Saving Turtles and Turtle Island

                                                        Sea Turtles on Ship Deck 

 If you've been reading this blog over time you'll know that I have an admiration for turtles because of their prehistoric lineage, developing alongside dinosaurs. I certainly brake for turtles and help them across roads. I also appreciate their prominence in Indigenous spirituality and the concept of the Earth as Turtle Island. I've mentioned the base of the baptismal font in M’Chigeeng Immaculate Conception Church on Manitoulin Island which is shaped as a turtle. 

I'm thinking about turtles today because of what it proving to be a catastrophic Winter storm throughout a large swathe of the United States and particularly the state of Texas. The freezing temperatures have been accompanied by snow and ice leaving millions without heat and water.as the power failed.

The sudden and deep cold also affected water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, stunning and incapacitating untold numbers of sea turtles. Thousands have been rescued, thankfully, but who knows how many will perish. At least 4,000 are sheltered in a convention centre on San Padre Island. 

                                         Sea Turtles in Convention Centre 

This is the largest cold stunning event ever recorded, and a reminder that unprecedented weather events affect creatures of all kinds. This is likely a result of climate change and the global weirding which comes with it. This is a term coined by climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe to describe the unpredictability of weather, which is short-term, when climate, which is long-term is altered by human behaviour. Hayhoe is a Canadian and an evangelical Christian who lives in Texas, a climate-denial state despite intensifying weather events, including hurricanes, which have been catastrophic. 

We can pray for the well-being of those turtles and other wildlife affected by this deep freeze. But in some respects they are passengers on the ark with humans at the helm. We can pray for leaders in government who are at the helm, and the millions of people who claim allegiance to Christ and the God of Creation, they might steer in a new direction for the benefit of all. I just hope that the turtle convention doesn't vote us off the island, and the ark!

                   Turtle base Baptismal Font (to left of altar) M’Chigeeng Immaculate Conception Church

Ash Wednesday in the Snow

 

                                                       Walk Through Cedars -- Frink Centre

You desire truth in the inward being;
    therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

                                  Psalm 51:6-9

I'm an early riser but I slept in to 7:00 this morning and awoke to sunshine, the first time in 2021. The days are lengthening, thanks be to the Creator, but yesterday's snowfall meant that the world was even brighter. The temperature at that early hour was a bracing -24 C, perhaps the coldest start to any day this Winter. There is a special quality to the air when it's this cold which I love and seldom experience as winter's become milder.

Our hope is to get out on our cross-country skis this afternoon after it "warm's up," if that term can be used to describe sub-zero temperatures of -5 or -6C. We're thinking of taking along a backpack of kindling to start a fire as a recognition of Ash Wednesday . We will attend an in-person, "touchless" Ash Wednesday service at Trenton United this evening, but this is an opportunity to reflect on the words of the traditional psalm for the day, Psalm 51, en plein air.  In the throes on regret and contrition for his crimes of rape (Bathsheba) and murder (her husband, Uriah) King David pleads "wash me whiter than snow." 

Some have been commenting that we're actually entering into the twelfth month of Lent, because of the pandemic, which is true to some extent. Yet we have found that getting outdoors in all seasons has been our "salvation" in a manner of speaking. 

It may be a challenge to feel suitably penitential today when are fingers and toes aren't working at full capacity, but we'll see how it goes! We may choose to express regret for our sins and transgressions, but we rarely regret the decision to spend time in the beauty of Creation. 

Lengthening Toward Lent

Current Time:	Feb 15, 2021 at 8:30:45 am
Sun Direction:	121.73° ESE↑
Sun Altitude:	12.68°
Sun Distance:	147.776 million km
Next Equinox:	Mar 20, 2021 5:37 am (Vernal)
Sunrise Today:	7:08 am↑ 107° East
Sunset Today:	5:39 pm↑ 253° West

1 All earth is waiting to see the Promised One,

and open furrows await the seed of God. 

All the world, bound and struggling, seeks true liberty; 

it cries out for justice and searches for the truth.

