Welcoming the Return of Spring

The heart fires are stirring
with the new life returning;
It's time now for learning
what rebirth really means.

. . . So, praise to the Earth
let all her creatures now sing;
Hope is renewed with
the coming of the Spring.

– Lisa Theil
Excerpted from "Ostara (Spring Equinox)"

Last Friday, April 27, I led a "prayer gathering" in the chapel of Abbott Northwestern Hospital (ANW). Entitled "Let the Greening Begin," this gathering was a celebration of the return of spring.

As regular readers of this blog would know, I'm currently mid-way through a year-long chaplain residency at ANW, and the planning and facilitating of Friday's event served as my residency's "leadership project."

About 20 people attended the event, one which not only celebrated spring's welcome return but the creation-centered wisdom that is found within the Pagan, Christian, Sufi, and Indigenous spiritual traditions. In planning and facilitating this interfaith celebration of spring I shared the writings of Joyce Rupp, Sitting Bull, Starhawk, Hafez, and Wendell Berry, along with the music of Lisa Thiel, Angelo Badalamenti, and Buffy Sainte-Marie.

I also shared my photography, with many of the images of spring incorporated into the event having been previously shared at The Wild Reed. (See, for example, here, here, and here.)

Left: In welcoming those in attendance I shared the following . . .

"Let the greening begin!" . . . What a wonderful way to speak of the transformative journey that is life; a journey in which we are all called to be active participants. At the core of this journey is the choice to open ourselves to the Sacred Presence at the heart of all creation and to embody this Presence, this transforming Presence, in our words and actions of compassion and justice; words and actions that encourage and inspire movement towards wholeness.

All the great spiritual traditions speak of this holy and very human endeavor; and today, as we celebrate the return of spring and all that this season represents, we'll be lifting up the wisdom of a number of these traditions. May this wisdom be both meaningful and nourishing for each one of us and for our journeys.

Above: With my fellow chaplain residents Chandler, Katie, and Hae.

Above: With members of the Palliative Care team, with whom I've been working since March.



Right: Friends and colleagues Mary and Nancy . . .

. . . Chandler, Katie, Ken, Paula, and Hae

. . . and Mary, Michelle, Sharon, Alisa, and Sigrid.

Afterwards, the prayer service's beautiful spring flowers graced first my office desk (above) and then my dining room table at home.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Celebrating the Return of Spring (2017)
• Photo of the Day – April 17, 2018
• The Spring Blizzard of 2018
• Spring's Snowy Start
• Farewell Winter
• A New Day
• In Minneapolis, A Snowy February Friday
• Spring: Truly the Season for Joy and Hope
• A Snowy Spring Day
• Let the Greening Begin
• Waiting in Repose for Spring's Awakening Kiss
• Dreaming of Spring

Let's Dance . . .

Today is International Dance Day, about which Wikipedia notes the following.

International Dance Day is a global celebration of dance, created by the Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), the main partner for the performing arts of UNESCO. The event takes place every year on April 29, the anniversary of the birth of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), the creator of modern ballet. The day strives to encourage participation and education in dance through events and festivals held on the date all over the world.

Following is an inspiring video put together by the YouTube channel People Are Awesome to celebrate International Dance Day 2018. Enjoy!





See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• To Dance . . .
• The Soul of a Dancer
• The Art of Dancing as the Supreme Symbol of the Spiritual Life
• Aristotle Papanikolaou on How Being Religious is Like Being a Dancer
• The Potential of Art and the Limits of Orthodoxy to Connect Us to the Sacred
• Move Us, Loving God
• A Kind of Dancing Divinity
• Balance: The Key to Serenity and Peace
• The Premise of All Forms of Dance
• Not Whether We Dance, But How
• "I Came Alive with Hope"
• The Dancer and the Dance
• And As We Dance . . .

Image: Eddie Bruno Oroyan. (Photo: Carlos Gonzalez)

Quote of the Day

Any message that is not related to the liberation of the poor in a society is not Christ's message. Any theology that is indifferent to the theme of liberation is not Christian theology.

– James H. Cone
(1936-2018)

Related Off-site Links and Updates:
Father of Black Liberation Theology, the Rev. Dr. James Cone, Dies at 79 – Angela Helm (The Root, April 29, 2018).
Remembering the Theologian Who Took on the Hypocrisy of the White Church – John Blake (CNN, April 30, 2018).
James H. Cone: In Memoriam – Kameron Carter (Religion Dispatches, April 30, 2018).
Why James Cone Was the Most Important Theologian of His Time – Jim Wallis (Sojourners, May 2, 2018).

