hear should never be taken for granted. 

Judy Chicago and Tikkun Olam

This morning I heard a great CBC Radio The Current interview with artist Judy Chicago. You might remember her from the late 1970's when she created the then controversial art installation called The Dinner Party. It was literally an elegant, triangular dinner table set as a banquet with 39 place settings to honour 39 famous women from history. It was controversial because the motifs were based on vulvar and butterfly forms -- you can figure that out what that means. Many galleries would not display this work, considering it vulgar, but it eventually toured the world.

Needless to say, The Dinner Party, offended the religious sensibilities of many. Chicago was raised in a loving, affirming non-religious family, even though her father came from a long line of Jewish rabbis. Eventually she reconnected with a form of Judaism which had room for her feminist sensibilities.

While in the interview she doesn't mention this, she does use a Jewish term "tikkun olam" or "mending the world" in relation to a a new project in collaboration with Jane Fonda, and Greenpeace and other institutions and galleries

It's called Create Art for the Earth and the website offers this explanation and exhortation: 

We call out to you to join us in creating art for the Earth; a global creative response to the climate crisis and the pandemic afflicting us. Create images that offer an alternative vision; one that protects the planet and all living creatures, one that promotes equity and justice for ALL.

Make art. Sing songs, create performances, recite poems. Do this alone or with your families on any kind of material that is available to you. Share what you create via the pathways we have established. Demonstrate the many ways that the arts can heal, lead, transform and make change.

I think this is a wonderful initiative which appeals to my spiritual and artistic sensibilities. I'm in awe of 81-year-old Chicago's energy and vision, and I can't help but believe that the Creator approves!

Judy Chicago (American, born 1939). The Dinner Party, 1974–79. Ceramic, porcelain, textile, 576 × 576 in. (1463 × 1463 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Gift of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10. © Judy Chicago. (Photo: Donald Woodman)

A Pastor, a Forest, & a Murder Mystery

 We have been all over the map, or more accurately, all over the streaming services, during the COVID-19 isolation months as we searched for diversion from the end of the world as we know it. When a possible apocalypse looms just turn on the television.

One of the series we happened upon recently is Rebecka Martinsson, which as the name might suggest is Swedish. An edgy big city lawyer returns to her rural hometown for the funeral of a pastor who supported her in a turbulent earlier time in her life. This woman was an activist and rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, even as she was admired by others. Her death was deemed an accident until Rebecka begins to question the circumstances.

The unique plot feature is that the pastor had locked horns with members of the local hunting club ver the use of the church forest in which they had hunted for years. It got me thinking about the notion of a mainline European or North American congregations owning tracts of wooded land. My experience in ministry through nearly 40 years was with congregations which didn't have adequate parking, let alone a forest. In a day when many congregations are dissolving and selling property there isn't much chance that there will ever be a movement to own woods and forests as a Creation-care commitment, although I admire the Church Forests of Ethiopia.

Still, hey, a Lutheran pastor who might literally die for the trees? That's my kinda martyr!

Getting Outside & the Other Global Crisis

                           Salmon River June 1019

I heard this morning that sales of outdoor sporting equipment such as bicycles and kayaks is so strong this year that its a challenge to find it anywhere.  It seems that in our adjustment to the restrictions of COVID-19 we have shifted from in-store "retail therapy" to  physical activity and  outdoor "nature therapy." Obviously there is still a consumer component to this, but I've also seen that people are hauling bicycles out of storage to get outside, and lots more are going for walks, whether on urban trails or in the woods. Provincial parks are also seeing a boom this season, and both rentals and purchases of the dreaded RV are up.

We are avid outdoors folk, for care of body, mind, and spirit. When the pandemic changed everyone's lives back in March we carefully observed guidelines about contact with other persons but we live in an area where we can be in the natural world without much interaction with others . We are early birds so we get out when others are still in the land of nod. We are often on the water by 7:30 or 8:00 and this is an excellent form of physical distancing. We canoed a lot, beginning late in March, and are now kayaking more. We figure we've been paddling about 30 times this season and there are still several months before us. 

I wonder if this increase in outdoor exploration will make people more mindful of the other global crisis concerning climate. Our planet is changing for the worse because of human activity, and July was the hottest in more than 80 years in Southern Ontario. Strangely, this was the month when we felt most restricted and it was because of the heat. 

I celebrate that God's creatures, humans, are outside because it is a marvelous, diverse world which deserves our attention. And I hope that awe and wonder will lead to a change of heart and mind for us as individuals and as well as the governments we elect. 

Trent River, Lock 4, with son Isaac & the grandlads 

3 Billion Lost Creatures & the Integrity of Creation

When unprecedented wildfires raged across Australia last year there was concern about destruction of property and loss of human life. In fact, several hundred people did perish but it was nothing compared to the holocaust of other creatures. The news reports showed us the cuddly and photogenic ones, the singed koalas and kangaroos. Then we heard that millions and as many as a billion animals died or were displaced by those fires, an unimaginable number. A year later we're told that the number is more like 3 billion, a staggering loss of diversity.

There is little doubt that human-made climate change was a major contributor to these massive fires, as is the case with both fire and flood in many parts of the planet which is our home. We simply have not faced the reality that our actions are changing the patterns of weather and threatening the fate of every living thing.

Tragically, religious fundamentalists who are often Youth Earth Creationists, rejecting evolution, are also climate emergency deniers, ignoring the scientific evidence all around them. \Humans have been users and abusers rather than care-full stewards of the Earth (a role mandated in scripture) for centuries. We know that species extinction brought about by humans is not new, although it is accelerating at an alarming rate.

The paintings in today's blog entry are by American artist, Walton Ford, after the style of J.J. Audubon, the 19th century naturalist and painter. The first shows the Great Auk which was once abundant on the Funk Islands off Newfoundland and hunted to extinction. The Thyacine, below, was theTasmanian Tiger or Wolf, thought to kill sheep and so wiped out by ranchers. Both species are gone forever and will be followed by many more as the mass extinction on Earth continues.

Do we have the will to repent, to alter our patterns of greed and ignorance, to honour Creation and Creator?

A Cosmic and Religious Experience

For the next couple of nights the August moon will appear full -- if we can see it through the cloud. Imagine, it has actually rained today! According to the Farmer's Almanac this is the Sturgeon Moon, a reference to the harvesting of once plentiful and now rare sturgeon fish by Indigenous peoples in an earlier time. It's likely to be orangey in colour, if visible, and will probably be clearest near noon tomorrow morning -- really. 

I love that there celestial sightings such as the phases of the moon have been auspicious for various reasons in different cultures for millenia. They mark key times for basic human survival but they have been observed for religious reasons. As I've written often enough before, both the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter are set according to the first full moon of the Spring Equinox. Jesus may have been visible to those who searched him out in the Garden of Gethsemane because he was bathed in moonlight. 

A few days ago I came upon a card I had on my church study bulletin board for years. It's a woodcut by a Jewish printer from Holland published in 1707. It's called Blessing of the New Moon, a nod to the practice of the elders.

In our age of light pollution looking skyward to create a sense of solemnity and wonder may be even more important than ever, even though we may not realize what we're missing because we never see it.

While it's not likely you'll be doing any sturgeon fishing, look for that full moon over the next couple of days, and perhaps search out the Perseid Meteor Shower while you're at it. It could be a cosmic and religious experience.  

Paul Gauguin as Christ on the Mount of Olives  1889