Weekend in Black & White - August 1, 2025

 

 The 7 Sacred Teachings of Indigenous Peoples

             For Weekend in Black & White

Book Review: Faceless Killers

 

Faceless Killers

Author: Henning Mankell

Publisher: Vintage Books, paperback, 298 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author 

Henning Mankell, at the time of this volume’s publication, was the prize-winning and internationally acclaimed Swedish author of the Inspector Wallander Mysteries, popular throughout Europe. Eventually, there were film and T.V. adaptations of his Kurt Wallander novels. He was a left-wing political social activist, and devoted much of his time to working with Aids charities in Africa, where he was also director of the Teatro Avenida in Maputo. He was married four times. His last wife, Eva Bergman, is the daughter of film director Ingmar Bergman. Mankell died on 5 October, 2015. 

Kurt Wallander is the protagonist of this novel. He is a police inspector at Ystad, in southern Sweden. Wallander is separated from his wife Mona, and alienated from his daughter Linda. He comes across as a workaholic, and neglects his health—eating too much fast food, not getting enough sleep, and sometimes drinking too much. He feels guilty about not visiting his dad often enough, there is tension between them, and he communicates with his sister who lives in Stockholm only occasionally. 

Wallander and other police officers work together to try and solve the brutal murders of a farm couple, Johannes and Maria Lövgren. The last word Maria uttered before she died was “Foreign.” Wallander questions Lövgren’s farm neighbours, the Nyströms. However, they are unable to share many helpful leads. Wallander and the other police team members are concerned that the media will blow things out of proportion if they discover the murderers are foreigners—they are worried that such information would play into the interests of far right political organisations and individuals opposed to immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees. 

In the meantime, another murder is committed, someone has killed a Somali man. Wallander has a “hunch” about a former policeman who retired early. After Wallander’s surveillance of him, and his association with another chap, the Somali murder is solved relatively quickly. Both of them had connections with far right organisations. Once again the police are worried about how the media would cover the murder, and if their coverage would negatively stereotype the police as having far right political leanings. 

Wallander continues his investigation of the Lövgren murders, with the assistance of other police personnel. They discover that Johannes Lövgren had lived a rather secret life unbeknown to his neighbours, the Nyströms. During World War II, he had made a lot of money selling meat to the Germans. He also had an affair with Ellen Magnusson. Eventually, the police discover, after continuous denials, that Ellen and Johannes had a son, Erik Magnusson. Later, after incorrectly suspecting them, they discovered that neither Ellen nor Erik had anything to do with the Lövgren murders. 

Wallander and other police personnel spend more time hoping that the discovery of a Citroën car would lead them to the murderers. After coming to so many dead-ends in the investigation, Wallander is getting very discouraged and almost ready to give up. Time passes, and nothing significant happens. Then, working with a bank employee, a wee bit of information motivates Wallander that might help in solving the murders. I encourage readers to check out the novel in order to discover how it ends.

World Environment Day June 5th & Climate Crisis

World Environment Day & Climate Crisis

June 5^th marks World Environment Day. Here in Alberta, we have living evidence of climate crisis. Our conservative government continues to dismiss the evidence and pander to the oil industry. Tonight on the news our premier spoke with “forked tongue,” on the one hand she referred to the fires, while on the other hand, she stated the need to build more pipelines to transport Alberta’s oil. She also continues to discourage alternative energy sources and development. 

Meanwhile our forests started burning already in May, as did those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. On this evening’s newscast, it was reported that 17,000 people have been evacuated from their communities in Manitoba, 7,000 in Saskatchewan, and 5,000 here in Alberta. Currently, it is not known whether the residents of these evacuated communities will have homes to return to, once the fires are no longer burning. Lately, where we live, the wind keeps blowing almost every day, and often the gusts are up to 50 km per hour (in the recent past, windy days were less frequent). If that is also happening up north where the forest fires are burning, then the fires spread faster, and become out of control sooner. In some cases, firefighters have to retreat, since it is too dangerous for them to remain working to extinguish the fires. So from our premier’s and governments point of view, let the forests burn until they no longer exist, as long as we can continue to keep making lots of money from the oil and gas industry—that’s what really matters. Keep living in climate crisis denial until our biodiversity no longer exists to sustain life for human beings and every other species of God’s creation. 

Another example of the destruction of forest fires here in Alberta is the town of Jasper and surrounding area. We drove through Jasper recently, and here are a couple of pictures I took of that destructive fire.

