Three Wise Persons and the Others

Dorothy recalls when little Shannon, then three years old, questioned our manger scene wondering where the cat was. When we asked why she wanted a cat, she recited the hymn, "The cat all are lowing...". The next year Andrea found a little cat to add to the nativity, and the story grew a bit. 

Then Natasha wanted a pig in the scene, just because it was her favourite animal. So we added a pig and the story got bigger.

Of course there are Mary and Joseph, wise men and shepherds and camels and cattle and donkeys. We like that. The story is supposed to grow. Let's all get in there.

Christmas came and went and we had a good time visiting family. Last Sunday we celebrated Epiphany at church. The pastor said a few words and then invited the rest of us to tell what epiphany meant to us. This is how a 45 minute meeting turns into a 90 minute discussion. Then the pastor drove us home, and we kept talking for another 45 minutes. When you tug on one idea, it pulls out another which connects to another, and soon the map of the entire universe is in play.

So, epiphany celebrates the wise men finding baby Jesus in the manger. One wise observation about that is that Jesus reveals God's love, which is a significant event in our awakening to the divine. A second wise thought is that the Wise Men were from the east, that love is not tribal, and that is good news for all people everywhere. A third insight is that this event is universal, not merely human, that it reveals something about the nature of being, for all people, sheep and cattle and camels, cats and pigs, starry nights and everything.

We forget. Scan the news. Notice how many stories are about blaming others because they have harmed us, about laws broken bringing shame and retribution, about excluding those with different ethnicity, social status, political views or gender orientation, about human activity altering the climate and causing extinctions, about taking care of us while harming the others.

Epiphany is a new understanding: that fear and courage, despair and hope, grievance and anger, shame and pride, ambition and privilege, aggression and subjugation, all our tattered motives can be transformed by love. 

We should be so wise.

No Worries

You made it past the title. I fooled you. You already know that in my opinion climate change is something to worry about. I am tempted to say it's the only issue to worry about, since ignoring it leaves us with no future. So why aren't we doing more to fix it? There are reasons. If you continue reading and dip into the reference links below, you may get vaccinated against complacency or denial. You may also lose hope. I suggest we forget hope and just do what's right.

A few scientists say there is no climate emergency.
Do a search if you want. I won't provide references because I don't want to contaminate your mind with misinformation. However, I will give links to rebuttal. Whenever  scientists publish conclusions, they invite criticism, a process known as peer review. The vast weight of peer reviewed scientific literature concludes that climate change is happening and is caused by human activity. 

Whether it's an emergency may depend on how close you were to the latest disaster. If the disasters are happening elsewhere, you may gain some respite from anxiety by listening to those who say there is no emergency. Remoteness in place and time feels safe. It isn't. The greenhouse gases (GHGs) that have already accumulated in the atmosphere are not going anywhere anytime soon, and emissions continue to increase. Release of GHGs from the ocean, tundra, and soil are going to add to emissions from human activity; and the loss of carbon sinks from deforestation, desertification and warming of the oceans will accelerate the temperature increase. Within decades there will be no place to hide.

We got here by well-intentioned use of science and technology to make life more comfortable, prosperous and safe for human kind. This progress was fueled by fossil carbon. Since 1900, human population has increased from 1.6 billion to 8 billion (factor of 5), and annual carbon emissions have increased from 0.5 to 10 billion tonnes (factor of 20). A future without burning fossil carbon is the only way out of the impending collapse. When it happens, don't complain that nobody told you this was coming.

Pay attention.
Make a plan.
Do something.
Rejoice in success.
Learn from failure.
Plan what to do next.
Don't lose hope.
Forget hope and do what's right.
Belong with restraint to the world that gives us life.

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Assessing Exxonmobil's Climate Change Communications: a history of the science from within the fossil fuel industry.

The Climate Future: Just Have a Think, January 8, 2023.

Debunking Denial: by Steven Vigdor and Tim Londergan

Debunking Climate Change Denial, part 1

Debunking Climate Change Denial, part 2

The Sacred Balance: David Suzuki in search of a new worldview.

Act Now: United Nations Plan for Individual Action

Happy Now Year

The last two notes celebrated the future and the past. This one is about the easily overlooked bit in between where things happen.

What's done is done. What's new is now,
and now is all there is,
and all the joy God will allow
lives in this moment's kiss.

That's a fragment of a verse I wrote so long ago I don't remember the rest. What brought it to mind is two TV shows we watched one evening recently.

The first, a romance, had a wise secretary offering some advice to her young colleague who was obsessing over a deal gone wrong: "Take time to enjoy Christmas. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."

The next story was a mystery in which an aging private investigator quotes Horace: "Seize the day, and put the least possible trust in tomorrow". 

We have this interesting paradox: two random stories advising us to live in the moment yet taking me back to the past when I noticed being in the moment and used that moment to write a reminder for a future when I might forget. 

And here I am in that future-become-present
writing about that moment past
when I discovered
that joy can be experienced
only in a fleeting now...
and only if we aren't too engrossed
in the past or future to notice. 

Excuse me. I need to collect a kiss.

Happy Now Year.

About the Past

The last week of the year is a time for looking back. Memories are useful, but you can't trust them because they are biased. We best remember events that were surprising, stressful, emotional, painful: that time I put sugar in the salt shaker at a restaurant to impress (?) my date who didn't appreciate the joke at all (!), the first kiss and those that followed!!!  (don't know what she saw in me), recording our new baby's babble sounds to play back for the secretaries at school, the 180 we did in the slush on highway 27 one Christmas, years later being wheeled into the operating room to have some bits removed. I have vivid memories of those events, but I am not often so mischievous, adventurous, passionate, or afraid. Mostly, life happens, I deal with it and forget about it. That memorable guy in the rearview mirror was always into things, in trouble, in love, in extremis, in character as Super Jerk, not much like the guy in the mirror this morning who has made a career of avoiding trouble and suppressing emotion. Take a deep breath. Count to ten. Be reasonable. Safe. Forgettable. Boring. 

