St. Brigid's Day and Cathedral of the Trees

A couple of days ago I reached out to clergy colleagues Marilyn and Svinda who are in ministry in Maynooth, near Bancroft. I noticed on the website for Cathedral of the Trees, their complementary outdoor ministry, that they will be holding a gathering today to celebrate the Celtic Saint Brigid. Scholars acknowledge that the %th centure Christian Brigid may be connected to the pre-Christian Druidic tradition, but no one knows for certain.

She is recognized as a leader of her monastic community and as with so many of the Celtic saints, she was Earth and Creation honouring. So why not celebrate her, even in the cold of a Canadian Winter. Her saint day and Imbolc roughly acknowledge the midway mark between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. We receive almost exactly an hour more of daylight than we did on December 21st, which is why I delight in February, even though many seem to dread this month.

Have a lovely and hopeful St. Brigid Day, and perhaps learn about the tradition around her. 

Cathedral of the Trees https://riseabove470.wordpress.com/cathedral-of-the-trees/

 We will begin to meet again on St. Brigid’s Day February 1st 2022, 4:00 to 5:00 pm at our home 470 East Road Loop off of Musclow Greenview.

We will mark St. Brigit’s day with a bonfire and storytelling.
Be prepared for the weather. Consider bringing a hot beverage for yourself.  We will not share a meal together afterwards as we had become accustomed to doing, but we will make sure the cabin is warm in case anyone needs to go inside to warm up. 

In the Beginning was the (Green) Wordle

 

                                                                                         from Grist

This is Sunday morning, so does today's Groundling blog title qualify as extra blasphemous as I flippantly distort the luminous opening words from John's gospel? It may be Winter but I feel I may need to dodge some lighting bolts.

Unless you've been living at one of Earth's poles you'll be aware of a recent online word game called Wordle, invented by a clever tech guy named Josh Wardle (get it, Wardle, Wordle?) for his word game loving partner. It started out for just the two of them, then was shared with family, then released for anyone and everyone. Within a few months it has become a global phenomenon, and the now millions of players love it. It is simple at one level, with only one five-letter word a day and a handful of tries allowed to solve the puzzle, yet challenging at another, and from what I can see, addictive.  

In our family, wife Ruth, our three adult children, and a sister-in-law who may read this, check in daily on how many tries it takes them to decipher the word. I feign indifference but look over Ruth's shoulder if I'm around when she's solving the puzzle. It is clever. 

Why am I writing about this in my Groundling environmental blog, you might ask? Well, there is now a green version of Wordle called -- you guessed it A Greener Worldle.  

https://agreenerworldle.org/

In this iteration the word of the day has something to do with our over-heated planetary home, such as clean, adapt, or drown in order for the tiles to turn green and the endorphin rush to kick in. Why not? 

Well, I'm done with this shameless exploitation of a viral trend. I'm off to sing that popular chorus, "He's got the whole wordle, in his hands..." 

                                                            New Yorker cartoon, January 10, 2022

Reflections from a "Be-wildered Outside"

  

                                                         

                                       The Church of the Woods, New Hampshire

I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it!

Isaiah 44:22-23

In January 2017 - five years ago -- my retirement from 37 years of pastoral ministry in the United Church of Canada was only a few months off and I was anticipating the freedom of becoming a "be-wildered outsider", as I began to describe myself. I wanted more time outdoors and a lot more moments of wonder and praise in Creation. I also looked forward to being outside some of the strictures of congregational and denominational life which were increasingly claustrophic for me. 

I'm pleased to say that this has been my experience as we've paddled and cycled and rambled our way into the natural world, everywhere from the Azores, to an island in our beloved Newfoundland,  to the woods at the end of our street. We do have a congregational home which we enjoy in nearby Trenton where our son is pastor, and we've found ways we can contribute there, but without meetings!

That January I saw an article in Harper's Magazine called The Priest in the Trees Feral faith in the age of climate change by one of my favourite essayists, Fred Bahnson. It was about The Church of the Woods, a small, semi-feral congregation led by the Rev. Stephen Blackmer, a formerly agnostic environmental activist who had a "Road to Damascus", or perhaps a "Trail to New Hampshire" mystical experience through which he found his way to Anglican priesthood and an outdoor congregation. The scripture above is from a ramble/service in which Fred Bahnson participated.