                          The ruins of the Anglican church, destroyed by the Jasper fire

                                                    The burnt out gas pumps in Jasper

So on World Environment Day, I will try not to drive my vehicle. I will ride my bicycle, and enjoy, appreciate, and give thanks for the beauty of God’s creation. More importantly, I will try to live my life every day, as much as possible, in harmony with the environment. As the old familiar axioms go: “Less is more,” and “live more simply that others (humans and other species) may simply live.”For more information on World Environment Day, which is emphasizing actions to reduce plastic pollution, click here.

What about you, dear readers? How will you celebrate World Environment Day? 

Wordless Wednesday - May 7, 2025

 

                                                        Welcome signs of spring

                                       For Wordless Wednesday

Book Review: Ehyeh: A Kabbalah For Tomorrow

Ehyeh: A Kabbalah For Tomorrow

Author: Arthur Green

Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing, paperback, 192 pages, including Preface, Introduction, Epilogue, and Notes

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author 

At the time of publication, Dr. Arthur Green was Philip W. Lown Professor of Jewish Thought at Brandeis University and dean of the Rabbinical School at Boston’s Hebrew College. Former president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, he is also a rabbi, a historian of Jewish mysticism, and a theologian. He is the author of: These Are the Words: A Vocabulary of Jewish Spiritual Life; Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav; Seek My Face: A Jewish Mystical Theology; and The Language of Truth: Teaching from the Sefat Emet. He is also co-editor of Your Word Is Fire: The Hasidic Masters on Contemplative Prayer. 

Contents

The volume contains the following: Confession, By Way of a Preface, Introduction: Ehyeh As a Name of God, Part I: Rereading The Old Tradition—consisting of 6 chapters, Part II: Looking Toward Tomorrow—consisting of 6 chapters, Epilogue: To Keep on Learning—Where Do I Go from Here? and Notes. 

Brief Observations 

Rabbi Dr. Arthur Green displays his erudite gifts and skills in this volume. At the time this volume was published, he had studied Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism for 40 years. He is likely one of the most highly respected experts on Jewish mysticism. Yet, he humbly states: “I have not yet come up with any definitive answers” (p. xvi). 

As I read this work, I realized how in-depth Professor Green takes his audience. One of the main reasons he wrote this book was for seekers—both Jewish and non-Jewish, and he states that he still considers himself to be a seeker. He invites them to take their time reading, and engage with him both heart and mind. 

In his introduction, Rabbi Dr. Green begins with the Kabbalah hidden name of God Ehyeh(pronounced eh-yeh), “I shall be.” He suggests that: “The name Y-H-W-H should not be translated “God” or “Lord,” but rather “Is-Was-Will Be” (p. 2). God’s name is more verb than noun. He also explains the kabbalist word keter: “Keter is existence that precedes all definition” (p. 5). 

In “1 Kabbalah Old and New,” Professor Green states the meaning of the word kabbalah, “the received.” Traditions received from previous generations. 

In “2 There Is Only One,” Rabbi Dr. Green addresses The One and the many, emphasizing the oneness of all that exists: “Kabbalah teaches that there is a secret unity of all Being, hidden within the multiplicity and diversity of life as we experience it” (p. 20). It was God’s love that created everyone and everything.

In “3 Torah: Creation’s Truth Revealed,” Professor Green refers to a primordial Torah, Torah revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and a new Torah created from life experiences.

In “4 Sefirot: The One and the Ten,” Rabbi Dr. Green explains the Ten Sefirot, with the aid of diagrams. He also includes “A Guided Meditation.” 

Throughout this volume, Professor Green explains a variety of Hebrew words and letters, and their significance. In one section he includes “A Meditation On God’s Name,” (p. 82f). 

In “7 Seeking a Path,” Rabbi Dr. Green states that: “Mystics share with other religious people an intense awareness of Divine Presence and a constant readiness to respond to that presence in both prayer and action” (p. 96). In this chapter, he also includes: “These Are the Things a Person Should Do to Live by Them,” (p. 102f) listing 14 things to practice one’s faith.

In “8 Great Chain of Being: Kabbalah for an Environmental Age,” the author acknowledges the tragic state of creation and humankind, stating: “The changes needed in collective human behavior in order to save us from self-destruction are stupendous” (p. 118). 

