ShareMining Justice: Lent
 For more information on the Mining Justice campaign visit mccottawa.ca/miningjustice
Ash Wednesday: Introduction and Invitation | 1st Week | 2nd Week | 3rd Week | 4th Week
5th Week | Passion Week For a printable version A friend of mine in Zimbabwe was recently arrested and put in jail. His crime? Talking about peace and reconciliation in the context of Zimbabwean mining practices. MCC Canada has been running a Mining Justice campaign for the past two years. Canada is a country with enormous connections to the world of resource extraction. During this Lenten season we want to focus some of our thoughts and spiritual energy on how mining justice issues impact us and how we impact them. Do you use a cell phone? This is a mining justice issue. Are you considering an engagement ring? Another mining justice issue. Do you drink fresh clean water? Many people in our world do not, because of mining justice issues. This Lenten season you are invited to join this journey of reflection and learning, seeking ways to respond as individuals, as families and households, as churches, as communities. What might we fast from so that we might gain more awareness of the numerous places our lives intersect with products and resources that fuel the injustices resulting from resource extraction? What practices might we adopt that contribute to more health for the earth, more justice for impacted peoples (often the indigenous) and a more balanced life of integrity for ourselves? The six weeks of Lent provide us with an opportunity to reflect upon our lifestyle patterns, to pray more deeply, to experience sorrow for what we've done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need. Too often, however, this focus on ourselves fails to move us beyond our own individual, comfortable worlds - it becomes little more than an exercise in self-improvement. We give up sweets in the hope of fewer pounds, we to give to charity or live more "green" to alleviate a measure of guilt, and so on. Even if the things we choose to fast from or add to our daily lives seem noble on the surface, we feel prideful and self-righteous about our relative success in becoming a “better person”. The uncomfortable truth is that sometimes even our well-intentioned desires to make a difference are self-fulfilling. So where does that leave us? Certainly not without hope, for our efforts are not necessarily in vain. In fact, our personal, individual choices CAN make a difference in the lives of others, but it’s important we step back and take a long view of the journey ahead of us. There is no shortage of issues or causes to add to the list - there are always more items and issues that demand our attention and concern. But this is why we find hope and peace in the calling to find our source, our purpose, our vocation, in God. Nurturing our spirits with prayer, fasting and discipline, we stay close to God’s heart. We live in hope knowing our efforts can be used by God in a new creation. It is a journey, a process. We may not see our final destination - it is a practice of faith. You are welcome to use these Lenten materials as tools to aid your reflection and prayer, increase your mindful awareness, and nurture meaningful relationships in your life. You are invited to join this journey, and learn more about Mining Justice along the way. Our prayer is that you would experience
Relatively cheap oil has meant fast, easy and independent transportation for many of us. In a word, it is convenient. There are hidden costs to this convenience, however. We may feel entitled to this kind of transportation. We may have distorted views as to how much essentials like food should or shouldn't cost. It often means we are alienated from neighbours and others because we need them for less. How can we cultivate greater bonds of caring and friendship and potentially consuming less oil?
CO2 pounds per passenger per mile[1]:
Bike or Walk 0.00
Mass transit (¾ full) 0.26
Carpool (3 people, 21.5 mpg) 0.37
Intercity train (U.S. average occupancy) 0.45
Economy car (solo driver, 40 mpg) 0.59
Mass transit (¼ full) 0.75
Jet (U.S. average occupancy) 0.97
Average car (solo driver, 21.5 mpg) 1.10
Sport utility vehicle (solo driver, 15 mpg) 1.57
For further Reading & Reflection:
Prayers:
God, you are our Sustainer and Redeemer. Forgive us when our dependence and addiction to oil and gas fuels further abuse of your creation. Give us strength to reform our perspectives of needs and wants, so that, with your grace, our lifestyles might be transformed to truly reflect your love for all creation. May we live more mindfully, so that all might live more abundantly.
Amen.
Dear Lord, You too walked on this Earth.
We thank you for taking on flesh like ours.
But we struggle with the reality of our walk.
Our North American footprint is large and heavy.
We know there is a connection with our way of living
and the oppression of other people in the world.
We don’t want this to be so. Our lives are filled with many good things.
Parting with them is hard, for they give us comfort and security.
Forgive us for having our securities so rooted in things rather than in your love.
We seek repentance. We desire change.
Grant us wisdom to live in your joy by living with less.
May we be participants with you in restoration.
Amen.[2]
Coltan is an element used in all portable communications devices such as ipods, cell phones, blackberries and laptops. It is known as a "conflict mineral" because it's extraction is connected with war, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute." ~Wendell Berry
For further Reading & Reflection:
Oh God, we thank you for being the source of life.
Repeatedly through your Word and through your creation,
You have shown us the importance of food and water.
Both of these are gracious gifts. We give you thanks.
You ask us to share food and water with all - even our enemies.
We confess that our sharing is meager in comparison with our abundance.
Teach us to be good stewards of both the gift of food and the gift of water.
We pray for wisdom to know how we can be better partners in sharing these gifts
with all our neighbours near and far. We desire a greater equity.
May you be glorified as we care for these gifts. Amen.[3]
For further Reading & Reflection
"The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth...We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." ~Chief Seattle For Further Reading & Reflection:
For further Reading & Reflection:
[1] www.sightline.org
[2] Luke Gascho, Creation Care: Keepers of the Earth (MMA, Goshen, Ind., 2008), 99.
[3] Luke Gascho, Creation Care: Keepers of the Earth (MMA, Goshen, Ind., 2008), 111.
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