 Blackmer is now a key figure in the organization called Kairos Earth. Their stated mission is:

We seek to renew a widespread understanding of the natural world as sacred, and to restore this awareness as a foundation of both religious practice and practical action to conserve the Earth.

I loved this story and this commitment. I loved and still love that scripture and sacrament and even confession are part of the experience. Immediately I had a deep desire to establish some sort of ministry with other "bewildered outsiders" who experienced the holy and a sense of God-in-Three-Persons in the world beyond church doors. 

I regret that this is yet to happen. Even though Ruth and I are an outdoors congregation of two at times, with a spiritual and Christian intention, I "minana-ed" in the first couple of years, enjoying my freedom. Then COVID sent us all sideways like a gale-force crosswind. The irony is that while millions have been rediscovering the blessing of being outside the precautions and prohibitions about gathering quashed the notion of a sort of free-range worship invitation. 

Will we emerge from COVID caution and will I follow through on my desire for Worship in Woods and by Water? I hope so. In the meantime, I will receive the blessings of the world outside as a Groundling who loves the Creator and Creation.

Here are links to the Harper's article and to Kairos Earth:

https://harpers.org/archive/2016/12/the-priest-in-the-trees/

https://kairosearth.org/

Hope is the Thing With Butterfly Wings

                                                       Monarch Butterflies in Mexico

Just before Christmas we met one of our daughters and her partner for an outdoor visit, a concession to the threat of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant. Fortunately it was a beautiful day and we walked and talked for several kilometres at the Second Marsh Wildlife Area on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was a good compromise as we travelled from Toronto and Belleville and we knew this gem of protected land and marsh from years living nearby. 

At one point on our December ramble I noted the husks of milkweed pods and recalled the abundance of Monarch butterflies we would see there, especially in the Fall as they stage in large numbers on their almost miraculous migration to Mexico. One evening at another spot along the lakeshore we looked up to see thousands of butterflies roosting in trees before nightfall. 

After years of alarming decline along the eastern North America migration route there has been a resurgence in numbers. We have noticed this, and our other daughter who lives on 3+ acres near Peterborough sends us photos of the caterpillars, chrysalises, and emerging butterflies on their property. Municipalities and individuals have been restoring habitat and reducing the use of herbicides to encourage this revival of an extraordinary species. 

Two years ago there was grim news from the Western North America route of the almost total disappearance of Monarchs. Was this the end of a unique population?  During the past couple of months there have been encouraging reports regarding the 2021 Monarch butterfly census. An article in the Globe and Mail a couple of days ago by Nathan Vanderclippe offers this considerably more hopeful news:

Late last year, volunteers trekked through poison oak and biting ticks to count nearly a quarter of a million monarchs, documenting large clusters from Pacific Grove to Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and Orange County. 

It’s far from the millions that once wintered in California, but a hundred-fold increase from what was counted in 2020, when dramatically low numbers raised serious questions about the continued viability of butterflies that can occasionally migrate from as far north as the Okanagan Valley. 

The bounce back this year offers a “rare ray of hope that the population is more resilient than we thought,” said Emma Pelton, a biologist who is western monarch lead for The Xerces Society, a Portland-based conservation group that has co-ordinated the annual count since 1997. 

“These butterflies can do some extraordinary things.” 

t's not difficult to descend into full Eyore mode when it comes to the sorry state of the environment and our human capacity for destruction of habitat for all creatures. Yet as Christians we acknowledge God as the Creator of the marvellous -- might we say miraculous -- web of Creation, so we are committed to hope rather than indifference and cynicism and despair. 

Butterflies are extraordinary, and Monarchs are, to paraphrase Emily Dickinson, hope with wings.

How About the Slogan "Let's Walk" for Mental & Spiritual Health?

                                                          A prayerful moment on "Let's Walk" day

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them...

                             Luke 24:13-15

 Yesterday was "Let's Talk" day in Canada, an initiative of telecommunication company Bell which began in 2011 and has raised more than $120 million for mental health causes through the years. I've applauded Let's Talk along the way although I have since had concerns about whether Bell "walks to walk" along with "talking the talk" given reports about the pressure on employees to perform.

I wonder if as we consider mental health the slogan "Let's Walk" would be a good one as well, literally as well as metaphorically. This Groundling blog focuses on the connection between what we often term the natural world and spirituality and I regularly write about the Creator God and our place in Creation.

