The Presence of Birds in a Winter Storm

 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,[k] or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 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?  And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life

Matthew 6:25-27 NRSVue

1. 1. O God, our help in ages past,

   Our hope for years to come,

   Our shelter from the stormy blast,

   And our eternal home.

2. based on Psalm 90 Voices United 806 

3.  We have not been spared from the massive Winter storm which has enveloped much of North America. Every province has issued some form of travel warning because of snow and high winds making roads impassible. Thousands of flights have been cancelled, resulting in disappointment for so many. 

Last night the warming centre at Trenton United, our home congregation, was open and welcomed a dozen or more stranded travellers. They included parents with a child -- sound familiar? 

I've already done lots of shovelling, including our decks, and while I was out there I replenished our bird feeders. As I did the latter the birds were waiting in the nearby birch trees and bushes. I had a distinct sense that they were impatient to get back to fueling up against the stormy blast as quickly as possible.

There were many species at hand, including juncos and finches and cardinals and woodpeckers. I was delighted when a northern flicker showed up, a bird we hear in our neighbourhood but don't often see at the feeders. His or her presence was such a gift on a blustery day filled with crummy news. 

I've chosen to post a photo on a cardinal on a feeder and the needlework image I shared earlier in Advent as my final "outside in artwork for this season. Our feeders are a constantly changing living art display which bring joy at every time of year and even in a blizzard. 

The "do not worry" passage from Jesus'  Sermon on the Mount isn't a conventional Christmas Eve reading, and O God, Our Help in Ages Past ain't a Christmas Carol. Yet they fit, given our circumstances, wouldn't you say? If you don't agree, humour me!

Already some of our family plans have gone sideways and despite huge disappointment we are trying to be grateful that our children and grandchildren are safe and warm in their homes in the midst of the blast. 

May you be able to move beyond anxiety into the calm presence of Christ this day. 

How the Premier Stole the Greenbelt

 

                                                      The Fish are Fasting for Wisdom from the Stars 

For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity. All go to one place, all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.  Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?  So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?

Ecclesiates 3:19-22  NRSVue

I shared this image with you when it was framed (this is pre-framed), a print by the talented Metis artist Christi Belcourt. Ruth and I agreed it would be the last piece of art we would every acquire because we'll never live in a house this size again and we already have pieces tucked away in closets because there is no wall space.

I've come back to The Fish are Fasting as Advent draws to a close, and with it my "outside in" tour of art in our home. Our daughter-in-law, Rebekah, is a freshwater ecologist by training and works for a water issues related NGO, When she saw the print she immediately identified the various species of fish. Scientific knowlege, artist expression, and wisdom from the ages can work together. 

I've thought about this piece alot in recent weeks as an Ontarian who is appalled by the Ford government's decision to remove several thousand hectares from the Greenbelt which were supposed to be protected in perpetuity. Bill 23 also limits the role of Conservation Authorities in protecting wetlands and watersheds, as well as monitoring flood plains. With the effects of climate change this is a disaster in the making. Despite protests across the province they are forging ahead and as this brilliant cartoon by Steve Nease says, Ford is stealing our Greenbelt. 

Steve Nease

How is it that as Canada joins nearly 200 other nations in signing an agreement on protecting biodiversity our province is blundering into this irresponsible course of action that millions of us don't want, according to polls, and municipalities don't either? 

As a Christian I'm determined to sustain personal hope in the midst of bleak news about the state of our planet. At the same time I am discouraged and frustrated by those who are supposed to lead with reliance on science and common sense for the wellbeing of all consituents, including those which are not human. If the fish can seek wisdom, why not politicians?  

For decades I used a passage from chapter 3 of the Wisdom book of Ecclesiastes in funeral and memorial services. Apparently I should have read on to the verses which state that the fate of humans and other creatures is intertwined. This really is wisdom. 

