A Robin in the snow

I saw a robin, the first one this year that I have seen. It was hiding under a spruce tree from the rain. Looking in the bit of grass looking for a morsel, some crumb. And wondering, "where did this snow come from?" No song came from his mouth - maybe muted by the change that brought all this snow. And as the dog and I approached, he would hop from grassy spot under a spruce tree to the next spot under the adjacent tree, until he was hid behind a grassy hummock in a sea of slushy fading snow. I hoped he found a meal in that place. The rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and watereth the earth, …that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. (Isaiah 55:10) -

The gospel of the day, Mark 7:24-30 - even the dogs eat the crumbs off the ground under the table"

I was thinking about how these words, spoken by a woman to Jesus, moves him to act, and I was thinking about how we are supposed to be the crown of creation…, whatever that means, but I feel something seeing that robin in the snow - I wonder how my life has put him there, or am I just like him, there in the snow, trying to find something on this cool rainy morning - -I hope he finds crumbs.

Even what they have will be taken away

"Even what they have will be taken"

Thursday, January 26, 2017

9:22 AM

There are currently two different stories playing out in North America. One is a story of a nation that seeks to reconcile with its oldest relatives, the First Nations and the land itself. The nation-to-nation relationship of First Nations to the newcomers is a quest to move toward a feeling of greater intimacy in our communities and solidarity that is both local and global. It is a journey of attempted reconciliation founded upon the land.

The other is a story of a nation that believes it can hang on to greatness by trying to go back to some use of force that will generate prosperity - or something perceived as secure and comfortable. They rage and thrash against some perceived enemy and wall themselves in - and play the pipe while the end comes. 

Pitrim A. Sorokin wrote, "When any socio-cultural system enters the stage of its disintegration the following four symptoms of the disintegration appear and grow in it: first, the inner self-contradiction of a irreconcilable dualism in such a culture; second, its formlessness - a chaotic syncretism of undigested elements taken from different cultures; third, a quantitative colossalism - mere growing at the cost of qualitative refinement; and fourth, a progressive exhaustion of its creativeness in the field of great and perennial values. (pg 14 of "Tragic Dualism, Chaotic Syncretism, Quantitative Colossalism, and Diminishing Creativeness of the Contemporary Sensate Culture" in American Catholic Sociological Review" Vol 2, No. 1 (March, 1941). Pp. 3-22)

The gospel for the day: Mark 4:21-25

²¹ He said to them, ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? ²²For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. ²³Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ ²⁴And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. ²⁵For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’

The phrase from Mark that captures me is, "from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." Nations that have begun to disintegrate and who cannot muster any creativity as far as the great perennial values shows that it has nothing.

Sorokin writing in 1941 points out that a nation that is dualistic and displays "irreconcilable contradictions”, that all the while "proclaims "democracy of the people, for the people, and by the people"; in practice tends to be more and more an oligarchy or a plutocracy or a dictatorship of this or that faction…" pp 2. "It (this nation's culture) exalts him (man) as the hero and the greatest value, not by virtue of his creation by God in God's own image, but in his own right, by virtue of man's own marvelous achievements. It substitutes a religion of humanity for the religion of superhuman deities."

A nation seeking to live out the great perennial values of right relatedness built upon reconciliation which includes telling the truth, empathetic listening, and coming up with a shared plan, is like a light set on a stand. This is the City on a Hill which is a light of the world…"to those who have, more will be given." The nation that does not turn inward in reflection and repentance, seeking to be healed and heal the brokenness around; that roars and shakes its fist at the heavens and proclaims its own greatness while berating its citizens of their lawless nature and their need to be policed, has begun to disintegrate. Shouting for more violence, more prisons, bigger walls, bigger guns, and more control exhibits a loss of what has made it a great nation and is merely hastening its own demise. By its own judgment it has nothing of a creative nature to indicate the way forward in a complex world - if it continues, "even what they have will be taken away."

In the midst of all this there are two stories playing out. I was just thinking about these things.

The Loneliest Night of the Year

As I was coming to work this morning, I was looking at the last full moon of the year; "Twas in the moon of wintertime" so the refrain goes from one of the oldest hymns written by a new comer priest inspired by his interaction with turtle island (what we call Canada), and probably his attempts to convert or the conversion of Indigenous people to the Christian faith. Or, maybe by his conversion to Indigenous faith. Or, was it the conversation to faith in God and the ability of the gospel to be received in this land of the mighty Gitchi Manitou.

The moon of Wintertime, the loneliest night of the year. I was thinking about my father, who is in a hospital room, not waiting to heal, but waiting because he is old now and his life is slowly leaving his body. And as I thought about him, I was sad; the loneliest night of the year.  I will push the feeling of sadness out of my mind soon, but I will linger on them just for a bit. Thinking about waiting and reading the gospel of the day, Luke 7:19-23. Two people ask Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" A question from two people sent by John the baptizer, who was in prison, "are you the one..?" Waiting for the one who is to come - by those who had power, but unable to help a sick servant, by a widow whose son had died unexpectedly; by those who had diseases, battling personal demons and all forms of the malady of the human condition - the sadness and the loneliness -waiting- the loneliest night of the year - waiting for the one who is to come.

