A Trillion Litres and Living Water

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,   but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

 

John 4:13-15
 
I can go to my fridge right now and pull out a litre container of chocolate milk or coffee cream, so I have a fair concept of that form of measurement. A little research tells me that a moderately filled bathtub will contain 80 litres of water, or more. A backyard swimming pool? They vary in size, but perhaps 50,000 litres. That would mean 20 swimming pools for a million litres, am I right?

I really can't grasp the notion of a million litres of anything, let alone a thousand million, which is a billion. A thousand billion is a trillion, at least in North America. Enough weird math, you say!

Well --wait for it -- a recent estimate is that a trillion litres of raw sewage has leaked into Canadian lakes and rivers over in the past five years. That is the equivalent of more than 400,000 Olympic sized swimming pools. Ick. Many of these bodies of water are sources of drinking water, which must be carefully treated before we can consume it. Yes, the nasty stuff is diluted and we have safe drinking water in most places, although try telling that to many First Nations reserves. When, though, are we going to address this as the abomination it really is?We get justifiably wrapped around the axle when a few thousand litres of oil is spilled, but we are literally soiling our own nests on a regular basis with little public concern.

We should care and probably be outraged, and we should definitely listen to those who make it their full-time job to safeguard this precious resource, the "living water" on which all creatures depend. It's no accident that the imagery of water is sacred in the bible, and that Jesus referred to himself as Living Water.



Toronto Harbour four days ago

After last week's major downpour the Toronto waterfront was afloat with an unspeakable mess of sewage flotsam and jetsam. While we like to tout TO as a world-class city, this is a 19th century embarrassment and a huge problem.

Take a listen to Mark Mattson from Lake Ontario Waterkeeper as he discusses this challenge on CBC Metro Morning today.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/metro-morning/segment/15578058

Saturn, Perseids, & Steadfast Love

Perseid meteor shower

 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever...

...who made the great lights,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
 the sun to rule over the day,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
the moon and stars to rule over the night,
    for his steadfast love endures forever...

Psalm 136: 1, 7-9

I get a text from son Isaac on Friday evening: "want to go see some stars tonight?" Ike has taken an interest in the night sky, doing an online course with the Vatican's chief astronomer, attending the local astronomy club. His sister Joc gave him a telescope for his birthday in June and he's begun testing it out. Being a 30-something he's found an app telling him where the sky is least light-polluted in our area, as well as one that allows him to point his phone toward the heavens and receive info about the planets and constellations above him.



We agreed to meet at 9:30, which is normally my bedtime, and we ventured into Prince Edward County on a sky-hunt. We stopped along a quiet country road, got out, and looked up. Sure enough, the Milky Way was evident, the Dippers dipped, and the planets twinkled. We fumbled around in the pitch dark to set up the telescope and were able to see the rings of Saturn. How cool is that!

On the return trip Isaac admitted that it was better doing this with someone else, because it's a bit spooky hanging out in the dark, solo. I won't lie, it was a tad unsettling. Good news, it was really, really dark. Not-so-good-news, it was REALLY, REALLY dark.

I've written several times about the power of the heavens which declare the glory of God (Psalm 19.) When I did a service in Algonquin Park recently I focused on the Creation majesty of the night sky. Still, most of us just aren't accustomed to the darkness anymore, and that's sad.

Ruth and I are talking about heading out again tonight, if the sky is clear, to take in the Perseid meteor shower. Well, it's supposed to be best after midnight, so we might not make it...

...we did get up -- at 3:30 AM today. We read that the Perseids would be best between 3 and 5, so we set the alarm, then drove to a desolate dirt road in Prince Edward County. We saw roughly twenty meteors flash across the sky, along with an impressive Milky Way. Nap time!

The Rights of Rivers

I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river
In my soul
I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river
In my soul

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.  
 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 
 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-17

I think it was watching the chilling documentary The Corporation which first made me aware that in many jurisdictions corporate entities have legal status akin to personhood, albeit in limited ways. In the United States they may own property and have certan rights to free speech. They can sue and be sued, but they can't vote or hold office. Phew.

If a corporation can have legal rights,  what about natural entities such as rivers? I read an interesting article on this subject in a source called The Revelator:

...some countries have granted rights to the nature, and specifically to rivers, in their national laws. In 2008, Ecuador recognized the constitutional right of Mother Earth and, in 2010, Bolivia adopted the Laws on the Rights of Mother Earth  which gives legal standing to nature and establishes an ombudsman for the protection of its rights. And in May 2017, Colombia’s Constitutional Court recognized the Atrato River as a legal person.

