“Good Tidings”
The Earth, Spirit, Action Team Newsletter
St. Matthew’s United Church
May 17th, 2026 No.35_____
Welcome to the Pentecost 2026 issue of “Good Tidings”, the Earth Spirit Action Team newsletter that discusses both local and global environmental and climate change issues; offers suggestions for personal and political actions for building a healthy planet; shares information on the work of other environment and climate change organizations; and offers faith reflections on creation, climate and environmental issues, through book reviews, opinion pieces, and the contributions of our readers. We welcome feedback at: earthspiritaction016@gmail.com
“Loving God, You renew the face of the earth and bring newness to our world:
Restore the waters, Refresh the air, Revive the land,
Breathe new life into all your creation, and begin with us.”
The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer, David Adam
In This Pentecost Issue of Good Tidings you will find a message from our Minister Judith Perry, a review of Jennifer Ackerman’s “What an Owl Knows” along with a summertime reading list from Anne Marie Dalton, an inspiring Pentecost prayerpoem by our friend, Gordon Murray, a guide to the HRM’s new recycling rules by Paul Bowlby, some suggestions for advocacy by Margaret Sagar, thoughts on environmental advocacy in turbulent times, and a summer recipe by Margaret Machum. This will be our last Issue until we re-group in the fall. We wish you a refreshing time this summer in this season of the Holy Spirit.
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“In your love, You have given us the power to behold the beauty of your world in all its splendour.”
The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer, David Adam
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Pentecost Urgency Speaks to Catastrophe. Rev. Judith Perry
One could think of Pentecost as a spiritual beginning, an ignition point. The account in Acts describes rushing wind, descending flames and a cacophony of voices and languages that somehow are both understood and life enhancing. It is the feast day of divine disruption. God is insisting that the world can change and that human beings can change with it.
What about today? The climate catastrophe is accelerating. Pentecost speaks to this with a renewed urgency. The same Spirit who once filled a room in Jerusalem now presses against the walls of our complacency, calling us to breathe differently, speak differently, and act differently. It is a summons.
The story begins with wind—violent, unsettling, impossible to ignore. In Scripture, wind is never just weather. It is the breath of creation hovering over the waters, the force that parts seas, the whisper that reaches Elijah in his despair. At Pentecost, the wind is the Spirit’s way of saying: You cannot stay as you are.
Climate catastrophe is also a wind—though not a holy one. Hurricanes intensified by warming oceans, wildfires driven by shifting jet streams, droughts that turn fertile land to dust. These winds expose the fragility of the systems we have built and the illusions we have cherished. They shake our foundations, not to destroy us, but to reveal the truth: the world we have made is unsustainable, and the world God desires is still possible.
Climate catastrophe is real, and its consequences are profound. But Pentecost insists that the Spirit is not finished with us. The same power that raised Christ, the same breath that animated creation, the same fire that sent the disciples into the world—this power is still at work.
Pentecost hope is fierce because it is shared. It is communal. It is sustained by the Spirit who refuses to abandon creation.
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Jennifer Ackerman, What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s most Enigmatic Birds. New York: Penguin Press, 2023 Review by Anne Marie Dalton
This is a fascinating book by a diligent research scientist, who is also a bird lover, an environmentalist, and a superb writer. The science is clear and intelligible, stories of owls entertaining, and the writer’s obvious concern for her subjects inspiring. All to say, this was the best book I read this year.
Did you know that scientists have found 260 different species of owls? They range in size from the miniature Elf Owl, about 13 cm long and weighing 30 to 40 g to Blakiston’s Fish Owl, which has a six foot wingspan or to the Great Gray Owl, the longest owl, measuring sometimes over 30 cm in height. Owls inhabit every continent on the earth, except the Antarctica, and survive in some of the most extreme climates.
Some of the most fascinating sections of What an Owl Knows deal with addressing the title question inhered in the title. What does an owl know and how does the owl know what the owl knows? Akerman explains many of the ways in which scientists attempt to understand owl intelligence. One of the experiments resulted in a test now used to measure hearing in human infants. A scientist noticed that the pupils of the very large owl eyes dilate in relation to sound as (discovered later) so do the pupils of human eyes. Doctors now test the hearing ability of human babies by watching their pupils! In owls, the excellent seeing and hearing abilities interact in the centre of their brains to enable the acuity with which they hunt, possible giving the owl the equivalent of GPS. Hence the ability of the Great Gray Owl to locate voles under several feet of snow in extreme darkness.