I am convinced that walking, along with paddling and cycling, are vital to my physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being. During the milder months of the year we tend to be on the water a lot, but in the past couple of months we have been perambulating, a fancy term for walking. The history of the word is of walking for pleasure, or for measuring out the boundaries of a forest, or a watercourse, or a church parish -- I find the latter really interesting. 

During the pandemic, a time of considerable anxiety for many, walking has become a lifesaver for many and there has been an abundance of articles about the value of being on the move for mental health. I saw a piece in the New York Times yesterday about a study which suggests that if Americans walked for an extra 10 minutes a day it could, collectively, prevent more than 111,000 deaths every year.I saw another which reminds us that our bodies produce no Vitamin D indoors, even sitting next to a sunny window, while being outside for even a short time produces what we need, daily.

 I would suggest that if all of us spent time outside regularly the benefits for our souls and our collective outlook would improve immeasurably. I appreciate that not everyone can do this for different reasons, including a sense of personal safety. Still, even when my mother was in her 90's and deep in the throes of dementia we would wheel her outside and point out the birds and the flowers.

Later yesterday afternoon I walked through the woods which are at the end of our street, on a path which is about four kilometres in length. There is a system of trails here and the road well travelled is where they are first accessed, but farther in we rarely see others. Yesterday I stopped at a spot where the light was coming through a stand of cedars and gave thanks, intentionally making the sign of the cross, bowing in gratitude,then lifting arms in praise, a simple exercise we engage in on most of our walks. The inspiration for this was Fred Bahnson's article about the forest churches of Ethiopia and his observation of an elderly woman who made these gestures as she entered the gate to the forested area surrounding her church building. 

Of course, Jesus relied on "shank's mare" to convey himself everywhere, and important stuff happened when he went apart for prayer, or talked with his disciples while on the road. Come to think of it, both walking and talking, often at the same time, were important to Jesus. The post-resurrection walk to Emmaus is a powerful story of revelation and hope -- please note that seven miles is more than eleven kilometres, so a decent hike.  

"Let's Walk" can make a difference, don't you think? The Creator, Redeemer, Comforter will be our companion. Oh yes, we've managed to get in a couple of cross-country skis in the past week, but skiiing is not mentioned in the bible, even though skis might have been helpful for shussing down the Mount of Transfiguration!

May the Christ who walks on wounded feet walk with you on the road.

May the Christ who serves with wounded hands stretch out your hands to serve.

May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart open your hearts to love.

May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet,

          and may everyone you meet see the face of Christ in you.

                                       Voices United 349

                                                           Road to Emmaus -- Michael Torevell

Peace Which Surpasses Understanding & Love for Creation

 

                                                         View from my study window this morning

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 

Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

 Some of you will have noticed that this January I have been writing Groundling blog entries again after a hiatus of three months. I didn't intend to step away for so long but the mental focus and energy of trying to maintain two blogs (Lion Lamb is the other) was a little too much. It's strange because I'm passionate about issues regarding the environment and the climate crisis, and that gratitude and praise for Creator and Creation are key to my faith and the flourishing of all species. 

After writing my Lion Lamb blog entry this very cold morning I sat in my study pondering what my Groundling subject might be. I looked out the window to see the stark shapes of our backyard birch trees against a blue sky (sorry for the grainy image in the photo) In the foreground was the birthday card one our daughters gave me last October, the work of British printmaker Angela Harding -- Jocelyn knows me well.

I was filled with that sense of "the peace of God which surpasses all understanding" which the apostle Paul speaks about in one of my favourite passages. I have written before that at times when I wake in the night, anxious about the state of the world, I mumble through these verses as best I can.

Today I also find comfort in the verses below as well, which can be an antidote to cynicism or despair or anger because it seems as though the natural world is going to hell in a handbasket due to greed and disregard for the beauty and vitality of our planetary home. I am en-couraged to keep on doing what I can as a Groundling who loves the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, and who finds both solace and wonder in Creation. I will endeavour to venture outside and give thanks today, even if the words freeze and tumble to the snow! 