In “10 What about Evil?” Professor Green includes a discussion on the biblical stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, as well as the Holocaust, and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. He believes that: “To be a Jew is to think about evil. The fact that we have so long been its victims does not mean that we are never its perpetrators” (p. 138). 

In “11 The Life of Prayer,” Rabbi Dr. Green identifies two traditional categories of prayer—spontaneous and liturgical. He also explains a diagram of “The Kabbalistic ‘Amidah” (pp. 160-165). 

In “12 Community: Where Shekhinah Dwells,” the author points out that the 613 commandments are rooted in the original 10 commandments. He also underscores the importance of creativity in order to teach Torah: “The mystical tradition has always been especially open to innovative, sometimes even wildly radical new readings of Torah” (p. 174). 

In “Epilogue: To Keep on Learning—Where Do I Go from Here?” Professor Green mentions several scholars, and recommends some their works. He starts with two of his teacher’s works, Abraham Joshua Heschel: God in Search of Man, and The Sabbath. He also recommends that it is better to learn Hebrew and read sources in that language, than to rely on English translations—something is lost in translation. 

This volume will be very beneficial to both Jewish and Christian scholars, students, and clergy interested in Kabbalah. As a Christian reviewer, I especially appreciated, and was reminded of parallels in Christianity, of the list of 14 things on pp. 102-105.

Weekend in Black & White - March 7, 2025

 

Unfortunately the weather is too warm now for cross-country skiing. However, I keep hoping for more snow, maybe next week. 

                       For Weekend in Black & White

Brief Review: Instrument of Thy Peace

Instrument of Thy Peace – Revised Edition

Author: Alan Paton

Publisher: The Seabury Press, paperback, 124 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author 

Alan Paton was a South African Anglican layperson, author, teacher, and anti-apartheid social justice advocate. 

Brief Observations 

In his Preface, Paton begins with the following sentence: “This book is written for sinners, and by one of them” (p. 7). In addition to sinners—that includes, of course, everyone—he states: “I wrote also for those who are inclined to melancholy, for those who are inclined to withdraw rather than to participate...[rather than] the building of a more just order of society” (p. 7). 

Paton wrote this volume, of his 21 meditations based on Francis of Assisi’s classic prayer, during the time when his wife of 39 years, Dorrie, was dying of emphysema. He believed: “I was given help to write it” (p. 8). 

Each of the 21 meditations begins with a quotation often from Francis’s prayer or one or more biblical passages. However meditation 17 begins with four quotations from newspapers focussing on the 1967 black riots in several USA cities. In most of the meditations there are other quotations from a wide variety of people and sources, including: excerpts from The Little Flowers Of St Francis Of Assisi, John Bunyan, William Temple, Alexander Paterson, Dag Hammarskjold, Paul Tillich, Ralph Hodgson, Lancelot Andrews, Julian of Norwich, the “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann, The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, Reinhold Niebuhr, and several others. The meditations often end with a prayer by Paton, wherein he concludes with these or similar words: “And help me this coming day to do some work of peace for Thee” (p. 53).

In meditation 3, based on Francis’s petition: “Where there is hatred, let me sow love,” Paton provides readers with his commitment to social justice: “To be the instrument of God’s peace is not to confine oneself to the field of personal relationships, but to concern oneself also with the problems of human society, hunger, poverty, injustice, cruelty, exploitation, war” (p. 20). At the end of this meditation Paton prays this prayer, which highlights his faith, and complements his commitment to social justice, and how he was inspired and motivated by Francis’s petition: “Take all hate from my heart, O God, and teach me how to take it from the hearts of others. Open my eyes and show me what things in our society make it easy for hatred to flourish and hard for us to conquer it. Then help me to try to change these things. And so open my eyes and my ears that I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for Thee” (p. 22). 

Some of the meditations also contain contemporary anecdotes and insights born out of Paton’s own life experiences. For example, a friend of his who was overanxious could have been thankful for the blessings in her life, rather than being preoccupied with what might happen to her. 

In a couple of meditations, Paton is very honest with his readers concerning the “sinner” part of himself. He admitted that he struggled with and fell short of Jesus’s teaching to love one’s enemies. When someone pointed out to him that as a Christian he could be more joyful, he admitted that there was more room in his life to grow more joyful. 

Although some of the illustrations and contexts may be dated, others, even if dated, are as relative and instructive today as they were in Alan Paton’s day. This is a devotional classic that readers may wish to read periodically to discover insights and inspiration.