Well, after only 33 hours of travel, I’m safely back in Toronto. It was a long journey, and I kinda feel like I don’t know what day it is (it feels like I missed Monday – how is that possible?). I’m back at work at Church House tomorrow, but first, this morning, I went to see my friends Sarah and Jon’s new baby Jacob, who was born while I was away, on November 21.

Me with Jacob and Bobby (the cat)

I was so excited to meet Jacob, as I’d thought about him a lot while I was in Durban. Sometimes, Durban felt very doom and gloom – a bit like “We’re all going to die!” Things are getting desperate; things are getting serious, and we really need to start taking concrete action, well before 2020. I heard several people talk about saving Earth for our children and grandchildren. Some even broke down, saying that they wanted their grandchildren to live in a world where they “wouldn’t be burned.” It got pretty heavy at points, and sometimes I even felt helpless. What kind of world are we bringing our children into?

I remember one day in Durban, after the briefing with Ambassador Guy Saint-Jacques, I was talking to Moderator Mardi Tindal about having kids. I’d like to have kids, maybe in 5 years or so, but I sometimes wonder if I even should, with the state the world is in. The Moderator told me that many people also felt this way in the 1970s, when nuclear war felt like a very real threat. But, she said, “We still need to have hope.” Despite feeling hopeless at times, we need to hold on to our hope and our faith that we can change the course the world is on, and preserve Earth for many generations to come.

The Moderator told me about Madeleine L’Engle, and her words about bringing children into a non-perfect world:

This is no time for a child to be born,
With the Earth betrayed by war and hate
And a comet slashing the sky to warn
That time runs out and the sun burns late.

That was no time for a child to be born
In a land in the crushing grip of Rome
Honor and truth were trampled by scorn —
Yet here did the Saviour make his home.

When is the time of love to be born?
The inn is full on planet earth,
Any by a comet the sky is torn —
Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.

– Madeleine L’Engle

Because, really, isn’t this what it’s all about?? 

Merry Christmas, everyone.