What a Difference Four Days Can Make

The picture above was taken on Thursday, April 19 as I walked along Minnehaha Creek to catch my bus to work on Chicago Ave. in south Minneapolis. The photo below was taken at (roughly) the same spot four days on Monday, April 23. Yes, the lingering winter here in Minnesota is finally being vanquished!

Following are more images taken around Minnehaha Creek within this same time period. Enjoy!

NEXT: New Spring Green

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Photo of the Day – April 17, 2018
• The Spring Blizzard of 2018
• Spring's Snowy Start
• Farewell Winter
• A New Day
• In Minneapolis, A Snowy February Friday
• A Snowy Spring Day
• Waiting in Repose for Spring's Awakening Kiss
• Dreaming of Spring

The M Word

It seems that “an ejaculation a day” may not only “keep the doctor away,” but may well save a man’s life. Yet what are the implications for Roman Catholic theology?

Well, well, well. . . . It would seem that the regular masturbation (considered a “mortal sin” by the Roman Catholic Church) may actually help men reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Researchers in Australia say that cancer-causing chemicals can build up in the prostrate if men don’t ejaculate regularly.

A BBC news report notes that the researchers found that “those who had ejaculated the most between the ages of 20 and 50 were the least likely to develop the cancer. The protective effect was greatest while the men were in their 20s. Men who ejaculated more than five times a week were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer later in life.”

Graham Giles of the Cancer Council of Victoria in Melbourne, who led the research team, told New Scientist magazine that fewer ejaculations may mean the carcinogens build up. “It’s a prostatic stagnation hypothesis,” he said. “The more you flush the ducts out, the less there is to hang around and damage the cells that line them.” A similar connection has been found between breast cancer and breastfeeding, where lactating appeared to “flush out” carcinogens and reduce a woman’s risk of the disease.

Anthony Smith, deputy director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in Melbourne, said the research could affect the kind of lifestyle advice doctors give to patients. “Masturbation is part of people’s sexual repertoire,” he said. “If these findings hold up, then it’s perfectly reasonable that men should be encouraged to masturbate.”

Ah, but there’s the rub, so to speak. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that masturbation is an evil because, like contraceptive sex and homosexual sex, there’s no possibility of biological procreation. Every sex act, after all, must be open to such procreation, according to the Magisterium, the teaching office of the pope and bishops.

Never mind that this teaching is based on a totally outdated and flawed understanding of human anatomy and the procreative process. Remember, in ancient time the male was considered to carry a miniature human being in his “seed.” This seed was to be deposited in the female, who was seen to serve basically as what we’d call now an incubator. Thus for centuries, masturbation was considered a worse sin than incest, as at least in the case of the latter, the little human in the male’s sperm was being deposited into the female as opposed to falling upon the ground and dying.

We’ve moved on in our understanding since then. But the church’s official teaching and overall sexual theology is yet to catch up. Thus a horny teenage boy who furtively does what most horny teenage boys do in the privacy of their bedrooms is damned to hell. As are the vast majority of humans who find both relief and pleasure in masturbation – often as an alternative way of expressing their sexuality when a sexual relationship with another is, for whatever reason, not part of their lives.

Quote of the Day

It was James Baldwin who said, "To be black in America and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time." My question is: Why aren't all people? . . . How can you stand for the national anthem of a nation that preaches and propagates “freedom and justice for all,” that is so unjust to so many of the people living there? How can you not be in a rage when you know that you are always at risk of death in the streets or enslavement in the prison system? How can you willingly be blind to the truth of systemic racialized injustice?

– Colin Kaepernick
Excerpted from “Colin Kaepernick Wins
Amnesty’s Ambassador of Conscience Award”
Democracy Now!
April 23, 2018

Related Off-site Links:
Colin Kaepernick Accepts Amnesty Award on Behalf of the “Countless People” Fighting for Human Rights – Tia Berger (Atlanta Black Star, April 23).
Colin Kaepernick States That Police Engage In “Lawful Lynching” – Malcolm Wyche (Hip Hop Wired, April 23, 2018).
Kaepernick Receives the Ambassador of Conscience Award and Some Are in Their Feelings – Farida Dawkins (Face 2 Face Africa, April 23, 2018).