                            Voices United 5

Above  is the screenshot from the moment I checked sunrise and sunset this morning. The sky was quite light at 8:30, but the blessing was that we could look out to see trees and birds at our feeders from just after 6:30. And this evening we'll enjoy the same until shortly aftter 6:00 PM. Even though our planet Earth is nearly 150 million kilometres from our star, there are changes in our path around the Sun which bring us hope.  

Hallelujah! Well maybe we'll hold back on the hallelujahs because we're supposed to refrain from this celebratory word in worship, including song, during our Christian season of Lent.  Ash Wednesday, is the movable commencement of Lent, and this year it is two days from now, the 17th of February. One succinct description of Lent says:

Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. The English word “Lent” comes from the Anglo–Saxon word lencten, which means “lengthen” and refers to the lengthening days of Spring.

We have been experiencing frigid days and now have the prospect of significant snow which remind us that Spring isn't exactly around the corner. Yet those lengthening days will take us through the sombre weeks of Lent with a sense of promise built into sunrise and sunset, bringing us to the joy of Easter. 

The hymn "All Earth is Waiting" is actually for Advent, yet there is a sense that the anticipation of Christ's birth is also for his rebirth. The Earth, seemingly locked in dormancy and death, will bloom again. Thanks be to God, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. 

When a Super-highway is a Sin

 

Nearly 20 years ago the Ontario government introduced legislation to protect a portion of  land in what is known as the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario. This is the region which curls around Lake Ontario and where 8 million people live,  more than half of the province's population.It is actually the most densely populated area in Canada. The McGinty government called the area The Greenbelt, and the premise was that this would be a permanently protected area of green space, farmland, forests, wetlands, and watersheds, There was opposition then, from developers and landowners. Those opposed included some farmers who felt this this curtailed the possibilities of selling their property at some point, and they had the strongest argument in my opinion.

The Green Belt has been essential for environmental protection, along with ensuring that prime agricultural land was not paved over, or became a sea of housing developments. Then came the Conservative government and the lies of Premier Doug Ford who promised not to touch the Green Belt. His administration simply has no concern for conservation or protection of our air and water. Conservation Authorities have had funding cut, and their mandates changed. Late last year six members of the Greenbelt Council stepped down — joining David Crombie, the council's chair — to protest proposed government rules they say would gut environmental protections in the province. 

Since the beginning of 2021 two major highway projects have been announced which will go through areas which are sensitive from an environmental standpoint. The GTA West 413 highway will cost $10 billion and run through 55 kilometres of prime farm land protected areas, and conservation lands And as with the 407 highway, it is more than a transportation corridor. It opens another region up to the pressures of development. The 407 is under-utilized, so why not figure out how to maximize it? 

Why should this matter to us as people of faith? Is opposing a highway Christian?

From a personal standpoint I regard this systemic dismantling of environmental protections as systemic sin. I appreciate that this may sound overly religious, and naive,  and "anti-progress." I don't consider it progressive if we can't figure out how to feed ourselves without shipping produce from the other side of  the continent, or if we can't breathe. 

And there must be some sense that "the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" rather than solely a resource to be exploited. We ignore the balance and integrity and beauty of Creation at our peril. 

Count Your Blessings and Birds, One by One

 

Look at the birds, free and unfettered, 

not tied down to a job description, 

careless in the care of God

Matthew 6: 26a The Message

It is -16 Celsius outside as I write this morning, and Southern Ontario is in the midst of an extended "cold snap" as we used to call periods of frigid Winter weather. Now we talk of Polar Vortexes and Alberta Clippers, as though we know what these terms actually mean. 

We are also in the midst of the Backyard Bird Count, which runs from February 12th to 15th. It is described this way:

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird enthusiasts of all ages around the world in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are. Anyone can participate, from beginners to experts.

