2013-Feb-1 | Wcmtsu

A Word on Ethical Struggles

Much of the discussion WCMTSU is engaging in is based around the question: How we can live an ethical life in our contemporary context? We are asking our selves how our experiences in a community, as stewards of creation, and as people of faith will influence the way we choose to live our lives. These are difficult questions that many people struggle with, and they remind of a story a friend told to me recently.

Friend "A" and couple "B" were taking a road trip together. All of the individuals in questions are sensitive to how producers create and present products. They are interested in living out their lives with all three WCMTSU questions in mind (community, stewardship, and faith). Now, when travelling for long periods of time it is more convenient to stop at fast food restaurants to eat. (We will exclude the option of bringing a cooler of their own food with them. Though some may argue it would be a more innovative option than will be described shortly.)

The point is, Couple "B" wanted to eat at a common Canadian coffee franchise, because the large American fast-food chain uses a lot of genetically modified products. They saw the coffee franchise as being a lesser evil. Yes, the food isn't freshly prepared with all organic ingredients, but on the scale of life it is a couple rungs higher.

Friend "A" disagreed with their logic. Having worked for both the fast-food chain and the coffee franchise, Friend "A" felt that the fast-food chain treated their employees nicer. She understood their concerns about the nutritional value of the food but preferred to eat at a place where she believed the company was treating their employees with more integrity. Again, no one is under the assumption that the fast-food chain was an amazing employer but on the ethical ladder it had a couple rungs on the competition.

This is the issue with ethical struggles in my own life. It is so hard to figure out whether I want to buy the fair trade, the organic or the Canadian-made products.

Hot off the Keyboard

Katie Ironside (2013)

Selina Mullin (2013)

The Simple Life

Selina Mullin (2012)

Soft wool dyed warm hues, bright and beckoning
A hint of oil and farm, wrapped and drenched in strong soaps
The rustling of people, looms and splashing water

Laughter erupting in the sun

Warm and greasy, wetted and sloppy, becoming thick with art
Fingers pricked by misguided needles

Not enough time before winter comes to cover cold arms

Not enough skill or wool to protect them all

Waiting for the others—the finisher

Working together with the weavers, herders, and dyers
Only the smallest part of many

Wobbly lines forming shapes hidden in the fabric

Bringing out the colour and beauty of this world
I am proud to be one thread in many
Woven through this simple life

The Felter

Jonathan Askwith (2013)

There’s no doubt that, according to the account of God’s great act of Creation in the opening chapter of Genesis, humankind plays a significant role in the world God created and called ‘very good.’ (Gen. 1.31)

There’s no doubt about that, but what needs to be asked is, precisely what does the creation of humankind signify?

The obvious significance is that humankind is in some way distinct from the rest of Creation. Only humans are specified as being created ‘in the image of God’, for one. And, while the rest of the animal order fills the earth as a matter of course, only humans are commanded to ‘fill the earth and subdue it’, and it is humankind that is given dominion over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, and beasts of the field. (Gen. 1.28)

With great power comes great responsibility, as Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben reminds us. But the history of humankind is largely a record of how we have willfully shirked our responsibility. The God-given dominion by which we with God pronounce all things as ‘very good’ for their own sake has progressively deteriorated into the kind of domination with which we are all too familiar: the exploitation, rather than enjoyment, of the world around us.

Recovering a way of life that responsibly exercises the dominion (to use the language of Genesis) we are expected to have over the rest of Creation is of critical importance. I am convinced of the reality of human-caused climate change, but even if I were not, I would have to acknowledge that, at the very least, it is plain to see the harm we are doing to ourselves and to our fellow creatures as a result of our willfully irresponsible exercise of our dominion.

Stewards of Creation

The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.

Wendell Berry

I work at an outdoor science school. 5th and 6th graders from the Los Angelus area come to the mountains of the San Bernardino National Forest, and it is my job to teach them about photosynthesis, the water cycle, and astronomy. During the early fall months and late spring, astronomy is taught while the sky is still a dusky blue and constellations are mentioned in theory. However, in the wintertime the children step outside of their cabins for evening classes and are greeted by a host of "fire-folk sitting in the air," as poet Gerard Manley Hopkins described stars.

