My writings - and those of others.
Express Service?
Thursday’s Globa and Mail was unusual in featuring a story about a church on its front page. Usually we hear only of scandals. but this time we learn that St. James Cathedral Toronto is offering 30 minute “Merry Moments” to celebrate the season. The rationale is that people are too busy to sit through a seventy-minute service of worship.
I’ve been an Anglican for close to 90 years but with all due respect to the Dean, this doesn’t sound like a solution. There will; be carols, short readings and prayers that give people who are too busy and tired a brief time out. But the question is, What are we giving them. Is this who we are?
We regulars might agree that sometimes sermons go on and on and musical offerings do the same. But dropping into church isn’t exactly like dropping in on a late night chat show or scrolling Facebook. Even if the pollsters tell us that 42% of people never go to church, that doesn’t mean that they have no other places to find what the dean thinks churches offer – community, transcendence and opportunities to connect. How about the concert hall for transcendence or singing in a choir or playing in a band? How about the dedication of those going to the gym?
The Merriam Webster word of the year apparently is slop. A favorite read of mine comes from Ron Charles who writes a weekly newsletter about books. After showing us an AI generated picture of a large dog on his mother’s dining room table he notes:
“AI promised us miracles, and in a way it has delivered them: fake images, Frankensteined videos, phony news, clickbait features, synthetic tunes, uncanny-valley podcasts and Cylon-composed books — all untouched by human hands or human intelligence. “
In a word: Slop.
There is something sloppy going on here, I’m afraid. Even the small troupe of choristers who are leading those carols have had to practice every week to be good enough to lead the singing. The preacher will have spent at least seven years of higher education to climb up the stairs to the pulpit. What will be read in those prayers has been around for centuries. A “smiley welcome mat” is okay – but a service like this isn’t introducing people to “stillness” It just seems more like the noise that is supposed to be avoided.
It also seems that one of the regulars could do with a bit of education. Yes, Christmas is a season, as he says. But it is preceded by another one called Advent. Maybe our task is to slow down ourselves before we inflict our neighbours with a less than muscular version of the faith.
Don’t Give Up
Tuesday was a good day. I went to a seminar at my University of Toronto college celebrating the consecration of its chapel seventy years ago. I had the distinction of being the only person present who was in the chapel that day – one of eight undergraduate men and women who were invited to the event. Times change. It was important enough then for the event to be televised nationally.
The seminar’s title was Sustaining Hope and Seeking Justice in Challenging Times and had an interesting group of presenters. Two later received honorary degrees. Several were from other faiths. One was a politician noting that he was a Roman Catholic working for a Lutheran body speaking to a bunch of Anglicans. One of the speakers ,a woman bishop, addressed the topic of hope quoting from Emily Dickinson. Another woman bishop recited a poem entitled, Hope is not a Bird, Emily.
The most dramatic speaker was the retired 27th presiding bishop and primate of the American Episcopal Church, Michael Curry. By preaching at the wedding of Prince Harry and an American television star, he became world famous – talking about the power of love. He reminded those present that he was the descendant of slaves – and that his father, also a priest had been converted to Anglicanism when he saw White and Black persons drinking from the same cup.
Curry’s success in imprinting an idea involves repetition “Don’t Give Up” He kept reminding us that justice ebbs and flows but moves to a better place when those who appear to lose still continue to act. We can’t change everything, but we have constant choices to make things better for others,
These wise words came the day after a certain American president dismissed a question from a woman reported by shaking a finger and saying “Quiet, Piggy.”
Here’s your chance. Every woman and every man who doesn’t want to turn the world into a place where women are called animals by the leader of the free world can speak up. Forget all the other stuff that is going on for now. Call, email and text your elected federal representatives of any party and tell them that this is not the America you want to live in. Tell them to shout and scream at a president that this will not do. Tell him to stop. Take the power that they have or else. Remind them that the time is now. Remind them that the rest of the world is watching. Remind them that hope and justice in challenging times depends on all of us – but especially on them. Don’t Give Up
Against Tyranny
Robert Reich joins with Timothy Snyder in expressing resistance to American tyranny today on Substack. Canadians who know the US and who may have lived there as students or employees share the concern and try to learn how to deal with the impact on themselves. Threatening the media is not on for a government. It is, in fact what the first amendment states – rather than the right to say anything that one likes. The role of government is not to prohibit freedom of expression, but to affirm it.
