Earth Day reflections from Dundas
By: Anglican Church Of Canada
Tags: Earth Day, Pollution, Climate Change, Earth, Christian Living

image via Shutterstock / Alina Kruk

Contributed by Sue Carson, chair of Greening Niagara, Diocese of Niagara

(written Sunday earlier this week)

During this time of enforced isolation, I count myself lucky to be living in one of Southern Ontario’s gems — the Dundas Valley. We are just 30 minutes from the city of Hamilton but in a place of history and upmost beauty. As I write today, on Earth Sunday, I am reminded of all that we are missing in our churches. Today, at St. James Anglican Church in Dundas, we were going to hold a pet blessing service this morning, and this evening there was to be have been an Earth Vigil.

I often turn to the Psalms to get the words that help me remember to praise the world and all that is in it. Psalm 96 tells us:

“The Lord made the Heavens. Majesty and splendour attend Him, might and beauty are in his sanctuary…. Bow down to the Lord in the splendour of holiness and dance in his honour, all men on earth.”

So, my lovely Irish Red and White Setter just had his usual walk this morning and we blessed him ourselves, as we do every morning as he gets us out (rain, snow or shine) for our exercise. Unable to take our usual Hamilton Conservation Trails during the COVID-19 outbreak, we have been forced to look for roads and paths that we travel less often. So, our sanctuary this morning was a turning off the road by a local waterfall. We took a route that must be hundreds of years old, it is part of the Indigenous Peoples’ portage route linking Lake Ontario eventually with the Grand River. To ponder how this area must have changed is awe-inspiring. The trees and plants must have seen so many eras, and yet here they are, in my lifetime, doing what they do every spring — coming to life again after the winter.

Coltsfoot. Image via Shutterstock / Andrei Dubadzel

Our heads were up — mostly to check the sky which had dark clouds circling, but I kept my head down some of the time to look for the wildflowers that were just opening — Coltsfoot flowers have been blooming for a week, Trout Lily leaves are showing; and the first signs of Bloodroot white flowers showed today.

But a sadder reality is that I also look, and then bend down to pick up the plastic and garbage that people have chosen to throw away instead of taking home. Some pieces are months old but one plastic water bottle had appeared since we last walked the path a week ago. Why in this time of isolation, does anyone (especially someone lucky enough to be able to get out and enjoy the beauty of the area) think that throwing away a bottle is going to bring joy to the people who follow in their footsteps?

I would say to this polluter: it’s bad enough that you still feel the need to buy water in a plastic bottle; but if you chose to come out into the countryside, please don’t deface it. Don’t you want it to look as beautiful the next time you choose to enjoy the splendour that we are so privileged to be able to use?

While doctors, nurses and other health care workers are struggling to keep COVID-19 at bay taking care of our loved ones, my prayer is that the rest of us honour their work and treat the world with more respect. For the last month of walking the roadways I have picked up a full grocery bag of garbage every day. I have had to put out two full black bags every week lately, rather than our usual half bag.

I received an email from the Council of Canadians yesterday and I quote their message:

“Arundhati Roy said, ‘This pandemic is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.’ We need to transform this world into one where people and the planet are cared for and we need to imagine that world so we can build it.”

So, when life is back to normal — please can the new normal be taking better care of our environment? Treat the earth with the respect and holiness that it deserves. Bow down and appreciate the splendour of the flowers. And although I may be past the dancing stage in my life, I hope others like me will honour our amazing world.