tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39491969627502539542024-03-13T13:49:56.999-07:00Liberating WingsLoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-53244824675587128282016-07-08T13:14:00.002-07:002016-07-09T11:15:50.679-07:00Vows and Bows for Black Lives<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><i>July 7, 2016</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today was the day I had scheduled to write how changing the <a href="http://www.firstprincipleproject.org/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Unitarian Universalist First Principle </a>from the inherent worth and dignity of" every person" to "every being" can aid human beings, not just in terms of spirituality, wholeness, and becoming fully who we are, but specifically in terms of alleviating the multiple oppressions facing humans. As an advocate for humans and other animals (wildlife veterinarian and Unitarian Universalist minister) I believe that my perspective and experiences can help clarify the moral morass of how we live in a world where harm and benefit are interwoven into the very fabric of all life on this planet. In light of this week's shooting of Alton Sterling in Louisiana by police, the shooting of Philando Castille in Minnesota by police, and the targeted shooting of Dallas police officers by one or more gunmen during a peaceful protest, I don't know how to write through the pain, let alone have that writing be of help to anyone. So I write for myself, to make sense of something that cannot be undone, this unraveling of human community that shreds families and lives without end. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps, if I am honest, I also write to speak to other people of privilege who think that by announcing our take on things we can nullify the anguish. As a white person, isn't it time, as Black Lives Matter commends, that I make a safe space for black people to come together and then go to the back of the room, keep quiet, listen, and have my heart break open? I don't feel silenced. I am silenced. There is a longing for wholeness that washes over me when I am given my marching orders on how to be present to the lived experiences of others. It is no easy task. These events of the last year, and this last week, hit me like a whiplash, my attention ripped from my daily concerns to see more deeply the lives, love, and hurt of others. May I not return my gaze where it once was directed, but draw on agitation and awareness so that my actions angle my path forward ever more towards reconciliation and justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">So today I try to hold the anguish in a very specific way for black lives in the United States. I want to know, I want to feel despair and then anger, and then the thrill of action. But let me be so very human, though a privileged one to be sure, I cannot turn from the pain of police officers. My son, a person of color from Honduras, serves as a police officer in North Carolina. Confusion and anger, his or mine, it's hard to know, seeps into me with every phone call and text between us. He is on the front lines, battling racism as his job calls him to protect, to be safe, and to control situations How can any of us protect those whom we love and create safety when it has all gotten so out of control?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I can only imagine how the family members and loved ones of those who have died and been injured might have woken up this morning, petitioning with a heart too broken perhaps to rise out of bed, "Can't we take back the violence and bring my dear beloved back?" And those of us more removed, did you ask yourself like me this morning, "How can I take back all those years of inaction, of not being completely and soulfully swept up in the beauty and the suffering of the other?" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It's not that I have been idle. I have dedicated my life towards improving the lives of parrots and people in Central America, including witnessing and being in solidarity with marginalized indigenous groups and those descended from slaves. The trauma of those experiences knows no bounds, nor does the beauty. I get that there is no hierarchy of pain and suffering, and do not judge my efforts and experiences as inconsequential. Even so, I suspect that though I have studied "intersectionality" where the various forms of oppression link to each other, I carry the burden of white supremacist enculturation that demands, "Look at the suffering of this group, now, in the way that I see it!" I have not made or had enough room to love, listen, learn, and act all that I could have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I vow to do so, as I bow down before the agony of our times. The very act of bowing down low causes to rise up from the body into awareness a sense of humility and interconnection . These I ache for. So I bow before you, dear black lives, dear life, dear earth, dear many others of all species, mourning, and longing </span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">to really see the beautiful other, and in holding that beauty, be able to hold their suffering. I want to see the other's point of view, and I want to see it before things get further out of control, before there is any more violence or pain. I pray that we can really see each other, and in that furnace of beauty and suffering, may we find the strength to start again, and again, until we humans find a way to live in humility, awareness, peace, and love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">My prayer finishes with this music video, "Could We Start Again Please?" (This is from the musical, JC Superstar. It was inspired during my time serving as minister to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville, Florida, and transmits my hope of how UU congregations can be a place to start again.)</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I've been living to see you.