Good Tidings
The Earth, Spirit, Action Team (ESA) Newsletter
St. Matthew’s United Church
March 2023 Issue # 19
Easter – Season of Resurrection, New Life, Hope.
5But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.7Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” 8So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Matt. 28: 5-10
Welcome to this Easter edition of Good Tidings, St. Matthew’s ESA newsletter with information on global and local environmental and climate change issues; suggestions for personal and political actions; resources from other environmental groups; reviews and spiritual observations.We would like to hear your comments and views at earthspiritaction016@gmail.com.
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Season of Hope
In this season of resurrection and hope this issue will feature a message from our Minister Betsy Hogan, a book review by Paul Bowlby of The Great Derangement by Amitav Ghosh, some acts of hope to participate in to prepare for Earth Day on April 22nd, a hopeful update from the Ecology Action Centre about the JustFOOD Plan recently endorsed by HRM Council, and of course, another delicious vegetarian Easter dish from Margaret Machum’s kitchen. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Easter Reflection by Rev. Betsy Hogan.
The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. ~ Tennessee Williams
It almost seems ridiculous to me to pause before the beginning of Holy Week to contemplate the meaning of Easter as embodied in Creation: grounded as we are here in the traditions of northern EuroChristianity, it’s more difficult to imagine Easter DISembodied from Creation! Because from the very first centuries of Christianity creeping its way northward and westward through Europe, the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection simply fell naturally into pre-existing celebrations of the arrival… of Spring.
And of course they did! How better to mark Jesus’ rising than with the traditions and symbols long associated in European cultures with the joy and relief of the rebirth of Spring after the death-like stillness and cold and hunger of Winter? From the white and yellow of the earliest spring flowers, to pussywillows and baby bunnies and brightly coloured eggs, our Easter celebrations still incorporate these nods to Spring’s new life rising, with its promise of earth’s fertility. Indeed, our word Easter itself is taken from the name of the northern European goddess of Spring: Aostre or Ostara.
It's easy to dismiss such things as ‘relics of paganism’ and to sternly call instead for an Easter meaning strictly located in the spiritual, that transcends the particularity of where we happen to be. And of course the meaning of Easter is transcendent. We profess the notion of a God not bowed even by hatred and cruelty, even by suffering unto death, whose way of goodness and love cannot be killed – who rises and continues and lives.
But this is embodied for us in Creation. It’s not only a spiritual concept. No insistence that Spring arrives at the equinox can elicit the joy and relief of seeing an actual crocus. Or many! God embodies Easter here for us in the incremental reawakening of the earth to warmth and life. And for others in other places, in other ways. We open windows and breathe fresh air, we hurry back into our Upper Rooms uncertain and wary when another snowfall comes, we set out for Emmaus in our winter coats and shed them on the walk home… until finally – perhaps around Pentecost? – the Spirit’s in full flourish and we get it. Christ is risen: risen indeed.
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Amitav Ghosh The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. Overview by Paul Bowlby
Climate change has created “a great derangement” in which the circumstances of human existence are unthinkable using many of our conventional strategies for understanding. Amitav Ghosh invites us to consider three of those strategies: stories, history, and politics. Stories intrigued me the most. One of the delights of my retirement has been reading stories. In years gone by professionally I always saw myself as a historian of religions and a fascinated observer of the political. What is it about these strategies of understanding that has made our human circumstance in the face of climate change “unthinkable”?
Novels and climate change share an interesting history. Their birth and maturity were coincidental in the 19th and 20th centuries. The irony, Ghosh points out, is that the novel has rarely engaged the dominance of carbon culture. The novel’s limitation is its focus on the individual morality and character, or, on very small clusters of individuals in tightly constrained localities. Climate change demands a global focus encompassing the crisis facing the earth and all its inhabitants. Exceptions to the limitation do exist. Among them are Ghosh’s own novels, Barbara Kingsolver’s marvellous Flight Behavior, Richard Powers The Overstory, or Eleanor Catton’s, recently published, Birnam Wood.
