When you fill your life with optimism, love and joy there is no room for despair, fear or regret.

Joy, our third note as Franciscans, has been a challenging command for me. While I have had too much rational education as an engineer, and experience as a physics teacher, to avoid facing the sometimes brutal harshness of our world, my duty as a Christian and new Franciscan has forced me to find a way to transform that harshness into joy. The struggle to integrate this excessive rationality with our Franciscan note of Joy has led me, at times agonizingly, into my current vocation as environmental writer, inspired always by my beekeeping. Beekeeping has been a catalyst in this process as it has helped me realize how little we are ‘ìn control’ of Nature, how much we are part of Nature and especially how our choices that result in killing bees also risk killing us in the long term. Nature, like the bee pictured on my finger above, is not a threat if we have knowledge and treat it with kindness and respect. In the next few paragraphs I hope to inspire you to also find a way to face honestly and respond joyfully to the harsh realities of Climate Change.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.

Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37

If you write you also know that sometimes the right words just flow from your fingers, while at other times you have to dig deep down into your soul to find them. This is such a time. I have struggled with finding the right words to express the hope and joy I know is ‘out there’ in spite of the sad reality of a world seemingly rushing towards the precipice of destruction. Today, just as the Church had lost its moral credibility at the time of St. Francis, our worldwide consumer industrial civilization has lost all contact with its moral foundation; the bedrock truth that all of life is God’s creation, for when we destroy this creation we destroy ourselves. But I am not here to condemn. My message, inspired by Christ’s teaching does not condemn but rather seeks to bring hope by showing that there is another way to live, a better way, a way that brings life instead of death, a way that partners with rather than attempts to masters God’s creation. That way is the path of Joy.

If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity,

you have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men. St.Francis

Fourteen years ago I got very sick. It was four years before I was strong enough to return to work part-time, and I was, as you would expect, a changed man. I now felt very mortal and decided I would not live a life with regrets. I had experienced the destructive power of regret at that time and ever since has made certain that I consciously make a daily choice to think and act in ways that leave no regrets. Part of that desire resulted in the recognition that I needed to make life changes so that could serve as an example for my children. My life would become a living example of a joyous way of living that did not destroying either the Earth or exploit the poor. Rather I would be a small, flickering candle of hope in the dark forest of our self-centred, materialist world. But given that I am married (and wanted to stay so!) these changes had to be made in ways that my wife and children could buy into and feel good about. The following summarizes most of our investments and life style changes made over the past 10 years to become (almost) Zero Carbon, that is, without producing any carbon dioxide in our daily lives: First, we put solar panels on our roof, converted our oil heat to a geothermal ground source heat pump (Ontario electricity is 99% carbon free) then we raised chickens, worked hard weeding our gardens to grow healthy food, I started beekeeping. We have worked hard to reduced our garbage by 80%, we drive two electric cars, and I have stopped flying. I am not listing these efforts to draw attention to myself but, rather to show that there are many changes we can all make that reduce our carbon footprint. For me these choices became part and parcel to what it meant to be a Christian steward, while simultaneously improving our family’s quality of life. Others are sharing this journey with me. Peter Kalmus, a NASA scientist who now emits about 1 ton of carbon dioxide per year (down from 19 tons per year, about the U.S. average) said: “What surprised me is how much happier I am. I’ve discovered that the rewards of living with less fossil fuel are huge.” Another living the ‘low carbon lifestyle’ is Karl Coplan, who has a blog where you can follow the family efforts at LiveSustainablyNow. Visit the family and take a moment to be inspired! Even better, watch the new documentary ‘A Quest for Meaning’ at https://filmsfortheplanet.com . Their message? Only JOY will save us from ourselves as we face Climate Change.

The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. Robert Swan

Zero Carbon Living is also about having less stuff. Some would say this means being Monastic, others Minimalist, I would say it’s just common sense. When you have a lot of stuff you don’t own the stuff, rather, it owns you. If you want to learn and be entertained at the same time as to why less stuff will help both you and the planet watch these short clips on you tube: ‘The story of stuff’ by Annie Leonard and the skit ‘Stuff’ by the brilliant comedian and social commentator George Carlin. Both of these people emphasize that the fact that YOU can do something, none of us is helpless and that life gets better when you experience happiness by being really connected with people who matter to you – in other words, you are not alone and you are loved. This leads to another insight in finding a joyous filled response to climate change. In the words Naomi Oreskes: “it's not about the facts, not about the science. Underneath all of this is a fear that capitalism has failed. That new rules and regulations and carbon taxes to fight climate change are somehow an assault on our freedom and liberty — that we'll become Communists. That's why environmentalists are called "watermelons", green on the outside, red on the inside. Hard to believe, but that's the core of the resistance." In other words only persuading people to change the way we live is not all about pleasure; it’s also about understanding ourselves as a collective as well as individuals. It seems that many American Christians who think only in terms of individual rather than corporate salvation are also resistant to the message that climate change is real. My joy was quashed when I read this recent headline: “Are Christians becoming more environmentally conscious? A new study says no.” (Indystar, Jan, 17, 2018)

Making a big life change is scary. But know what’s even scarier? Regret.

