Minister's Inter-faith Blog Page 6

Who were the blessed poor?
Were they careful in using carbon?


It was a great insight you gave into the Beatitudes today, Dr. Dan- particularly the differences in perspective between Luke and Matthew.  Looking at a Greek dictionary, it is just amazing how many words there are for poor, which probably tells us something about society in the time of Jesus.  Possible candidates include:
aporos- άπορος- destitute
asthenos- ασθενώς without strength, and
zitianos- ζητιάνος- beggar.

However, Luke (and, interestingly, Matthew) choose the word ptwcov (φτωχός).  In terms of etymology, this seems to come from the word ptosso (to crouch), indicating the normally cringing stance of a beggar ( i.e. we are talking about the pauper who is a public mendicant).  The word recurs in John 12 8, where Jesus points out that the poor will always be with us.  The usual interpretation of this last passage is thWoodhouse's English-Greek Dictionary Page Imageat given the extent of world poverty, we will always have plenty of opportunity for our charity.  But since Luke identifys the supporters of Jesus as the poor, we could also imagine the phrase to mean that if our church and our personal lives are operating as they should, the poor will indeed be with us, rather than cringing in front of us.

A second thought concerns the environmental demands of those whom Luke commended- the blessed poor were essentially the landless, at best nomadic agriculturalists, people who were leaving a minimal footprint on Planet Earth.  Likely, they lived in tents, and moved on to another location before even the grass on which they slept had been destroyed.  This certainly challenges our current practices.  What are we doing as individuals to become the poor, minimizing our footprints on the planet?  What are we doing to make our church the "green" organization that weekly proclaims "We Live with respect in God's Creation?"  Would we be using  environmental resources more responsibly if we shared premises with another church, arranged car pooling to our gatherings,  communicated elec tronically between committees, and used an LCD Power-Point projector rather than a Bulletin for our Church services?
Roy Shephard.

Transfiguration Sunday- both Moses and Jesus become whiter than white!  And this week our Premier urges us to become greener than green.  What should we do to transfigure our church, to make it more than a whited sepulchre? 

In the case of Moses, his face shone.  The word means literally to push or gore, from 'qeren' (nereq), to shoot out horns, but it can also be understood figuratively, to shoot out rays of light.  Jerome translated it as "horns", and for this reason Michelangelo sculpted Moses with horns; however, as Moses came down from the mountain, rays of new enlightenment were certainly shooting from him, and at times he was inclined to gore his recalcitrant flock.

As Jesus communes with the thinking of Moses and Elias on the mountain top, he also sees the need for a radical solution.  He finds himself called to a decease, or as Luke puts it, an Exodus or Exodon (Exodon).  The first implication is that he must set his face steadfastly towards Jerusalem, where he will be crucified.  But as Luke sees it, the second implication is much broader- the Exodus will carry the faith that Luke has discovered in the Christian community to new territory, and a broader audience than Galileean Jews.  In this way, the promise of the immediately preceding miracle, the feeding of the five thousand will be fulfilled.

So, as we are called to be transfigured, to become greener than green, and whiter than white, how are we to be led to a 33% decrease, and even a  decease?  Are we asked to make an Exodus from our habitual narrow denominational mould into a broader, more widely used and environmentally more sustainable Multi-faith worship centre?
Roy Shephard.
or
I am struck by two things that need to be held together:  particularity and universality, or locality and cosmos.  On the one side we have a need to become deeply rooted--Incarnate--and yet we know in that rooting that we are connected to everyone and everything.  The problem has been we thought "Exodus" meant uprooting from all places, rather than a realization and affirmation of the many roots.  The journey is not into rootlessness, but into an inclusion of all persons in their rootedness.  Theologian Sally McFague (now Emeritus at VST) used to say that of religious traditions, Christianity should be the most focused on Ecological consideration because the incarnation implies "Flesh and Blood"  and Earth and Water etc.  How do we become rooted in place in a way that extends God's hospitality to all human and non-human participants in the community?  These were the questions Roy had to ask us at the close of worship today.
Daniel.