We Canadians are anxious and annoyed but not frightened. When the American ambassador wishes that he didn’t have to associate with “nasty” Canadians, we see that as his problem, not ours. Here are Reich’s recommendations that can apply to us as we deal with our own issues in a different kind of war.
· It doesn’t work to try to appease an authoritarian. We need to watch our own national and provincial government in this respect.
· Individuals can’t protest alone, though some inspire us. We need to join and support groups to do so.
· Confronting authoritarians requires courage. We have to speak out when we disagree with others. At the same time we must be respectful that others have the right to different views. There is a difference there. It doesn’t mean attacking them.
· It doesn’t stop. While we are tired of the ongoing TV reality show, we have to keep track of the daily changes in activity.
· Small actions are necessary. Writing to our elected representatives is important. Positive letters of support when appropriate are helpful to counteract the ongoing negative and hateful ones. Kindness works.
· Be happy with reliable results because tyrants rely on people to give up.
· Stay active and involved. Speak up, join with others in appropriate actions, talk to elected representatives, support companies that do the right things and protect the most vulnerable among us.
And this is how Reich concludes today. His latest book details many aspects of long lives that we share. He talks about the courage of his past generations, and I’ve lived about 16 years longer, so my own memories as a child during the Second World War are greater. But the message is the same.
“It is up to us to preserve democracy and protect social justice. Our predecessors in this struggle — generations who have sacrificed for these values — demand it. Our children and grandchildren deserve it.”
Forget S.T.E.M - Remember Poets
When two of my favourite writers and thinkers spend Labour Day quoting poets, there is a message beyond my being glad that I studied English Language and Literature so many years ago – as a labour of love.
On the Brink
What’s a brink? Oxford dictionary says “an extreme edge of land before a steep or vertical slope.”
What’s a dictator? Britannica has this to say:
“dictator, in modern political systems, a single person who possesses absolute political power within a country or territory or a member of a small group that exercises such power. . . . Modern dictators, however, resemble ancient tyrants rather than ancient dictators. . . . .Dictators usually resort to force or fraud to gain despotic political power, which they maintain through the use of intimidation, terror, and the suppression of basic civil liberties. They may also employ techniques of mass propaganda in order to sustain their public support.”
Is it time to step back - or step up?
Andrew Coyne of the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper does the latter with evidence. You need to read the full article bur here are some of the items he cites of the current US. president:
Installing National Guard forces - some armed- in Los Angeles and the capital city, with plans to do so elsewhere saying they are needed to fight crime.
Seizing suspects and sending them to foreign and domestic prisons without trial or charges.
Investigating the lawyers who proseuted him, and additionally officials who worked for him and disagreed with him.
Pardoning January 6 rioters.
Threatening and suspending TV licenses and demanding massive settlements.
Doing the same with universities and law firms.
Asking for redrawing of electoral maps.
Firing key leaders who provide information; The Bureau of Statistics, the Defense Intelligence Agency, health officials.
Defying court orders.
Spending money appropriated by congress.
Placing giant portraits of himself in public places.
Adding gold decor to the White House and having a military parade as a birthday celebration.
Can one depend on the courts and the congress? Both have political majorities. What about midterm elections? How long is it before the fall of 2026 and what can happen between now and then?
Is it good to stand on the brink? I remember doing so on the cliffs of Dover many years ago. The view - with its own history was breathtaking - but one immediately became aware of being too close to the edge. We left and went on to do other important things in our lives - not just stepping back.
What are the important things now? As Canadians we watch - but we must not underestimate our responsibility for ourselves.
Support our American friends who will protest this Labor Day in any way we can.
Refuse to bow to propaganda that stretches into our own country through mainstream and social media.
Refuse a trade agreement that has no benefits for us - no matter how long negotiation takes or intermediary pain.
Laugh at and leave onlne influencers who don’t know what they are talking about.
Read historians and others who provide evidence and include context in their views.
Support our city councillors, members of provincial and federal parliaments by telling them when they do good things; call them to account when they don’t.
Be kind to others and do small and large things that are beneficial to everybody.
Step up, step up, step up - don’t step back.