Canadian Mining Interests in South America

Dear Friends,
I would be remiss in being grateful for everything we received during Living Gold 2012, if I did not bring up this subject.
It was put before us, very concisely, by different groups from South America.
Especially for Canadians, who like to think we are one of the "nicest" countries, this is an international disgrace. It is our shame in the most far-reaching sense of the word.
We cannot claim ignorance, now that it has been brought to our attention. It is one of the deepest wrongs in terms of economics, that public shareholders often have no clue as to what a company actually does, or how their operations impact the country in which they are working or have vested interests.
These were words of truth, which we must pay attention to. Not only is the land itself being destroyed, but through the use of poisonous chemicals, the water as well. Try to imagine just exactly how cyanide and mercury destroy the soil and water. Try to imagine what happens to the people working with these poisons, and communities who live nearby. What is it doing to the children??? We have all heard of the long term devastation of nuclear plant meltdowns - this is equally as horrendous.
The huge amounts of water used is water desperately needed for communities.
Canadian mining interests in South America are depriving communities of land and water needed to sustain life itself. It does not provide a great deal of local employment, nor does it mean communities benefit in other ways to much extent, as we all have heard of the corruption in various governments.
It is time to shine a spotlight on these practices, just as was done in the blood diamonds of South Africa.
One only has to take a very short look on the internet to find reliable reports:
Check out articles in The Guardian (Povertymatters blog) and the Smithsonian.com (the devastating costs of the Amazon Gold Rush) for starters.
As global citizens, we cannot pretend that our actions and consumerism here in North America have no impact anywhere else - they can and they do, to our shame. We have to be responsible in terms of what we buy, and where and how we choose to invest. Is it sustainable, how does it impact local communities and economies. Who exactly is benefitting?
It's bad enough we allow these things to happen here at home. It's time we took responsibility for how we impact innocent and vulnerable people elsewhere.

Sparky

Living Gold 2012 one and a half weeks later

With this post I wish to explain a few things to people who could not make it to the Conference. The photo here is from inside the Shawnigan Lake School Chapel which stands on a huge grounds of stunning landscaping. While not being a stone structure which has stood since the Middle Ages as in Europe, it is still a very beautiful building. Inside it is panelled in fir veneers and solid woods, much of it in old growth clear fir. The alter you see was set up by Bruce before things really got under way on the first evening when Susan Locey gave her opening words "What are we doing here?" The painting is by Christer Ekstrom, some of his works were on sale during the eight days we were there too. I took this picture just before one of the workshops I was attending: 'Music for the Renewed Sacraments - Experience in Listening' led by Lothar Reubke. The workshop was always at the same time of day so the Sun always came through the western windows in just about the same way, yes we had good weather every day too. Most days we had The Act of Consecration of Man with mostly fifteen priests attending! right after breakfast which was usually followed by a lecture on the subjects of physical and spiritual gold, always by a different speaker but often translated by the same fellow (Paul Corman from South America). Sometimes the lectures were in English with Spanish translation, sometimes the other way around; two included slideshows as a supplement. Then after a break we had separate discussion groups to go over with each other what had been covered in the lecture which was sometimes very helpful because the subject matter could at times get very deep and a little hard to understand. After discussions was lunch followed by workshop1 then another break and workshop 2. The workshops covered subjects as diverse as physical crafts, movement as in Spatial Dynamics, comedy class, smaller discussions on different topics, creative writing, bee keeping, singing and so on, I believe there were some thirty 'shops'. Then we had dinner for a while which was always a great time to really talk to others and relax because we knew a real treat was just around the corner. There was Valeria Betancourt from South America who played many pieces, classical and newer on a grand piano without any sheet music visible, at least from where I was sitting! Also two open stage nights with many acts on a whole variety of subjects. A great highlight was stand-up comedy by Ron Koetzsch who poked playful fun at Anthroposophists. There was the Vancouver Camphill presentation of "The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily" play with several people being overheard saying it was the highlight of the Conference. Then at our last full day together we had presentations from the various workshops. It was really interesting to see what everyone else had been up to in the last days, always enlightening, beautiful or entertaining or all at once. Wednesday afternoon, basically in the middle of things, we all had free time with many local excursions underway. Across the road from the school's driveway entrance is their rowing equiptment storage and a dock were one could sit and enjoy the lake or just plain old jump right in! Just as Susan Locey began things, Richard Dancey from Chicago finished it all off after the Act of Consecration with a forum and closing words on the last Sunday. Of course besides check in and check out the "bookends" of these days were mealtimes but the really memorable meal was when we all sang 'Allelujah' in rounds at lunch one day to thank the amazing kitchen staff who worked so very hard to keep everyone in physical nutrition, it seemed everything else was of a spiritual nourishment. Oh, I cannot forget, there was a store set up near the inside of the entry to the huge dining hall where vendors from various countries were selling handmade and other goods, some items were also raffled off during the workshops presentations.
All in all it was a very good experience, I am pretty sure most everyone reluctantly left but with a treasure or treasures to last a very long time.
I was going to include something I wrote from the creative writing class I took there but in lieu of going on too long here I will save that for another time.
With shimmers of gold now floating in ether spaces, until later, from Felix.