People don't want boring. People want to hear stories about Super Jerk. 

Therefore, when I retired from teaching, June 1997, I gave a Super Jerk speech to the whole school in an assembly.

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Fellow students (?!), the last time I spoke in an assembly was 1958 in Niagara Falls. Mr. Rutledge, our grade 12 English teacher, said I should enter the public speaking contest sponsored by the Lions Club. I had no interest in doing that, but Mr. Rutledge was very persuasive so I signed up for the ordeal against my better judgment. 

I don't remember my prepared speech at all. It must have been OK, but quite forgettable. The extemporaneous speech was another matter. Topics were assigned by lottery. I got "Public Speaking, My Impressions." We were ushered to a classroom and given some time to gather our thoughts. For most of that time, I had one thought: "Run, you fool. You don't belong here. Just run." Then I remembered what my Dad told me: "If you don't know what to say, tell the truth. Don't worry if it makes you look bad. Nobody will believe you anyway."

When it came my turn, I began, "Fellow students, the topic I was assigned is Public Speaking, My Impressions." Then I began to describe in detail the state of my physiology, racing pulse, vasoconstriction of the extremities, complaining bladder, distressed alimentary canal starting with dry mouth, sick stomach, pyloric spasm, and heading on down to the nether regions. The audience didn't believe me. They thought I was joking and were having a good laugh. Mr. Rutledge had been paying attention with growing alarm, and he believed me. He realized I had said enough and the story was going to end with another orifice having the last word. So he rang the bell and said, "Time's up, Dennis. Out that door and down the hall there is a washroom. I suggest you run."

When I got back, I found out I had won the contest. The prize was that I got to do it all again at the Lions Club meeting the following week.

That was just the beginning. The rest of my life was the same story over and over. I became a teacher and stood in front of people most days telling the truth and running to the washroom between classes. Until now. 

I imagine if Mr. Rutledge were here, he would be saying, "Time's up, Dennis. Out that door and down the hall there is...you know. You better run."

I would say, "It's OK, Sir. Over the years I have learned to come prepared."  (At that point, I pull spare underwear out of my pocket and hold it up for all to see. Much laughter from the audience surprised to learn how Super Jerk saves the day. Then I continue.)

Mr. Rutledge might say, "Ahh, Calvin Klein. Good choice. It seems you have been quite successful."

And I would say, "I guess I have. But, if it's OK with you, I'm going to retire now."

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Believe it or not, that story is mostly true, and also misleading because my past is mostly boring. That's how memory works. Don't trust it. What we remember is not exactly who we are. We are defined largely by the things we did not do: emotions controlled, trouble avoided, being reasonable, forgettable, boring.

Remember this: no students died in my chemistry lab. That's why most of the chemistry I taught has been successfully forgotten. I guess I was successfully boring.

But Is It Real?

Many Christmas stories raise the question of otherworldly belief: in the Christ Child born in a stable, in angels and a guiding star and wise men, in Santa Claus squeezing down the chimney with a bag full of presents that are just what we want as if Santa had read our letter. In fact, nobody believes that fiction except kids who are too young to understand that grownups like to pretend while they wait for spring.

If we are conflicted about believing what isn't real, it may be that we think of reality and imagination as separate things. They are not. Imagination is an emergent and evolved feature of reality, with real implications that we cannot avoid. For better or worse, imagination has transformed empires and nations, grasslands and forests, lakes and oceans, deserts and polar ice, the atmosphere, outer space even to the moon and beyond.

If children have visions of sugar plums, someone will make them so children can have sugar plums. Without imagination we are stuck in a reality without sugar plums. Through imagination we participate in turning What-Is-Now into What-May-Be. Along the way, we will get some things wrong as the ancestors often did. Right or wrong, our story will inform the dreams of our children and their children so they can do better than we have done. That is what's really real, imagining a better reality and making it happen.

And that is my story for a holy winter night.
Merry Christmas.

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Thanks to JG for pointing my imagination in this direction.

Merry Questmas to the Grumps

I was ready for bed last night before I remembered that the garbage bins had to go out for pickup. I had to get dressed again and head out into the cold. Wouldn't it be nice if a thought aimed at the north pole would bring Santa's elves to do the job so I could just snuggle in and go to sleep.

It doesn't work that way. Correction. It doesn't always work that way. Sometimes there are tasks that get done before we ask, and people cheerfully lend a hand when they can. There are neighbours who shovel our snow because they know my back is weak, and friends who taxi us around because I can't see well enough to drive. The best part of the self is an inner elf who enjoys helping. Christmas is about rousing that elf so even grumps like Scrooge and the Grinch get to join in the fun.

Merry Christmas to those who need help.
Joy to the elves who do the helping.
Merry Questmas to the grumps.

Merry Questmas

Nine sleeps. Then Santa comes.

Question: what will we be celebrating at Christmas?

Maybe it's about a break from school, or bright decorations cheering up the dark winter, or joy, hope, love, and peace, or getting presents, or time off work, or good food, or being with family and friends, or the birthday of Jesus, or the spirit of giving, or all of that and much more. If we have settled on an answer, we might question that answer, and question again, and again. Christmas can keep us busy for an entire lifetime probing the mystery of how to live well. Along the way, in spite of our good intentions, we will sometimes, like Scrooge and Marley, get the answer wrong. Then, if we don't insist we are right, we can make amends and be forgiven while we continue the quest. 

Christmas is a question forever in search of better answers.

Merry Questmas