Before I start my astronomy class I always have them lie down on their backs and look, unmoving and silent, up at the stars. For some of them, this is the first time they have seen a night sky unpolluted by city lights.

During the daylight hours we have all kinds of fun exploring the forest. We unearth bugs, hug trees, etc. I am actively trying to get these children to engage with their environment. I am a mediator between small-humans and Nature. But in the darkness, when my students are taking-in this canopy of "old light"—I explain to them that the light from the nearest star traveled about four years to get to our eyes here on earth and some starlight has journeyed billions of years to reach our retinas, hence the expression, "old light"—then there is a moment when it is just them, and something more.

I do not try to define that "something more" for them. The impulse to define and dictate the wonders of this strange world so often lead us to push our conclusions upon others, especially children. I try to avoid that; I would rather them feel the mysteries of existence on the skin of their face. I want it to flood their eyes from a billion light years away.

I look at the stars too, during those few moments of quiet and beauty. No one defines or dictates to me either, and I find myself in awe all over again. In awe at the time and distance that it took for old light to reach our human eyes in this moment. I feel myself small and fragile, and yet somehow miraculously alive and a part of something more than what I can fathom. This world with its beauty and brokenness is not easily explained. I have stopped looking for an explanation. Instead, I am keeping my eyes open for lights in the darkness, and my soul open to something more.

First appeared on Reflections on Darkness (2013)

The significance of the role of humankind in Creation is this: that we have been made ‘in the image of God’. (1.27) And the picture of God we get from the opening of Genesis is of one who delights in his Creation, who blesses its operations and sees that it is good; indeed, ‘very good.’

Our purpose in filling the earth and subduing it, of having dominion over the created order, is to continuously reflect to Creation the delight, the enjoyment, which the Creator expressed during the course of his creative act. Quite simply, we’re here to love Creation for its own sake, and not only for ours.

Enjoying Creation for its own sake is not altogether easy: after all, we rely on the world to live, and this reliance imposes certain hardships. Yet the alternative to enjoying Creation in fulfillment of our responsibility and purpose is, in the end, to hate and exploit that Creation.

Everyone starts by enjoying Creation from an instrumental perspective; that is, for what the world provides for us. It is well and good that we do so, but if we are unable to move from there, we fool ourselves when we say we are enjoying Creation. Our lives will express our irresponsible and shallow enjoyment.

To move on requires, on our part, that we continue to playfully enjoy and learn about Creation, while at the same time reflecting and meditating upon the fact that that Creation is given to us so that we can reflect to it God’s delight in it. It is not ours to do with as we please. We are stewards of Creation, entrusted with the care of the world around us. We care for what we love; let us go out and delight in what has been entrusted to our care.

Old Light

Karis Taylor (2013)

The crown of God’s creation is a new creature, a creature that can sound the heartbeat of its Creator. That creature, made male and female, reflects God’s own relational richness. The human family is to join God in the ongoing work of creation. The earth below and the sky above with all their inhabitants are too beautiful and too good to be left alone. They need the tender care and close attention that only God’s

favoured creature can give

The Voice*

There seem to be too many ladders with too many rungs! Even more confusing is the question that If I buy an organic or earth-friendly product from a store I know has policies that I see as socially irresponsible am I counter-acting my good deed? Or, If I buy the moisturizer from the company with good corporate social responsibility but it is a poor product for my skin aren't I made a foolish purchase?

This is where I always think of Utilitarians, and I am referring to the hardcore Utilitarians who count points! It is similar to a Weight Watcher's meetings, but for moral quandaries like whether diesel is better than regular. I don't want to be legalistic with my life, and I realize that I am a product of my environment, and also an inhabitant who must, to a degree, operate within its bounds.