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

Thich Nhat Hanh & Spiritual Ecology

 I wrote in my Lion Lamb blog about the recent death of Buddhist contemplative and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh at the age of 95. He was a contemporary of Martin Luther King Jr. and they met and corresponded about issues of social justice, particularly the war in Viet Nam. Dr. King was assassinated in his later 30's as he became more aware of the connection between racial justice and environmental justice. Over the decades Thich Nhat Hanh developed his outlook on spiritual ecology. While his Buddhist perspective is not the same as that of Christians it is worthy of our attention. Emergence magazine has released a series of meditations or letters through which Nhat Hanh shares his meditative, prayerful perspective. I've include a paragraph from the introduction in Emergence, one of the 10 letters, and the  link to the piece https://mailchi.mp/emergencemagazine/in-honor-of-thich-nhat-hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh was a pioneer in the field of spiritual ecology, applying ancient Buddhist texts and philosophy to his decades-long efforts to come to the aid of a planet in crisis. He coined the term “interbeing” in reference to his belief that we are a part of the Earth and She is a part of us, calling on us to awaken to this entwinement and fall in love again with the Earth.

Beloved Mother of All Things

Dear Mother Earth,

I bow my head before you as I look deeply and recognize that you are present in me and that I’m a part of you. I was born from you and you are always present, offering me everything I need for my nourishment and growth. My mother, my father, and all my ancestors are also your children. We breathe your fresh air. We drink your clear water. We eat your nourishing food. Your herbs heal us when we’re sick.

You are the mother of all beings. I call you by the human name Mother and yet I know your mothering nature is more vast and ancient than humankind. We are just one young species of your many children. All the millions of other species who live—or have lived—on Earth are also your children. You aren’t a person, but I know you are not less than a person either. You are a living breathing being in the form of a planet.

Each species has its own language, yet as our Mother you can understand us all. That is why you can hear me today as I open my heart to you and offer you my prayer.

Dear Mother, wherever there is soil, water, rock or air, you are there, nourishing me and giving me life. You are present in every cell of my body. My physical body is your physical body, and just as the sun and stars are present in you, they are also present in me. You are not outside of me and I am not outside of you. You are more than just my environment. You are nothing less than myself.

I promise to keep the awareness alive that you are always in me, and I am always in you. I promise to be aware that your health and well-being is my own health and well-being. I know I need to keep this awareness alive in me for us both to be peaceful, happy, healthy, and strong.

Sometimes I forget. Lost in the confusions and worries of daily life, I forget that my body is your body, and sometimes even forget that I have a body at all. Unaware of the presence of my body and the beautiful planet around me and within me, I’m unable to cherish and celebrate the precious gift of life you have given me. Dear Mother, my deep wish is to wake up to the miracle of life. I promise to train myself to be present for myself, my life, and for you in every moment. I know that my true presence is the best gift I can offer to you, the one I love.

A Frosty Morning & Memories of Dreamer's Rock

 

                                            Dreamer's Rock Mishmountain James Simon Mishibinijima 

This morning I headed off for a walk in the woods even though it was -24C at the time. This may surprise you but there were no other vehicles when I arrived at the Conservation Area north of Belleville -- none when I left an hour or so later, either. It could have been the frigid temperature or having written about the death of a Sudbury centenarian who was a member of my congregation there years ago but I got thinking about an outing to a place of spiritual signficance called Dreamer's Rock.

Dreamer's Rock is on the way to Manitoulin Island and has a centuries old tradition of being the place for young Indigenous persons to go for vision quests. There is a hollow in a quartzite outcropping on the Whitefish River First Nation with a remarkable view across to the LaCloche hills and Georgian Bay. These youths would fast in this spot, sometimes for days. 

                                                An Old Postcard with the view from Dreamer's Rock

When I was lead minister of St. Andrew's United Church in Sudbury we took several groups teen confirmands there for what we hoped would be a spiritual experience at that signficant stage of their Christian journey. I also took then moderator Rev. Bill Phipps and his writer wife Carolyn Pogue on the hike to the top during a visit to the region. Bill Phipps was the moderator who issued the United Church apology to Indigenous peoples for our participation in Residential Schools in 1998.

I went to Dreamer's Rock on my own a number of times, in different seasons, for solitude and  spiritual renewal. I sensed the tradition of the place and was grateful for the connection with the Creator. This time in the natural world in still vital for me today. 

One New Year's Day perhaps 25 years ago Ruth and I set out on the morning of New Year's Day when the temperature was below -30C. Despite the intense cold the sky was blue and the vista at the top was spectacular. We likely took along a thermos of tea as we have been wont to do through the decades, and a few snacks. 