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dying to see you, but it shouldn't be like this.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This was unexpected,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">What do I do now?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Could we start again please?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now for the first time, I think we're going wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hurry up and tell me,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is just a dream.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Oh could we start again please?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think you've made your point now.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">You've even gone a bit too far to get the message home.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before it gets too frightening,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">We ought to call a vote,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">So could we start again please?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i>LoraKim</i></div>
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LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-88505083106285966472016-07-08T13:14:00.001-07:002016-07-09T11:11:22.135-07:00Vows and Bows for Black Lives<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><i>July 7, 2016</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today was the day I had scheduled to write how changing the <a href="http://www.firstprincipleproject.org/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;">Unitarian Universalist First Principle </a>from the inherent worth and dignity of" every person" to "every being" can aid human beings, not just in terms of spirituality, wholeness, and becoming fully who we are, but specifically in terms of alleviating the multiple oppressions facing humans. As an advocate for humans and other animals (wildlife veterinarian and Unitarian Universalist minister) I believe that my perspective and experiences can help clarify the moral morass of how we live in a world where harm and benefit are interwoven into the very fabric of all life on this planet. In light of this week's shooting of Alton Sterling in Louisiana by police, the shooting of Philando Castille in Minnesota by police, and the targeted shooting of Dallas police officers by one or more gunmen during a peaceful protest, I don't know how to write through the pain that could be of help to anyone. So I write for myself, to make sense of something that cannot be undone, this unraveling of human community that shreds families and lives without end. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps, if I am honest, I also write to speak to other people of privilege who think that by announcing our take on things we can nullify the anguish. As a white person, isn't it time, as Black Lives Matter commends, that I make a safe space for black people to come together and then go to the back of the room, keep quiet, listen, and have my heart break open? I don't feel silenced. I am silenced. There is a longing for wholeness that washes over me when I am given my marching orders on how to be present to the lived experiences of others. It is no easy task. These events of the last year, and this last week, hit me like a whiplash, my attention ripped from my daily concerns to see more deeply the lives, love, and hurt of others. May I not return my gaze where it once was directed, but draw on agitation and awareness so that my actions angle my path forward ever more towards reconciliation and justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So today I try to hold the anguish in a very specific way for black lives in the United States. I want to know, I want to feel despair and then anger, and then the thrill of action. But let me be so very human, though a privileged one to be sure, I cannot turn from the pain of police officers. My son, a person of color from Honduras, serves as a police officer in North Carolina. Confusion and anger, his or mine, it's hard to know, seeps into me with every phone call and text between us. He is on the front lines, battling racism as his job calls him to protect, to be safe, and to control situations How can any of us protect those whom we love and create safety when it has all gotten so out of control?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I can only imagine how the family members and loved ones of those who have died and been injured might have woken up this morning, petitioning with a heart too broken perhaps to rise out of bed, "Can't we take back the violence and bring my dear beloved back?" And those of us more removed, did you ask yourself like me this morning, "How can I take back all those years of inaction, of not being completely and soulfully swept up in the beauty and the suffering of the other?" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It's not that I have been idle. I have dedicated my life towards improving the lives of parrots and people in Central America, including witnessing and being in solidarity with marginalized indigenous groups and those descended from slaves. The trauma of those experiences knows no bounds, nor does the beauty. I get that there is no hierarchy of pain and suffering, and do not judge my efforts and experiences as inconsequential. Even so, I suspect that though I have studied "intersectionality" where the various forms of oppression link to each other, I carry the burden of white supremacist enculturation that demands, "Look at the suffering of this group, now, in the way that I see it!" I have not made or had enough room to love, listen, learn, and act all that I could have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I vow to do so, as I bow down before the agony of our times. The very act of bowing down low causes to rise up from the body into awareness a sense of humility and interconnection . These I ache for. So I bow before you, dear black lives, dear