Download The Messenger April 2009

CARRYING OUT OUR
ENVIRONMENTAL
STEWARDSHIP ROLE
On April 22, millions of people around the world will celebrate Earth Day 2009. Many wonder about
the history of this internationally recognized day and are surprised to hear about its faith-based
origins.
First held in March 1970, it was developed by an American named John McConnell. As the son of a
Christian evangelist and a person of deep faith, he wanted to create a meaningful day during which
people all around the world would join in activities and prayers to deepen our reverence and care for
God’s creation. Earth Day was first held in San Francisco to honour Saint Francis, the patron saint
of ecology. It has since been held as an annual event.
Earth Day acknowledges the environmental stewardship role that God has bestowed upon us. More
simply put, God calls us to take good care of all creation, and to be responsible and respectful of
the environment. We are also called to love all our neighbours, both near and far, and to reduce
pollution and poverty in obedient service to God.
That being said, we are never too young or too old to care about the environment and our
neighbours. Do you remember young Freddy and Isaac Andrews who helped with the stewardship
community garden last summer?
Admittedly, there is plenty of work to be done. The good news is that we do not have to wait to
make the world a better place. As we prepare to celebrate Earth Day, I invite us all as individuals
to do what we can this month.
For example, we can recycle every aluminum can and scrap of paper/cardboard. We can save energy
by switching to compact fluorescent bulbs where appropriate and turning lights off when we exit a
room. We can make our homes more energy efficient through improved insulation, caulking and
weather-stripping.
When we plan meals, we can make a conscious effort to reduce our impact on the food chain by
increasing the number of vegetarian meals that we eat. When we buy our groceries, we can care for
our neighbours near and far by choosing fair trade coffee and making plans to purchase local
produce when it is available. We can walk to the corner store rather than taking the car.
To protect our life-giving waters, we can avoid purchasing cleaners that contain phosphates. When
they get into the rivers and lakes, they rob the water of oxygen and ultimately kill aquatic life.
Also, Health Canada advises not flushing any medication down the toilet or pouring it down drains
(flushed medications can find their way into ecosystems and into our drinking water). Instead, ask
your pharmacist whether your pharmacy takes back expired or unused medication to ensure that it
is disposed of in a safe, environmentally friendly manner.
Consider holding a garage sale to recycle unwanted items (someone’s trash is another’s treasure).
Last year, our street held a garage sale and donated the proceeds to earthquake victims in China.
Afterwards, our neighbours held a wonderful potluck block party. It was a concrete way to love our
neighbours near and far.
At the congregational level, Parkdale’s Stewardship Group has also been working to carry out our
environmental stewardship role through a new initiative. Recently, we engaged a local graphics
company to design a reusable cotton “carry-all” tote bag. We are pleased to announce that the tote
bags will be available for purchase in Memorial Hallway during the month of April for $7.50 per bag.
The tote bags are being sold as a fundraiser for Parkdale.
On behalf of the Stewardship Group, happy Earth Day 2009!
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Hennessy, Chair
Stewardship Group
Dr. Bailey opens a
dialogue on diversity at
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Last February, during Black History Month, I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Bailey speak at my
workplace, the federal government department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. He had been
invited by a group of human resources specialists whose job it is to bring about a change in corporate
culture with respect to diversity. If there is any doubt in your mind whether or not Dr. Bailey got the ball
rolling, then you probably don't know him very well! He managed to engage a group of somewhat
cynical government workers in a lively discussion on the subject of racism. How did he manage to do
that, you may well ask.
It might have been the warning that he issued at the very start of his presentation. Never one to mince
words, Dr. Bailey let all of us know that he would be referencing difficult subjects such as slavery and
systemic racism. He began by defining racism as (and I'm paraphrasing) the racial
prejudice demonstrated by members of a powerful racial majority toward a more underserved racial
group. This explained why reverse racism does not exist, and why systemic racism can be so insidious
and dangerous to all of us. The next thing he did was to ask each of us to begin answering a questionnaire
on ourselves, and our own attitudes. In order to understand how we feel about others, Dr. Bailey said, we
have to begin by understanding ourselves.
Then again, it might have been the content of his very varied presentation that won us over. The many
references to current and historical events showed us what racism looked like then, and how it manifests
itself even now. One example from the past was Mathieu Da Costa, the Black interpreter of the Miqmaq
language who accompanied Samuel de Champlain. With Dr. Bailey's explanation, the fact that Mr. Da
Costa knew the language, which meant that he had visited Canada before the great explorer, was not lost
on all of us. Another example was the existence of slavery in Canada, a little-known or little-emphasized
fact.