Mornings such as this one and that one years ago are reminders that Winter is not to be simply endured, nor the enemy. God the Creator is present in every season and at all times. 

                                      White Pine by A. J. Casson, likely painted near Dreamer's Rock

John Muir, Ontario, & a Controversial Highway

 

Many of us know the name of John Muir because he was a pioneering environmentalist of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in Scotland and grew up in a harsh and humourless Christian household where he was literally beaten into memorizing the scriptures and hell and damnation were constantly emphasized. 

It shouldn't be a surprise that John eventually departed this suffocating environment after the family moved to the United States and eventually turned to what has been described as the Gospel of Nature. He travelled widely in the US and was eventually involved in protecting the land which became Yosemite National Park and establishing the Sierra Club. It should be noted that not long ago the Sierra Club issued an apology for Muir's derogatory comments about Black people and Indigenous peoples that drew on deeply harmful racist stereotypes.

Muir also lived in Canada for a time and did a lot of botanical work as he explored Southern Ontario, including the Holland Marsh. It was in the Pottageville Swamp of the larger marsh that he identified a rare northern orchid, an event which shaped his commitment to preserving the natural world. There is a Pottageville Swamp Natural Area adjacent to the fertile farmland which is now the Holland Marsh. Lots of people know of Muir as a key figure in what became the modern environmental movement but few know of this Canadian connection

Today,  conservationists are working to protect sensitive habitats and waterways in the Holland Marsh from the development of a 16 kilometre, multi-lane highway right through them, including an area already designated Environmentally Sensitive Wetlands. 

The Conservative government in Ontario calls it the Bradford Bypass but those who are seeking protection call it the Holland Marsh Highway as a reminder that this isn't just a road around a town. 

I do think that John Muir, nature mystic and activist, would approve of the resistance to this highway as part of the greater good for God's Creation. 

From Alarm to Dismissal and Everything in Between

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is the Canadian by birth, American climate scientest whose excellent book Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World has become a bestseller and drawn lots of attention. Hayhoe is an evangelical Christian who goes against the statistical tide in the United States where evangelicals are staunchly climate change skeptics, even though that wasn't the case 50 years ago. 

I've appreciated Katherine's combination of determined and steadfast promotion of the scientific facts while upholding the hope of her Christian faith and honouring of the Creator God. It's impressive that she is asked about her faith on TV talk shows and on CBC Radio's The Current because she is willing to identify as a Christian and share that faith persuasively.

In Saving Us she points out that she doesn't find the polarization of "believers" and "deniers" all that useful, particularly when she doesn't see scientific evidence as a matter of belief. In a section she calls When Two Climate Tribes Aren't Enough she points to Yale University's  Global Warming's Six Americas which as the chart shows ranges from Alarmed to Dismissive. Over several years the percentage of Americans who are Alarmed or Concerned has grown considerably, while the number of Dismissives has barely budged. Hayhoe is convinced that civil and informed conversation drawing on shared values is the key to addressing attitudes regarding the Climate Emergency. She now concedes that while we probably can't get through to Dismissives no matter what might be done to inform them (she has a dismissive uncle) the good news is that more than 90% are open to conversation. 

Beneath the latest poll figures from September 2021 I've included the chart from March 2015 seven years ago --  as a reminder that changes in outook can happen. There have been many catastrophic weather events in the US and Canada since 2015 and scientists suggest that most have been accelerated by climate change.Let's hope that this awakening continues and issues in action -- quickly!

Americans alarmed about climate change are now the largest group in the @YaleClimateComm's Six Americas. And they should be: in fact, everyone should be alarmed. Why? Because the planet will be orbiting the sun long after we're gone. The question is, will we?

Praise the Lord for the Joys of Winter

                                                 Vanderwater Conservation Area -- photo Ruth Mundy

The other day I blogged about my sense of anticipation for a Winter storm which eventually dumped 35 centimetres of snow on our area in such short order that snow-clearing crews couldn't keep up and lots of us had our shovelling work cut out for us. The next day brought blue skies so we headed north a few kilometres to cross-country ski at a Conservation Area along a river, as you can see in the photos. 

I lamented the fact that there don't seem to be hymns which celebrate the joyful, playful gifts of Winter. Well,my sister-in-law Shirley, who is a congregational music minister, answered the call after coming in from her own shovelling. Using the tune for Natalie Sleeth's hymn Praise the Lord with the Sound of Trumpet (Voices United 245) she penned two verses for what she calls Winter Joys -- perfect!