"Twas in the moon of winter-time

When all the birds had fled,

That mighty Gitchi Manitou

Sent angel choirs instead…

"Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, In excelsis gloria."

 (Original carol in Wyandot (Huron) circa 1642 by Jean de Brebeuf translated into English by Jesse Edgar Middleton 1926)

The Bear's House since the beginning

I was out running Wednesday morning. It was cool out and you could hear the crunching of snow that had frozen into ice. 

My back hurts but I try to get in at least 1 mile. The magical mile, far enough to say that I ran but not long enough to call me a marathon man. I ran to the Richmond Dike and then looked up at the stars. The stars that have been their since creator entered the story of our lives. I looked and saw the big bear (ursa major) and then let my eyes follow it to find the North Star. 

Scott Momaday, Indigenous author, penned a conversation between Urset and Yahweh, 

Urset: "The one story must be very old."

Yahweh: "It is older than I, for I am contained in it…” (In the Bear's House New Mexico Press, 1999)

That the great mystery is contained in our stories shows the miracle of the incarnation. That creator has come close to give us the words to write and speak, to remember the story. “The word became flesh” and dwells in our story. The words can be seen and heard, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see, what has been there since the beginning.

Sighing and Singing

Sunday morning I was walking and the wind was howling through the scaffolding in our apartment complex. It brought to mind that the wind makes different noises depending on what it moves through.

The wind through the man-made trees of scaffolding was howling like a banshee - it was eerie. The wind through the oak trees and cottonwood makes creaking sounds but the wind through the evergreens makes a sighing and peaceful sound.

Sighing and Singing

Sighing and singing through the needles in a whimsical song,
Sighing and slipping through the dancing needles ,
Sighing and slicing gently through limbs caressing the breeze
Sighing and shivering rolling on the currents of wind and time longing for warmth
Sighing and shaking, straining against the tendons of bark and sap holding the life - waiting

Sighing and waiting eyes close, I wait - sighing and slicing through the current of memory caressing the path like the tendons of life waiting for spring.

Getting Older

As we get older my melancholy gets ever closer - not depression but in the evening my reality overwhelms me. I think about the things that are past and the things that will not come back. “Let me live in a way that when I die, my memory will bear much fruit.”


These words, inspired by Henri Nouwen reflecting on Jesus saying, “It is good that I go away,” Jesus' going bore much fruit.

A Cold Stone
The cold stone church wall
A place of remembrance -
The voice of a thousand angelic memories locked inside -
Crying in the night and reflecting
Where and when did they go?

A cold stone church step
A thousand footfalls, beaten down
The passing of a thousand hosts, never coming back-
What and when did they think and love?


A cold stone marker
A place of resting -
A thousand words of longing - silenced for a time
When and how will they rise again?

Oil and Natural Gas

The announcement yesterday that two of three pipelines are going ahead, when in actuality only one is going to be done right away. Both approved pipelines will run where there are already pipelines present. We can celebrate that not all pipelines are approved. People however, are polarized over the issue, believing that any pipeline construction is a defeat. All or nothing arguments are not often helpful. The difficulty is to try and find some language that all can agree on. It is difficult to decide what is best. My family has been fed and warmed because of the gifts Mother Earth has given to us. We had a garden that we gained food from. Of course being in a country where the North Wind rules for many months of the years, it was also important that our relatives the fish and moose, deer, rabbit and others gave themselves to us so we would have food. Our people also had shelter and clothes. We used to heat and cook with wood and coal. Of course this was too much pollution as the world became more complicated. Natural gas and heating oil were cleaner sources of heat than coal and wood, so it was a good thing when we could heat with those things. Hydro electric is a difficult one because it changes the environment, floods the land, and takes away the homes of many. It has a limited return and the land will never come back from being flooded. The debate is not whether we use oil or natural gas forever, it is how we move to better utilize what Mother Earth has given us. No one wants an oil spill but they happen and we must learn to deal with them. We have vilified the evil oil, but we must talk in a respectful way with each other to find a longer solution.

We must hunt and eat, so how do we do that in the best way? Traditional knowledge could help us get to a different place - to be respectful and thankful. To try and use everything that we can from what we take from the earth. To put something back for everything we take. To make sure that we share so everyone has enough and no one has too much or too little. To use our freedom for the good of everyone, so that we can live in harmony with the earth, other people, and creator. Perhaps if we could do that, seeking a spiritual solution as well as an economic solution, it would help us think in other ways. We must all work harder to find positive ways forward in the light of decisions that are not popular with everyone. This is the hardest part, but our elders tell us we must talk and try and find a solution to live like family in the land. It is a good world, “all my relatives".