UPDATES: Serena Williams Praises Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid for Doing "So Much ... for the Greater Good' – Courtney Han (ABC News, September 1, 2018).
Colin Kaepernick Named Face of Nike's 30th Anniversary of 'Just Do It' Campaign – Tim Daniels (Bleacher Report, September 3, 2018).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Progressive Perspectives on Colin Kaepernick and the “Take A Knee” Movement
• Quote of the Day – November 13, 2017
• Remembering Philando Castile and Demanding Abolition of the System That Targets and Kills People of Color
• "This Doesn't Happen to White People"
• Quote of the Day – March 31, 2016
• Something to Think About – December 29, 2015
• Quote of the Day – November 25, 2015
• "We Are All One" – #Justice4Jamar and the 4th Precinct Occupation: Photos, Reflections and Links
• An Update on #Justice4Jamar and the 4th Precinct Occupation
• Rallying in Solidarity with Eric Garner and Other Victims of Police Brutality
• "Say Her Name" Solidarity Action for Sandra Bland
• In Minneapolis, Rallying in Solidarity with Black Lives in Baltimore

Happy Birthday, Dad!

In Australia today my Dad celebrates his 81st birthday.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I've said it before but it's worth saying again: My brothers and I are very fortunate to have Gordon James Bayly as our father. He is a man of integrity, compassion, and selfless service to others. We experienced and witnessed such qualities growing up in our hometown of Gunnedah, and they're qualities that are still very much part of our father today.

I love you, Dad, and can’t thank you enough for all you continue to be and give to me, my brothers, our family, and so many others whose lives are touched by yours. I'm sorry I can't be with you to celebrate your birthday, but I sure do look forward to seeing you sometime later this year.

Above: The Bayly family – Sunday, August 6, 2017. When I was back in Australia last July-August I organized a belated 80th birthday party for Dad in Coogee, a beachside suburb of Sydney.

For more images of this very special celebration, click here.

In celebrating Dad's's birthday at The Wild Reed in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017 I've shared quite a number of photos from the Bayly family archives. In fact, I think I've pretty much exhausted my supply of such images.

So . . . since tomorrow is Earth Day, I'm thinking it would be fun to share a few pics of Dad out in nature.

Above: Dad as a schoolboy in the 1940s.

Above: Dad at a rest stop in the mountains between Port Macquarie and our family's hometown of Gunnedah – Wednesday, March 24, 2015.



Above: My older brother Chris and two of my nephews (Liam and Ryan) with "Grandpa Bayly."

I tok this photo as we were hiking through the Kelvin State Forest in December of 1998. This forest is located 20 kilometres north-east of Gunnedah. It’s an area characterized by sandstone ridges and steep bluffs that rise above the surrounding farmland. Isolated from the mountain ranges to the north and east, the highest point of these ridges is 885 metres. The forest contains a waterfall, numerous feral goats, a cave that is home to a colony of bent-wing bats, and (as you can see from the photo above) lookout sites that offer sweeping views of the surrounding forest and farmland.

Above: Dad on Port Macquarie's Town Beach – Friday, May 21, 2016.

Above: With Mum and Dad in Coogee – Saturday, August 5, 2017.

Above: A lovely shot of Dad and Mum in Port Macquarie – August 10, 2017.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• In Coogee, a Very Special Birthday Celebration
• Happy Birthday, Dad (2017)
• Happy Birthday, Dad (2015)
• Happy Birthday, Dad (2014)
• Happy Birthday, Dad (2013)
• Happy Birthday, Dad (2011)
• Happy Birthday, Dad (2010)
• Happy Birthday, Dad (2009)
• Congratulations, Mum and Dad
• Catholic Rainbow (Australian) Parents

See also:
• Remembering Nanna Smith
• Commemorating My Grandfather, Aub Bayly, and the Loss of the AHS Centaur
• A Visit to Gunnedah
• Port Macquarie Days
• Europe 2005

Photo of the Day

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Spring's Snowy Start
• Farewell Winter
• Out and About – Winter 2017-2018

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

The Spring Blizzard of 2018

It's being called a blizzard and a winter storm of "historic" proportions. I'm opting to acknowledge the season we're actually in (as hard as it may be to believe) and calling it the spring blizzard of 2018. . . . And, yes, it's still very much happening right now in the Twin Cities and across southern Minnesota.