Other features of the book include cultural perceptions of owls throughout history and today in various parts of the world (See Chapter Eight, “Half Bird, Half Spirit; Owls and the Human Imagination.”) There are also accounts of famous individual human relationships with owls. Picasso, for example, adopted a Little Owl and by some accounts saw his own “owlish” features in the face of the owl and shared in the owl’s natural grumpiness (p. 205).
The Afterword is entitled “Saving Owls: Protection What We Love.” Ackerman attributes the challenge to survive for many of owl species primarily to “Loss of habitat” especially the destruction of old growth forests which have provided nests, protection and food source for many species. Climate change also changes the nature of habitats and the availability of food sources. One of the most vulnerable species is the Snowy Owl, now only about 30,000 adults remaining. There is a great urgency and deep sadness expressed at the possible fate of many owl species, but, Ackerman argues, it is not too late to “do something.” There are groups of ordinary folks around the world working to help save the owls. Changing perceptions of owls and the natural world in general is important. Learning more and really caring lead to action. Akerman’s What an Owl Knows is an excellent place to start.
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SOME GREAT SUMMER READING…
Anne Marie Dalton
Ackerman, Jennifer. What an Owl Knows. The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds. 2023, Penquin Press, Penquin Random House, New York. This author has also written The Genius of Birds and Birds by the Shore.
Hayhoe, Katharine. Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World. 2021, One Signal Publishers, Simon & Schuster, New York.
Holly Hogan. Message in a Bottle. Ocean Dispatches in an Age of Plastic. 2023, Alfred A. Knopf Canada, Penguin Random House, Toronto.
kelsey, elin. Hope Matters, Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis. 2020, David Suzuki Institute, Greystone Books, Vancouver.
kelsey, elin. How to be Hopeful. Empowering Practices to Overcome Despair and Act for Climate Justice. 2025, David Suzuki Institute, Greystone Books, Vancouver, Berkeley, London.
Klein, Naomi. Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal. 2019. Simon Schuster, New York.
Losada, Isabel. The Joyful Environmentalist: How to Practice without Preaching. (2nd Edition). 2025. Penguin Random-House.
MacFarlane, Robert. Is a River Alive? 2025, Penguin Random House, Random House Canada, Toronto.
Meyaard-Schaap, Kyle. Following Jesus in a Warming World: Christian Guide to Climate Action. 2023. Intervarsity Press, New York.
Osgood, Libby (ed.). Green Saints for a Green Generation. 2024. Orbis Books, Maryknoll New York.
Wright, N. T. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. 2008, Harper One, HarperCollins Publishers, New York.
Links: These websites (and others) provide information on Climate related writing.
https://climate-fiction.org/authors-based-in-canada/
Watch for this one, coming on May 26, 2026, from Melville House
Jeremy Lent. Ecocivilization: Making a World that Works for All.
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“The Spirit of the Lord fills the whole world. In him all things have their being. Alleluia!”
The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer, David Adam
“Gracious God, open our eyes that we may see the abundance of your creative love in all that surrounds and sustains us. Enable us to become people of hope and life, who plant the seeds of your earthly garden for the benefit of all. Help us to be gardeners and caregivers for the earth that is home for all life. Fill us with your gentle love, that we may walk tenderly on the earth, cooperating with your intention of abundant love and life. Amen.” Seeds of Life (The United Church of Canada)
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In this Issue, our “Did You Know” column, formerly written by Elaine Murray, is being presented by Paul Bowlby who reports on recent changes in HRM’s recycling regulations.
Effective December 1, 2025, Halifax adopted Extended Producer Responsibility regulations shifting financial and operational responsibility for recycling packaging and paper products from the municipality to the companies that produce, import, or sell them.
The list of accepted materials has been updated to create a consistent provincial standard.
New items accepted in blue bag curbside recycling include multi-layer paper containers (such as paper cups, paper bowls, ice cream cartons, and spiral cans), plastic tubes (like toothpaste and deodorant), and small item plastic packaging (including candy containers, garden pots, and seedling trays.
