Once in a Blue Halloween Moon

 

                                                      F H Varley Night Ferry, Vancouver

The general air of spookiness on All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween, is often associated with a full moon, even that doesn't occur often. We might even claim that it only occurs "once in a blue moon", a familiar phrase for something that is uncommon. Well, tonight is a full Blue Moon, the second full moon of the month of October, and the first Blue Moon on Halloween in 19 years. The next won't occur for another 19 years, which means I better pay attention tonight. 

Regular readers will know that I appreciate the lunar comings and goings, in part because they are so important to the Jewish and Christian faiths. Both Passover and Easter are calculated by lunar cycles and Jesus was probably under a full moon in the Garden of Gethsemane. Aside from the faith aspect, moonlight is magical, especially on water. 

I hope the sky is as clear tonight as it has been through the day. We might consider that our moon was once a part of the Earth and formed as the result of the collision of a large body with our planet. Now it tugs away at the oceans to give us the rhythm of the tides. It's all remarkable, bordering on miraculous, wouldn't you say? 

I couldn't resist this image of a bat flying across the face of a full moon, given that it's Halloween. Local bats have probably tucked themselves away for the Winter now, although we saw some flying in our yard on the remarkably mild evening a week ago. 

Look up tonight, and be amazed.

The Sunken Cathedral of a Coral Reef

From time to time their are reports of the discover of the archaeological ruins of some remarkable structure or complex. It may be an ancient synagogue or church found during excavations for a roadway, or perhaps a Mayan temple complex discovered beneath dense jungle growth. They are intriguing, at least for a nerd like me.  

There are the equivalents to these finds in the natural world as well, even in a time when what we might imagine as wilderness is shrinking. This week we heard that a massive coral reef, the size of a skyscraper (such an old-fashioned term) was found off Australia, which is home to the Great Barrier Reef. It is 1640 feet tall, much taller than the Empire State building at 1240,or the tallest church, a cathedral in Germany which is a mere 530 feet in height. To give a comparison in our context, it' about the height of the CN Tower if the antenna is included.  

What is astonishing and awe-inspiring is that the reef was "built" by tiny creatures over the course of millennia without any intention to do so. Today the reef is home to what one researcher describes as a "blizzard of fish." The Great Barrier Reef is in peril because of bleaching related to climate change but this is a healthy ecosystem. 

We might consider this discovery as the equivalent to coming upon a site akin to the holy ground of a human-made structure. Or perhaps we should have an even greater sense of reverence because this is part of the exquisite interdependence of living things which we consider to be the work of the Creator and upon which our lives depends 

. I'll be paying attention to the discoveries related to this reef in the days ahead. And praying that we don't mess up this holy place in our curiosity and tourist consumerism. 

Father Charles Brandt, an Exemplary Groundling

 

Father Charles Brandt—a priest and modern-day contemplative—on the steps of his hermitage overlooking the Oyster River on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Photo by Grant Callegari

It is early morning with its quiet coolness. I walk out the old logging road. … The logging road along with other trails through the forest is where I practice walking meditation. I do not think of the road as leading anywhere. It is the road to nowhere, the path on which I journey and have been journeying for a lifetime. Although it is the path to nowhere, in reality it is the way to everywhere, because it enables me to enter into communion with the whole community of beings.

—from Self and Environment by Charles Brandt

I've already responded to news of the death of Father Charles Brandt my Lion Lamb blog  but I need to include it here as well, because Father Brandt was an exemplary Groundling.

The quote above from a book by Father Charles begins an excellent article from 2018 in Hakai magazine called The Oracle of Oyster River. At that time Father Brandt was 95 and had been living as a Roman Catholic hermit on Vancouver Island for decades. I've written about him several times, mentioning that I visited him at his riverside hermitage more than 25 years ago while in Victoria as part of a national committee for the United Church of Canada.

 I first heard about Father Brandt on an episode of the the CBC television show Man Alive. I tracked him down and asked if I could visit. I was fascinated by his combination of contemplation as an eco-Christian, and the activism which compelled him to organize neighbours who worked together with a logging company to restore the habitat of the river. He was hospitable and gave me a tour of his workshop, where he restored antiquarian books, and the chapel within his hermitage. Father Brandt was also a fly fisherman and I imagine that this was as much a part of his spiritual practice as the liturgy of the chapel. 