And, since we all can't live in the woods or start our own farm, I have created my own rule of thumb:

If I can make it myself then I will (within reason)
If I can buy it locally then that is a plus! (Especially if it is from a mom & pop shop, or a local artist)
If I am buying from overseas I buy fair-trade
Put good money down on the essentials and try to think hard about much you really need

But, when it comes down to it and I'm on the road I try not to sweat the small stuff. Every purchase we make is a vote, says Ten Thousand Villages (a very cool fair-trade project), but the most important thing is we are thinking about our purchases. Thoughtful consumerism paired with taking steps whenever reasonably possible to live and earth and neighbour-friendly life, is the best way I know how to live.

I wish I could be a Wendell Berry, off on a farm. But even he recognized that wouldn't work for everyone. Instead, I'll stick with homemade pie crusts and my every day struggle to live through my ethical quandaries in a big city, amongst a community who seems to ask the same questions.

Friends of mine often joke that I was born in the wrong century. Many of my dreams find their roots in traditions that have long since been extinct (though I’m still holding out that one day I will attend a Georgian Ball), and there are lots of ideas floating around my head that most 20-something Canadian women do not often think about. I have come to terms with the reality that not everyone thinks like me (shocking!), but I can’t help but hope that some of the customs of days gone by might make a resurgence among my generation; most significantly, the practice of simple living.

There is so much that I could say about my dissatisfaction with the consumer-age, about how we are bombarded every day with messages of how only this or that product will make us truly happy. Let it suffice to say that I disagree with that ideology wholeheartedly, and believe that corporations are far too comfortable deceiving the masses in exchange for a few dollars from their pockets. My main point is to remind readers of the value of simplicity, as it comes by doing things ‘the old fashioned way’. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very fond of many aspects of my modern life, but over the past few years I have been learning to appreciate the beauty and quiet satisfaction that comes from some more antiquated customs. Like baking my own bread. The process of measuring ingredients, kneading the dough and letting it rise takes time— but what we forget in our hurried lives is that those moments are priceless!

My grandmother told me once that she would imagine kneading the worries of her life right out of her as she punched down the dough and formed it into loaves. Think of that! How much easier would our lives be if we could just knead some dough every now and again—and not fretting about how long it’s taking when we could be off doing something else, because we’ve finally slowed down long enough to realize that what we really wanted all along was just to slow down and think.

Bit by bit I am trying to inject my life with similar values. I write letters by hand, because it makes me think more deeply about the words I use, and because I know it will bring unlooked-for joy to my friends when they receive it.

Instead of using chemicals to clean with, I choose to scrub sinks with baking soda and vinegar, to get rid of germs with tea tree oil and water1—those other cleaners work much faster, and take a lot less sweat on my part, and yet I would not choose them for all the ease they might give. Knowing that I am not pouring harmful chemicals down the drain or coating every surface with some product whose long-term health effects are unknown—that’s good enough for me. And again, the extra time that it takes me is simply another opportunity to reflect on my dreams, or to hum a tune, or remember something silly from my childhood.

Another change that I’m loving more and more is not having a lamp in my bedroom. I wanted to challenge myself to depend less on electricity and more on candlelight (bringing in the 1800s, what-what!). It’s enough light to read by, and as I sit bundled beneath woolen blankets, the pages of my book lit by the two flickering flames beside me, I am aware of a deep calm in my soul. Perhaps reading by candlelight is not the most practical option— wouldn’t I rather just flick a switch and think no more of it?— but this life, a life of hearkening back to days when things were done more simply, with more intentionality, is what I long for most. It is the sort of life that leaves room for appreciating that the truly best things in life are worth slowing down to enjoy.

When it comes to cleaning with baking soda and vinegar, my general rule is to use the soda for scrubbing (to help clean off visible mess), and then a mix of 3 parts water and 1 part white vinegar to wipe down various surfaces.

I don’t really use a recipe, more so just eye-ball it. The tea-tree oil is something I add to that water/vinegar mix to help fight germs, bacteria, etc., and I usually add 2-5 drops, depending on how much water I’m using (it’s pretty powerful, so you don’t need a lot).

As an aside, baking soda, vinegar (white and apple cider), and hydrogen peroxide are pretty much the Jack-of-all-trades Dream Team. Take some time to research their various uses, from household cleaning solutions, personal care (I use baking soda and vinegar instead of shampoo and conditioner), and, of course, baking.

February 2013 - #1