Women's Equality Day

Women’s Equality Day is a Statutory Holiday in the United States, to celebrate the ratification of the 19th amendment for women to vote and is celebrated on August 26th of each year.

In Canada it is also significant in marking milestones like women gaining the right to vote and hold office in 1918, and the Persons Case in which the British Privy Council in 1929 ruled that women were indeed persons under Canadian law and could be appointed to the Senate. This decision overturned a previous ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada and paved the way for women's increased participation in public and political life. 

I would just invite the reader to consider a few things about the Persons Case: if indeed we agree that women are also persons, then why are they treated differently in ordinary conversation?  If we truly believe what the Persons Case is stating, and which, by the way, was hard won by 5 women from Alberta, then I think we might consider the use of language referring to women as a “teaching moment” to the upcoming generation of young leaders.   

For example, phrases used by many waitresses or waiters will most often refer to women as “you guys”, “honey”, “dearie”.  This, to me if used referring to mature young or especially elderly women, is meant in good faith, but I would suggest there is an unconscious bias to not considering women as equal to men in the realm of personhood. 

The treatment of women in our Western Culture, leaves room for improvement which WE have the power and hopefully the will, to make.

For example, for waiters/waitresses, other words more appropriately used could be: “how may I help you ladies?” OR “Are you folks ready to place your orders?”.  In my opinion, the common unconscious use of “girls” in relating to mature women is so inappropriate.

I respectfully suggest that perhaps on this August 26th, might we intentionally use appropriate respectful language that exhibits an awareness of the real dignity of womanhood?

-Sister Kathleen Lichti, CSJ

National Wildlife Day

“Some Wilderness Ramblings”
A Celebration of National Wildlife Day

Sergey Pesterev

As I write these few words I’m grateful to be spending some restful days in a wild place of lakes and deep forests. It is a place where the trees, fungi, plants, wildflowers and waters form a community with the animals whose home this is. All around the songbirds sing their morning praise. In the evenings, the loons cry out their haunting melodies calling out creation’s mystery. The tap, tap-tapping of woodpeckers echoes throughout the day as they create nature’s sculptures in the ancient log on the deck. The sound of tiny footsteps declare the arrival of squirrels and chipmunks seeking nourishment. Glorious, luminous dragonflies and butterflies fill the air with gentle patterns in flight. Fish, large and small dart across the water’s edge and leap from the depths of the lake toward the sunlight, shimmering in its radiance. Ants scurry busily, with great intent, like a miniature army. Sometimes, a small garter snake lazily slithers through the brush and very occasionally, I am reliably told, a black bear is sighted on its visits in the area.

This place is the place of belonging for such a vast and magnificent diversity of creatures. All are here “at home” by some “divine right” – they belong by nature. We humans, albeit an intrinsic part of the whole of creation, are in some senses, invitees of all other creatures. As, Wendell Berry, poet, writer, environmental activist and cultural critic writes, I can truly belong to this place “only by understanding and by virtue”. We humans are called into an intimacy with the natural world and we belong only in so far as we open ourselves to growing awareness and by living responsibly for the preservation of the wild that gifts us with life and beauty.  

In Canada, National Wildlife Day is celebrated on September 4. On this day we are reminded of the magnificent diversity of life in creation upon which all life depends. The specially designated day honours the legacy of Steve Irwin the conservationist and television personality known popularly as "The Crocodile Hunter".  The day serves to encourage, and for more than a day, the need to expand and deepen our awareness of the array of species around us, no matter whether we live in countryside or city, and of the vast multitude of animal communities, globally.  The day, assigned, calls us to protect endangered species. Current research demonstrates that thousands of species are at risk of extinction caused by unthinking, rapacious human intervention and concurrent environmental change and habitat loss. National Wildlife Day reminds us of the essential role played by plants and animals in maintaining ecological balance necessary for the very existence of life itself. The Day stresses the importance of wildlife conservation. It calls for individual and communal efforts to preserve and allow the flourishing of biological diversity and the beauty of the wilderness now and for future generations.

Derek Sutton

What am I called to be and to do in response? Perhaps it’s a simple yet vital first step of expanding consciousness by immersing ourselves in the world’s magnificence, simply taking a walk in nature and allowing it to touch and teach us. As wildlife biologist, Erik Reisen writes maybe it is first a matter of, “Paying attention to the things most of us ignore or simply don’t take time to notice in our daily comings and goings – to see the natural world through a magnifying glass or in a poem, is the first step toward wanting to preserve it.” On National Wildlife Day let us simply pay attention, give thanks and commit to action!