I read in the Saturday Sun (February 17th 2007) about "lightening yiur footprint when travelling, and I checked out a few web pages: www.self.org  www.myclimate.org    www.climatefriendly.com and  www.atmosfair.com .  They are quite interesting.        PatsyR.

Thank you, Patsy, for highlighting these links.  I thought at first you were getting back at Dan and I for our use of Greek, as the second one popped up in German, and my German is rather rudimentary!  However, I soon spotted the English translation icon.  These sites certainly have some interesting material, particularly about purchasing carbon offsets, and giving these to others in the form of gift certificates.

I wonder a little about the ethics of carbon offsets to allow us to continue jet-setting to Mexico, Cuba and Europe...Are we perpetuating one standard of pollution for the rich, whoc can afford the offsets, and another for the poor who cannot?  I suppose I have done as much jet travel as most people in Squamish until recently, but I was very interested to read in a recent issue of the British Medical Journal about a physician who was invited to some exotic resort to give a lecture- business class travel was offered, with a luxury hotel and a chauffeur-driven limosine at her service on arrival.  However, she insisted on giving her lecture by video-conferencing.  There certainly is a technology available now that could greatly reduce travel to business meetings, although a photo show of a Mexican resort might not do the trick in a Canadian winter.
Roy Shephard.

We are entering the green challenge at the church by providing compact florescent bulbs for the fixtures in the church.  We discovered many years ago we could get to nearly 1/4 of our previous energy use through a combination of compact florescent bulbs and simple conservation measures, like not leaving lights on and putting every electronic device on a power bar and shutting these off competely at the power source to avoid ghosting (use of power even when the computer/television/DVD Player etc. is turned off).  This means putting-up with flashing numbers etc. but it  does have a significant impact on energy use when combined with other measures.  I always turn my computer off at the power bar -- when I don't forget!!!-- and I do try to keep my own  thermostat never above 15 and always shut it down when I am not around....  some more thoughts on greening the gospel!!!
Dr. Dan.
 

I have some suggestions and challenges for energy use, both at the church and at home:

1. Compact Fluorescent Bulbs.  
a. I used my Canadian Tire money to buy some compact fluorescent bulbs to replace the ones that keep burning out in the entrance way at the church.  I would like to challenge folks to donate their Canadian Tire money (or regular money too, of course) to put towards the purchasing of replacement bulbs for all the lights at the church.  I have made a donation box for this purpose that will be set out.  While I was in the store, I noticed that there is really a wide variety of compact fluorescent bulbs available now.  I even saw a 46 Watt bulb which is meant to replace a 150 – 200 Watt bulb, which looks to be what we currently have in the sanctuary.  You can also buy ones to put in
tri-lights, for use with dimmer and light sensitive switches, and for
use outside in cold weather.

b. There was a half price sale on some ultra-mini 13 Watt bulbs which
will fit anywhere regular 60 watt bulbs go.  They are the same size as a regular bulb, so the problem with other versions that are a bit bigger and do not always fit has been solved.  I bought several
packages and I am willing to sell then at cost ($2 each), so people who
would like to try only one or two, do not have to pay a higher price, or buy a whole package of 6.  For an extra donation to the church light
fund, I am also willing to visit people’s homes to put them in their
hard to get at places.  Fluorescent bulbs are great for such places
because they do not blow out very often.

c. I will set up a display in a couple of weeks to show people all the
compact fluorescent bulbs that are available, plus show them some
interesting facts about our use of the products, which began in Edmonton over 15 years ago.  

