The Brothers Farr sing for ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Montreal

Yesterday members of the Baha’i community were invited to join the congregation of St. James United Church in downtown Montreal for special Sunday service.  It was nearly 100 years ago to the day that a 68 year old Persian spiritual leader spoke in the same church on the evolution of religion.

From 239 Days in America:

Perhaps it was unexpected that a voice calling for modern religion came from the East. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá argued that religious truth must change along with the evolving needs of society. Rather than deny the existence of a creator, or the benefits religion had given humanity, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke of the need for a reformation so that modern religion could meet the needs of an increasingly complex world. [Full post]

‘Abdu’l-Baha is a central figure of the Baha’i Faith who’s epic journey to North America is being celebrated by Baha’is across the continent this year.

Yesterday’s service closed with two original songs from my friends Eric and James Farr of the band Honeyman and the Brothers Farr with Jacque Proulx accompanying them on the violin.  These wonderful videos were filmed by their friend Clara Haskell at the church before the event.  Here is the other song they performed yesterday morning, it’s called “Children of His Journey”.

To follow the story of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s trip, I highly recommend checking out 239 Days.  It’s a social media documentary that shares a  fantastically well-written post every day that tells you roughly where ‘Abdu’l-Baha was at in his journey 100 years ago to the day.  I’m subscribed to it by email to be notified as articles are posted.

It’s been great to follow this story every day — especially in the run up to these centenary events in Montreal that I got to attend. Coincidentally I am going to be moving from here in Eastern Canada to San Francisco this Sunday to begin graduate studies at around the same time ‘Abdu’l-Baha visited the same city 100 years ago on 3 October 1912.  I feel like one of those devoted fans who follows their favorite band while they are on tour, only 100 years late.

Finally, here is a short clip of the response of the audience and of the Reverend Arlen John Bonnar to performance.

This year’s World Religion Day celebration in Ottawa is going to dig deeper

Over the past few weeks I have been working with a committee of the Baha’i Community of Ottawa to organize Ottawa’s World Religion Day celebration.  World Religion Day is in Ottawa is normally themed around one of today’s major global challenges such as peace, the rights of the child and education.  In the past the event has rarely dug very deep into these issues as it adheres to a strictly family-friendly format.  This year we want dig a bit deeper while still being friendly to the families.

Our special guest speaker will be David Chernoshenko, the new City Councillor for Ottawa’s Capital Ward.  He is well known for his involvement in the environmental field as a filmmaker and the former deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada.  In case you haven’t seen it, here’s his inspired ad for his successful bid for a seat in council:

The title of the event is “Faith and the Environment: Celebrating Common Ground” and it can be seen as part of an important discourse about the interaction between science, religion and the environment.

I’m tempted to call it a new discourse, but in reality religion has been talking about science and the environment for as long as there has been science and religion.  It’s just that it can feel like a new discourse because it’s moving really fast right now as more and more religious people, scientists and environmentalists are taking each other more and more seriously at the same time as everyone is getting a little freaked out about the future.  What do our religions say about how we should be interacting with with the planet and all the other people who live on it?

There’s a statement of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s (one of the central figures of the Baha’i Faith) from a lecture he gave in 1912 that I don’t think can possibly be quoted enough where he claims that

…Religion and science are the two wings upon which man’s intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition, whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no progress, but fall into the despairing slough of materialism. (Paris Talks, p. 143)

Ottawa’s World Religion Day celebration will be happening from 2pm to 4pm on Sunday, January 16th at City Hall (110 Laurier Avenue West).  If you can’t come (or even if you can) check out Worldwatch Institute Senior Researcher Gary Gardner’s 2006 book Inspiring Progress: Religion’s Contributions to Sustainable Development.  It’s the resource that came to mind as I tried to think of the first best place to dive into the subject.  I’ll write more about this discourse into the future as I plan telling the internet more about the things I am up to in this area.

Go see Avatar

I finally saw James Cameron’s epic new film Avatar with my father and uncle this afternoon and we found it both visually and thematically striking.  Yes it was just the Pocahontas story only with aliens and explosions, but on the other hand – it was the Pocahontas story with ALIENS and EXPLOSIONS!  Besides, as one of the most expensive movies ever made – don’t you think you should do your part and pitch in?