The resignation by Doug Varty as Chair of the province's Species Conservation Action Agency speaks volumes

 

Advent, the Winter Solstice, & Christmas

 

O.R Gillespie 

Lots of us are rejoicing at arrival of the Winter Solstice at 4:47 this afternoon. It's been a dreary month of December in these parts and this reality along with the waning daylight hours has put me in hiberation mode, even though we make every effort to ramble around outside. We did set out this morning for Prince Edward County and on our trip we listened to the first two episodes of the BBC World Service adaptation of The Dark is Rising, an acclaimed fantasy story for older children by Susan Cooper. It is wonderfully done and the two geezers listening were captivated. The novel is almost 50 years old now and the mysterious tale commences at the Winter Solstice. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvp7

It's remarkable that crowds vie for the opportunity to witness the Solstice at New Grange in Ireland and Stonehenge in Britain. There is a scientific explanation for what transpires but through the ages have been drawn to the spiritual portent as well. 

Christianity has done some borrowing through the centuries with our celebration of Christmas attached to Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival of light with lots of candles which led to the solstice, followed by the "Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun" on December 25th. Does the date seem familiar? 

Design: Jocelyn Mundy

In days of yore when we lived in Sudbury we attended Solstice gatherings at the home of a family in the congregation, which inspired our own years later in Bowmanville. It only happened because of Ruth's efforts because, well, the season tends to be busy for clergy. We wanted to celebrate the turning of the seasonal tide toward light in the midst of darkness, even as we observed Advent and  prepared for Christian Christmas. 

The piece of art, above, is a reproduction rather than an original print or painting but it captures a sense of wintry days and nights when we lived in outport Newfoundland. Winter darkness was almost palpable there. This one is in our bedroom along with several other pieces which evoke time in various communities in which I've served.

Today we walked at Lodge Point in Sandbanks Provincial Park. We were alone for most of our exploration and we enjoyed the solitude -- solace on the solstice? We could hear the rumble of waves from both sides of the point, a raft of long-tailed ducks bobbed in the surf, and the snow was marked by deer tracks. Eventually the clouds dissipated to offer a blissfully sunny day and we thanked the Creator. 

Please note that I've posted this Groundling blog entry within minutes of the official occurrence of the Solstice. As Advent draws to a close, and we edge closer to the blessing of Christ's birth, a happy Winter Solstice to you all. 

                                           Lodge Point, Prince Edward County -- Photo: Ruth Mundy

Praise God, Water, Ice, & Vapour!

 

With the Church through the ages,

we speak of God as one and triune:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We also speak of God as
    Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer
    God, Christ, and Spirit
    Mother, Friend, and Comforter
    Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love,
    and in other ways that speak faithfully of
the One on whom our hearts rely,
the fully shared life at the heart of the universe.

We witness to Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love….

A Song of Faith -- United Church of Canada 2006

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose .

Isaiah 55:10-11 NRSVue 

I'm a big fan of A Song of Faith, the Statement of Faith by the United Church which is seldom drawn upon for worship or any other communal use in congregations. The challenge is it's length and we have the succinct and familiar "New Creed".

The section which addresses what's often called The Trinitarian Formula begins with respect for tradition before offering other ways of considering God, Three-in-One. Given that the United Church is Canadian, eh?, did we miss out on expressing the Trinity as Solid, Liquid, and Vapour (I would say Gas as the third, but gas in church can be quite unpleasant.) 

-god-water-ice-vapour.html

Maybe this would be too fanciful and not sufficiently descriptive of God's attributes or persons, yet in much of our land we celebrate water in our lakes and rivers, including mist rising off the surface and the transformation of those bodies overnight to an icy surface. 

Two Sundays ago (Advent 3) we drove to church along the Bay of Quinte which had just frozen over to a remarkably glassy sheen. We were both delighted by what we saw and found our way to the shore later that day.

We even speak of sublimation, moving from solid to vapour without the liquid stage. There is a mystery to this transition which resonates with the interrelationship of the three persons of God, at least to me.And the vast majority of the world's population has not experienced the wonder which Canadians take for granted. 

Okay, using this imagery to speak of the Divine Mystery is a stretch, but as many of you will know, I live to be on the water. As Winter takes hold we love walking or skiing or skating (Ruth the latter) across a frozen lake, more of a challenge in recent decades because of climate change. We have paddled in those shoulder months when ice still lines the shores in remarkable formations. And mist on the water on a Summer morning is mystical. 

Today's "outside in" piece of art is a watercolour painting which was a gift from St. Andrew's church in Sudbury as we departed after eleven years. Folk knew that we had explored hither and yon in the region, often as a family of five but also as a couple. While this isn't us in the painting, if could have been. This work is in our family room and I look to it often. 