life, dear earth, dear many others of all species, mourning, and longing </span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to really see the beautiful other, and in holding that beauty, be able to hold their suffering. I want to see the other's point of view, and I want to see it before things get further out of control, before there is any more violence or pain. I pray that we can really see each other, and in that furnace of beauty and suffering, may we find the strength to start again, and again, until we humans find a way to live in humility, awareness, peace, and love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif;">My prayer finishes with this music video, "Could We Start Again Please?" (This is from the musical, JC Superstar. It was inspired during my time serving as minister to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville, Florida, and transmits my hope of how UU congregations can be a place to start again.)</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I've been living to see you.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dying to see you, but it shouldn't be like this.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This was unexpected,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What do I do now?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Could we start again please?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now for the first time, I think we're going wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hurry up and tell me,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is just a dream.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Oh could we start again please?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think you've made your point now.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You've even gone a bit too far to get the message home.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before it gets too frightening,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We ought to call a vote,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So could we start again please?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i>LoraKim</i></div>
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LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-39336281588309902772013-12-06T08:55:00.000-08:002015-08-20T12:27:06.479-07:00Animal Ministry Explained<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;">The home base of my multispecies ministry has now changed to White Plains, NY. Here we have a local TV show hosted by Rev. Jack Lohr called, "Views from the Pews." I had the wonderful opportunity to explain what a ministry for all beings looks like. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;">Click on the photo below to see the show, and enjoy!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wpcommunitymedia.org/community/view-from-the-pews#!mm-34803">Click here</a></td></tr>
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</a>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-46319627682882021532013-08-02T10:54:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:58.168-08:00Saving Birds is Catching<p> </p><br /><p>There must be something in the air.  Yes, as always, there are birds, but<br />sometimes they fall to the ground, and that's when people step up to the plate.</p><br /><p>Such was the case of Anaheim Angel relief pitcher  Dane de la Rosa last week during a game with<br />the Oakland Athletics. He spotted a pigeon in trouble in the bull pen area and<br />did something about it - he picked it up until he could turn it over to someone<br />who could protect the bird. After he did he went on to retire the next 3<br />batters with only 10 pitches, and the bird was released back into the wild.  Nicely done!</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/I5d7B9ogpsQ?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe> </p><br /><p>In my own world, we had a nest of wrens on our front porch,<br />which I thought was empty.  The wind blew<br />down the nest and I taped it back up. In the process I saw that the nest held 4<br />chicks, which successfully fledged a week later, thank goodness in time before<br />we were to leave the house for good as my spouse had gotten a church position<br />in White Plains, NY.  </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0192ac55c24a970d-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="DSC_2777" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0192ac55c24a970d image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0192ac55c24a970d-800wi" title="DSC_2777" /></a><br />Taped up nest back where the wrens made the nest on our porch</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0191048c58dc970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="DSC_2788" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0191048c58dc970c image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0191048c58dc970c-800wi" title="DSC_2788" /></a><br />A nest for of wren chicks about ready to fledge from our home in Florida, as were we</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p>So we left Florida<br />and on our first full day in New York were told of loose birds in the sanctuary<br />of the <a href="http://www.cucwp.org/" target="_self">Community Unitarian Church at White Plains</a>.  I was called upon for advice and discovered<br />that wrens had made a nest in the sanctuary and could come and go from<br />the outside through a hole in the rafters. I asked the church staff to be on<br />the look out for fledglings as they would not be able to fly out of the hole and<br />would be trapped inside. Sure enough, a week later we got a call for the church<br />administrator and my spouse, the Rev. Meredith Garmon, the newly settled minister at the<br />church, and I went up to help the administrator, Liliana Keith, catch the chicks, chase the<br />adults out of the sanctuary, and release the chicks where the parents could see<br />them and care for them.  