And yet another example that crosses centuries is that of Robert Sutherland, a Jamaican student early in
the history of Queen's University. Mr. Sutherland bequeathed his wealth to the university on his death,
and the amount equalled the yearly budget of the institution. In spite of this, it was only weeks ago that
Queen's University announced it would be naming the Political Science building after this generous
benefactor.
By the end of the presentation, I couldn't help but think that no one is immune to the effects of systemic
prejudice. Many of us stand idly by as it is perpetuated in front of us. My workplace is fortunate to have
had Dr. Bailey open up a dialogue that left ample room for all those who wished to make themselves
heard -- whether they had suffered from racism, accent prejudice, or discrimination based on gender,
nationality, disability or sexual orientation. The organizers of the workshop have invited Dr. Bailey back
to continue the conversation. I can only hope that he will accept the challenge.
Debbie Blondell-Pitt
DISPATCHES FROM BRAZIL
I.
Two World Forums
World Forum on Theology and Liberation 2009
and
World Social Forum 2009
During the last two weeks of January this year, these two world forums were held back-to-back in Belém, on the
south bank of the Rio Guama in the Amazon region in northern Brazil (settled in 1616 by the Portuguese). Both
forums had a clear focus on ecological issues of the Amazon region.
A contribution from the Mission and Service Fund of our United Church of Canada enabled me to participate,
representing both the United Church of Canada and CESE (Coordenadoria Ecumênica de Serviço) where I work.
World Forum on Theology and Liberation 2009
Approximately 600 theologians and ‘students of theology’ (including me) from around the world assembled for the
World Forum on Theology and Liberation (January 21-25, 2009). The theme of the Forum reflected the staggering
global significance of the Amazon region – Water, Land and Theology: Towards another possible world.
Each day began with a time of worship and reflection on the theme, followed by a panel addressing one of the key
words from the theme… Water, Land and Theology.
The Forum was exciting and challenging and a stimulus for personal theological reflection.
The following paragraphs are intended to provide a taste of the Forum itself: provocative workshops, opportunity for
discussion and many loose ends!
‘On Looking at Hieronymus Bosch`s Haywain Triptych’
CAFOD is the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, the official overseas development and relief agency of
the Catholic Church in England and Wales. In the first of two CAFOD workshops, Gerard Mannion, a British
theologian who teaches at a Belgian university, gave a paper on the current global crisis and strategies for shifting
from practices and strategies that exploit, to global solidarity.
Gerard started by projecting a slide on the wall of Hieronymus Bosch`s painting entitled the Haywain Triptych
(1485-1490). We looked as closely as we could at the central panel of the painting which the internet describes as
follows:
‘The middle panel features a massive wagon of hay surrounded by hundreds of figures engaged in a variety
of sins… Christ is in the sky. A single angel on top of the wagon looks to the sky, praying. None of the other
figures sees Christ looking down on the world. The rightward facing figures around the wagon lead our eyes
to move with them on their journey to Hell and to the unadulterated torture reflected in the rightmost panel
of Bosch`s Triptych. The Pope is in the crowd.’
The messages are pretty clear and relevant today. After that scene-setting discussion, our speaker talked about the
forces that are affecting society and how those forces lead us to interact with and tolerate each other, including, for
example, competition and exploitation of resources and people.
In conclusion, he focused on two elements of our Christian creed. His simple, straightforward thesis was that
Christians have theological resources to counteract forces that divide. He referred specifically to two of our “ethical
and ecclesiastical tasks” describing catholicity as the true mark of a global church and ecumenism as a force for
drawing together and countering the narrow definition of self.
He summarized his message with reference to Jesus` response to the specific question “Who is my neighbour?” Luke
10: 27-37. Our speaker interpreted the response in both a social and individual sense, “Church people must bind the
wounds – even of the good but despised Samaritan – AND make the road to Jericho safe.”
‘Live simply so others may simply live’
Another workshop given by CAFOD introduced us to a program called Live simply. The program was developed as
a practical response to Catholic social teaching in particular as set out by Pope Paul VI. His Encyclical, Populorum
Progressio on the Development of Peoples (March 26, 1967), was written 42 years ago, but inspired the Live simply
program. It has particularly motivated young people in the United Kingdom to respond to the Encyclical where the
Pope wrote of our calling to “look hard at our lifestyles, to choose to live simply and in solidarity with the poor.”
The program is explained well at the Live simply web site www.livesimply.org.uk where tools and guidelines are
readily available. I responded very positively to the simple practical nature of the program and to the participatory
nature of the workshop.
‘We All Live Downstream’
During the opening panel on Water Day, Steve de Gruchy, ordained minister and professor of theology in South
Africa, spoke about theology, water and particularly about sewage. Using real life examples, including the current
cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, he demonstrated his key point clearly, i.e. that “we all live downstream”.