Conversely, books and pots and pans are no longer accepted in the curbside program and should be donated, taken to scrap metal depots, or placed in curbside garbage if no other option exists.
Items previously excluded from curbside collection, such as foam packaging, flexible plastics (chip bags, coffee pouches), and non-hazardous aerosol cans, are now accepted at participating depot drop-off locations.
For further information please contact: https://cdn.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/home-property/garbage-recycling-green-cart/cc_hsw_sortingguides_english_household.pdf
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Rev. Gordon Murray, friend and participant in our congregation at St. Matthew’s, has published several of his Prayerpoems in Sage, ©Gordon S. Murray, Limited Edition2018, ETC Press, Halifax, NS. We are re-printing one of his Prayerpoems, “Brother Sister Wind” printed originally in the Pentecost 2022 Issue. Thank you Gordon.
Brother Sister Wind
Genesis 1:2 - a wind from God swept over the face of the waters;
Genesis 2:7 – and God breathed into ‘his’ nostrils the breath of life, and the ‘formed clay’ became a living being.
Brother Sister wind –
restless
roaring
searching
destroying
caressing
distressing
whispering
uplifting
Brother Sister wind
Life-giving breath of God
from the water womb
you breathed us
we cried!
Brother Sister wind
you filled sails
turned mills
but we chose FIRE
burning fossils
fueling our imaginations
befouling your air
YOU !
US !
Brother Sister wind
Breath of God
is it too late?
Breathe us clean!
Save us!
Gordon S. Murray
Advocacy Suggestions by Margaret Sagar.
In each issue of Good Tidings, we offer updates from other environmental and climate crisis groups along with their calls to write letters or to sign petitions for specific actions from our governments.
350.org reports that the federal gov’t. has proposed a "Getting Major Projects Built in Canada - Discussion Paper" to fast-track the approval for pipelines, mines, nuclear facilities, and other mega-projects. Among other things, 350.org says “Companies proposing new pipelines would no longer need to pass an Environmental Impact Assessment prior to their project receiving approval.:” To learn more and register your concerns go to: New/Mode | Make your voice impossible to ignore
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On April 20th, 2026, Charlie Angus published this article in his blog The Resistance. Here are excerpts:
This past week, the Mikisew Cree First Nation of Alberta released a report on the massive cancer rates in their community. “We will all be dead in ten years,” said Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro.
The community lives downstream from the massive tar sands operations in northern Alberta. The people are being poisoned — from the staggering levels of emissions whose real rates of toxicity are continually under-reported. And they are being impacted by the toxins in the Athabasca River, where people fish for sustenance.
In 2006, Dr. John O’Connor went public with the frightening number of cancer victims in Fort Chipewyan. Cancer rates were at least 30% higher than in other communities. And yet nothing was done. And now, 20 years after Dr. O’Connor raised the alarm bell, the Mikisew Cree were in Ottawa with more evidence.
There are now over 1.4 trillion liters of toxic water (stored in massive) tailings ponds. The oil industry is (currently)seeking federal permission to begin dumping toxic water into the badly stressed Athabasca River system. To read more follow this link: https://charlieangus.substack.com/p/they-are-killing-our-people
Please write the PM, the Minister of Health, the Minister of the Environment, Minister Rebecca Alty, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and the Minister of indigenous Services asking them to address this critical issue at once. Find emails for the PM and Ministers at: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/ministries
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Greenpeace Canada. “When a conflict like the war in Iran drives up global energy prices, oil and gas corporations profit massively. In Canada, our main supply of oil does not even come from the Persian Gulf region, and we still face higher gas costs at the pump.
Canadian oil companies are expected to make 90 billion dollars in additional profit this year because of the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran. *
Innocent people are dying in these wars, and the rest of us pay. No one should profit from war and misery.
Together, we have to demand our government put a stop to this war profiteering. Tax excess fossil fuel profits. The money can support other government priorities, and households during this affordability crisis.
For more details and to sign a petition go to the link below.
*Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives April 8, 2026
Big Oil makes billions from war. You pay. Demand a profits tax.
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Environmental Advocacy in a Turbulent Time. John Nesbitt
There is no doubt we are living in turbulent times. The wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, the trade and tariff wars, the threats to sovereignty posed by military powers (including the threat to our own sovereignty), and the resulting disruptions to global trade and local economies have shocked governments into strengthening their economies by developing the resources at hand. In Canada the resources that come to mind most readily are fossil fuels and minerals.