It was quite<br />comical to see a little bitty weeks old bird scamper away again and again from<br />our hands while a parent was chasing us both with a bug in her mouth.  While on wren duty, we also noticed a robin's nest with 3 chicks.  I was so pleased that our new church home was<br />indeed a sanctuary for all beings. Nicely done CUC!</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0191048c6e22970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Robin's Nest CUC" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0191048c6e22970c image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0191048c6e22970c-800wi" title="Robin's Nest CUC" /></a><br />Successful Robin's nest in outside rafters at Community Unitarian Church (CUC)</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p>We can't save them every time however.  That same week my spouse gave me a call from<br />New York City, only a short train ride from our new home.  He was attending a conference and during the<br />lunch break was outside at Union Square. Noticing a sparrow unable to right<br />himself and thrashing around, he wanted advice on what to do. After discussing<br />possible disease or injury, I told him to catch the bird and place her in the<br />shade out of the hot sun and under protection from predators. There was a<br />chance that the bird had run into a building and would recover shortly as long<br />as she could be safe. So my spouse spent his lunch time standing guard by the<br />struggling bird, who was joined by another  sparrow. <br /> Before returning to the<br />conference he went to see how the bird was doing, and there, along with the<br />other sparrow and a couple of other humans, they discovered that the bird had<br />died.  The three humans bowed, hands<br />together to honor and mourn the life that had passed.</p><br /><p>Another three humans honored a long dead wren chick we found in the sanctuary when we were chasing live chicks. Apparently this bird was from a previous clutch of wrens that had not been as fortunate as the ones that the CUC staff saved.  After a moment of silence we placed the still form up in the church's memorial garden.</p><br /><p><br /><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0192ac55dc9e970d-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Dead Wren CUC" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0192ac55dc9e970d image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0192ac55dc9e970d-800wi" title="Dead Wren CUC" /></a><br /><br /></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>Sometimes all we can do is witness, and that's<br />important.  To be present to life, to<br />death, to beauty, to suffering, and to compassion is a gift we all can give the<br />world.  It's a gift that can be catching, even for pitchers, and can free us all, birds included.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c01901e967acc970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Wings CUC" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c01901e967acc970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c01901e967acc970b-800wi" title="Wings CUC" /></a><br />Stone sculpture at CUC with plaque that reads, "Roots hold me close, wings set me free."</p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-38263223052261622702012-12-24T04:31:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:58.151-08:00A Prayer for Chickens<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Here I reflect on how we might think of what to do about the plight of chickens in factory farming.  I ask whether factory farming is "wrong" and conclude that based on my experience and understanding, it is, and that it is on the verge of being condemned as immoral by the society at large.  This video was inspired when I was recently passed on the road by a truck full of chickens on the way to a slaughter house. This led me to a sense of prayerful reflection.  How might we reduce their suffering?  I suggest we can do this not through feelings of guilt and despair, but through a sense of interconnection between the beauty within and the beauty without, in chickens, and in all of life.</span></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/prFKuXRjWkw?feature=oembed" width="459"></iframe> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-85691850107177623582012-12-18T02:48:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:58.136-08:00Dare To Rise To Compassionately Care for All Beings<p style="text-align: center;">Here is a music video I produced that speaks to the wondrous interconnection of all life.  By truly seeing and feeling, we humans can dare to rise to compassionately care for all!</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3AD4jTMSEw4?fs=1&feature=oembed" width="459"></iframe> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-90793865504975082082012-12-04T06:45:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:58.093-08:00Starlings are Startling<p> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c017c34461bf3970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Starling" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c017c34461bf3970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c017c34461bf3970b-800wi" title="Starling" /></a><br /><br /></p><br /><p>The common starling (<em>Sturnus vulgaris</em>) evokes definite reactions in people. Described as a "<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/9413714/Starlings-in-danger-after-numbers-plummet-80p-per-cent.html">Marmite" bird</a>, "you either hate them, or love them."  In the United States they are frequently disliked.  Often considered a nuisance, where introduced they compete with native birds for nest cavities and food, consume agricultural crops, and with their immense winter flocks can soil urban areas and endanger air planes during takeoff and landing.  They also have benefits: they consume agricultural insect pests, imitate human speech, are dazzlingly beautiful, and their large flocks display incredible patterns in the sky (known as murmurations).