Water is essential to our being and all creatures on the Blue Planet. While humans are "Groundlings" according to Genesis, the earthy work of the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, we are also Waterlings on a watery Earth. Thanks be to God, Water, Ice, and Vapour. 

4 Blessed and holy three,

glorious trinity, wisdom, love, might,

boundless as ocean's tide rolling in fullest pride,

through the world far and wide, let there be light.

                            God Whose Almighty Word -- Voice United 313

Joy to & for the World at COP15

 

Joy to the world! the Lord is come: let earth receive her King!

Let every heart prepare him room, 

and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

2 Joy to the earth! the Saviour reigns: let all their songs employ,

while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains

repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy,

repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody.
 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

 Let the sea roar and all that fills it,
    the world and those who live in it.

Let the floods clap their hands;
    let the hills sing together for joy
 at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
    to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.

Psalm 98: 4-9

Should we all be singing the great hymn Joy to the World this morning?  We awakened to news that an agreement was forged at the eleventh hour -- and beyond -- at the COP15 conference on biodiversity. A number of environmental leaders and climate change scientists, including Dr. Katherine Hayhoe who is also a Christian have sounded a celebratory note after reviewing the content of the agreement. It addresses several key areas, including the 30 by 30 goal for protection, funding for developing nations, and Indigeous guardianship. 

Joy to the World, is in the Christmas section of the United Church worship resource, Voices United, but some argue that it was written for this season of Advent. It's also suggested that writer Isaac Watts wasn't targetting a liturgical season at all when he wrote it in 1719 -- more than 300 years ago. Watts interpreted the psalms in many of his hymns and this is Psalm 98. I think it captures the imagery of all Creation exuberantly, joyfully celebrating the Creator. I've used this hymn/carol on Earth Sunday and during Creation Time with some 'splainin' so folk don't think I'm crazier than usual. 

Prof. Katharine Hayhoe

@KHayhoe

·

50m

In this season of giving, every one of us has just received the best possible gift for any living thing who depends on this planet for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the resources we need: A Global Biodiversity Framework.

The two "outside in" art pieces from our home which I've included today are of places we've cherished through the years. One is a photograph from Killarney Park in Northern Ontario, with the sweep of islands in Georgian Bay. We visited the park regularly when I was in ministry in Sudbury, and paddled out into these waters. The other is a poster for an exhibition by the late Gerald Squires, a Newfoundland artist who grew up on Change Islands, off the Northeast coast of the province. I began ministry not far from these islands adjacent to Fogo and we return regularly, as we do to Killarney. In both locations we have experienced both the wonders of biodiversity and the degradation of the natural world. 

Delegates at COP15 literally applauded the agreement and the creatures of the Earth may eventually do as well, by flourishing. While this pact has been years in the making I'm grateful that it has been announced in Canada.  

Creator God, I pray that today's announcement will issue in action which will bring a joyful, healing renewal for our planet. 

Germany's Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection Steffi Lemke and Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault applaud after the COP15 plenary meeting adopts a global biodiversity framework in Montreal, December 19, 2022.

LARS HAGBERG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Lots of Birds A-Calling in Advent & Christmas

 

Sometimes framing art for our home is as expensive as the piece itself, not to mention finding a spot to hang it on crowded walls, We've agreed "no more" several times through the years, only to backslide.

There are bits and bobs of art which are sort of "free range", put in odd temporary spots which may change or may become close to permanent. Several years ago I tacked a poster of a stained glass window from the Taize community in France onto a piece of foam board. I put it at the end of our upstairs hallway until it found a better home -- still there. 

It depicts St. Francis of Asissi, patron saint of the environment, feeding birds. I delight in it despite the fact that this really isn't a great spot. It got me thinking about the Audubon's Christmas Bird Count -- number 123 - which is already underway, beginning on Dec 14th and continuing through January 5, 2023.

While this really isn't the best time of year for counting birds in the Northern Hemisphere we still have ten or so species around our feeders and we see hawks regularly as we drive hither and yon. Yesterday I was out in the driveway early to clean up after the snowplough rumbled through. In the early morning quiet I could hear a robin, blue jays, and crows, and the sound was a blessing, a benediction.  