I was out in it for a while this afternoon, giving a ride home to my friend Deandre and then stopping by to visit my friend Kathleen in the Seward neighborhood of south Minneapolis, where the photos accompanying this post where taken. (That's Kathleen's son, Joey, cleaning off his car before going to work.) I'm home safe now . . . where I intend to hunker down until Monday morning.

Following is what the Star Tribune's Miguel Otárola says about today's blizzard:

An April blizzard so potent that forecasters dubbed it “historic” slammed into southern Minnesota Saturday, dumping heavy snow and whipping it around on high winds.

“This is shaping up to be a historic storm,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said Saturday morning as it expanded its blizzard warning eastward into the entire metro area — an extremely rare warning for the urban area.

Snow emergencies were declared in St. Paul and many metro-area suburbs, prompting parking restrictions.

Most roads in the southwestern part of the state were closed, and travel was extremely difficult to impossible in other areas, including the Twin Cities. The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport halted all flights until at least 7 p.m. “due to a lack of visibility and the fast rate of snowfall,” it said in a tweet.

Snowfall was expected to intensify through Saturday and continue well into Sunday, likely setting records for April amounts, the Weather Service said. Visibility will continue to deteriorate.

– Miguel Otárola
Excerpted from "'Historic' Blizzard Hits Twin Cities"
Star Tribune
April 14, 2018

Related Off-site Links:
Blizzard Conditions Pummel Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities – Minnesota Public Radio News (April 14, 2018).
Major Snow Totals Still on Track as the Brunt of the Storm Moves In – Joe Nelson (Bring Me the News, April 13, 2018).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Spring's Snowy Start
• Farewell Winter
• A New Day
• In Minneapolis, A Snowy February Friday
• A Snowy Spring Day
• Waiting in Repose for Spring's Awakening Kiss
• Dreaming of Spring

Quote of the Day

Today, the discourse of fascists and ‘anti-imperialist leftists’ is virtually indistinguishable. . . . This ‘anti-imperialism’ is one which equates imperialism with the actions of the US alone. . . . This pro-fascist left seems blind to any form of imperialism that is non-western in origin.

. . . There are many valid reasons for opposing external military intervention in Syria, whether it be by the US, Russia, Iran or Turkey. None of these states are acting in the interests of the Syrian people, democracy or human rights. They act solely in their own interests. The US, UK and French intervention today is less about protecting Syrians from mass-atrocity and more about enforcing an international norm that chemical weapons use is unacceptable, lest one day they be used on westerners themselves. More foreign bombs will not bring about peace and stability. There’s little appetite to force Assad from power which would contribute to ending the worst of the atrocities. Yet in opposing foreign intervention, one needs to come up with an alternative to protect Syrians from slaughter. It’s morally objectionable, to say the least, to expect Syrians to just shut up and die to protect the higher principle of ‘anti-imperialism’. Many alternatives to foreign military intervention have been proposed by Syrians time and again and have been ignored. And so the question remains, when diplomatic options have failed, when a genocidal regime is protected from censure by powerful international backers, when no progress is made in stopping daily bombing, ending starvation sieges or releasing prisoners who are being tortured on an industrial scale, what can be done?

I no longer have an answer. I’ve consistently opposed all foreign military intervention in Syria, supported Syrian-led processes to rid their country of a tyrant and international processes grounded in efforts to protect civilians and human rights and ensure accountability for all actors responsible for war-crimes. A negotiated settlement is the only way to end this war – and still seems as distant as ever.

– Leila al-Shami
Excerpted from "The ‘Anti-Imperialism’ of Idiots"
Leila's Blog
April 14, 2018

Related Off-site Links:
U.S. Launches Attacks on Syria – Mark Katov and Greg Myre (NPR News, April 13).
In "Clear Violation of Domestic and International Law," Trump Bombs Syria – Jon Queally (Common Dreams, April 13, 2018).
American Air Strikes in Syria Do Nothing to Further Justice for the Victims of the Attack on Douma – Phyllis Bennis (The Nation, April 13, 2018).
Pro-Assad Official Says Targeted Bases Were Evacuated on Russian Warning – Reuters (April 13, 2018).
We Are a War-Making People – Charles P. Pierce (Esquire, April 13, 2018).