</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eakKfY5aHmY" width="560"></iframe><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p>Although they may be plentiful in some areas outside of their historical range, their numbers have <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/9413714/Starlings-in-danger-after-numbers-plummet-80p-per-cent.html">dropped dramatically in Britain</a>.  In the last year the population there in the last decade as dropped by over a third, and by 80% since 1979.  "In total,  40 million have vanished from the European Union since 1980 - at a rate of 150 a hour - with the crash triggering concern about its future as a widespread and familiar bird." In some countries, they are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_starling">listed as vulnerable or threatened</a>.  The reason for their decline is unknown, and research is currently underway to understand this species' ecology and the threats to its existence.</p><br /><p>The world would lose something splendid if these birds were to diminish before our eyes.  I admit to being bored by them in the past, their apparent sootiness doing nothing to cheer one's mood in the dim city winter days.  But upon closer inspection and introspection, I have yp agree with Mary Oliver who in her poem, <a href="http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1615"><em>Starlings in Winter</em></a>, describes how starlings can show us the way to improbable beauty.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><h1 style="text-align: center;">Starlings in Winter</h1><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>Chunky and noisy,</em><br /><em>but with stars in their black feathers,</em><br /><em>they spring from the telephone wire</em><br /><em>and instantly</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>they are acrobats</em><br /><em>in the freezing wind.</em><br /><em>And now, in the theater of air,</em><br /><em>they swing over buildings,</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>dipping and rising;</em><br /><em>they float like one stippled star</em><br /><em>that opens,</em><br /><em>becomes for a moment fragmented,</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>then closes again;</em><br /><em>and you watch</em><br /><em>and you try</em><br /><em>but you simply can't imagine</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>how they do it</em><br /><em>with no articulated instruction, no pause,</em><br /><em>only the silent confirmation</em><br /><em>that they are this notable thing,</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>this wheel of many parts, that can rise and spin</em><br /><em>over and over again,</em><br /><em>full of gorgeous life.</em><br /><em>Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>even in the leafless winter,</em><br /><em>even in the ashy city.</em><br /><em>I am thinking now</em><br /><em>of grief, and of getting past it;</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>I feel my boots</em><br /><em>trying to leave the ground,</em><br /><em>I feel my heart</em><br /><em>pumping hard, I want</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>to think again of dangerous and noble things.</em><br /><em>I want to be light and frolicsome.</em><br /><em>I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,</em><br /><em>as though I had wings.</em></p><br /><div><dl id="attachment_3225"><dt><a href="http://www.lafeberconservationwildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Starling-by-Philip-Heron.jpeg"><img alt="" height="599" src="http://www.lafeberconservationwildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Starling-by-Philip-Heron.jpeg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Starling by Philip Heron" width="563" /></a></dt><dd>Common starling (photo by Philip Heron)</dd></dl></div><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-9881349120253966132012-04-09T04:39:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:58.076-08:00Slime Mold Has Arisen<p> This Easter morn I arose to see what surprises I might award. Acting as the mid-morning bunny I placed brightly colored eggs and chocolate rabbits on the dining room table.  My actions I guess were not all that unexpected. </p><br /><p> But what awaited me outside was startling.  As part of my morning ritual, I looked out over the gopher tortoise mound in my back yard. The tortoise was not yet awake, but something else caught my attention.  There on top the sand was what looked like a bright yellow piece of plastic.  Who, I thought, was littering this sacred space?  Maybe, I mused, my family had gotten up early and placed a plastic Easter egg there for me to stumble upon.  Perhaps it was a bit of refuse unearthed by the tortoise yesterday evening.  She had been rolling stones up and away from her tomb like home.  The nearly phosresece yellow object was none of these things.  What I discovered, upon closer inspection, was that some time in the night, a slime mold had arisen.</p><br /><p> <a class="asset-img-link" href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0168e9d0a9db970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Slime Mold 2" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0168e9d0a9db970c image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0168e9d0a9db970c-800wi" title="Slime Mold 2" /></a></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p> Slime molds are colonies of protozoan that feed on bacteria found amongst decaying vegetation.   If I were to disturb this slime mold, any displaced cells would find their way back to re-unite.    Professor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyler_Bonner" title="John Tyler Bonner">John Tyler Bonner</a>, who has spent a lifetime studying slime molds argues that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold" target="_self">Slime molds</a> are "no more than a bag of amoebae encased in a thin slime sheath, yet they manage to have various behaviors that are equal to those of animals who possess muscles and nerves with ganglia -- that is, simple brains."