Climate Change should thus not primarily thought of as a physical battle but rather as a spiritual one. This spiritual battle is being waged in all our souls. Our enemies are fear and despair and ignorance but with love in your hearts, knowledge in your head and a smile on your face can shine the light of joy and hope for all to see and dispel the despair so many feel. Becoming a Franciscan has helped arm me for this battle by confirming and supporting the efforts we have made by forcing me to bring into my response the vital ingredient of joy. Nobody likes a party pooper who points a finger of guilt by saying things like: “You are condemning your grandchildren to a dying Earth” for I have observed that trying to shame others into changing their ways is not only hopeless but is one of the quickest ways to lose all your friends! Rather, we have chosen to quietly and slowly put our money where our mouth is by living less materialistically, and investing our cash and talents to reduce our Carbon footprint and to live a life with more joy. We believe that by being an example we (and that includes you if you so choose) can inspire others to do the same.

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. So, be swift to love, make haste to be kind. Henri F. Amiel

I don’t want to give the impression that we spent our way to happiness – quite the contrary! As you can see in this picture of our children they lived a simpler life free to play: we had dogs and chickens and turkeys and bees and they helped weed our gardens where tomatoes, garlic, beans, lettuce grew and lots and lots of flowers for the bees! These changes also forced us to be creative. Live in a smaller house did not mean we moved, rather, we transformed our basement into an apartment, rented it to a church friend and once our children left home my mother in law move in.

Really, it’s all about making choices. My choice to stop flying has been the most provocative, however the math speaks for itself: in the Paris Accord target a world average carbon budget is 1.6 tons/yr. while one flight to visit my sister in Australia is five tons! We have cleaned out many closets – to the great benefit of the Salvation Army. Strangely, the hardest change has been to try to live ‘zero waste’. That means, no garbage, no food going bad in the fridge, no plastic bags, no throw away coffee cups – this has been very difficult, and we have not yet met that target, but we are getting better! Perhaps the best evidence that our efforts were lived out with joy is that our children are imitating us and look back fondly on their childhood. They had no TV, no computer games, no cell phones and they had to help weed the gardens, bring the chickens to the abattoir, harvest the honey and dig out the garlic but mostly they had the freedom to play with their friends and let their imaginations run free. We did not talk to them about the threat of pollution, the 6^th great mass extinction or Climate Change, rather we armed with them with confidence and optimism. Others have chosen to tell children ‘the facts’: it is claimed “that in the UK that half of young children surveyed aged 7 to 11 are anxious about the effects of global warming, often losing sleep. This is grotesquely harmful.” (The Guardian, 15 June2009) This report confirms to me joy is the essential ingredient to all we do in life and especially when we discuss Climate Change.

No passion so effectually robs the mind of its powers of acting & reasoning as fear. E.Burke

Our post 9-11 Age is filled with fear. Few would disagree that fear robs us of joy. Fear of terrorists, fear of being bullied, fear of finding a good job, fear of food laced with toxins, fear of pain. The media are using that fear to sell to us things we don’t need while politicians and corporations use the same fear to make ‘us safe’, but the actual result is that they now have greater control of our lives. Fortunately we, as Franciscans, have chosen another path, for Christ’s path is one of freedom. However to be free requires the courage to act upon one’s convictions. The Bible tells us that to endure this courage must be based in love: love of all life in Earth. As we are told in 1 John 4:

There is no fear in love, for perfect love drives out fear.

When I talk with young people they feel helpless about climate and thus afraid of the future. They need examples, examples from older people, to demonstrate that they are not helpless, that they can act, and that fear has no control over their lives. All of us can escape the trap of fear but we all need examples. If you are older I have a challenge for you. Help dispel the fear experienced by our youth - be an example of a life filled with optimism AND with knowledge. Dare to learn as much as you can about Climate Change. Be joyful as you face and act upon the very real threats of Climate Change. Live as close to Zero Carbon and Zero Waste as you can. Be a climate champion.. Smile a lot. Be optimistic and let your joy be infectious. I leave you with a final gift: the gift of a smile on your lips as you see to the joy of these children in South America as they call out to ‘Buen Vivir!’ Let us all try to emulate the same joy they have!

http://enpositivo.com/2012/12/cultura-para-vivir-bien/

Gordon Kubanek: Green Party of Canada Candidate for Nepean

Wednesday 7 February 2018

Is Joy the Missing Ingredient in our Fight with Climate Change?