I saw last night that Father Brandt died on Sunday at the age of 97. Last year I blogged that James Wood, a journalism student who had attended Bridge St Church, then moved to Vancouver Island as a reporter, tweeted that Father Brandt had worked out a legal agreement with the Comox Valley Land Trust to have his 27 acres on the Oyster River protected in perpetuity while the hermitage would continue to be used for that purpose. I commented then: 

The term used for the agreement is "covenant" which I like because, well, it is so biblical. Covenants in scripture involve God and a person or people in a relationship which is like a contract or more. While I doubt there will be God-talk in the language of the covenant I like the implicit presence of the Creator whom Father Brandt honours in his worship life and activism. Who knows, there may be a rainbow involved.

Last year he told an interviewerthat  as a young Boy Scout he slept in the wild and kept absolute silence for 24 hours. He had a passion for birding, which with scouting, were his first connections to the natural world. By the age of 13, he had read Henry David Thoreau’s epic book, Walden.

It's wonderful that only a month ago Father Brandt had been recognized  with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Museum of Nature. He was healthy enough to respond to the news in a gracious and thoughtful manner. 

I will be grateful for the rest of my life for the witness of Father Brandt as a true Groundling, a person of Christian faith whose eternal hope began in this earthy and Earthly lifetime. This hermit had a broad influence on the people and the environment around him. 

https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/the-oracle-of-oyster-river/

Faith, the Environment, & Rationalization

 We have now watched the first two episodes of the CBC television series called Enslaved. As the title implies, it is about the centuries-long slave trade which forcibly removed 12 million human beings from their homelands in Africa to become the property of slave-owners in the Americas. An estimated two million of these people didn't survive the perilous journey across the Atlantic because of disease or starvation or shipwreck. 

The host of the episodes is actor Samuel Jackson (yes, the Pulp Fiction star) who is an American of Gabonian descent. He travels back to Gabon, the country of his ancestors, where he is made a member of the Benga clan. 

                          Samuel L. Jackson and Benga Elders

The second episode is called Rationalization and portions of it explore the way European Christians justified trafficking in human lives, keeping their prisoners in deplorable conditions and engaging in depraved cruelty.

Jackson and a host visited what is now known as Elmina Castle in Ghana, a 15th century fortress where slaves were gathered before boarding ships. There is a church at the focal point of the central courtyard where slavers would worship a God they presumed would endorse their trade. The documentary also mentions the first pope to officially allow slavery. 

This episode also includes the exploration of a sunken slave ship which along with human cargo contained wealth in the form of elephant ivory. The dive team brought up a tusk which has been at the bottom of the English Channel for centuries. The sin of greed resulted in the decimation of elephant populations in the same areas where humans were captured and traded. 

It got me thinking about the things I've rationalized and justified through the years, sometimes with the notion that God approved. I'll admit that despite my passion for Creation Care I'm regularly a backslider when it comes to my daily habits.I have plenty of blind spots which suit me just fine, if I'm honest. 

Repentance of our sins of omission and commission is important. Having the prayerful humility to have a change of heart and mind is essential, otherwise we are worshiping false gods rather than the God of compassion and redemption. 

Enslaved is streaming on CBC Gem. 

A Troublesome Fire as a Threat to Creation

 We have a long-time friend who lives in Loveland, Colorado, a pleasant community with ready access to a variety of experiences of the outdoors. We have visited several times and loved driving up to Rocky Mountain National Park, just over an hour away from Loveland. That area of Colorado is currently affected by wildfires, some of the largest in the history of the state, including one named East Troublesome. Estes Park, which is a mountain town at the edge of the park, has been evacuated because of the proximity of one these fires.

Nearby is Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center, a beautiful spot which our friend recommended we visit. Years ago Ruth and I attended an excellent continuing education event sponsored by the Presbyterians for Earth Care with an excellent roster of speakers, including one of my favourite theologians, Dr. William Brown. His term "groundlings" to describe the first-formed humans of Genesis was the inspiration for the title of this Groundling blog.

I wonder how Highlands is faring in the midst of this calamity? I am reluctant to describe what is transpiring as a natural disaster because the scope and intensity of these fires has been amplified by the human-made (groundling-made?) climate emergency. It's location in the midst of incredible beauty makes it vulnerable to fire. 

We have acted as though God's Earth is too big to fail, to our peril.  Let's hope and pray, groundlings,  that we'll awaken to the threat posed to a groaning Creation and act. 

Migrations and Pilgrimages in 2020

Yesterday was World Fish Migration Day, an opportunity to acknowledge one of the most remarkable annual occurrences in the natural world. Here in Canada fish such as salmon and trout and smelt spend part of the year in large bodies of water, only to return to the streams and rivers from whence they came. 

