Dear Friends,
Being mindful of those things for which we can be grateful seems a good way to enter into a new year. The Interfaith Coalition for Climate Justice in Halifax circulated a list titled “Practices of Gratitude for the Earth” around the time of Thanksgiving, but it is a good reminder for any time of year.
PRACTICES OF GRATITUDE FOR THE EARTH
- Keep a journal of gratitude. Make an inventory every day of 3-5 things for which you are grateful.
- Walk silently in nature. Thank everything in silence and from your heart.
- Choose a particular plant, animal or rock and research its particular role on the earth.
- Similarly do the same for the moon, a star or planet. Reflect on the intrinsic nature of these creatures as well as that they add to the lives of others.
- When you sit by a lake or a stream, give thanks for the tranquility, beauty and sustenance. Feel for its response.
- Plant a tree and nurture it (of if a tree is not possible, a smaller plant). Learn how it lives and what it needs for a full life.
- Plant a garden if you can. Thank the plant each time you pick its fruit or leaves.
- Read a book about birds, or beasts, or fish. Reflect on their beauty and intricate relationships with the rest of the earth community.
- Every morning when you first come into contact with water, greet it consciously and with gratitude. Wish for all waters in the world to be clean again.
- Take account of how much water you use each day. Learn about the system that supplies your water—honour and conserve the water.
- Do a sitting meditation near the ocean and focus on the waves—the breath of the sea—instead of on your own breathing.
- When you eat, be grateful for the food. Think of all the lives that have been lost in its production –lives of humans and of other animals and/or plants. Minimize the impact on the earth by eating locally and organically as much as possible.
- Use natural products for cleaning and personal hygiene. Honour the water and soil by decreasing the harmful products we add to them.
- Keep a record of birds that visit your backyard or just sit and watch them. Listen to their voices. Reflect on all they add to our enjoyment.
- Remember the ancestors of the land where we live. Honour the air, the earth, the water and everything in nature, just as they did.
- Practice seeing all the elements as sacred one at a time or all at once. This is the highest form of gratitude.
Don’t forget to attend Geoff Tansey’s lecture this Thursday, entitled “Choosing the Future and Avoiding World War III: Food is the Key.”
The event is free and will be held at the Universalist Unitarian Church, 5500 Inglis Street, Halifax, at 7pm.
Sponsored by The Ecology Action Centre and Halifax Friends Meeting (Quakers).
Click here to find out about this year’s Atlantic Friends Gathering at Windhorse Farm!
Q Program Committee is showing “Home Out of Nothing,” a film about the immigrant experience in Canada. Filmmaker Marina Shepeta will be in attendance.
Date: Monday, February 21, 2011
Time: 7pm
Location: Corrie’s — please contact Helen for specifics at hlofgren[at]ns[dot]sympatico[dot]ca
Today’s Meeting for Worship (February 6, 2011) has been cancelled due to the promise of further inclement weather, including ice and snow. Keep safe and warm and see you next week!
Public Lecture by Dick Cotterill, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), with special guest Cheryl Maloney, Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association
“What Their Stories Tell Us” 2010 Research Findings from the Sisters in Spirit Initiative Native Women’s Association of Canada
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 @ 7:00 pm
Colchester-East Hants Public Library, Community Room, 754 Prince Street, Truro
To include:
- 582 cases of missing or murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada.
- Nearly half of murder cases remain unsolved.
- Violence against women is a human rights issue.
- Aboriginal women are the most at risk group in Canada for issues related to violence.
- Violence rooted in the systematic, gendered racism facing Aboriginal women.
- Impacts of government policies and colonialism.
- Aboriginal women now represent a startling 33% of women in federal penitentiaries.
- Deaths as a result of drugs, alcohol, exposure or suicide.
- Deaths in custody of police, corrections, residential school or child welfare ‘care’.
- Missing Aboriginal women and girls and ‘human trafficking’.
- Overlapping and unclear jurisdiction areas.
- Heightened vulnerabilities.
Sponsored by KAIROS: Truro and Area Cluster
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives is a web of people and partnerships dedicated to a faithful and decisive response to God’s call for respect for the earth and justice for its people. A faith-based ecumenical organization, inspired by a vision of God’s compassionate justice, KAIROS effects social change through advocacy, education and research programs in: Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Energy and Extraction, Human Rights, Just and Sustainable Livelihoods, and Indigenous Peoples. These programs are informed by, and networked with, approximately 21 partner organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East; about eighty local grassroots groups across Canada; as well as with countless other organizations, churches and individuals.
Member Churches: Anglican Church of Canada, Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Canadian Religious Conference, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Mennonite Central Committee, The Presbyterian Church in Canada, The Primates World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF), Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), United Church of Canada.
Despite the flakes of snow falling this morning, we will be meeting for worship as scheduled.
The Halifax Friends Meeting’s new website is now live!
Some of our new features include:
- an active blog for activities, news and events, right here on the front page
- a regularly updated News & Events calendar
- special pages for our related Worship Groups around the province
- an online catalogue of the Halifax Meeting’s library
- administrative information for members available for download
We also have a new Facebook page — if you’re on Facebook please consider joining!
Please feel free to comment on this or any of the forthcoming posts by clicking on the title and using the comments section that appears below!