Savouring the Sea Around Us

 

And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”  So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good.  God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”  And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

Genesis 1: 20-23 NRSVue

Spirit, Spirit of gentleness, blow thro' the wilderness calling and free,

Spirit, Spirit of restlessness, stir me from placidness, Wind, Wind on the sea.

1 You moved on the waters, you called to the deep,

then you coaxed up the mountains from the valleys of sleep;

and over the eons you called to each thing:

wake from your slumbers and rise on your wings.  R

                                       Voices United 375

I tentatively retrieved my Globe and Mail newspaper from the driveway this morning (it was icy out there) and noticed an article by Alexander Wooley, a former British naval officer,  to which I could offer an "amen!" The somewhat run-on title is:

Savour the sea: Before we go to space, let’s explore the alien expanse we have right here on Earth: 

Just like outer space, our oceans are vast, extraordinary, defiant enigmas – and yet we take them for granted. We need to understand them beyond our limited land-bound perspectives

As the title describes, Wooley figures we should be more interested in exploring the breadth and depth of our oceans and seas before we become overly enamoured of exploring space. As he puts it: 

...there is an enormous, unexplored marvel right here on our home planet that we take for granted. And so, before space tourism becomes a thing, I’d like more people to take a slow boat across a big sea. 

When we talk about “the world,” we mostly mean nations, humans and land masses. News coverage of severe weather events such as hurricanes or typhoons usually ends once storms head out to sea, and they only next draw attention when they approach another coastline. We’re focused on the problem of rising sea levels, but only insofar as the uninvited ocean threatens to enter our basements, or to drown seaside cities.

I couldn't agree more. We are fascinated by the sea and while we've never embarked on a lengthy ocean voyage we've experienced crossings of many hours on ferries to Newfoundland, the Magdalene Islands, and the English Channel. We've kayaked out toward icebergs and watched porpoised swim beneath our boats. We loved snorkelling amidst the coral off Cuba and Costa Rica and, God willing, we will do some more in the Red Sea in 2023. 

                                   Hanging out with an iceberg, Change Islands, Newfoundland, July, 2017

We could spend endless time on seashores and it never gets old for us, even as we get grey and grizzled -- well, that would be me, not Ruth.  A few years ago we spent time at the summer home of a cousin which is on Chesapeake Bay. We discovered a copy of Rachel Carson's  award-winning The Sea Around Us, from 1951, This book introduced her to the public eye and opened the way for her other works, including Silent Spring eleven years later. 

My "inside out" art work from our home today is first of all the poster of an exhibition from 2001 called Joe Norris: Painted Visions of Nova Scotia. The sea figures prominently in many of the painting by this folk artist. Ruth has created a bit of a shrine to the ocean around the poster in a guest room. 

The second image is from a series of Mother Goose nursery rhyme poster prints by an acquaintance of another time, created for one of those earnest hippie-esque festivals of the 60s and 70s. We had several of them mounted and they're in the bedroom our grandchildren use when they come for sleepovers. 

In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis the Creator brings the oceans into being first and they team with life. We know that we have taxed the oceans with overfishing, and pollution, and saturating them with carbon, yet they continue to be fascinating and worthy of our respect and delight. 

Three wise men of Gotham, went to sea in a bowl, 

if the bowl had been stronger, my song had been longer

Seeking More Indigenous Wisdom at COP15

I have been frustrated by the lack of media coverage of the international COP15 biodiversity conference which is drawing to a close in Montreal. The decisions of these representatives of the nearly 200 countries present, along with the United Nations, is of utmost importance, yet we have heard so little in the way of substantive reporting since the first couple of days while the temper tantrums of a man/boy billionaire are endlessly front and centre in the news cycle.

This morning CBC Radio's The Current devoted the program to COP15 and it was excellent -- please seek it out as a podcast if you didn't hear it. I was so impressed and moved by Matt Galloway's interview with two Indigenous women from what we call Canada who are in Montreal. Valérie Courtois is director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative; and Dolcy Meness, a land guardian from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, near Maniwaki, Que.

