The Faith Page

As people from faith traditions, we believe hydro development has deep spiritual dimensions. Mixed in with the benefits and harms of Manitoba's hydro system are various spiritual implications.

We believe an element of sacredness flows in every river. All life depends on water, and both life and water are gifts from the Creator God. When a river is dammed or its natural course changed, its God-given sacredness is compromised. As riverbanks erode unnaturally, so do the spirits of all living beings that depend on the river. As shorelines erode so do spirits of those who depend on the electricity from those rivers. As dams sever the connectedness of river life, they also sever the sacred connections between people and the Creator God.

For us, this loss of sacredness is more a matter of lament than judgment. As people from faith traditions we believe faith should not be used as fuel for judgments about right and wrong but rather as a path to healing and wholeness.

Exploration
As people who use electricity produced in northern Manitoba, we acknowledge our complicity in the wounds caused by the hydro system. Starting from that point, we suggest the following questions as a means for exploring the spiritual dimension of hydro impacts.

What does faith have to offer other than just backing for arguments about who is right and wrong?
What would happen if we supplemented environmental impact assessment with spiritual impact assessment?

We hope the following reflections assist in the exploration of these questions. More material will be added in the near future.

– Economic Leprosy
A sermon by Interchurch Council member Marcus Rempel, 2009

Excerpt: The culture to which I belong has made unfeeling contact with the world a defining feature of our economy.
I eat food grown in fields I have never walked, and picked by workers I will never meet. I drive a car fuelled by gas from oil fields I have never seen. And when I switch on my light every morning, I use electricity from a might river whose spray can never touch my face. Read more.

– "A Good Connection," by Will Braun (Childview Magazine (World Vision Canada), Summer 2009)
This article explores spiritual links between consumers and people affected by production of the goods
consumed.

Excerpt: If my [consumer] action harms others–even if I'm not aware of it–then it also harms my soul.... In our interconnected world, refusing participation in harmful economic relationships is a key part of loving others and participating in God's love. Read more.

– Statement of Church Representatives on the occasion of the 1999 Interchurch Inquiry into Northern
Hydro Development (from Let Justice Flow, page 53)

Excerpt: By conducting the inquiry [the churches] are saying that if kilowatts of power flow between peoples at either end of the transmission lines, there should also be a flow of understanding and
goodwill. Read more.

– "Water, Spirit, Energy" photo gallery

Excerpt: To trace the history of a river... is also to trace the history of the soul....(Gretel Ehrlich). Read and see more.

– "Time for a retrofit: Church buildings wasting energy and spirit," by Will Braun (United Church
Observer, June 2006)

Excerpt: What if the cracks around our church windows are letting the Holy Spirit out as they let the winter cold in? What if the energy-sucking light bulbs in our sanctuaries are casting an unholy glow on our otherwise holy Scriptures? Read more.

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