Equality and Ecology

Tina Beattie has restarted her blog - and I'm delighted. I too - like so many - am horrified by the recent Dublin Diocese findings, and the many other terrible crimes that have lain undiscovered and unchallenged for decades under heavy, immovable clerical respectability. The light of truth and penitence needs to shine on these findings and nothing short of a Truth and Reconciliation process will begin to heal the wounds.

Tina and I have been talking about all things Catholic for a while, and as she has made the case for a review of sexuality and the Church so much more clear and human, I have - hopefully - tried to show that care for the planet we walk upon and the creatures who share our space is not to be reduced to campaigns to change lightbulbs or hand wringing over extinction rates. Our relationship with the natural world embraces all that it is to be fully human, to live dignified, compassionate and empathetic lives, and to view oursleves as humble creatures of God, alongside all others.

We are changed by our actions and we can become more or less human by even small acts of disregard and disrespect. We are diminished when we fail to see the deeper meanings and teachings behind the everyday, and that can apply to how we view a robin in the garden or how much we recycle. Archbishop Rowan Williams puts it beautifully:

"If I ask what’s the point of my undertaking a modest amount of recycling my
rubbish or scaling down my air travel, the answer is not that this will
unquestionably save the world within six months, but in the first place
that it’s a step towards liberation from a cycle of addiction that is keeping
me, indeed most of us, in a dangerous state – dangerous, that is, to our
human dignity and self-respect".

And if we cannot respect ourselves because we are distorted by acts which leave us with a dissonance that sets up conflict and uneasiness about what we are, then we cannot wholly respect others.

By adopting a more mindful approach, a more humble view of who and what we are - without ever compromising our sense of self-respect - then it will be impossible to dismiss the right to equality and full dignity of millions of people in the Catholic Church who feel dis-empowered, under-valued and marginalised. When we gain a true understanding of ecology, behaviour, interconnectedness and whole-functioning of life then we begin to touch on what it means to be fully human, and that doesn't mean fitting an idealised model.

Catholic Earthcare Australia, Water and Reconciliation

Catholic Earthcare Australia is a wonderful organisation. Here Jacqui Remond (Director) and Megan Seneque talk about the importance of water to faith, their future hopes and how the process of reconciliation that took place in S Africa might be helpful to Australia. Both are hot, dry countries, both have long and turbulent histories of relationships between indigenous and whites, both can learn from the past and have a chance to incorporate traditional wisdom into their way of thinking.

I think this is a fascinating area - not many places have that opportunity and I'd love to know more about it.

Pony Power - Back to the Future

Victor Barry

I've just got back from another wonderful holiday in Cornwall- the Roseland Peninsula. Its funny the people you come across in unexpected places. This is Victor, he is either 73 or 74, he's not sure which - and is passionate about organic, sustainable farming. He knows how to plough with shire horses and how to farm in "the old fashioned way", ie small scale, sustainable and providing for a local community. He believes this is a type of farming that is now in danger of being forgotten and he wants to see it put right back on the agenda - and nowhere more so than on the outskirts of the major cities and towns. He wants to see horses and ponies back on the land - small scale organic plots farmed by local communities and he wants to see traditional farming values transported into a modern world. He is passionate about horses - see Cornish Horse Power for details of how he wants to use horses today.

Below is a video of the plough team on his land harvesting hay. Victor is walking behind at the end. The second video is a closer shot, notice the hay bales being thrown out of the side of the machine - which is a hundred years old. The technology used to tie the bales with string was shared with Singer sewing machines.

This plough is very old, but more modern, lighter, easier to use ploughs can be used that don't require so much specialist knowledge and can be pulled by small ponies - and this is what Victor wants us to do.









But he is not advocating going back to farming 60 years ago, he believes we have to use modern technology with old fashioned values, which he believes are more respectful of the natural world. Certainly biodiversity was higher 60 years ago, although I know (and Victor knows) that farming back then was not a perfect model of egalitarian social interaction.

One of his ideas is to use the many thousands of pet ponies that are sitting idle for most of the day all around the outskirts of out towns and cities and teach them - and us - how to plough small fields with them for community farming, using modern, small, light ploughs. Its a great idea, I love the idea of using ponies in Community Supported Agriculture. Why not? Its the kind of creative thinking we need. He is an active member of Transition Towns which he says embody many of his dearly held beliefs about community and local supply.

An important part of Victor's drive to create a sustainable future for farming is his sincere, evangelical even, Catholic faith. He believes we have been charged with tending the earth and have spectacularly failed, particularly in the 70s at the height of intensive farming. I agree Victor, I totally agree. Every morning at 7.00 Voctor holds a small prayer meeting in his tumbled down "office" before milking his Jersey cows. His farmyard is full of fascinating old things including old wind surfers ( he was once pretty good I hear) old boats, tractors, the obligatory caravans and other "stuff"which most farmers seem to find hard to throw away!



I think Victor is onto something, using the wisdom of the past and combining it with new technology. And I think the spiritual underpinning of his actions will sustain him through these difficult times when I know he often feels he is a voice in the wilderness.

Perhaps we will see ploughing ponies bringing in a local harvest, and if I do I will say a silent thank you to Victor - I hope his dreams come true.

Telling Tales

A Catholic priest friend of mine said something very interesting when we talked about how the message of Christianity has become diluted, changed, boxed in and irrelevant. He said its because we betray our heritage. We used to tell with passion the greatest stories on earth - the rights and wrongs, dos and don'ts, trials and tribulations of being a human in search of a God - now we just give out rules and statements. And that is it. Where are the stories that set the heart aflame with a desire to seek and to change? Where is the inspiration and comment on a broken world that gives hope? I go to Church most Sundays and never hear a story that sets me alight (sorry chaps!)

Telling stories is in our very genes, it is how we have always made sense of an unfathomable world. From our earliest times on earth we would have told each other great stories from simple tales to huge epics - but they all do the same job. Jesus was a master at telling tales. Listening to stories real or imagined, helps us relate and gets our inner emotions engaged, no encyclical on earth will do that for me. So - as we wait with bated breath for the Pope's new one due out on Monday, which is supposed to have environmental wisdom in it - I wonder if it will be magical interplay on words and imagination? Will it make us wonder about who and what we are and the quality of our relationships, that are often beyond the capacity of utilitarian language? Let's wait and see....