Valierie Courtois 

Dolcy is in her early twenties while Valerie had years of experience as a forester before her current role. Both spoke articulately and with passion about the wisdom that Indigenous people bring to conversations about preserving biodiversity based on thousands of years on the land, living respectfully and sustainably alongside other creatures. They both expressed hope for the future as the effects of centuries of colonialism and genocide are addressed and that wisdom is nurtured and recognizes once again.

As I listened in my study I glanced over to a photograph in my study and realized it would be my "outside in" image for this day in Advent. When we lived in Sudbury I was asked to have a black and white photo taken for the "rogue's gallery" of past ministers in the board room. Only one photographer in the city still did black and white portraits, so off I went. While in the studio I looked around at images on the walls and was captivated by one of an Indigenous man. The face spoke to me of the verses in the King James Verson of the prophet Isaiah which were eventually associated with the crucified Christ: 

 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:3-4

 When I asked the photographer about it he told me that he'd paid this well known local street person to sit for him, and I ended up purchasing the image for my study. There were so many Indigenous people who had migrated into Sudbury from their traditional homes and were often in desparate circumstances. 

This photo is such a contrast to the strength and joy expressed in the faces of the women interviewed today. 

Through the generations White culture, including Christian churches, has withheld esteem from Indigenous peoples and we are now realizing what folly that has been. We have despised Creation, crucifying the land, plundering it as an inanimate source of wealth rather than listening to our own scriptures about respect or to those who understood it far better than we ever have. 

Perhaps we are at a turning point where we can humbly receive the lessons we need to learn. The hope and wisdom of Indigenous peoples is vital, all around Turtle Island. 

Liz Côté and Dolcy Meness admit that they love their work, which most of the time consists of being outside, in the woods.PHOTO: RADIO-CANADA / DELPHINE JUNG

Here is the link to today's The Current program

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/15955403-cop15-montreal-efforts-save-planets-declining-biodiversity

Advent, Christmas & Epiphany Dark Skies

Lord of the star fields
Ancient of days
Universe Maker
Here's a song in your praise…

Bruce Cockburn

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi  from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? 

For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage.” 

                                             Matthew 2:1-2 NRSVue

  A former parishioner, a local physician, is also an amateur astronomer and an accomplished photographer. I had him speak at a chapel service around the January 6th Feast of the Epiphany about his work and we tied it to the story of the Magi, astronomers and astrologers,  in Matthew's gospel. Along the way he generously gave me this image he had captured. Because it must vie with so much other art in our home it is a guest bedroom, which doesn't seem fair, although we do have a reproduction of Van Gogh's Starry Night in the same room, so it is good company. 

I have been describing my Advent endeavour to share art from our home in this Groundling blog as "outside in" rather than "inside out." Well, this photo is waaayyy out. 

There is a growing body of research work about the impediment urban light pollution has on our ability to enjoy the splendour of the night sky. In some places celestial observatories have been reduced in their effectiveness and even closed because cities have grown up around them.There have been articles about the psychological and spiritual effects of not being able to see the "heavens above." Is it part of what makes us human to look skyward with fascination and humility. The world would be a better place if billionaires quit trying to prove that their rocket is bigger than the next guy's and just lie back on a Summer evening to appreciate what is above them. 

I have written often about the awe and wonder factor of being able to see the Milky Way, meteor showers, and the Aurora Borealis during our forays away from populated areas when we are camping. In early September we were on an island off the northeast coast of Newfoundland -- truly out there -- and we were surprised one night when we stepped outside our lodging to see the Milky Way and were treated to the Northern Lights. 

I regularly check the Natural Sounds and Dark Skies Division website of US National Parks -- such a great name! I'm pleased that a growing number of Canadian provincial and federal parks now have dark sky programs, including our beloved Killarney Provincial Park. On their website they explain:

In 2018, Killarney Provincial Park became Ontario’s first provincial park to be designated as a Dark Sky Preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada!

We are committed to the protection and preservation of our province’s biodiversity. The night skies in their natural splendour are an important part of that protection.

I appreciate that I'm mashing up Advent and Epiphany and Christmas in some of these blogs and I think I hear the Advent Police pounding on my door. Before they break it down I'll also mention that through the years we sang Silent Night outside at the conclusion of Christmas Eve services. Some of those evenings the stars were brilliant above us and each of those occasions was truly a Holy Night. 

https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1050/index.htm