2. Food Security
There is a big problem with much of our food being delivered over long distances. We are risking the possibility that we will not be able to feed ourselves when the cost of fuel gets a lot higher.  We will have lost the knowledge of how to do it, as there will be few farmers left,
since we refuse to pay a reasonable price for their products, and the
land in Canada is too valuable for farming.  S.P.U.D. is an organization which is trying to stem this tide, at least in a small
way.  It tries to offer products which are locally produced, when
possible, and for products that are not locally available, it offers many fairly traded products.  There are also organically grown choices.  In addition, you don’t have to go to the store to do your shopping, because the produce is delivered right to your door on Tuesday afternoon.  We actually do not get much produce from S.P.U.D., because the Garden Centre on Mamquam Road offers a wide range of seasonally available produce from local sources.  However, we rarely go to the others stores now, because S.P.U.D. has a huge variety of household products.  We get all of our meat, fish, milk, cereals, flour, soaps, laundry detergent, bathroom tissue, and many of our condiments and spices from S.P.U.D.  

If people would like to try it out, they can use the following
promotional code to receive a $25 savings over 4 weeks ($10 the first
week, and $5 each of the next three weeks):  CR5-311070.  You can sign
up on line at www.spud.ca or order over the phone from a catalogue.  I
will have this information available at my information table in a couple of weeks too.

3. Car Co-ownership
Perhaps you have been thinking it would be nice to have access to a
second car, or maybe you are like us and would like to use your car
less, but find it is very hard when it is always so conveniently sitting there in your driveway.  

We need a little extra push to stop using our car (a 2005 automatic Toyota Echo) so much, and would like to offer it for co-ownership with the right person(s).  Talk to Daniel and Loretta to negotiate the details.
Loretta.

You have obviously given this issue a lot of thought, Loretta, and you offer us some good practical suggestions.

In regard to the light-bulbs, it obviously makes sense to use the compact fluorescent bulbs as replacements, since the modern versions yield almost as ood a quality of light at only a quarter of the energy cost.  However, I do not know the green maths of waiting for bulbs to burn out, vs. holus-bolus replacement of existing lighting.

As far as financing the initial capital cost, people often respond favourably to a specific rather than a general financial appeal.  However, even if one does decide to contribute towards replacing of lights in the church, it would be more cost-effective for most of us to so through our "ear-marked" envelopes, rather than cash donations.  For all who pay standard tax rates, charitable donations are effectively doubled in this way.

The search for car partners is an intriguing idea.  I believe there is some such system for apartment dwellers in Vancouver.  Given that we have no evening bus service, one car per family is almost essential to remaining mobile, but in the daytime at least it is probably a greener and a more economic solution to walk or to use our public transit rather than a second car.  If we all used the local buses more, then service would be increased.  Equally, Greyhound provides a very comfortable trip to downtown Vancouver for the price of gas plus parking.
Roy Shephard.

The passage of Scripture about walking on water to my mind has relevance to our current ecological problems. 

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
                              
There is so often a profound sadness that marks my contemplative prayer these days. Contemplative prayer is that practice of trying to attend to the Sacred Presence, not as we would like the sacred to be, or even as we imagine it to be, but as simply present. This might be said as simply to walk on the earth. As Thich Nhat Hanh has said, to walk on earth seems to be the greatest of miracles in our times, and perhaps the most difficult of things to do. It is difficult to do because we live in a time driven by a set of appetites, manipulated and created by our social order, for more things, sensations and control.  The attempt to control all things is made in order to consume more things and to manufacture more sensations to distract us from the reality of that creation.  Even our own bodies are beyond our control. The set of beliefs that are the hidden ground of so much of our social reality involve the drive to finally overcome our human finitude through the application of techniques, religious and secular, and technologies that promise to save us.

The belief that an ever growing economy and endlessly expanding technical manipulation of creation will secure the future, are part of a big lie that we are telling ourselves. Hence my deep sadness. Sitting in contemplative silence has brought me into the miracle of everyday and hard up against the destructive illusion of control. The way through is to come home to our limitations and in true simplicity walk on earth again. This does mean giving up a great many things, and recovering what is really needed for a human life.

An ancient Galilean Rabbi named Yeshua Ben Yosef, speaking to a crowd, once pointed to the wild flowers growing in the fields and said, “Consider the lilies of the field . . . .” To consider them, to even notice them, is to come to the simple miracle of walking on earth. Such simple walking means being regarded as fools, radically out of step with our times. Blessed be such foolishness.
Dr. Dan.


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