More recently, the Parliament of New Zealand granted the country’s third-longest river, the Whanganui, the legal rights of a person, after a 140-year campaign by the Whanganui Iwi tribe. In addition to compensating the Whanganui Iwi for grievances, the move seeks to preserve the river for future generations of Whanganui Iwi and all New Zealanders. As such, the river gains its legal personality not from an abstract legal entity, but from the people that are connected with the river.

India’s Ganges River and one of its main tributaries, the Yamuna River were granted these same rights.

With these rights the rivers are entitled to representation by advocates in a court of law to protect them from exploitation and degradation.


Village on the St. Lawrence Norah Collyer

I don't know about you, but if General Motors and Bombardier have some form of "persona"l rights in Canada, I certainly support rivers such as the Mackenzie and Assiniboine and St. John having the rights of a person. For centuries this country has abused and exploited its rivers and other bodies of water, including the Great Lakes. We have killed species and allowed others to invade them. We have rendered the water undrinkable and unswimmable at times. Aboriginal peoples have held a far more reverent appreciation of these waterways, even though they've travelled and fished them.

If the murky Jordan was good enough for Jesus's baptism, perhaps we should consider the sacred nature of all our rivers, appreciating that they are a gift from God worth protecting.

Should rivers have rights? Is it acceptable to consider that they are persons, or are sacred?



Mackenzie River

Simplicity and the Poop on Everest

 

 

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right

Simple Gifts -- Shaker hymn -- Joseph Brackett (1797–1882)

I really don't want to know how many of my blogs you think are crappy, but today I am literally going to write about...crap. It is the most elevated fecal matter on planet Earth, and it's a major problem because humans are involved. Every year 1200 climbers attempt to summit Mount Everest and on the way up and down they poop a lot -- about 25 kilograms or 60 pounds per person (how do they know this?)

Lots of junk gets left along the way and sadly there are even 200 bodies of climbers who have died and haven't been retrieved because of the difficulty in doing so. Fecal matter has become a significant problem as well, and authorities are trying to figure out what to do about it. Last year about 14 tons of the stuff was brought down to base camp by porters

The situation has been described as a  "fecal time bomb." There is a cesspool of sorts, but the poop doesn't decompose because it's too cold. Now the plan is to create a solar-powered composter to break it down.

This story intrigues me because while climbing Everest is a significant feat, no one actually has to go to the roof of the world. It is an expensive, dangerous vanity accomplishment. When Sir Edmund Hillary made the summit with Tensing Norgay in 1953 it was a unique feat. Now it is part of an industry fuelled by the wealthy.

The poop of Everest seems to be a parable of human activity. We are so adept and cavalier about fouling our own nest and while we have bigger problems than a few tons of crap on a mountain our crappy disregard for the waste we produce is making Earth uninhabitable. There is no "somewhere else" for our garbage and pollution, as the plastic in the oceans attests. There is no Planet B, yet we just continue on the same rather mindless trajectory of consumption, including experiences.

Apparently the shit has already hit the fan, and its time to get our heads out of the...clouds -- please note my restraint here. Are we committed as Christians to mindfully simplifying our lives, to say enough is enough?

I Don't "Believe" in Climate Change!

This summer is the 64th of my existence on this planet and it's the hottest in my memory. Around the planet countries are setting heat records and people are dying as a result. This isn't just a matter of me figuring "it was cooler when I was a kid." Today a CBC article cited a new report by an international team of scientists which claims that there is a risk of Earth entering what they call 'Hothouse Earth' conditions. The world is at risk of entering "hothouse" conditions with average temperatures 4-5 C higher even if emissions reduction targets under a global climate deal are met, scientists say in a new study.

Still, I don't "believe" in climate change and I'll tell you why. I've realized over time that the preponderance of scientific evidence supports the existence of climate change and global warming which are altering weather patterns and ecosystems. This is accentuated and likely caused by the activity of human beings and we are the ones responsible for taking action for change. So this is not a matter of ideology or theology or doomsday thinking.



Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist and a leading climate change spokesperson. She is also an evangelical Christian who lives deep in the heart of Texas, a hotbed of climate change denial. She has a sense of humour, as this cartoon she posted attests. She also encourages us not to "believe" in climate change but to consider the facts. On her website http://katharinehayhoe.com/wp2016/ she offers:

I’m an atmospheric scientist. I study climate change, one of the most pressing issues we face today. I don’t accept global warming on faith: I crunch the data, I analyze the models, I help engineers and city managers and ecologists quantify the impacts.
The data tells us the planet is warming; the science is clear that humans are responsible; the impacts we’re seeing today are already serious; and our future is in our hands. As John Holdren once said, “We basically have three choices: mitigation, adaptation, and suffering. We’re going to do some of each. The question is what the mix is going to be. The more mitigation we do, the less adaptation will be required, and the less suffering there will be.”