Here in Ontario people flock to spots where the salmon run upstream in the Fall although, sadly, the original Atlantic salmon are long gone and introduced species such as Chinook salmon are what they are seeing. When we lived in Bowmanville, on the shore of Lake Ontario, the salmon and trout runs were impressive. 

This got me thinking about what has happened globally with the pandemic. 2020 was supposed to be the Year of Pilgrimage for Christian humans and there events planned for cathedrals in the United Kingdom to welcome visitors. There are annual pilgrimages such as the Camino in Spain and the Haj to Mecca. All this changed drastically as a result of the pandemic.

Despite this, the "pilgrimages" of fish and other species continue. The migrations of salmon, and caribou, and wildebeests and the heavenly host of birds and butterflies may be curtailed by climate change and habitat loss, yet the creatures are still on the move.

Surely our human inclination toward meaningful journeys which we call pilgrimages are connected in some way to the manner in which so many of God's creatures migrate. We sense the spiritual value of doing but the physical movement of migration and pilgrimage is necessary and a vital aspect of the experience. 

                                  Rainbow Trout at Bowmanville Creek Fish Ladder

Sheep, and Present-Day Shepherds

#Rewilding - A #BioDiversity Love Story A couple times of year, our forest south of Topsy is a causeway for our sheep. We've chosen not to farm this land - We like the woods to be wild. Our goal is to have wild spaces... 1/3

Our financial system sucks at keeping places wild; Those beautiful trees can be monetized only if cut down For a farm, that temptation is huge: Cut all the trees = mortgage paid off... But then what? What are we working so hard for if we can't be our own Lorax? 2/3

#TopsyFarms can't do much about the rainforests; maybe eat less burgers & avoid palm oil. But what we can do is work to preserve our own wild. Right here. There is value & benefit to us silly humans maintaining wild spaces. Thank you for following our Journey

We visit Amherst Island in Lake Ontario several times a year. It's just over an hour away from Belleville, including the ferry ride, and yet it feels like an escape from everyday life, whatever this is these days. We find places to walk and picnic, we get all bird-nerdy, and on most trips we visit Topsy Farms. Topsy is a sheep farm and more. The shop offers products from wool, to blankets, to pillows, to lamb, and more. We've purchased a variety of 'em and have been pleased by them all. https://www.topsyfarms.com/

We also appreciate that the different generations of the family are committed to living sustainably and honourably in that landscape. We've walked back into the woods on one of their trails and brought our grandlads along to see the lambs. 

Recently their Twitter feed described their efforts to maintain the woodland portion of their land, even though grazing amidst the trees would please the herd, and harvesting, or over-harvesting, would be a welcome source of income. Many places in the world, including New Zealand and Great Britain are addressing the effects of over-grazing and deforestation due to sheep farming. Advocates for a more sustainable form of raising sheep meet strong resistance from some quarters. It' s encouraging to know that this family which obviously needs to make a living from the farm is choosing to look at the bigger picture of the place they live and the planet which is home for all of us. 

                           Topsy Farms -- Amherst Island 

In the bible, sheep represent prosperity in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. And shepherds are a big deal, including King David as a boy. Jesus told sheep and shepherd parables to share the Good News. And most liturgical denominations observe Good Shepherd Sunday. It's a great day to sing The Lord's My Shepherd or any one of several hymn versions of the 23rd psalm.

So, isn't it important for all of us Groundlings to realize that these stories and metaphors aren't just dusty images from the past? 

We can admire and support the present day shepherds of the sheep who are doing their best to care for both their critters and Creation. Thank you Topsy Farms. 

The Right News About Endangered Whales

There is no mention of whales in the bible, at least not in the most faithful translation from the Hebrew. There is a creature called Leviathan named in several Older Testament books and the King James Version calls this mysterious being the "great whale" but in Jewish tradition it is more of a sea serpent or dragon.

Of course, lots of critters go unmentioned in scripture but they are all part of what we hope will be the teeming diversity of Creation, as God the Creator intends it to be. Some whale species were nearly hunted into extinction during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries even though this grim reality was thought to be impossible. Humans became more and more efficient at killing them as the demand for whale oil and other whale products grew.

 Now watching and admiring whales has become a far more lucrative industry, not without a different set of concerns for the well-being of these breath-taking mammals. While some species have rebounded to healthy populations we'll never have an accurate picture of their former abundance. A species such as the North Atlantic Right Whale is in a precarious place with so few remaining it may not survive. These were  "right" for whalers because they move slowly and float when killed. While they are no longer hunted, they seem to be prone to collisions from ships which results in their demise. 