History’s weakness has been to recount the story of the emergence of the economies of capitalism while radically diminishing how dependent that emergence was on European conquests, its colonialism and imperialism. He illustrates this theme with a focus on the emergence of the carbon-based economy. The origin lies in Asia, not North America with a fascinating focus on Burma and “Burma Shell” as the corporate leader in the emergence of the oil-based world we now live in.
Finally, Ghosh looks at the centrality of individual freedom and liberty in our political understanding. When it is politically paramount to achieve and express individual freedoms, how is it possible to face climate change as a crisis of our collective well-being? Climate change is a crisis that cuts across democracies, autocratic regimes, great continents and remote islands. The pressures to satisfy individual needs of whatever sort make the compromises necessary to address the urgency of collective well-being, seemingly improbable.
“Vaclav Havel, the Czech statesman, also saw hope as an orientation of one’s spirit: a state of the mind and heart rather than a state of the world. Hope, he said, is about finding meaning regardless of how apparently hopeless the circumstances.” Elin Kelsey in “Hope Maters.”
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” Vaclav Havel] **********
Acts of Hope to mark Earth Day April 22nd, and the “Give It Up for the Earth”Campaign.
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2. Consider supporting Sierra Club Canada – and over 100 other Groups in their Opposition to Equinor’s Bay du Nord project off Newfoundland. An Update from Sierra Club. The Sierra Club and Indigenous communities from New Brunswick went to court March 1st and 2nd to contest the approval of Equinor’s Bay du Nord project. They argued the project should never have been approved because the environmental assessment failed to address the concerns of co-applicants, Mi’gmawei’l Tplu’taqnn Inc (MTI) representing eight Mi’gmaq communities in New Brunswick. The 16% chance of a major spill from Bay du Nord places endangered whales and sensitive deep sea corals and sponges at unacceptable risk. Risks of tanker traffic include oil spills, ship strikes with whales, and accidents. Impacts on Atlantic salmon or plamu, a migratory species that swims from Bay du Nord to rivers in the Bay of Fundy, also remain unaddressed. Oil companies have made it clear that they won’t stop until we make them stop. The only thing that stops oil is you and me. Please help us to be there for the rest of these fights, and the ones to come. https://www.sierraclub.ca/civicrm/contribute/transact?id=2&reset=1
3. Consider supporting the Avaaz’ Campaign to criminalize Ecocide. “Russian troops have not only killed thousands and displaced millions, they are also destroying Ukraine's environment, toxifying its soil, and burning its forests and fields. 600 species of animals and 880 species of plants are now under threat. Altogether, the damage to the environment amounts to over 50 billion dollars. But ecocide, the act of severely destroying the environment, is not considered an international crime. And it’s not just Ukraine. All over the world nature is being destroyed -- and stronger laws could be used to protect threatened ecosystems everywhere, from national legislation to the International Criminal Court. 4. The People's Parade for Life on Earth! Earth Day, Saturday, April 22nd (Rain Date: April 23rd) Organized by the Grassroots Grandmothers, Ecology Action Centre, School Strike 4 Climate Halifax, iMOVe, DEN and others. A celebration of Mother Earth, connecting and reconnecting us with all of creation and all that is in, on and about it, all our relations. We encourage you to use imagination, creativity and expressions of Earth Day joy. (NO motorized vehicles.) We gather at 1 pm at the wave on the waterfront. The parade begins 2 pm and ends at the Peace & Friendship Park with a community gathering and celebration. Everyone welcome!
