A faithful Christmas Bird Count

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth,[a] and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?”

Job 12:7-9 NRSV

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:26 NRSV

We are well into the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, which runs from December 14th to January 5th, every year. It is a remarkable "citizen scientist" event in which people go into the field to spot and count different species of birds, then report what they have observed.. 

In the early days of conservation more than a hundred years ago many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a "Christmas Bird Census" that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.

I'm a bit surprised that the "Christmas" part of the title has stuck, given the tendency toward  more generic terms for the season. And obviously the period has expanded over time. This pandemic year will curtail crowds of birders (we hope) but perhaps will free people to look and listen more attentively because they have time to do so.

It is becoming apparent that bird populations in North America have undergone drastic decline in the past fifty years, about 25%, or 3 billion creatures. How have we allowed this to happen? Habitat has been reduced and climate change has shifted food sources. In Central America the winter home of so many birds, forests are cut to become grazing land for beef cattle, a greenhouse gas double whammy. 

While the science of the bird count is important, so is paying attention to the birds of the air and the waterways and the forests. To do so is an active form of contemplation, of prayer we might say. And when we develop a sense of wonder regarding birds and all creatures we will be more inclined to respect and conserve them.

We have never registered for the bird count, and I'm not sure why. We do try to be attentive as we spend time outside and even looking out from our home. We have a number of birdfeeders we can see out the windows of our family room, and even at this time of year there will be upwards of a dozen species which visit them in a day. When we have guests -- few and far between these days -- they delight in what they see.  

I appreciate that it is still the Christ-mass Bird Count, After all, Jesus encouraged us to look to the birds of the air and reminded listeners that God cares for even the tiny sparrows, Surely we should pay attention to Jesus and the birds. 

God sees the little sparrow fall,
It meets God's tender view;
If God so loves the little birds,
I know God loves me, too.

Advent, The Solstice, and Turtles

                               All Creation Waits -- David Klein illustration 

 As we entered December we made decision about a few more donations and causes doing excellent work in our community and abroad. I hesitate to call them charities because of the connotation of benevolence for what is vitally important, not on the periphery of our giving. 

In the mix we included two projects which are dedicated to turtles, those remarkable relics of the age of dinosaurs which are under threat in Ontario. I've long been fascinated by turtles and Ruth will tell you that I brake for turtles and during the late Spring and early Summer you might find me at the side of the road, assisting one out of harm's way. A couple of years ago I was involved in a somewhat bizarre rescue on busy Highway 2 in Belleville. I stopped traffic while a cheerful passerby who looked as though he'd had a rough life picked up the reptile and carried it to the Bay of Quinte. 

                                                       Turtle Rescuer

This year we've kayaked and canoed a lot -- nearly 50 times in total -- and we saw many turtles, including some snappers who were real lunkers. Even though almost all Ontario turtle species are under threat, we saw lots of them, and were grateful. 

I've written about a lovely Advent book called All Creation Waits with text by Gayle Boss and illustrations by David Klein. I hadn't really noticed until this year that the first day features the painted turtle. Boss writes of the "radical simplicity of the hibernation of turtles and the promise that the world will warm again and life will resume.

Those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere wonder if this true every year, and 2020, with its quarantines and lock-downs has been a bit of a nightmare. Advent does remind us that God hasn't abandoned us, and that Christmas, a holiday borrowed from cultures which observed the Solstice as a holy day, offers us our own promise of the birth of Christ.  

The Cathedral of Chauvet

 

Did you notice this Google doodle yesterday? It's an image from the Chauvet Cave in France offered on the 26th anniversary of their discovery in the modern era by three cavers. The caves and their paintings are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and carefully protected from the public. The images, which are as old as 32,000 years are stunning in their expression of life. While they reflect the keen powers of observation of their hunter creators, they are also reverent, a testament to creation and human expression. 

I have dutifully moved through the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican along with throngs of other tourists. Michelangelo's work is visionary, magisterial, and has become the part of the myth of creativity for Western culture. Are the paintings of Chauvet and Lascaux and other cave sites any less worthy of our admiration? I would offer an emphatic, no. 

I have watched Werner Herzog's documentary about Chauvet called Cave of Forgotten Dreams twice, and I wish I could watch in again on a large screen in a cinema -- remember movie theatres? . While describing the interior of the cave as a cathedral may seem trite, as someone who has visited many European cathedrals I know I would experience a similar sense of awe and reverence within these caves. 

There is an Aeon article by Izzy Wisher (what a wonderful name) which reflects on what cave art contributes to culture and while the conclusion refers to another cave, it is appropriate for Chauvet: 

Art was far more than a pleasant pastime that our distant ancestors indulged in; it was interwoven within the function of these Upper Palaeolithic societies and was integral to their way of life. The young hunter-gatherer who squeezed through the gap in the rock shelter would have emerged blinking into the light, transformed by her encounter with her ancestors and with the images of the animals that were essential to her group’s survival.

Amen, and I wonder how many other such adorned caves have yet to be rediscovered?