I would encourage you not to believe or disbelieve the existence of climate change., as though it were a matter of faith.  There is so much information, scientifically researched, and often quite accessible if you're willing to make the effort to read and watch it. Do it, act upon what you learn, and pray for the individual and collective will to find a different path.

Exploring Our World as Children

 

Now every year [Jesus'] parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.  Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.  After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”

Luke 2:41-47 (NRSV)

Last Sunday I led worship in Algonquin Park, a long-standing tradition of holding an outdoor service for campers. It was my first time in this role and also the first time we've camped in a trailer in one of Ontario's wonderful parks. We are accustomed to tenting, often in the backcountry but the trailer is provided for those who lead worship.

We joked about being in Suburbia in the Pines, given the density of huge trailers and RVs throughout the Lake of Two Rivers campground. The birds vied to make themselves heard amidst the din of air-conditioning units on these suckers, along with the regular bleating of car alarms -- who invented that monstrosity?

We did love those towering pines and proximity to trails and waterways which were far less hectic. And we enjoyed seeing kids of all ages roaming around the campground on bikes and on foot, often in happy packs. They were usually on their own, without the supervision of adults. Sometimes they fell down or got separated from their buddies. They got back up again and were reunited with the gang. It seemed so healthy, and reminded us of our childhoods. We were Free Range children in a time when that was just childhood, without a label.

While we were communing with the deerflies, Kim Brooks offered an opinion piece in the New York Times about the hyper-vigilance we have developed regarding our children. She allowed her child to sit in their car for a few minutes on a cool day. The doors were locked but the windows were slightly open. He played a video game in her absence and all was well, except that someone took a video of her son, then called 911. On her return she was charged with the delinquency of a minor. In reflecting of the experience Brooks offered this:

We now live in a country where it is seen as abnormal, or even criminal, to allow children to be away from direct adult supervision, even for a second...And so now children do not walk to school or play in a park on their own. They do not wait in cars. They do not take long walks through the woods or ride bikes along paths or build secret forts while we are inside working or cooking or leading our lives.

 

The response to this piece came from around the world with people from everywhere including Sweden, and Israel, and Germany, puzzled over this obsession with creating a bubble of protection for children which does not exist to the same extent in their countries.

Of course it is necessary to protect kids, and tragedies can occur. For the first time ever I read of a child killed by a vehicle in a provincial park over the weekend. Sadly,it may have been the family vehicle which caused the death. We should not that there were also deaths of children who were seat-belted into vehicles.


There is simply no way to guarantee absolute health and safety, no matter how conscientious we might be, even though that this may be our desire. We need to weigh out the benefits of allowing children to explore the beauty of Creation, to develop a sense of wonder and appreciation against the possible risks. 

Scripture tells us that Jesus was Free Range himself and even his parents had their moments of anxiety. Did anyone call the authorities on them, I wonder? I wish we had more images of boy Jesus kicking around in the woods and -gulp- messing with carpentry tools!

Forest Fires and Signs of the Times

 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness
and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly,  like a trap.
For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.  
 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength
to escape all these things that will take place,
 and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Luke 21:34-36

Yesterday Global News reported from the Hungry Bear, a tourist stop about 45 minutes south of Sudbury. Our kids grew up in Sudbury and when we drove north from a visit in Southern Ontario they would plead to stop because of the television commercials which made it look very appealing. Global wasn't there to check out the ice cream or trinkets. There is a substantial forest fire in the area --100 square kilometres -- and a number of communities are under evacuation alert, while cottagers and campers in French River Provincial Park have already left.



Parry Sound 33 fire

When we lived in Sudbury Killarney Park (rated as the best in Ontario) was a wilderness home away from home, and we visited Grundy Lake Park as well. Both are near this fire and Grundy has been evacuated, largely because of the smoke which is heavy at times. When we were camping in Algonquin last week a number of fires were burning in this iconic park, although none were near our area.

High temperatures and a lack of precipitation are the major contributing factors in the number of fires across Ontario and much of the rest of Canada again this year. In recent years the cost of fighting fires has exceeded a billion dollars and some communities have experienced devastation, including loss of homes and businesses. Often these fires rage in areas where outfitters and resorts depend on a brief season for profitability.

This isn't just a Canadian phenomenon. California is viewing rampant wildfires as the "new normal" because of changing weather conditions. Greece experienced deadly fires recently and there are unprecedented fires north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden.

As always, climate scientists are cautious about saying that these are climate change related. Still, the planet is changing, and the results are devastating.

I led an outdoor worship service in Algonquin this past Sunday. Perhaps I should have used passages about fire in the bible as my texts for the day. Or one in which Jesus tells us to be aware of the "signs of the times."



Fires in Ontario