My writings - and those of others.
Preparatory Reading
With the Climate Change conference coming soon, I need to spend more time reading than writing. There are an attractive set of options pictured above recommended by Yale Climate Connections. You can read the reviews here.
And The Guardian has some useful definitions in a world of COP26 and you can find them here.
Speaking as one
It doesn’t hurt when groups get together. Three of the major Christian groups recently delivered a joint statement.
On September 1, Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and Archbishop Justin Welby released “A Joint Message for the Protection of Creation.” This is the first time that a joint statement has been released by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion.
And recently more than 200 of the world's leading medical and health journals issued an unusual joint statement calling climate change the biggest threat to public health, not the pandemic. You can read that article here.
In a world where so often we see groups competing with one another, it is good to see plenty of evidence that some things are important to say together.
The statement hopes to urge climate action ahead of the United Nations climate conference, COP26, in early November. For more, read articles from The Episcopal Church, NPR, and EarthBeat
Gratitude
These closing words from Robin Walls Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass seem appropriate for this Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend
“The moral covenant of reciprocity calls us to honor our responsibility for all we have been given, for all that we have taken. It’s our turn now, long overdue. Let us hold a giveaway for Mother Earth, spread our blankets out for her and pile them high with gifts of her own making. Imagine the books, the paintings, the poems, the clever machines, the compassionate acts, the transcendent ideas, the perfect tools. The fierce defense of all that has been given. Gifts of mind, hands, heart, voice, and vision all offered up on behalf of the earth. Whatever our gift, we are called to give it and to dance for the renewal of the world.
In return for the privilege of breath.”
There were prophets. . .
Decades ago we enjoyed the satirical Tom Lehrer and responded to his songs as funny and relevant. We missed the seriousness of the content because he was so engaging. "Always predict the worst and you'll be hailed as a prophet." a friend told him He was born in 1928 which puts more birthdays into the 90s - and after retiring from performing, he went back to teach mathematics. But now both environmental and faith based groups have to deal with the following outcomes of one of his best known songs:
Air pollution
Freshwater pollution
Land and soil pollution
Marine and coastal pollution
Chemical pollution
Waste pollution
Online data pollution
We were quick to accept the reality of the words even then. But it didn’t move us toward action. Satire is just one of the art forms that points to realities and the changes we must make. The current messages on climate change are often deadly serious and lead to denial or despair. I wonder if we can still respond to Lehrer - and not just laugh but do something about it. But it’s not quite as funny as it was in the past. Jonathan Swift, the writer of Gulliver’s Travels, would agree.
Worthwhile places
There is no excuse ever to be bored with the wealth of good opportunities online. Chances are that if we feel that way, we are wasting our time on all the trivia that is there as well. Two things crossed my inbox today that made it worthwhile. One was the mid=week posting of the amazing Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings, a weekly newsletter full of excerpts and wonderful children’s illustrations on many important themes - frequently climate related. Today’s relates to a book called The Songs of Trees, which already resides on my Ipad. As she says:
“It is in such lyrical prose and with an almost spiritual reverence for trees that Haskell illuminates his subject — the masterful, magical way in which nature weaves the warp thread of individual organisms and the weft thread of relationships into the fabric of life”
The book is a journey through time and space, where the writer focuses on trees in various locations and references how they influence their surroundings. I haven’t quite finished it, but it is definitely a keeper and you can find it here - or as Brain Pickings usually does, go to the public library.
The other was an excellent podcast featuring the climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe. I like that when she is asked, as a resident of Texas, whether she is a Democrat or a Republican, she replies, “I am a Canadian.” The video, featured on Climate One was useful in reminding us how to communicate. Hayhoe doesn’t waste time with serious climate deniers, but she has lots of time for the skeptical. She also says that we respond to change based on our values and these come not only from the mind, but also from the heart. I also like her translation of “Dominion” in the book of Genesis - as “responsibility”.
And she is proud of her work on Science Moms, which focuses on facts and other excellent resources for mothers and grandmothers.
The podcasts are recorded live and subsequently posted and you can see some good ones here. Katherine Hayhoe also has a new book coming our that I’ll add to my Ipad Collection, You can find it here.