</p><br /><p>What a gift these beings before me.  Though they are separate individuals,  they cooperate together to advance their life giving agendas, which if you give it some hard thought, includes predating upon other beings. </p><br /><p>That’s what we do too.  Might we also find ways to cooperate even though we evolved to harm and experience tragic displacing and despairing events in our lives?</p><br /><p>Two thousand years ago the followers of Jesus were abruptly and violently displaced, yet they came back together. After looking into the dark tomb, they did not find death, but the good news of what our species may yet obtain or evolve to. </p><br /><p>This morning I did not see grandmother tortoise coming out of the ground as I expected, but I did see life of another kind. Sure it’s slimy and predatory, but it’s beautiful.</p><br /><p>As a predator, sometimes too slick for my own good or others, I pray for the wisdom to stick together with others, so that our kind may arise, arise!</p><br /><p> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-65053445390269177272012-01-18T12:18:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:58.059-08:00Gopher Tortoise - No better church!<p style="text-align: center;">I have fallen in love with a gohper tortoise in my backyard. She makes all my days glad, and here I hope this time with her brings joy to your life too!</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rUXd6DuiTfE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-47002852132209525432011-10-22T15:50:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:58.045-08:00Zanesville Massacre<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;">In this video, I offer a short memorial service for those 49 animals that were killed in Zanesville, Ohio on October 18, 2011, and for Terry Thompson.  May we know that their light is always with us.</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><object height="344" width="459"><br /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0_reFLvAoMo?version=3&feature=oembed" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="459" /><br /></object><br /> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-2246568124702398032011-10-09T02:49:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:58.033-08:00Snakes Over a Plain<p>While in Belize last month I witnessed a small snake attacking and carrying off a frog, whose size was much greater than the snake's head.  I reflect on how we all are caught in the predatory/prey cycle and if we can nurture this nature, perhaps we can find a way to live sustainably as we live the solution.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><object height="344" width="459"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6AqyaunRXOI?version=3" /><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6AqyaunRXOI?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="459" /><br /></object><br /></p><br /> <br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-17062757039616399682011-07-10T01:30:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:58.022-08:00What I'm Looking For - La Moskitia, Honduras<p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: 15pt;">What are you looking for?</span></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"> Meaning? Love? Belonging? Beauty? A way to save the world?</span></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"> I invite you to watch this video about my recent time in Honduras where a group of us came together to build a world that we all are looking for.</span></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><object width="500" height="306"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xnk_4v6fi0E?version=3" /><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="306" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xnk_4v6fi0E?version=3" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed><br /></object><br /> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-58457900585750793212011-06-27T02:02:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:58.006-08:00Food, Justice, Hope<p>  <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0154334bc128970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Milpa-3" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0154334bc128970c" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0154334bc128970c-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Milpa-3" /></a></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>Recently as we Unitarian Universalists seek to bring justice to the world through food, I have heard pain and discouragement regarding how much we wish for the well being of all humans and nonhumans, and how far off that dream of the beloved community seems. Even after the passing of the Ethical Eating SOC, or especially so.</p><br /><p>I know intimately this despair regarding the challenges of nourishing a world, let alone my companions in Unitarian Universalism.  For the hope of offering support to you, I would like to offer these words. I was going to speak them from the “pro” plenary mike in support of the statement, but we ran out of time right before my turn. Here are those words, only slightly changed to account for a future not asking for the passing of the statement, but for the implementation of the statement.</p><br /><p> <em>Hello. I am the Rev. LoraKim Joyner and I am a delegate from the UU Fellowship of Gainesville.  I come before you today as a Community Minister in Multispecies Ministry and Compassionate Communication. I have also served as the president of the UU Animal Ministry for 8 years and am their current Reverence for Life Coordinator.  I also enjoy serving on the Ethical Eating Core Team.  In addition, I am a wildlife veterinarian working largely in Latin American conservation. I say all this to let you know that I know how difficult it is for us to talk, and to take action on food.  