1.Praise the Lord for the joys of winter, praise the Lord for a world transformed,  

praise the Lord for the trees and houses adorned. 

Praise the Lord for snowy angels, praise the Lord for the chance to play

praise the Lord for this  heavenly display.

Praise the Lord for our children’s laughter, praise the Lord for their sleds on hills, 

praise the Lord for their rosy cheeks, for tumbles and for spills.

Praise the Lord for the game of hockey, blades on ice let us fly with ease, 

gifts of sport made to cheer us and to please.

2. Praise the Lord for the fun of snow forts, purple shadows at day’s end, 

joys of winter help our spirits mend.

Praise the Lord for our walks through woodlands, creatures leave their footprints there,

 God’s creation marks the snow with care.

Praise the Lord for the squeak of footsteps on the freshly fallen snow, 

Praise the Lord for windows etched with frosty white tableau.

Praise the Lord for the time of winter, time to sing and time to play,

Praise the Lord every season, every day!

Shirley has captured the best of a Canadian Winter in these words and phrases, for which I'm very grateful. 

Even though this morning's temperature and dreaded windchill are hovering around -30C we will get out to enjoy the sunshine and we may even take these lyrics along to offer our Groundling praise to the Creator. We'll watch to see if the notes drop to the snow like icicles. 

                                                 Vanderwater Conservation Area -- photo Ruth Mundy

Delight in the Song of the Stars

 

You may have seen photos of what appears to be sheer madness yesterday as Eastern European men plunge through holes in the ice, often in the shape of a cross. These are Orthodox Christians celebrating Epiphany, two weeks later than January 6th, which is the date for much of the Christian world. This is not some minor sect with approximately 260 million Orthodox Christians aroung the globe, everywhere from Russia to Ethiopia. The Orthodox communion celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John the Forerunner rather than the Magi in search of the Christ Child guided by a star, hence the polar bear plunges. 

While the focus is different we decided that this was the day to move the piece of art above (sorry for the poor photo) which has a place of honour at the front door during the Christmas season, then resides on another wall during the rest of the year. This is the cover art for the book Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd Jones and Allison Jay which imagines various creatures recognizing the celestial body which was a portent of the coming of the infant Christ. 

I've written before about friends who saw this artwork in New York City and contacted the illustrator Jay who got a printmaker to create this for us. They did so because they knew of our appreciation of the "human animal bond." I delight in it all year round, but especially in the weeks we and others are greeted by it as we enter our home. 

Bless God, Frost and Snows!

49 

Bless the Lord, ice and cold;

    sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
50 Bless the Lord, frosts and snows;
    sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

                                              Song of Azariah (addition to Daniel) 49-50 NRSV

 I'm back in the warmth after 90 minutes or more of shovelling snow in the blowing wind. And guess what? I'm still thinking "snow day!" like a kid, even though I've been retired for several years. We went for a lovely walk in the woods yesterday and while we enjoyed it we wished that the frozen ground and beaver pond we crossed were covered in a blanket of snow. 

As a Canadian well into his sixties I recall the Sixties as child when there was actual Winter in Southern Ontario, not the infernal freeze-thaw which turns these months into a dreary endurance test. Last year we experienced six weeks or so of consistent cold and some snow. It was God's gift to those who were housebound by COVID and in our area people were out in droves, skating, and snowshoeing and skiing. The nearby Bay of Quinte became a playground for the Winter-venturous.  

This has got me thinking again about Winter hymns, which all seem to be rather bleak "Earth stood hard as iron,water like a stone" survival songs. Last year I asked if there are any alternatives to the more dreary hymns  and two musicians, Shirley and Judy, offered some helpful thoughts but there certainly wasn't anything uplifting. Why can't we have a hymn version of the paintings by the late Canadian artist  William Kurelek?

                                                                             William Kurelek

 Son Isaac is is doing a January sermon series on joy and fun and playfulness, all in short supply during the pandemic. I wish we had the seasonal hymns to support this theme. 

I've been musing about the Natalie Sleeth hymn Praise the Lord with the Sound of Trumpet (Voices United 245) with its uplifting tune. The lyrics are a riff on Psalm 150 and is Earth-honouring. What about some new words for this tune which are a celebration of the gifts which Winter brings?