When I heard last week that not a single Right Whale has been found dead in Atlantic waters through this season I was encouraged. We saw a mother Right Whale and calf off Grand Manan Island years ago and since then I have been particularly interested in the fate of this endangered population, Some years the statistics have been so gloomy I've wondered whether we'd witnessed something akin to the Great Auk, a once abundant bird, now extinct.

Researchers wonder whether new rules for ships in the Bay of Fundy, along with changes to fishing gear, and reduced shipping traffic because of the pandemic has resulted in this moderately hopeful news. They figure its going to take a number of similar years and the birth of lots of calves before there is cause for celebration. 

Just the same, I'm offering up prayers of gratitude for what feels like good news in the midst of so much that is discouraging. It's possible to change our destructive ways for the well-being of creatures great and small. 

St. Francis and the Birds

 

                                                 St. Francis Preaching to the Birds -- Giotto circa 1300

We were putting together wee bags of bird seed this week for this morning's service at Trenton United. Son Isaac is our pastor and he knows that we have a number of feeders so we offered to get these ready. This is the Feast of St. Francis and many Protestants have embraced the twelfth century mystic's love of Creation. Lots of congregations now hold Blessing of the Animals services although they are probably suspended in this pandemic year. 

Francis is reputed to have preached to the birds, hence Ike's decision to distribute the sunflower seeds this morning. I'm sure he's figured out how he'll doing this is a COVIDly responsible way. He's planning to use an image from the Taize Christian comunity in France, where he lived for a year. The stained glass is in one of the Taize worship spaces and we actually have a poster of it in our home. 

We've been reminded again recently of the alarming loss of biodiversity around the world including the disappearance of an estimated 3 billion birds in North America during the past 50 years. This is a staggering number. 

In this season of migration we can celebrate the birds and the bees and all of the Creator's critters. And if we cherish them, we will protect them. 

Praying Green

I'm so ancient that I first met and spoke with Elizabeth May, Canadian Green Party Leader, back in the days before she assumed that role in 2006. May was an environmental activist and author at the time and had spent time as an advisor to the environment ministry during the Mulroney years.

She came to Sudbury to encourage those who were concerned about the Lands for Life consultation process for Crown Lands in the province. I was the minister of a downtown congregation and made a presentation on behalf of Friends of Killarney Park at one of the Round Tables. After her address at Laurentian University we chatted for a few minutes When I mentioned my profession she immediately began talking about the importance of faith as a way of staying hopeful, and that she was considering the Anglican priesthood at some point in the future. That was more than 20 years ago, and since she's my age that goal may not be realized. 

Despite my admiration for May, the last federal election was the first time I voted Green. Every time I considered doing so I ended up holding my nose and voted strategically. I just couldn't do it after the Liberals made bold promises to be environmentally responsible, only to spend billions buying an aging pipeline. More than a million Canadians made a similar choice. 

I've come to realize that the Greens are the best fit for my vision of Canada and my sensibilities as a Christian, as a Groundling who wants governments to honour and care for Creation, even if they don't use that term. 

Tomorrow the Green Party will elect a new leader, and there are eight interesting candidates for the role. I won't be voting, but I will be praying. I've come to realize that the Greens have been prophetic in a number of areas where governments have coopted their ideas, not just regarding the environment. As we face a Climate Emergency for the planet we need strong leadership in the party as much now as ever. We can all pay attention to the outcome of the vote, and say a few prayers as well. 

You can find the candidate profiles here:

https://www.greenparty.ca/en/leadership-contest#contestants

Sticking it to an Anti-Green Government

 

Well, I suppose I can "stand down" with my Sharpie after a recent court decision here in Ontario and the response from the provincial government. A Superior Court judge with brains and a knowledge of the law ruled that the Ford government couldn't force its political agenda on independent businesses. You may recall that the Ford gang mandated placing stickers on gas pumps with what was misleading information about the federal carbon tax, designed to curtail harmful emissions. 

The government proposed hefty fines for those who didn't comply, although they never followed through on the threat.  I was so annoyed by this heavy-handedness that I was prepared to deface them with my Sharpie in an act of civil disobedience, although Ford's graffiti never went on pumps on the Tyendinaga Reserve where we usually purchase fuel. 

Much to my delight, the noxious stickers wouldn't stick --oh the irony -- and now they can disappear. I appreciated that the Green Party created their own sticker to counteract the misinformation.

Protecting the environment should always be a priority for governments, something that the "open for business" Conservatives need to understand as integral to a strong bottom line. 

As a Christian, caring for Creation is both a priority and a sacred trust, mandated by scripture. So as a person of faith, and a responsible citizen,  I will keep my marker ready for action And I'll be watching what this government does every day, as well as when the next election rolls around.