Canadian environmental groups, the Sierra Club, Council of Canadians, Greenpeace Canada, and 350.org, have reacted critically to the federal government’s proposals to strengthen Canada’s economy, citing concessions to the fossil fuel industry through tax credits for LNG facilities expansion and carbon capture initiatives, reliance on the private sector to steer economic development, and a lack of interest in renewable energy projects. They have also objected to the Defence Industrial Strategy because armaments create devastation to human beings and the natural environment. (See links at the end of this article.)
Are environmental groups on the wrong side of these discussions about where our country should be headed? Are efforts to strengthen our economy necessarily a bad thing? Given the times, are we forced to make a choice between a country with a strong economy or rigorous environmental policies, a strong economy or a green economy? The answer to these questions is: no!
Despite the current turbulent times, there is serious discussion among world leaders and thinkers about transitioning from fossil fuel economies and energy to sustainable sources of energy and green economies. A Globe & Mail article, April 25th, reported that government officials, academics, and representatives of civil society from 57 countries, “the coalition of the willing”, met in Columbia to discuss how to transition in a “just, orderly, and equitable” manner. Columbia’s Environment Minister said:” We decided not to resign ourselves to an economy built on the destruction of life. We decided that the transition away from fossil fuels could no longer remain a slogan but must become a concrete, political, and collective endeavor.”
The world is changing and weaning itself from fossil fuels. From 1990 to 2022 in Canada, Greenhouse Gases emitted per person dropped 17%. In 2023 alone, GHG emissions fell by 8% in Europe (The Guardian 2024, October. 31st)
Last Fall, The Guardian reported that the world generated almost a third more solar power in the first half of 2025 than the same period in 2024, meeting 83% of the global increase in electricity demand. Wind power grew by just over 7%, allowing renewables to displace fossil fuels for the first time.
Environmental groups have been predicting an end to a fossil fuel economy partly because renewables have become more economical, and because the effects of global warming are so destructive and so obvious. They have also predicted that the oil industry will feverishly try to prolong its very lucrative business.
Throughout the transition from a fossil fuel to green economy, we need to continue to keep up pressure on our governments to prioritize development of a green economy and green energy sources; to require through policy and regulations, environmentally sustainable economic and resource development; and to collaborate with other countries to transition to economies that will protect and preserve a healthy environment and planet.
Keep those letters and petitions to our political leaders flowing! They need our support. In doing so, we will know we are aligning ourselves with the Creator who wants a new healthy and fruitful world for us all.
For further discussion of these issues please consult Sierra Club,
https://www.sierraclub.ca/action-item/carney-support-renewable-energy/
News - Sierra Club Canada | Sierra Club Canada Council of Canadians, https://canadians.org/takeaction/#campaigns
350.org https://350.org > canada and Media - 350 Canada
Greenpeace Canada https://act.greenpeace.ca/en-ca/no-more-oil-wars\
National Observer – Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/04/29/opinion/canada-strong-fund-economy-transformation
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PENTECOST CHICKPEA CURRY
Margaret Machum
Ingredients:
3 Tbs vegetable oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp chili powder or red pepper flakes
2 tsp cumin powder
2 Tbs turmeric powder
2 tsp garam masala
2 Tbs coriander powder
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 can tomatoes, crushed or diced
1/2 cups water or coconut milk
2 cans chickpeas, drained
1 cup coriander or cilantro leaves, chopped
Directions:
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More prayers from The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer by David Adam.
“How wonderful O God are the work of your hands! The heavens declare your glory.
In your love You have given us the power to behold the beauty of your world…
In your goodness You have made us able to hear the music of the world.
A divine song sings through all creation.”
(Adapted pp.29-30)
Holy Spirit, bringing order out of chaos,
come, renew the face of the earth.
Holy Spirit, breathing life into the lifeless,
come, renew the face of the earth.
Holy Spirit, making strong the weak,
come, renew the face of the earth.
Holy Spirit, giving talents to your people,
come, renew the face of the earth.
Holy Spirit, filling all things,
come, renew the face of the earth.
(Adapted p. 69)
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The Earth Spirit Action Team wishes you all a fruitful summer in this season of the Spirit.