We doubt that we can love enough to take care of all beings given what we perceive as a perponderance of needs and claims that compete with one another. </em></p><br /><p><em>They do not.</em></p><br /><p><em>I have just come from 2.5 months working in Latin American to support environmental justice and conservation of birds.  The people there who live close to the land know that their well being is tied closely to the well being of animals. One group of indigenous people with whom I work, the Miskito people of Honduras, are <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/liberating_wings/2010/04/sunday-morning-coming-down-from-rus-rus-la-mosqutia-honduras.html" target="_self">literally dying</a> to protect their wild birds, while they themselves do not have enough to eat.  To insure that they have enough to eat and can nourish their families, birds, and trees, they have opened their hearts to protect all life, together.  <a href="http://www.lafeberconservationwildlife.com/?p=659" target="_self">Everything is at risk </a>they told me, and so they are willing to risk everything.</em></p><br /><p><em>Their hearts are big enough.</em></p><br /><p><em>Our hearts are big enough.  </em></p><br /><p><em>The needs are urgent; there is no time to lose.</em></p><br /><p><em>Everything is at risk.</em></p><br /><p><em>So let us risk everything we can today.</em></p><br /><p><em>Let’s implement this statement by using it as a tool to crank open our hearts so that the world can fall in and fill our lives with ever increasing love and compassion.</em></p><br /><p>I and others remain dedicated to what is not just a 5<em> </em>year Study Action Item process, but an effort that will span our lifetimes. </p><br /><p>We will find a way to breathe hope and justice into this statement, making it a living covenant with all of life.</p><br /><p>  <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0154334bc7d9970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Heart-Healthy-Food-to-Protect-Your-Heart-and-Let-Get-Healthy-Life" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0154334bc7d9970c" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0154334bc7d9970c-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Heart-Healthy-Food-to-Protect-Your-Heart-and-Let-Get-Healthy-Life" /></a></p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-26171113807067796932011-04-26T15:01:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:57.991-08:00Rio - Liberating You and Blue<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rio, the top box office draw over the last two weekends, is a story of liberation. The main character, Blue, is a large blue macaw and the last male of his kind. He was taken forcibly from the wild as a chick and raised in the U.S. by a caring human; however, he never learned to fly. Now 15 years old, he volunteers to go back to Brazil to meet up with the last female of their species, Jewel, who trapped from the wild and now residing in a large flight, is desperate to escape.  </span></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c015431f82458970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Rio-movie_2" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c015431f82458970c image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c015431f82458970c-800wi" title="Rio-movie_2" /></a> <br />Blue and Jewel in Rio</span></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">These aren’t the only two characters who are trapped. The woman who came of age with Blue, lives a happy, though apparently solitary and staid life. She meets up with the Brazilian conservationist, who is caught up in his own narrowly focused and urgent need to save a species. The foils of the story, the “boss” of an illegal animal trade business and his two henchmen, unable to rise above their favela (slum) origins, are caught in a web of desperate business adventures that often turn to violence. A temporary member of their gang is an orphaned street boy, who out of necessity aids the trappers, and then regrets his actions. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The movie shows how birds and humans are not living the good life, except for the wild birds in the opening and closing musical number who joyfully dance and sing “Rio” in a jungle scene reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. Their paradise is shattered when humans enter their realm and catch them, including Blue as a chick. We see the contrast of a beautiful nature without humans, and a devastated earth with humans. Reminding us of the movie Avatar, this movie screams “pop culture” in that it raises the question increasingly before us, “How are we humans to escape a future where we are so caught in our consumerist ways that we threaten all lives around us?” I don’t mind trendy movies at all, and in fact adore them when they help us understand who we are, especially in terms of parrot conservation. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I especially find Rio poignant because human ownership of parrots has tenaciously been before me in the last two weeks. The weekend the movie came out, I was amongst many captive birds. I was invited to be the guest presenter at <a href="http://www.tasc-chicago.org/" target="_self">The Avicultural Society of Chicago</a> during a fund raising dinner for my conservation work (thank you!). After all day staffing a booth on behalf of One Earth Conservation and Lafeber Conservation and Wildlife while it snowed (yes in mid-April), we gathered in th evening to learn about the people and parrots of Latin America, and what we might together do to preserve the splendor of the earth. Though I never brought up the inherent tension between birds in homes and birds in their native habitats, many people did. It was on their minds, for they spoke of how much they wanted their birds to fly free, and the inappropriateness of caging their beloveds. I suppose they also wished that for themselves, for like the humans in the movie Rio, they too are trapped, each in their own way. They wanted to know what I thought of the movie, and I believe also, what I thought of their lives. