Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Holding Fast for Bill C-300

Fasting is a spiritual practice that helps to attune ourselves to the Spirit.  Today I will not be eating any food to honour the 500 000 signatures of Canadians who over the last 3 years have put their names to the cause of human rights and environmental stewardship.  During our mining campaign, people spoke in churches, schools, street corners, and countless conferences and workshops, seeking to put an end to the Human Rights abuses and Environmental abuses of some Canadian Mining Companies operating in the Global South.  They met with over 120 MPs pleading for a legal mechanism to hold companies accountable. 

I fast today to honour the voice of Catholics and countless others, but also to pray.  Every hunger pang will focus my attention to a thousand stories my fieldwork on the mining campaign brought me to encounter.  Each one is a prayer for the passage of the Bill C-300.  As I write now, I think of Pedro Landa from Caritas Honduras, whom I accompanied on a speaking tour of my region.  Pedro and his wife melted their gold wedding rings, sold the gold and gave the money to the poor. Why? Because what Gold mining had done to his country meant that he could no longer see the ring as a symbol of the Sacramental marriage bond between him and his wife.

At home with my kids and Pedro Landa.
Why choose today to fast?  I fast today because on Parliament Hill this afternoon, MPs will have the 3rd reading vote on Bill C-300, the Responsible Mining bill put forward by Scarborough liberal MP John McKay.  Today the vision of solidarity with the countless people affected by companies carrying our flag can be democratically confirmed.  The people of Canada have sent a clear message, now it is time for those we have elected to hear our voice!

Yesterday I contacted key liberal MPs and asked them to sponsor my fast by voting in favour of the Bill. Today I am going to e-mail them all.  I am also asking any who have not already contacted their MP to sponsor me as well by calling your MP this morning at their constituency office on Parliament Hill.  Step 1) Find Out who your MP is. Step 2) Find out how the voted on C-300 at the 2nd Reading   Step 3) Contact your MP and ask them to vote in favour of Bill C-300 today!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

'Bottled Water-Free Zone' Cake.

Saturday and I was on the road again - this time to Peterborough.  On tap for the day: a morning campaign workshop at St. Anne's with local D&P members, followed by a retreat on Caritas in Veritate.  I posted the drops from the Barrie workshop on the wall.  As you can see, the stream grew a bit more as participants added their own drops. It was a creative morning. 

This time round we chose a pregnant mother to handle the water gun.  Needless to say Amanda encountered less resistance than fair-trade Bob did in Barrie. 

To celebrate the start of the campaign, Karen Staunton baked a beautiful 'bottled water free-zone' cake.  What delicious artistry! Karen is an amazing D&P member who leads the group at St. Anne's and knows how to get things done.

Now I have done a lot of workshops but when it comes to retreats I'm a definite newbie.  Leading a retreat on Caritas in Veritate was new territory for me.  However, the group warmed up to me from the moment I began singing that Hal David classic, "What the World Needs Now is Love."  This essentially is the message of Pope Benedict's encyclical.  It is so simple as to be dismissed as cliche, however the implications are deep and far reaching.  Love must be the force behind our efforts as a global human family - neither the market nor government institutions are sufficient to bring about the development we need.  What is needed is a mobilization of the heart.  According to Catholic Social Teaching, to develop is not just to do more, know more and have more.  To develop is to be more. We believe in integral human development, the development of the whole person and every person (no short order).  But what is it to 'be more'? This is where the Truth comes in.  Rather than the truth being a set of doctrines or rules, truth is found when we open ourselves to listening to the other and finding the laws written by God on our human hearts.  Indeed it is here that we find the very splendour and glory of God.  For us as Catholics, Love in Truth is a powerful force that opens us to what it is to be more.  Throughout the afternoon we explored those depths as a group.

After the retreat we celebrated mass together.  How lovely it was to have Fr. Bill ask us to stand and be acknowledged by everyone gathered for mass that evening at St. Anne's.  It was as precious an applause as I have ever received. After dinner we ate cake -  'bottled water-free zone' cake.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Cohesion in Barrie

On Saturday I was on the road up to St. Mary's in Barrie early in the morning.  By 11:00am we had 18 people posting blue water drops on the wall.  Each drop contained words sharing the experience of water in our faith.  This was part of a formation workshop facilitated by myself and our national council member Sylvia Skrepichuk on our new water campaign.  Sticking stuff on walls is a favourite workshop tactic, especially in popular education.  Somehow a workshop feels more productive if something is stuck on the wall - why is that? At the very least I would say it makes things pretty.


This time we did something a bit different though. The drops were not placed on the wall wily nily.  You can see in the picture that I've posted how they fit together.  We did this to illustrate the phenomenon of cohesion.  Our campaign Tabloid uses the cohesive properties of water to describe the work of KruHa, an indonesian organization supported by Development and Peace, "each drop of water becomes stronger when united with other drops of water.  Indonesian water activists work much the same way.  Development and Peace partner KruHa (the People's Coalition for the Right to Water) is a coalition of more than 30 Indonesian organizations, each working to ensure water access for all Indonesians, especially the marginalized."