The story took place in the distant future on a far away planet called Pandora but had everything to do with planet Earth right now. During one tragic scene when the human forces attack ‘Hometree’ (a giant tree the locals live in) in order to access the mineral deposits beneath it, I was reminded of the following words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, the Son of the Founder of the Baha’i Faith, on the double edged sword of civilization (emphasis mine):

…on the one hand, material achievements and the development of the physical world produce prosperity, which exquisitely manifests its intended aims, on the other hand dangers, severe calamities and violent afflictions are imminent.

Consequently, when thou lookest at the orderly pattern of kingdoms, cities and villages, with the attractiveness of their adornments, the freshness of their natural resources, the refinement of their appliances, the ease of their means of travel, the extent of knowledge available about the world of nature, the great inventions, the colossal enterprises, the noble discoveries and scientific researches, thou wouldst conclude that civilization conduceth to the happiness and the progress of the human world. Yet shouldst thou turn thine eye to the discovery of destructive and infernal machines, to the development of forces of demolition and the invention of fiery implements, which uproot the tree of life, it would become evident and manifest unto thee that civilization is conjoined with barbarism. Progress and barbarism go hand in hand, unless material civilization be confirmed by Divine Guidance, by the revelations of the All-Merciful and by godly virtues, and be reinforced by spiritual conduct, by the ideals of the Kingdom and by the outpourings of the Realm of Might.

[Selections From the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 284]

The Low Carbon Diet Calculator, ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Meat

The great thing about studying ecology is that in every class and lecture everything we look at is relevant and important to our daily lives. I know the anthropologists, sociologists and maybe even the engineers will say the same thing, but I have the bias that ecologists and geographers are the ones that are looking at the really important stuff.  The other day in my core Environmental Studies lecture our prof came equipped with a catalog of ritzy food from President’s Choice (a major Canadian packaged food brand).  As she flipped through the heavily bookmarked and highlighted pages puzzling at the exotic and psudo-ethical products such as salt from the Himalayas and rare coffee beans she basically transformed into this guy:

She went on give a lecture on food and agriculture, a sector that has – perhaps justifiably – twice as much of a greenhouse gas contribution than personal transport.  Even if we are willing to take a little heat so that we can eat, it’s worth looking at how the food business works and where we can make changes.  We tried out a flashy new website that I want to share with you.  Like the all ecological footprint calculators out there, this variant somehow takes all the varied variables and brings them into a very accessible package.  It’s called the Low Carbon Diet Calculator and it is provided by sustainable food management company Bon Appetit, and should be taken with a grain of Himalayan salt.

‘Abdu’l-Baha, the Son of the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith and its Master indicated that meat is on its way into history, and “that our natural diet is that which grows out of the ground”, and in different tablets and talks He highlighted that we are meant to eat fruits, nuts, oils and grain.  In another place He stated that if humankind “lived according to a natural, inborn equilibrium, without following wherever their passions led, it is undeniable that diseases would no longer take the ascendant, nor diversify with such intensity.”

Human health is another story, sufficed to say that what ‘Abdu’l-Baha said keeps getting truer and truer.  If we expand to the disease of climate change caused by our unsettling of the planet’s equilibrium, let’s see if these principles hold any water.  A meal of seasonal fruit, some nuts and oats at one once each earns us 170 carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) points and a cheery, temperate background.

As ‘Abdu’l-Baha indicates, “meat is nourishing and containeth the elements of herbs, seeds and fruits”.  We know that there are those who survive on nothing but meat so let’s have a three ounce meal of grilled steak, fried chicken and some fish from far away.  The outcome is 1637 CO2e points, orange on the threat meter and a desert landscape.  It doesn’t quite break the meter (which you can totally do) but point is to freak us out a bit.

Now I have no idea what eating an ounce of anything means because I’m a Canadaian, but apparently it means something here.  Was my example arbitrary and biased?  Of course it was.  Try it yourself.  For more on the Baha’i teachings on meat, check out my Meaty Compilation.