DEN Enews

Since the election south of us and the unimaginable horrors each day, the Enews has developed a weekly theme. There was a struggle for one for this week until this post by the Godspace Light Community. They shared an article called Embracing Lent in the United States ( 2025) by Lou Kavar. You are urged to read it, especially as our country is now facing what may become a divisive election period. Key points:

• Resist Evil

• Learn to Do Good - “We start by doing good in our everyday interactions. We do what we can, and then we build on it. “

• Make Justice Your Aim - “ The goal is to live with others - people, communities and countries - in a way characterized by justice.”

• Defend the Oppressed - “Making justice your aim means defending the well-being of the oppressed, whoever they may be.”

  As you determine the party to whom you wish to favor with your vote, may you be guided by the ancient prophet, Isaiah.

  https://blog.loukavar.com/2025/03/05/embracing-lent-in-the-united-states-2025_/

  Will you also Vote for Nature?

  Nature Canada encourages you to take this pledge : “I pledge to vote for Nature. I will vote in every election I can. I will try to elect leaders who will stand for the environment. I will use my democratic rights to be a voice for a thriving, healthy planet.”

  https://naturecanada.ca/defend-nature/how-you-help-us-take-action/vote-for-nature/?

Have you considered the missional aspect of having an EV charging station on your faith building’s property? Email for a consultation at no cost. There are no strings attached.

[email protected]

Hello friends of Green Burial Society of Nova Scotia,

Upcoming Green Burial Café

You're invited to our regular monthly Green Burial Café this Wednesday, March 26th, at 7:00pm ADT. This is an open conversation space for all interested in talking and learning about green burial.

This month we are meeting virtually on our Google Meet video call link at:
https://meet.google.com/ond-mwti-zjg
Or dial: ‪(CA) +1 647-736-6174‬ PIN: ‪452 167 355‬#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/ond-mwti-zjg?pin=4501217959222

A note on time zones
Please check how your time zone differs from ours here in Nova Scotia. We are tuning in from the Atlantic time zone and will be meeting at 7:00pm ADT. Here is a time zone converter if that is helpful for you: https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter

In honour of World Water Day 2025, add your name to this petition asking that at least 30% of our oceans be protected by 2030. Shockingly, less than 3% of the ocean is fully protected. Changing this would allow more areas without overfishing, bottom trawling, and other destructive activities. It includes a ratified High Seas Treaty, which can protect waters beyond national jurisdiction. It also involves full participation of Indigenous peoples, local communities, and artisanal fisheries. Protecting our oceans can help stop wildlife exploitation, stabilize our climate, and allow for a more secure and healthy future. Join people from around the world in saying the oceans need more protection! 

This petition is to retirement fund executives and managers asking them to divest from fossil fuels, offer climate-safe investment options and invest in climate solutions. In addition, fossil fuels are increasingly vulnerable to market volatility, regulation, and the unstoppable global shift toward renewable energy. This Stand Earth petition may be directed towards the US. When I find a Canadian one, I will share it but it doesn't hurt to sign this one.

Hunters in the UK are leaving behind a devastating trail of lead pellets that waterbirds like swans and ducks are mistaking for seeds. Eating these lead shotgun pellets results in lead poisoning and death. This toxic metal is poisoning up to 100,000 water birds every winter. And some of these birds are ending up on people's dinner tables as part of Sunday roasts. Lead is also a significant threat to human health. Even small concentrations of lead can be toxic, particularly to young children and pregnant women, and many food safety agencies advise against consuming game meat killed with lead ammunition. We cannot afford to ignore the mounting evidence that lead ammunition is a danger to both wildlife and human health. The UK Government is due to review legislation right now, so let’s ramp up the pressure on them to properly protect birds and people from lead poisoning. 

The Maasai people are being forcefully evicted from their homes, while their ancestral lands are being auctioned off to greedy corporations for trophy hunting and carbon credits trading under the guise of conservation. This petition is going to the president of Tanzania, demanding the government protect the rights of the Maasai. Add your name to ask that the forced evictions be halted, that Massai land is not given away for trophy hunting, and that carbon credit projects be rejected to prioritise real solutions to the climate crisis

Since 2015, Citibank has been the world’s largest funder of fossil fuel expansion, destroying and polluting our planet and communities. Recently, Indigenous leaders traveled all the way from the Peruvian Amazon to meet with Citi’s leadership in the United States. They demanded Citibank stop funding Petroperú, a company causing incalculable damage through its major oil spills and attacks on Amazon communities against its exploitation. Citibank refuses to care and is still funding the company’s destructive activities. Citi has co-branded credit cards with major companies like Costco, LL Bean, Macy’s, Home Depot, Best Buy, Sears, and AT&T. Use this petition to tell the top executives at these companies to drop Citibank or risk their corporate reputation. Take a moment to sign the letter saying business goes to companies that care about climate change instead of ones determined to fuel the climate crisis and drive environmental racism.