-Sister Mary Rowell, csj

Image: Vincent van Zalinge/Unsplash

Love Lives On

These days, as my number of years increases, I find myself gaining new perspectives and insights. I suppose that experience is not unique to me, but rather one of the significant gifts that come with aging. A great deal of earlier life seems to be spent figuring out whether to go “gee” (right) or “haw” (left), to borrow from equine terms. With the passing of years, however, we begin to strive more intentionally to proceed straight forward carefully, thoughtfully, as best we can.

One new thought surfaced as the first anniversary of my good friend, Jean’s death approached. A new notion came to mind as I recalled the phrase, “Life is changed, but not ended.” In the past, I had always associated its meaning with the future life of the deceased, an encouragement to focus on their continued existence in the often-referenced ‘hereafter.’ But this time, with new insight, I found the subject of the phrase had become me.

While my longtime friend’s earthly life has come to its close and continues now in unimaginable ways beyond this world, I realized that my life, especially regarding our shared relationship, has also undergone a change, but continues.

“The friends we have lost do not repose under the ground... they are buried deep in our hearts. It has been thus ordained that they may always accompany us.”

— Alexandre Dumas, in The Count of Monte Cristo

Jean’s physical presence may be gone, but our connection, the shared memories, and the influence she has on my life are still very much alive. And so, my life too is changed yet continues to be so richly blessed.

-Sister Nancy Wales, csj

Images: le Sixième Rêve/Sixteen Miles Out | Unsplash

The UN Celebrates Friendship

I just found out that the United Nations has an International Day of Friendship. Honestly, at first, I was a bit surprised. With everything to deal with on the UN’s plate, why would they focus on something as simple as friendship? Why dedicate a whole day to it?

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

Back in 2011, the UN General Assembly designated July 30th as International Friendship Day. Their rationale was that friendship, whether between individuals, communities, or even countries, can help bring peace, close divides, and encourage understanding. We can easily underestimate how powerful those small human connections are, especially when the news is so full of conflict and division.

The UN Charter itself highlights this agenda:

“To practice tolerance and live together in peace
with one another as good neighbours.”

These days, just talking about being good neighbors feels like a quiet act of protest against all the chaos out there. It is a reminder that peace isn’t only about big treaties or negotiations. It is about how we treat each other every day. It is those personal acts of kindness, openness, and empathy.

Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner, put it simply:

“We may have different religions, different languages,
different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.”

“Friendship and love can cross all boundaries. They can survive every difference and division. That is how peace begins — with us reaching out beyond our walls.”

— Desmond Tutu

That really is at the heart of it. When we build friendships across differences, we start to understand each other better. We stop seeing people as “other” and start seeing them as fellow humans. Friendship most likely does not show up in official diplomatic documents, but it is often what makes real, lasting peace possible.

So now, when July 30th rolls around, I will think about International Friendship Day. It is not just a date on the calendar. It is an important reminder that every time we choose connection instead of division, compassion instead of indifference, we are quietly building peace.

Let’s be peacemakers every day. Honestly, that is exactly what the world needs more of right now.

-Sister Nancy Wales, csj

Image: 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič/Unsplash

Summer’s Permission Slip

Now that I’m retired and no longer living by the seasonal rhythm of an educator, I’m discovering the need to be more intentional about my approach to summer living.

Regina Brett, who became a global sensation with her vital newspaper column “50 Life Lessons,” wisely said:

“Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy.

To do nothing and have it count for something.”

Several summer pastimes spring to mind, activities that might be seen as “doing nothing,” yet they offer quiet meaning. May I suggest you take a well-earned permission slip and enjoy one of these gentle pursuits or other compatible ones.

• Sitting on a Bench: Observing, your outer or inner surroundings, without a device, without a book. Just savouring presence.

• Floating: Being buoyed by water, your body and thoughts are both carefree.

• People-Watching: Noticing others quietly, sipping something cool, engaging in a gentle study of human nature.

• Walking Without a Destination: Wandering without a route, seemingly aimless, but truly a walking meditation.

This summer, I’m letting the season be a permission slip to slow down and simply be. Wherever you are, however, you choose, may this summer give you permission to simply be.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

Images: Luke Dean-Weymark/Chris Galbraith/Unsplash

“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

— Henry James