First Impressions - Go Forth With Joy!

My hope is that many other people will find this blogspot to be a way of expressing all the many facets of the Living Gold Conference that occurred last week on Vancouver Island.

So much was given to the participants in such a short period of time that it will take many weeks and months to absorb everything we heard, felt and thought.

In a way it is perhaps best to start at the end and work backwards to the beginning.

As Sunday approached and we were aware that our time together was ending, it was a bittersweet moment. For a few short days, we had been lifted up into a higher realm of consciousness, and it was time to "come back down to earth". Nevertheless, as we prepared to depart, we all did so with a feeling of great joy and thankfulness for the many gifts we had received and the strengthening of community, in a very broad sense of the word.

It will be each individual's task now to take what we have been given, and find ways of allowing this to live in us and through us.

In the workshop presentations Saturday evening, Les Tulloch mentioned that there had been a great deal of healing in the course of the week in his spacial dynamics class.
For me, too, it was a time of spiritual healing. The huge load of pain and grief I had been carrying around for the past 4 years was lifted, and I feel now that I can face whatever comes in the future. I have been given a glimpse of the far distant future, and it will be one of great joy and peace. Similar to giving birth, it makes all the pain and suffering that must occur beforehand, worthwhile.

For my son as well, this will be the greatest birthday gift he could ever receive. Knowing that he belongs to a much larger community than our small outpost in Vancouver and meeting and making many new friends in Los Comunidad Christianos Internationale, both near and far. He will know that he is "held", no matter where he finds himself in the world, and most importantly, connected.

I thank each of you who made this journey with us. For many, it was literally a long and difficult place to get to. For some, who had been to the East Coast, but never to the West, I hope it was a revelation, or perhaps one could even say an apocalypse, or lifting of a veil, to see what lives and is possible, in a different part of the world, or even a continent.

Last but not least, my deepest gratitude to Susan Locey, who is living proof that "In God, all things are possible."

Sparky

Annual migration/polar shift

Dear Friends:
My grandmother's second husband, Ernie Paynter, whom she married at the age of 77, devoted much of his life to wildlife conservation, and was formally recognized for his efforts to save the Sandhill Crane.
In the depths of winter, I wait for the first birdcall, signalling that spring is not far off. At our local man-made lake, several kinds of ducks and geese stay for the winter, and we always look forward to seeing the baby ducklings. A pair of ducks even come over to the waterway in our complex, looking for a quiet, safe place to lay their eggs. Sometimes there are other kinds of birds who stop over on their long migration south.
As you can see from the above map, the migration of the Swainson's hawk is one of the longest, 10,000 kms., from as far north as Alaska, all the way down to Argentina, between August and November each year. They stop and gather near Veracruz in Mexico on the way down, in the hundreds of thousands. They travel through Colombia, Brazil and Argentina.
It's an interesting thing that in July, Vancouver is preparing to welcome a number of people from our South American congregations - a polar shift, or reverse migration - if you like. The equator cuts across near the top of Brazil, and Vancouver, at the 49th parallel North, would be equivalent to the southern point where Chile and Argentina meet, in the South.
Our friends will find themselves in a different kind of rainforest, but no less abundant in terms of varieties of plants, birds and fish. We like to consider ourselves the "California of the North", enjoying mild winters compared to the rest of Canada, or even BC. (Hey Steph, do you think we could borrow the Stanley Cup just for a little while?)
As in the spring, when everyone can finally open their doors and windows to the sun and fresh air, we will be opening our homes and hearts to our friends from down south. We will have the chance to see things from a completely different point of view. I imagine it could be like "upgrading" from black and white, to technicolor, or listening to the difference between a "western hoe-down" and a conga beat. Imagine the difference between a mallard duck and gorgeously arrayed parrot, or between a dandelion and an orchid. Consider the soft musical cadence of Spanish or Portugese compared to the straight, clipped English language.
This is a window to a whole new world of possibilities, to open up all your senses, consider things from a new perspective. We showed the world how warm Vancouver can be in the middle of winter 2 years ago. Let's see what we can do now in high summer.
Mi casa es su casa

Sparky

P.S. Sometimes a song runs through my head as I am writing, and for this blog, I would like to ask you if you know the ABBA song, "I have a Dream" from Mama Mia. A Spanish version is also available, called "Estoy Sonando"
Maybe I will bring it with me to the conference.

Christening by Rev. Richard Lewis in Lake Cowichan, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada

The christening table and the accessories for the baptism of first-born Stephan Alexander Scharnberg by Rev. Richard Lewis from Los Angeles, California, USA on Sunday, May 23, 1963 in the Scharnberg home, a converted logging bunkhouse on Neva Road in Lake Cowichan, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. Richard Lewis accompanied Dr. Lauenstein from West Germany on a North America-wide tour. After my christening, Richard Lewis continued north to Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, also on Vancouver Island, for the baptism of the first-born Krack child, Marius, and then to the Lower Mainland to baptize the second-born Rachel son, Andrew, at the Rachel’s new home on Cooper Road in Richmond.