One participant, 'fair-trade Bob' (a leader in the local fair trade movement), happens to be an oceanographer by training.  Speaking of cohesion led him to comment on the many other amazing properties of the H20 molecule. Indeed, this gift given by God for life is truly unique.

Water also adopts amazing properties when placed in a water gun. Bob found this out when playing the role of a bottled water company denying peasant farmers access to a local spring.  The activity was part of a simluation to share the experiences of the Sukabumi community in Indonesia described in our Tabloid.

The morning formation was the third of four being offered in the Archdiocese of Toronto. We do one for each of the North, Central, Western and Eastern regions of the Archdiocese.  The west is the last, November 27th at St. Dominic's in Mississauga (625 Atwater) 9:00-1:00pm. Do come!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Change Brewing in the Church Basement

Mustard Seeds tend to germinate very well in Church Basements.  As an animator, the Church basement or Church hall is my element.  I love everything about them, even the occasional smell.

Last Friday I was in a church basement that actually smelled amazing.  The RYVM at St. Patrick's Parish on McCaul St. in Toronto hosted "Brewing For Change", a social justice coffeehouse.  This photo is a shot of the doorway down.  The place was filled with the aroma of espresso and cheesecake provided by Fr. Santo Arrigo and his team (many thanks for your wonderful ministry!).  My opening gambit, "Would you ever take a big bite out of a raw onion?" caught people's attention (now you are wondering too right?) and the presentation on D&P was well received, including our water campaign cartoon.  I had several good conversations with interested folks and gave a prayer to the Holy Spirit afterward as a few more seeds were sown.

Of course, my presentation paled in comparison with the performances of my son, Jacob 7, and daughter Amy 5, who came with me.  They whistled and hummed renditions of K'naan's "when I get older" to the delight of those gathered.  It was a bit of a late night for them although I told myself, "it's Friday." Plus, they both walked away with treasures from the Good Shepherd Sisters Sharing Fair, who had a table at the event.  Jacob is now sporting his tri-colour rosary to school each day.

Why are Church Basements so precious? Because they are spaces the Church has seen fit to create where we can strengthen the bonds we share in the Eucharist and give others a glimpse into the life of the beloved community.  There are no glitzy marketing schemes here.  Everything instead is simple: simple kitchens to feed people, simple tables to gather around and simple words and music to rejoice.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

JPII, I'm proud of you!

John Paul II in Scarborough is a long-time supporter of D&P. They faithfully carry out our campaigns every year and help with the planning of our annual student days. Last Tuesday I was with them as they hosted their local MP John McKay. Students sent him postcards in support of the D&P campaign to establish a legal mechanism to hold Mining Companies accountable for Human rights and Environmental abuses. In response, the Hon. Mr. McKay came to share with them the story of Bill C-300, which is his responsible mining bill. D&P has thrown its nationwide support behind this piece of legislation that would deny abusive companies access to the tax-payers wallet. The event was covered by the Scarborough Mirror. Bill C-300 goes to its 3rd reading vote on October 27th. If you haven't yet, look up your MP and give them a call - we need all the votes we can get!

Now I often meet with silence after issuing questions following my presentations (I'm sorry to admit) The students of JPII though still had their hands raised after asking Mr. McKay about 20 questions. It is really wonderful to see students and teachers of a school community so engaged. I left feeling inspired to re-double my own animation work to build support for Bill C-300. JPII I'm proud of you!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Mustard Seed Movement

The parable of the Mustard Seed is a favourite of those who long for social change. We like the idea that our small seed will grow into something big and great. It was only in university that I reflected on the fact that I had never actually seen a really big "mustard tree" before. In a New Testament course I took, I was exposed to a much more exciting interpretation of the parable. We were shown a picture of a mustard plant - it's a shrub. Mustard, it turns out, was seen by the farmers in Jesus' time as a wild and uncontrollable weed. It spread quickly once taken root and was very hard to get rid of. Thus, the growth that I had always imagined to be vertical turned out to be horizontal. I think Jesus would have understood our idea of grass-roots movements very well, he just would have called it a mustard seed movement. Development and Peace is very much a mustard seed movement. By organizing itself in small groups found in church basements, school chapels and classrooms, the movement grows. It is always alive and beating with the hope of a better world. It cannot be stomped out or cut down in one fell swoop like a large tree because hey, do you know how many church basements there are in Canada!?! As it grows so to does the involvement of our church in building the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that Jesus tells us is like a mustard seed. And so, welcome to Mustard Seed Musings where you will hear tales and reflections on this little tiny Mustard Seed called Development and Peace.