Any thoughts about what brings you joy and a sense of playfulness in deepest, darkest January? 

                                                                            William Kurelek 

Volcanoes, Creation, and Creating

 

Tonga Volcanic Eruption from space

Lord, I seek refuge in You; let me never be disgraced. Save me by Your righteousness. Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly. Be a rock of refuge for me, a mountain fortress to save me. 

                      Psalm 31:1-2

Almighty Father, You are the God of water, earth and sky. By your great power and mighty strength, You created the universe. The earth is filled with Your glory! With humble hearts, we approach Your throne. We ask that You restore the calmness of Taal volcano. We know nothing is impossible to You and You are always in control. May the boiling lava subside and molten rocks cool down.

Instill Your compassionate presence in us so we may calm our fears. You have always provided everything we need. O, Lord continue to keep us all safe under your divine protection. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

                   Prayer from a Roman Catholic bishop in the Philippines, 2020

The island nation of Tonga is under extreme threat after the eruption of an underwater volcano. There is a heavy pall of particulate and ash in the air, impeding aid, and the capital is awash in the aftermath of a moderate tsunami. The explosion was so loud that it was heard in New Zealand, 2,000 kilometres away and the shock wave was visible and recorded by satellites. There were tsunami alerts as far away at Haida Gwaii off the British Columbia coast (since cancelled.) 

In the past few months there have been a couple of significant volcanic eruptions, one in the Canary Islands and another in Indonesia, where there was loss of life. It's hard to imagine the terror of these catastrophic events and I wondered if Google would serve up any prayers of comfort. Sure enough, there are several, and scripture passages, all grasping at what to request in the midst of these terrifying displays of the Earth's power. We want to be in solidarity with those effected, but how?

For me there is also the fascination of how our planet is shaped and reshaped by the molten depths beneath us and of the vast plates which have wondrously been on the move through time. But how can we view these as vital processes in creation when they so often result in human suffering and devastation? The UCC's 1968 statement of faith affirms "We believe in God: who has created and is creating" but what does mean in moments such as these? 

                                                      Canary Islands volcanic eruption September 2021

Our four-year-old granddaughter is getting excellent home-schooling in this year when she would otherwise be in JK. As it happens,last week was volcano week complete with a backyard erupting snowcano. She was excited that we have seen lava flows in Iceland and climbed down into the largest dormant volcano in the world, which is in the Azores. As you can imagine, we stayed quiet about the more disturbing aspects of volcanoes. 

With the disturbing impact of climate change on island nations, Tonga does not need this life-altering event as well. So, we can pray for the well-being of people there and hope that some semblance of normal life will return soon. 

                                                               Tonga volcanic eruption yesterday

Considering the Birds at Minus 23C

  

Needlepoint gift from parishioner Vicki Stephen, 1997 

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 can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

Matthew 6:26-27

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you;
    the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8 ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you;
    and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
    and the breath of every human being.

Job 12: 7-10

We turn our heat down at night for a better sleep and some Winter mornings we shudder as we emerge from the covers. This was one of those starts on a day of brilliant sunshine and an outside temperature was still below minus 20C. As we sat nursing our morning Jo we watched the birds at our sundry feeders: finches, chickadees, a woodpecker, nuthatch, cardinal and blue jay. All of them were in down jackets, feathers puffing them up to double their normal size, but we wondered at their survival skills. 

We humans have the expression "bird brains" but the resourcefulness of birds is remarkable, if we give them our consideration. We destroy their habitat, create so much noise that they have to sing louder in mating season, pour plastics into rivers and oceans which poisons them, yet they persevere. Aren't we the brainless ones in this regard.

Jesus seemed to get it when he asks us to consider the birds of the air as he speaks about anxiety and worry. The birds in our yard and those we see during our paddles and rambles bring such solace during these turbulent times. A few days ago we were walking in the woods near our home when a Barred owl swept across in front of us and landed on a branch. A week ago today we were on Amherst Island where we saw a Snowy owl in flight, close at hand. These were holy encounters. 

I've always appreciated the notion that creatures can teach us, as we read in the often gloomy parable of Job. Perhaps Job was an inspiration for Jesus' words? 

I will keep our peeps fed through these frigid Winter days as a practical and spiritual practice. It's the least I can do.