UPDATES: Despite Trump's Bluster, It's Unclear What Syria Strikes Accomplished – Peter Beaumont and Andrew Roth (The Guardian, April 15, 2018).
The Search for Truth in the Rubble of Douma – and One Doctor’s Doubts Over the Chemical Attack – Robert Fisk (The Independent, April 17, 2018).
Syria Controversy: Don't Believe the Official Narrative – Max Blumenthal (Truthdig, April 23, 2018).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The War Racket
• Saying "No" to Endless U.S. Wars
• Rallying in Solidarity with the Refugees of Syria and the World
• Making the Connections
• Quote of the Day – May 28, 2017
• Quote of the Day – September 7, 2015

Celebrating Al Green, Soul Legend

Today is soul music legend Al Green's 72nd birthday, and to mark the occasion here at The Wild Reed I share a video of Green performing one of his most famous songs, "Love and Happiness," live on Soul Train in the early 1970s.

But first, here's a brief excerpt from an insightful 2008 piece by Matt Rogers about Al Green . . .

Like one of his idols, Sam Cooke, [Al Green] fits into the crowded pantheon of gospel and pop singers who have been tormented by the tug-of-war between church and club. It’s no secret the pulpit has informed and shaped popular music, let alone soul music, from the get-go – there is a list of singers perhaps as thick as the Bible itself who’ve crossed the pew lines and brought that sacred fire and phrasing to the land of milk and honey(s).

. . . It’s a fool’s game, certainly, but draw up your list of the greatest male pop singers, and though some may be as good – Sam, Jackie, Smokey, Marvin, Curtis – none were better than Al Green. Particularly at helping you and that special someone slip into something just a little bit more comfortable. Armed with a quiver of slinky, sensual songs that praised love, beauty and happiness, and delivered with an unmatched tenor and charisma, unmoored and siphoned from the church, Green created music that got under your skin, while your skin got under the sheets.

And here's a little of what Wikipedia says about Al Green:

Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), often known as The Reverend Al Green, is an African American singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including "Take Me to the River," "Tired of Being Alone", "I'm Still in Love with You," "Love and Happiness", and his signature song, "Let's Stay Together."

Inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, Green was referred to on the museum's site as being "one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music." He has also been referred to as "The Last of the Great Soul Singers." Green was included in the Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, ranking at No. 65.

Related Off-site Links:
Al Green: One of the Refiners of American Soul Music – Farida Dawkins (Face 2 Face Africa, April 13, 2018).
Seven of Al Green's Greatest Songs – Smooth Radio (April 10, 2018).
Al Green Strives for Perfection – Matt Rogers (Wax Poetics, 2008).
The Gospel According to Albert Green – Atomic Cafe (August 4, 2011).
Al Green's Journey to Glory: "What I Learned . . ." – BlackDoctor.org (April 13, 2018).

Previously featured artists at The Wild Reed:
Dusty Springfield | David Bowie | Kate Bush | Maxwell | Buffy Sainte-Marie | Prince | Frank Ocean | Maria Callas | Loreena McKennitt | Rosanne Cash | Petula Clark | Wendy Matthews | Darren Hayes | Jenny Morris | Gil Scott-Heron | Shirley Bassey | Rufus Wainwright | Kiki Dee | Suede | Marianne Faithfull | Dionne Warwick | Sam Sparro | Wanda Jackson | Engelbert Humperdinck | Pink Floyd | The Church | Enrique Iglesias | Yvonne Elliman | Lenny Kravitz | Helen Reddy | Stephen Gately | Judith Durham | Nat King Cole | Emmylou Harris | Bobbie Gentry | Russell Elliot | BØRNS | Hozier | Enigma | Moby (featuring the Banks Brothers) | Cat Stevens | Chrissy Amphlett | Jon Stevens | Nada Surf | Tom Goss (featuring Matt Alber) | Autoheart | Scissor Sisters | Mavis Staples | Claude Chalhoub | Cass Elliot | Duffy | The Cruel Sea | Wall of Voodoo | Loretta Lynn and Jack White | Foo Fighters | 1927 | Kate Ceberano | Tee Set | Joan Baez | Wet, Wet, Wet | Stephen “Tin Tin” Duffy | Fleetwood Mac | Jane Clifton | Australian Crawl | Pet Shop Boys | Marty Rhone | Josef Salvat | Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri | Aquilo | The Breeders | Tony Enos | Tupac Shakur | Nakhane Touré