Bikes

Each day as Grandma sits at her kitchen table, she sees the “bike” shed out the window. Grandma is not a great bike user. We are lucky if by July she can finish the 5 km run in 20 minutes, but Grandma loves her bike.

She dreams of the elliptical bikes and has ridden miles “virtually” on the ElliptiGO sites. The hand bikes seem so scary, to move and operate a bike entirely with your hands. No, Grandma likes her plain, probably 30-year-old, standard bike with a bent top tube. Nothing fancy and the better for wear.

Except for putting air in the tires and replacing said tires a couple of times, Grandma doesn’t know a lot about the mechanics of her bike. The one time my bike just didn’t seem to be working well, I visited my friend Cathy at Freewheeling. Adventures. Before water boiled for tea, her husband Phillip was tweaking my bike and running it around the yard.

Not everyone has Cathy and Phillip nearby. How do you take care of your bike? They are a valuable means of transportation, so we best look after them. Just how do we do that?

The Ecology Action Centre has a “Pop Up Bike Hub”: a trailer filled with bike repair equipment, bikes at a low cost, and people to help with bikes. Their website even has an entire manual for Bike safety and repair.

Repair shops can be found with a Google search. There are too many good ones to make a recommendation.

Cycling clubs exist across our provinces. People get together to ride a stretch of road for a day. Some are long trips, and some are short where you can stop at historic sites and many good cafes along the way.

Cycling is a low-impact exercise for all ages. A friend in Halifax always used his bike for the past forty years going from near Young St. to the university daily. He has a parcel carrier and if needing just a bag of groceries, will do his shopping on his bike. For him, it was more the time it took, the parking and the fuel it cost to drive a vehicle what he considers short distances in town. His car would sit in its garage for weeks at times.

No matter how you use your bike, except for our friends with winter snow tires on their bikes, the rest of us are looking out the window at our bike sheds and dreaming of summer roads. Maybe it is time to plan that bike Saturday for your friends or parish. It would be a great way to celebrate Earth Day. Do a smallish route and come back to sit on the Deck or by fire and visit. Happy cycling!

https://cyclingns.ca/

blueroute.ca

Nova Scotia Cycling Clubs - Cycling NS

Cycling Clubs & Teams — Cycling PEI

(20+) Facebook

Paper Snails

These are the cutest, easiest crafts.

Cut long strips of coloured paper, maybe an inch to an inch and a half (3-5 cm) wide. Cut two short skinny strips for the antenna. Put eyes on the end of their antenna and attach to the end of the wider strip. Roll the paper around a pencil and release it to make loose circles.

They don’t always want to stand up straight so I folded the leftover piece of paper (or construction paper) and taped it to the bottom.

There is your snail ready to crawl along the pew.

Something to eat

Remember a slow cooker can be ingredients put in a covered roaster pan in the oven at 200F. In winter this type of slow cooker warms the house.

Grandma is trying to learn to cook for two. Presently that involves cooking for 4,6,8 or more and freezing the extra. No one wants 3 extra meals of vegetable lasagna. This was my attempt to cook just for 2.

 Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken breasts (cook extra for another meal at the same time but otherwise cook two small chicken breasts)

1 cup potatoes (yep, that was 2 potatoes)

1 cup onion

1 cup carrots

1 cup peas

1 tsp. thyme

Salt and pepper

1 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp. flour

These are the ingredients of a pot pie without a crust. I had to add a little water after 2 hours. Usually 4 hours on high (6-8 hours on low). This was so plain and so good.

Since I added extra water, I did have juice with leftover veggies that turned into a soup, just enough for lunch another day. No leftovers! No freezing! Done.

The following prayer comes from a book gifted to this editor; A Canadian Prayer Book - Northern Light by Les Miller. This prayer may be for a different season of the year but allow these lines to sink into your heart - Let our thanks be infused for a deeper gratitude …a deeper commitment to justice, a deeper courage to bring healing to this fractured time.