Travel has always been an important part of my life. I’ve been on the road since before I was born. I was conceived on the return half of my parents’ honeymoon road trip to northern Mexico, on a US Army cot in the Waldorf School in Northridge, Los Angeles, California. At our first home, the bunkhouse, father planted me a birth tree, a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), out front, still standing to this day at over 60 feet tall.

The baptisms are mentioned in the booklet, The Standing Wave (a biographical sketch of The Christian Community in British Columbia since the founding and further development) as remembered by Janet and Dean Rachel, published privately at Michaelmas 2005, with proceeds going to The Christian Community.

[1959 Kodak Retina IIIS (Type 027) rangefinder 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 86125, with Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50-mm f/1.9 Synchro Compur lens, s/n 6841319; Kodak Plus-X Pan ISO 125/22° 36-exposure black & white negative film]

© Copyright photograph by Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg, May 1963 / Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, May 2012

I am the Life and the Resurrection

Dear Friends, during this Easter time, my heart has been filled with gratitude. I have been very thankful to be at home the past two months, spending more time with my children. This alone has been a gift - the gift of time. It has also meant I have been able to take up some volunteer work in the community, reconnecting with old friends, giving a little more time at church, and making new friends. I am grateful for all the people who have come into my life during the past few years, and their love and support for me and my children. I have time to take pleasure in welcoming the longer days, luxuriating in the warmth-giving Sun, and watching blossoms burst forth.

I have also had time to take up more reading. A book my sister gave me for Christmas, which I took in hand last week, is called, The boy who came back from heaven. It's a true story, which happened in Ohio, written by the father and son of a family whose lives were changed forever, due to a horrendous car accident. This story of a child who "died" and went to heaven, and his slow return to the land of the living, is full of miracles from start to finish. I wept through almost every page. You see, when you have experienced pain in your own life, it can lead to being more open to the pain of others. It also is helpful to read about trials in other people's lives, as it makes you more thankful for what you have. The mother in this story also has a blogsite: amomonamission, if you are curious to learn more.

This story is ongoing. It is about Life. It's about walking with God. It's about opening up your heart to the Christ. These words stood out for me today during the service: Those who bring Christ to life within themselves. It's a phrase written over and over in this book as well: The Kingdom of God is everywhere - it is NOW! It is not somewhere in the distant future, in an imaginary place, it can be here and now, if only we can allow our hearts to open like a seed. For it is Love that brings forth the blooms, and it is Love that calls forth our true selves.

Do you know this song? Cherish the Love, by Kool and the Gang

Sparky

Dragon Ships

This month, during the time of Passiontide, I want to touch on the theme of exploration. You see, I have a confession to make: I have EDD. Have you ever heard of this acronym? Probably not, because I just invented it. It stands for Explore, Discover and Develop. If you think back to the middle ages, this was a time of great exploration, the earliest and most wide-ranging being the Vikings. Being Scottish, Irish and Swedish (Canadian), I figure that makes me pure Viking! The Vikings were famous for their dragon ships. Not only did they sail south and west, but they also travelled by land as far east as Sicily and Constantinople. There are now theories that they reached not just the east coast of Canada, but also the west coast. I wanted to present the image of a dragon ship, as it ties back into my earlier blogs on the Chinese year of the Dragon.

EDD can hit you at any age. Adolescents are encouraged to explore, discover and develop their skills and talents. It's unbelievably difficult for teenagers today to do that. All sorts of things get in the way: television, computers, video games, ipods, cell phones. This age of electronics conspires to create a cacaphony of noise and artificial images, striving to prevent them from doing any real inner work.

In going through a time of change, as I am now, I have to do the same thing. What marketable skills do I possess or could I develop? That's a very hard thing at my age. It's a very interesting thing that 5 or 6 years ago, when I was on the brink of a major change spiritually, the first volume of Esoteric Lessons came into my hands. Now, the second volume has arrived and I have the time and opportunity to discover and explore each lesson.

EDD can apply not just to individuals, but to groups as well. Our congregations are also going through a time of change. The impulse that led to the founding of our little communities is fading. Something new must be "discovered" and "developed". It is a time of "dying" and "rebirth". We are called upon every evening as individuals, and every Sunday as a community, to once again "die into Christ".

This year we mark the 90th birthday of the founding of The Church of The Christian Community, or TCC. (Privately, I like to refer to it as TLC). It's an interesting thing that it falls in the year 2012. We are being called, both as individuals, and as communities, to prepare for something new. Do you know this motto, "Be Prepared"? It's the motto for the Girl Guides. It is also the motto for my alma mater - Nous sommes prets - we are prepared. Simon Fraser University, named after another famous explorer (Scottish), sits atop a mountain in the heart of Vancouver, almost at the foot of which, is our church. For 4 years, I bussed, drove, and traipsed in heavy snow, up and down this mountain. What I could do in my 20's physically, I must now find a way to do inwardly. It means creating a space for movement - a movement of spiritual renewal.

Skol

Sparky