The Comfort of Christmas Trees

 

God,
we praise you for the light of creation:
the sun, the moon, and the stars of the night.
We praise you for the light of Israel:
the Law, the prophets, and the wisdom of the Scriptures.
We praise you for Jesus Christ, your Son:
he is Emmanuel, God-with-us, the Prince of Peace,
who fills us with the wonder of your love.

God,
let your blessing come upon us
as we illumine this tree.
May the light and cheer it gives
be a sign of the joy that fills our hearts.
May all who delight in this tree
come to the knowledge and joy of salvation.
We ask this through Christ
 Amen.

— adapted from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayer

Both of our felines, Merlin and Arthur, spend time beneath the trees of our yard, even during these increasingly wintry days. This morning Merlin decided that the warmth under the Christmas tree was preferable to what was one the frostiest starts to a morning this December. 

We got our tree early this year, in part because the word was that there has been a run on real trees this year, and also because we wanted to have the comfort and familiarity it could provide in such an unpredictable and rather depressing year. 

The fragrance as we walked through the tree lot, which then permeated our family room was reassuring and quite wonderful. 

I heard recently, not for the first time, that most North Americans can conjure up more brand names that the names of trees, and one of those trees is "Christmas tree." There are a number of species of conifers grown for the season, but it would seem that this is lost on the majority of us.

There is the legend of  Martin Luther, the 16th-century founder of the Protestant movement who while walking toward his home one winter evening, was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.Please do not try to do this at home! 

Who knows whether this story is true, but I want it to be. In recent years there has been a Christmas tree tug of war between the ecological advantages of real or artificial trees,and there are arguments from both camps. I just figure it's a  marvelous thing that we still acknowledge a ritual which probably originated with the pagans as a symbol of life when the earth seems dormant. 

Whether our trees are ersatz or sappy, we Groundlings can offer a prayer of gratitude for what they represent. 

God for Fledgling Time Has Chosen

 

3 Birds, though you long have ceased to build,

guard the nest that must be filled;

even the hour when wings are frozen

God for fledging time has chosen.

People, look east and sing today:

Love the bird is on the way.

                        People Look East #9 Voices United 

We are in a region where in-person worship is still permissible, so off we went to Trenton United yesterday for the third Sunday of Advent. Dianne, our congregational musician, and Rev. Ike, our kid, led us through the two hymns adeptly even though the rest of us are only permitted to hum, or mumble...humble?

The first was number nine in Voices United, an Advent hymn with a hopeful tune called People Look East. As Isaac sang I realized that I quite like it, even though it isn't included in services often. The lyrics by Eleanor Farejon are nearly a century old, with a French folk tune which goes back further. She was also also the lyricist for Morning Has Broken, which was written a couple of years after People Look East. 

Because of the limitations of worship these days we don't usually sing all verses of our hymns, so I was glad Isaac included verse three (above), one I hadn't really noticed before. There is the wonderful imagery of birds in the grip of winter, yet this is God's fledgling time for the birth of Christ. Beautiful. 

When we got home there were birds at our feeders, then they departed, as they often do. Then the red-bellied woodpecker which has graced our back yard in recent weeks, in all its colourful glory. It was a splash of joy in the these days of rather begrudging light. 

As a earthbound Groundling I'm glad for our winged friends, and the promise of fledged faith. 

Red-bellied woodpecker. (Photo courtesy of Vida Gilvydis)

The Joy of Forest Therapy

 

I got a tweet from the local conservation authority advertising an upcoming event which they call Forest Therapy. It's a guided walk in the woods at the Frink Centre, north of Belleville, a lovely spot we visit often. This form of guided meditation is also called Forest Bathing or Shinrin-yoku in Japanese, the country of origin for this movement. In Japan there are Forest Bathing centres and physicians can prescribe time at one for restoration of physical and mental health. 

We went to a Kingston Conservation Area a couple of years ago for a Forest Bathing event and found it soothing and enlivening and well worth our time. Since then there have been more and more venues for variations on this theme, as our society recognizes the value of contemplative time in the natural world. 

Ruth and I agree that we won't attend this upcoming walk because we incorporate aspects of Shinrin-yoku in our walks and paddles, hither and yon. We take a moment to give thanks for the trees and often find a spot to sit and receive what the woods have to offer. We enjoy a brisk walk which gets our heart-rate up, but it's important to savour, and to express gratitude to the Creator. We're convinced that our many forays into the natural world in this tumultuous year have been key to staying spiritually grounded and physically healthy. 

I suppose some would wonder whether this could be Christian, but all we need to do is read the Gospels to realize that Jesus prepared for ministry in the wilderness and spent time on mountain tops and on the water for restoration. And what we call the Sermon on the Mount was offered on a hillside in Galilee. 

You can see, above, that the Quinte Conservation event takes place next Sunday afternoon with a limited number of people to observe distancing protocols. It might be worth a try! 

Thomas Merton, Groundling

 

I wrote earlier today in my other, Lion Lamb, blog about the anniversary of the death of Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk. Merton was a hermit and mystic who came to an untimely end during a trip to Thailand where he met with a young Dalai Lama.