********** Hope is grounded in a sense of a meaningful present. We hope that the life we have (and the things we do) at this very moment matters to ourselves and the people we love. Hope, thus, tells us what we value. When we share our hopes we create a mutuality of values that supports and strengthens our relationships with others who care about the same things we do.” Elin Kelsey in “Hope Matters”. ********** A Very Hopeful Step on Food and the Environment for our Region. HRM Council just endorsed JustFOODPlan Part A, HRM’s first food strategy. The Ecology Action Center in a press release March 7th announced that “Halifax Regional Council endorsed the JustFOOD Action Plan Part A for the Halifax Region. The Plan is the Halifax Regional Municipality's first food strategy and was developed by the Halifax Food Policy Alliance, a coalition co-chaired by the municipality and the Ecology Action Centre. The JustFood Action Plan represents a decade of work, based on engagements with municipal and provincial governments, 29 community organizations and thousands of residents. Drawing on feedback and best practices, Part A of the plan puts forward a set of measurable recommendations to improve community food security, reduce food inequities, support inclusive economic growth, foster resilience in the face of climate change, and promote the well-being of all residents. The recommendations in the JustFOOD Action Plan are structured according to the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), an international protocol for tackling food-related issues at the municipal level. Today’s endorsement is accompanied by Council’s support to make Halifax a signatory to the MUFPP, joining 250 cities across the globe in sharing best practices, experiences, advocacy and an established monitoring framework. Part B of the JustFood Action Plan will detail strategies needed to make the recommendations a reality and include formal commitments on behalf of food system partners. It comes to Council in fall of 2023. Visit justfoodhalifax.ca to learn more about the Action Plan. ********** “Hope is not externally produced. It is intimately tied to one’s personal sense of meaning. Engaged hope is a form of realistic hope in which we discern how to live with intention and integrity… trusting that somehow our actions will benefit others and make a difference.” Peter Yuichi Clark – Journal of Clinical Oncology, referenced by Elin Kelsey in “Hope Matters”.
From Margaret Machum’s Kitchen – An Easter Delight. Rotini with Fresh Tomatoes, Basil and Parmesan Makes 4 servings; preparation time:15 minutes; cooking time:7 minutes Ingredients: 250 g rotini 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 4 green onions chopped 4 tomatoes, coarsely chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped 1/4 cup fresh basil, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated salt black pepper Directions: 1. In pot of boiling water, cook pasta until al dente. Drain. 2. In Dutch oven, heat oil over high heat. Add onions, tomatoes, and garlic. 3. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes until tomatoes are heated through. 4. Stir in rotini, parsley, basil, and Parmesan. 5. Reduce heat to medium. Cook for about 2 minutes until heated through. 6. Season with salt and pepper to taste. |
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“We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation.” Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning.
Hope is not externally produced. It is intimately tied to one’s personal sense of meaning. Engaged hope is a form of realistic hope in which we discern how to live with intention and integrity… trusting that somehow our actions will benefit others and make a difference.” Peter Yuichi Clark – Journal of Clinical Oncology, referenced by Elin Kelsey in “Hope Matters”. “Hope is often conceived of as a “future” orientation. We hope for a better future. Yet palliative care specialists tell us that within end- of- life situations, when death is inevitable, hope still exists. That’s because hope is also grounded in a sense of a meaningful present. We hope that the life we have led and the time we have at this very moment matters to ourselves and the people we love. Hope, thus, tells us what we value. When we share our hopes we create a mutuality of values that supports and strengthens our relationships with others who care about the same things we do.” Elin Kelsey in “Hope Matters”. “Hope is not externally produced. It is intimately tied to one’s personal sense of meaning. Engaged hope is a form of realistic hope in which we discern how to live with intention and integrity… trusting that somehow our actions will benefit others and make a difference.” Peter Yuichi Clark – Journal of Clinical Oncology, referenced by Elin Kelsey in “Hope Matters”. “Vaclav Havel, the Czech statesman, also saw hope as an orientation of one’s spirit: a state of the mind and heart rather than a state of the world. Hope, he said, is about finding meaning regardless of how apparently hopeless the circumstances.” Elin Kelsey in “Hope Maters.” “Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” Vaclav Havel “We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation.” Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning.
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