We inhabit one home, he said, this planet. We have no other place to put our waste. It cannot leave the planet. We
must deal, he said, with our s**t.
Although Professor de Gruchy spoke eloquently in English, he did not use the polite English word for sewage. He
used a shorter word which apparently gave the interpreters a bit of a conundrum and they chose a polite term in
Portuguese. However, they obviously realized, after several repetitions of the not-so-polite term, that his word
choice was deliberate. So the interpreter switched to the more vernacular Portuguese word for sewage… There was
a brief silence among the 500 or so participants and then laughter and then head-nodding. Professor de Gruchy
paused briefly and thanked the interpreters for using the earthier term.
The Jordan River was his Biblical and theological motif, flowing as it does from life (Sea of Galilee) to death (Dead
Sea). God`s gift of the promised land came with extensive instructions about how to tend the land. Liberation,
freedom from slavery, carried restrictions with it. We are not free to simply flush! We all live downstream.
World Social Forum 2009
The following week, it was a completely different experience when the 8 th World Social Forum began.
Some numbers will explain the difference:
 133,000 registered participants,
 5,800 organizations represented
 142 countries.
The Forum was held on two university campuses linked by bus and by small launches ferrying participants from one
campus to the other. The Theme for this forum was ‘Another World is Possible’
There were literally hundreds of workshops to choose from at any given time. On the first day, for various reasons,
I did not get to a single one of the workshops I had selected… I could not find the right building or room, the
workshop had been cancelled, was cancelled, or I found the room but the workshop had been moved to a different
building, or it had been changed! In the end, I just opened doors and if the group looked congenial, I went in! And
that system worked. It also contributed to my eventual conclusion that the World Social Forum was about being
there, in often mute solidarity, with 132,999 other participants and all of us seeking to understand and resolve global
problems.
The photos provide a glimpse of the scene – music, dancing, a lot of walking, the river, outdoor venues, indigenous
people in traditional dress, the river.
II. Reflecting on My First Year in Brazil
I arrived in Brazil on 15 March 2008 – just over one year ago.
In that year, there have been new and, I think, steadfast friendships with colleagues at CESE, with members of
several churches that I call “my church”, with my Portuguese teacher Tatiana, and with my fellow choristers in two
choirs. I am recognized and greeted by neighbours, taxi drivers, the fruit seller at the corner and others I see
regularly in the street. What a blessing!
My language skills are improving steadily although not really rapidly. I still need to speak from notes if I want to
express myself clearly during a meeting. People help. With friends, on the other hand, I am ready to fumble along,
make mistakes and use hand gestures and body language – whatever it takes to communicate. I can now manage
most situations and, if things get tricky, someone arrives to help. Sometimes angels!
On the other hand, I have been assaulted twice. I was not seriously hurt either time and my purse was stolen only
once. But I am learning! I no longer carry anything precious or difficult to replace. I have a small purse but wear it
under my clothing if possible. I use all my pockets and sometimes pin them closed.
I was shaken after the last episode, in February, and quite worried about the visit of my sisters who arrived towards
the end of February. We had a great time together, but first they had to endure a very bossy older sister. I quizzed
them before we went anywhere about what they had in their purses, why they needed to wear a watch, did they
really need to bring a camera, etc. I also threw in questions about how much water they had drunk and had they put
on sunscreen. After a few days of this, I gave my head a shake, apologized for being so bossy, and talked to them.
They said they realized it only meant I cared and that really it was a good thing! But I knew it could spoil our time
together. I continued to be vigilant but definitely changed my tone!
I am finding my place at CESE after one year. In early February, after the Forums, I had two meetings with Eliana
Rolemberg, my CESE boss. We reviewed a draft work plan that I had prepared and discussed a range of day-to-day
activities. I have also appreciated regular conversations with Mark Hathaway, the United Church of Canada’s
liaison person for Latin America. He has offered many helpful suggestions and ideas, from how to get my computer
to put accents on vowels to courses in ecumenism.
As CESE`s Ecumenical Relations Officer, I have specific tasks and assignments. I help plan communications
initiatives especially for churches and ecumenical institutions. As well, I represent CESE on the local ecumenical
council which plans celebrations and activities throughout the year. For example, we will be inviting church leaders
to participate in several events during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. We are also going to develop a selfdirected workshop on prayer that can be tailored for use as a worship resource for church groups or implemented in
a more traditional workshop format.
I have responsibilities, yes, but perhaps like all our ministries, sometimes I am just present, that is, walking along
together with folks! My prayers and reflection focus to a great extent on how to just be – as well as I possibly can!
Meanwhile, I trust, with humility, that God will use me - like clay! I am working on what this earthen vessel (me!)
is intended to hold and pour out!
Kathleen Stephenson
April 2009