David Boyd

I begin with a lament today, a lament of the horrible degradation in the Gulf of Mexico, a disaster of epic proportions that is destroying animals, livelihoods, life, and threatens existence in general to a far-reaching extent. It is a lament by Ken Sehested, co-pastor of Circle of Mercy Congregation in Asheville, North Carolina:

In the beginning, darkness covered the face of the deep.
Then the Breath of Heaven swept across the waters, blessing the sea with all manner of
creatures.
The sea knows its Maker and roars its applause; the fish therein leap at the sound of God's
voice.
Through the baptismal waters of the Red Sea did the Israelites escape their tormentors and
emerge to freedom's demand.
Surely, says the Prophet, the day will come when the whole earth will be covered with the
knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Through the waters of obedience did Jesus enter the Way. By the Galilee Sea did he call
disciples; on its waves did he come to them; by his power, its storm subdued.
On its shore he revealed his resurrection insurrection.
But now, on our border, the sea has been poisoned. The deeps, made for praise, now drowning,
voice hushed.
Poisoned sea, impoverished soul. Hear now our plea; come, make us whole.
The oil of sweet gladness, the mark of rejoicing, now chokes the earth's womb, its legacy
crushed.
Poisoned sea, impoverished soul. Hear now our plea; come, make us whole.
The fowl overhead, the fish down below, are fouled by the rupture of greed-driven lust.
Poisoned sea, impoverished soul. Hear now our plea; come, make us whole.
Have mercy upon us, bring our hearts to repentance; and bind us again to your covenant trust.
Poisoned sea, impoverished soul. Hear now our plea; come, make us whole.
Let us now pray for the ocean and the life it supports.

I think that there should be an international day of mourning to think about, pray for, and lament the horrible consequence of British Petroleum's disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. But, this day of mourning must also be accompanied by a day of action, where we take seriously our dependence upon fossil fuels and look to wean ourselves from this dependence, where we hold to account all of the oil companies and look seriously at oil rigs, oil transportation, oil extraction (including the oils sands of Alberta), and where we act to clean up the world around us. Lament, mourning and action must be part of the same response.

Gone are the days—if they ever existed—when we can wilfully ignore our relationship to all of life. We exist in relationship for we are part of the eco-system. Some people and 1^st Nations who live close to the earth have been saying this for years, but key leaders and actors on the national and international stage have ignored what they perceive to be simple-minded animism. It is not simple-minded; in fact, the idea that we are part of the eco-system is a far-reaching and advanced way of thinking that sees, understands and celebrates the webs of relationship in which we find ourselves.

And we need look no further than our own God to understand the complexity of relationships to which we are called to live. Almost all theologians of this age speak about the Trinity as a complex of relationships. God—as Creator, Christ and Spirit—is a relationship web that is difficult to understand abstractly but easily understood when we consider our own relational nature.

Part of the reason why I love the Celtic tradition of Christianity is that it is open about the relationship of the Trinity and its concrete nature with respect to everyday life. The images in these prayers are built around every-day duties of old: O God, star-kindler, kindle a flame of love within us to light our path in days of darkness. O God, sun-warmer, warm us with your love to melt the frozen hand of guilt. O God, moon-burnisher, burnish the shield of faith that we may seek justice and follow the ways of peace. Or how about this Trinitarian prayer: Name Unnamed, whose intriguing presence is closer to home than we dare imagine; fill us with wonder of you that we may be filled with wonder of ourselves. Name Unnamed, whose diversity is a river running, startle us with diversity and surprise us with difference that we may be filled with wonder of others. Name Unnamed, whose mystery and concern is revealed in Jesus, reshape our perceptions, reshape our patterns of living, reshape our politics and prayer that we may be filled with wonder of a world made whole. Or, if you want a more traditionally Trinitarian blessing, how about this: The love of the faithful Creator, the peace of the wounded Healer, the joy of the challenging Spirit, the hope of the Three-in-One surround and encourage you today, tonight and forever.

This past week, we witnessed the formation of community in an interesting way. The Abbey North Drummers were here to bring their message of hope with respect to Africa and to raise funds to build a school in Angola. I knew that there would be some participation on our part at their presentation last Tuesday night, but I didn't realize that it would be more or less compulsory participation. You couldn't help but realize that we were all going to drum when you came in the sanctuary and found the whole front full of rhythm instruments. I'm not necessarily a joining-in kind of person, but I took up a drum and played along with the rest. There were folk from the church there and people from the community. It wasn't necessarily my cup of tea—I'm not big into percussion, but it was interesting how we all participated in our own way. And I found it kind of fun. Everyone was participating and so there was a solidarity. And it didn't matter if your rhythm was a little challenged or if you played too loudly or at the wrong moment. It's kind of like singing here in church. John Wesley advocates that we sing lustily whether on or off key. We all created a community last Tuesday night and learned something about ourselves, about Africa, about Angola, and about each other. Music has the ability to draw us together and to break down the barriers that we erect around ourselves. That's why Melissa Etheridge and Salman Ahmed made the music video that I showed during the story-time, "Ring the Bells." That's why we sing in Church. When we engage in music, we push beyond our left-brain thinking into creativity and right-brain non-linear thinking; this takes us out of our comfort zones into new ways of being and more importantly, into new ways of relating!

We need to take our lead from the God who creates us, the God who took on flesh and dwelt among us, the God who is in the wind around us and our very own breath. God is in the intimate gift of love known in a variety of ways, and we are called upon to share in that love through the actions and intentions of our lives. We are called by God, the Three-in-One God, to relate more fully and to push beyond our economic safety or our need to acquire wealth and ensure that all of life is lifted up as sacred.

Let us turn our lament into action in this world, clean up the Gulf of Mexico, and learn that never again can we let this kind of environmental degradation occur. Let us emphasise our relational nature and see the webs that exist between all of life; let us open our eyes and our ears to hear the cries and sounds of life of all creatures.

I leave you with this poem from Robert Frost about our interconnectedness and relationship in life of all things; we do not merely want our own empty echoes to reach us back across the lake. We want a counter-love, an original response, as Frost puts it.

He thought he kept the universe alone;
For all the voice in answer he could wake
Was but the mocking echo of his own
From some tree-hidden cliff across the lake.
Some morning from the boulder-broken beach
He would cry out on life, that what it wants
Is not its own love back in copy speech,
But counter-love, original response.
And nothing ever came of what he cried
Unless it was the embodiment that crashed
In the cliff's talus on the other side,
And then in the far distant water splashed,
But after a time allowed for it to swim,
Instead of proving human when it neared
And someone else additional to him,
As a great buck it powerfully appeared,
Pushing the crumpled water up ahead,
And landed pouring like a waterfall,
And stumbled through the rocks with horny tread,
And forced the underbrushÑand that was all.

Poem by Robert Frost from Earth Prayers From Around the World, page 276.

Reading Robert Frost is always difficult and I invite you to visit the Nelson United Church website and read through this sermon where you'll find the poem. Sit with the images and ponder what action you might take with respect to the Gulf of Mexico and the environment in general. Blessing to all, the blessing of God our Creator, of God the Christ and of God the Holy Spirit.

Amen!!