A religious life has a different view of time and power. We are neither the beginning nor the end. I am not in charge of this universe. I just work here. I am responsible to act faithfully and truthfully. I am not responsible for the final outcome. – Ursula Franklin
It seems to me that there are big elements of trust, and of a particular kind of detachment, involved in navigating that balance. A trust in some larger forces, or in the support of people around us. And a detachment from perfection, from having control over it all.
All of which, in my world, makes the act of making plans a sort of spiritual practice. A visioning of how we want life to be, and a commitment to doing the work of moving toward that.
Which, actually, is pretty similar in our lives as in policy. A vision, and a commitment to doing the work. It’s a helpful way, I’m finding, to re-frame the things I’m wrestling with in my life, and the things we’re wrestling with as a society.
How can we take better care of one another, and ensure a clean and healthy future for our children. We’re doing the work, day in and day out. But we need a plan.
NEWS & EVENTS:
Hidden Legacies film screening
Wednesday, March 12th, 7pm
SFU Harbour Centre
Hidden Legacies is a short documentary, profiling young people whose parents and grandparents attended government-initated, church-run, Indian Residential Schools. In their own words, these inter-generational survivors – a rapper, a mother, a boxer, a social work student, and others – share their stories of struggle, resistance and resilience. They show low land, spiritual practice, and family have been sources of strength and transformation.
The film is a project of the Interfaith Institute for Justice, Peace and Social Movements.
Caring for All Creation Course
Weekly gatherings March 3rd – May 13th, 2014
In Victoria, Vancouver, or Online
Caring for All Creation is an outgrowth of Spirit of the Land, an effort to build a Community Land-Ethic, begun nearly 3 years ago in Camrose, Alberta. Find out more and sign-up at:
http://spiritoftheland.ca
Whole Child Conference
Saturday, March 29th, 8:30am – 3pm
Unitarian Church of Vancouver
949 West 49th Avenue
Trinity St Paul’s Divests!
On Sunday, Feb 23rd, the congregation of Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church became the first Canadian faith institution to divest from the fossil fuel industry.
The community decided, in a unanimous vote, to lend its voice to the fast-growing divestment movement, and to ensure that its own funds are not invested in any of the world’s 200 largest fossil fuel companies. The move is part of a larger climate justice movement that sees fossil fuel divestment as one tool for reducing the power of the dirty-energy industry, and shifting investment toward clean alternatives.