We have a bunch of feeders hanging so that we can see them from the warmth of our family room and we're constantly amazed by the resilience of these feathered creatures, There are roughly a dozen species which persist in this climate. As I noted recently, we get three types of woodpecker, two of nuthatch, different finches, cardinals and blue jays. The juncos and chickadees are usually the first to show up in the morning. with the chickadees puffed to twice their normal size. We wish the starlings wouldn't arrive and muscle away the other birds, but they land in, squabble with each other, fill up, and leave. 

I came upon the Mary Oliver poem, below, and I begrudgingly conceded there may be a room in my heart for the starlings, although this sentiment will probably pass quickly. I will soon begin a Lenten study group on the Sermon on the Mount which included Jesus' encouragement to live beyond worry and anxiety, like the birds of the air. Easier said that done? Always, yet by the grace of God, we aspire to this freedom of the spirit. 

I don't really consider the Bird Counts at different times of the year to be aspects of a spiritual discipline, but why not?  The season of Lent begins next Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, and someone else who read the poem online commented:  

 That’s going to be my Lent resolution this year - to be light and frolicsome, and to soar upward without fearing danger.

The Musings of a Christian this Lunar New Year

                                         Today's Google Doodle for Lunar New Year 2021 

On Wednesday Emmanuel College in Toronto, a United Church seminary, held an ecumenical service to anticipate the Lunar New Year. Today is the first full day of what has often been called the Chinese New Year. hence the Google Doodle.

I have never paid much attention to this celebration. There are, though, other Asian cultures which observe this festival, as does the diaspora of these cultures around the world. It's probably a quarter of Earth's population which is trying to figure out how to observe this day, including a communal meal,  in the midst of a pandemic. 

Snooping around, the celebration seems rather complicated to my Western brain, but that doesn't mean much other than I'm ignorant! I'm curious about the lunar connection because other religions including Judaism and Christianity have an important lunar component -- think Passover and Easter, both related to a Spring full moon. 

I got thinking, as well, about the relationship to the animals of each year, and the notion of being connected to these creatures. To be honest, I'm not interested in signs of the zodiac or horoscopes, yet the relationship with other beings, actual and mythical invites us out of an anthropocentric focus. 

I'm not sure how I'll sort through all this as a Christian, but I have learned over time that its important to be open and respectful of other traditions. I would be intrigued to see how the ecumenical service unfolded. Happy Year of the Ox!

Respect Inuit or Leave

 

 Christi Belcourt, artist 

The elders and hunters are reporting that the iron ore mine called “Baffinland” is causing the water and land to turn red (see photos in my comments) and the fish, the caribou, the seals and the whales are becoming scarce. They are sounding alarm bells that it isn’t right, and they are saying if anyone doesn’t respect the knowledge, the land, and the culture of Inuit, they must leave Inuit lands.

The words on this poster are from the Elders and it’s by request that I made it. So please feel free to share. #inuitblockade

Once again Indigenous people are protesting the intrusion of a resource extraction company into traditional lands. An iron ore company called Baffinland on Baffin Island wants to double production at their mine and local Inuit who have been there for time immemorial are blocking the airstrip near Mary River to object to the expansion. The promise is that there will be considerable economic benefit for locals but they are maintaining that culture is more important than money. Other Inuit in the territory have joined in with the protest. 

The local Inuit say that increased shipping has already resulted in seals and whales being harder to find and the snow is often bright red with iron ore dust. They feel that creating a rail line to service the mine will affect the caribou population. 

We should be concerned about where this will lead. In the past couple of years peaceful Wetsuweten pipeline blockades in British Columbia have resulted in SWAT team arrests of protesters. Recently all charges were dropped against these protesters but there is a "might makes right" reality which enlists militarized police to uphold the interests of corporations while disregarding those who have lived on the land for generations. Why do we accept such a show of force in these situations while police shrug at violent white protestors in Nova Scotia?

Surely this is a matter of justice for the Inuit in a part of Canada we tend to ignore and disregard in the south. As Groundling Christians who care about the fragile ecosystems of these areas we can also ask why extraction trumps protection and balance again and again.