It was earlier in 1968, the same year he died, that Merton left Gethsemani monastery in Kentucky, to search out a potential new hermitage amongst the giant trees at Redwoods  Monastery in California. While visiting the relatively new Redwoods he observed 

Everything, from the big ferns as the base of the trees, the dense undergrowth, the long enormous shafts towering endlessly in shadow penetrated here and there by light...The worshipful cold spring spring light on the sandbanks of Eel River, the immense silent redwoods. Like a cathedral...

There is a similar sense of reverence and awe in his nature journals from Gethsemani, collected beautifully by Kathleen Deignan in When the Trees Say Nothing. There is another book, Thomas Merton: The Environmental Visionary by Monica Weis, which I value as well

If this aspect of Merton's varied life intrigues you, there is an excellent article by Fred Bahnson in Emergence Magazine with the title, On the Road With Thomas Merton. 

https://emergencemagazine.org/story/on-the-road-with-thomas-merton/

It was in this article that I discovered that Merton also spent time at the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in New Mexico. I've been to Christ in the Desert a couple of times, driving the long, unpaved and slippery road in January a number of years ago. While it was a drive bordering on holy terror, it was also a visit of holy awe and holy because of the solitude and amazing setting. 

I've admired Merton for decades but its been in latter years that I've come to appreciate his love for Creation, He will be remembered for many things and being a committed Groundling should be at the forefront of his legacy. 

The Paris Climate Agreement, 5 Years On

 

The United States has been led down the path of fascism for the past four years by a president totally unqualified to manage a convenience store, let along the most powerful nation on Planet Earth. While his abysmal response to the COVID-19 epidemic has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands and left millions in economic crisis, the deliberate choice to undermine efforts to address the Climate Emergency, including withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, are arguably much more grave. 

The President-elect, Joe Biden, has indicated that one of his first actions after his inauguration in January will be to rejoin the Paris Agreement,  a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 parties at COP 21 in Paris, on  the 12th of December 2015 and entered into force on the 4th of November 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. 

President Obama strongly supported the Paris Agreement, but his successor,.and now outgoing president, withdrew the United States from the deal, for reasons which were always vague and certainly not grounded in science. Before withdrawal 75 CEOs urged the outoing president to stay in the accord Major corporations including Apple, Google, Goldman Sachs and Shell signed a statement that argued it would strengthen their competitiveness in global markets and allow the U.S. to be a leader in developing technology that curbs carbon emissions.

Many states and cities in the US maintained their commitment to actions supporting the international agreement but the withdrawal by the federal administration was a huge blow. 

There has been cynicism about achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, and, five years on humanity has not reversed the rise in greenhouse gases. Here in Canada the federal government makes the right noises about supporting the agreement but has made baffling decisions which are contrary to meeting even modest goals.

On the eve of the 5th anniversary communities of faith can remain alert and hopeful in upholding the Paris Agreement as a serious effort to care for the Earth, in all it's wonderful complexity and variety. Our Judeo/Christian scriptures affirm this again and again. 

We can pray that this new US administration will act with urgency and courage. We really do need the global leadership America can offer. 

Watershed Discipleship and Schedule 6

 

Dear readers, I've tried, God knows I've tried to like Doug Ford in 2020. These have been trying times for leaders in government who've had to make decisions about the COVID-19 crisis which require wisdom and yet have been expected to do so at breakneck speed. In the first couple of months I gave Premier Doug a grade of  B or even a B+, which is really high praise because leaders who deserved an A were few and far between, and seemed to live on islands. Since the summer my assessment has drifted toward a C or a C- because of the confusing messages about restrictions, the boondoggle about school reopening, and the continuing mess regarding long-term care.

This morning I'm giving Premier Ford a resounding F, for the terrible decisions regarding environmental policy, and you can decide what the F stands for. Sometime today Bill will be addressed in the legislature, a bill which is supposedly about pandemic response but includes Schedule 6 of Bill 229 which undermines the work of the 36 Conservation Authorities across the province. This legislation is literally called the Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 Act yet it sneakily includes measures which will undermine the work to protect water quality and and flood management carried out by Conservation Authorities. 

Schedule 6 is incredibly short-sighted, given that Climate Change is resulting in more flood events in the province and actually adding funding makes more sense than reducing it. And many of us can recall the disaster of Walkerton when another Conservative government senselessly undermined water quality safeguards, leading to illness and death in that community. 

                                                                               David Crombie 

As a result of this deceitful and dangerous legislation the chair of the Greenbelt Council in Ontario, David Crombie (the former politician, not the aging rock legend), and six other members of the council  have resigned. I listened to Crombie, a member of the Order of Canada, this morning and he expressed his dismay that this government is threatening the environment of which we are all a part with Schedule 6. 

During Creation Time this year I led a worship service at Trenton United Church, the congregation we attend, on the theme of Watershed Discipleship. I reminded our in-person and virtual worshippers  that we need to celebrate and protect the precious, God-given gifts of water and our watersheds.

I have written our MPP, Todd Smith, and the premier, asking that Schedule 6 be removed, even though I have little confidence that these people listen. You may recall that during the election Ford promised that he would not undermine the integrity of the Green Belt. Hmm. I hope that the "Regressive Conservatives" appreciate that we won't let this go away.