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c01538e252ac0970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Falls" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c01538e252ac0970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c01538e252ac0970b-800wi" title="Falls" /></a> <br />Kaieteur Falls, Guyana</p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 15px;">Their lives are in sharp contrast with where I had just come from, a land of wild jungles, indigenous peoples, and free flying parrots – Guyana. For the last 12 days I had been traveling in Guyana with <a href="http://www.fosterparrots.com" target="_self">Foster Parrot</a>s, a bird sanctuary as well as a leader in Guyana conservation. While in Guyana we saw amazing jungle scenes, replete with startlingly and awe inspiring free flying parrots. They might not have been singing to a calypso beat as did the cartoon birds in Rio, but observing them inspired awe and a sense of liberating joy, much like the opening and ending scenes in the movie.</span></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e8818d09b970d-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Macaws-falls-4-cropped" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c014e8818d09b970d image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e8818d09b970d-800wi" title="Macaws-falls-4-cropped" /></a> <br />Red and Green Macaws Flying in Front of Falls</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 15px;">What haunts us though is whether the real life trappers and resource extractors of the Guyana forests will win out. It has already in fact happened at least with one macaw species much like the movie depicts. The Spix Macaw, also all blue in color, used to fly over the northeastern landscapes of Brazil. Their numbers declined due to trapping until there was only one lone male left in the wild. A female bird was found in captivity that had originally been caught from the wild, and she was relocated to the jungle, and then released in the area of the lone male. Unfortunately the female disappeared before a successful union took place, and the male died in 2000. Now there are no birds in the wild, only captive birds who are hopefully the beginning of a new flock, and not the end of a species.</span></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c015431f8257b970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Spix-Tree-3_web ' last known nest" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c015431f8257b970c" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c015431f8257b970c-800wi" title="Spix-Tree-3_web ' last known nest" /></a> <br /> Last Known Nest Site of the Spix Macaw</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This movie shows how we might bring about a different ending than what happened to the Spix Macaw. Though the birds are repeatedly caged, chained, and grounded, Blue eventually learns to fly, and in so doing, frees his new love who has an injured wing. Blue discovers the thrill and passion of flying and he elects to stay free. With his new mate, they return to the wild and live happily ever after. So too do Blue’s woman companion, the conservationist, and the orphan boy who become a family. The trappers end up defeated and their evil days come to an end. </span></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Let be me so pedestrian as to suggest some underlying themes that jump out at me in this movie: </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1. Many of us do not know we are trapped, or that life could be more wonderful and liberating. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2. If we don’t know we are trapped, we cannot free ourselves, or others. If we are trapping others, we ourselves are trapped. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">3. We are interrelated in our imprisonment – the tragedies wrought by humans damages humans who end up orphaned and in slums, or birds who never know of flight. If any one of us is imprisoned, so are all of us. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">4. We are interrelated in our liberation – in freeing others, we become free. To free everyone, we must work together and be in solidarity with the plight of both the trapped and trapper. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">5. There are no clear demarcations between the trapped and the untrapped. Some free flying birds suffer greatly, while some others in cages lead what looks to be good lives and seem to flourish. Ultimately, only the individual his or herself can know what is missing, or where the wounds are. Even though we may never know the “other” or even ourselves with much clarity, we can always offer freedom to ourselves and others by cultivating choices. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> 6. We are trapped by our evolution and culture, yes, and we are freed by our choices in how we wish to live, grow, and give to others. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Am I saying that the story of our 21st century can end like the movie Rio with happy, joyful humans and birds frolicking together in a beautiful forest? In so many ways we already do, at least that’s what it feels like sometimes during my parrot conservation work in Latin America. However, I am ever so cognizant of the dual reality of how much we are losing, and how fast; birds and humans are frantically trying to survive. Even if we somehow make it eventually in some century, we won’t ever vanquish the reality that the jungle is a harsh place, with our without humans. There will always be sadness, loss, harm, pain, and yes, the cruelty of our ways, and evolution’s.</span></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c015431f8433c970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Woman_in_cage" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c015431f8433c970c" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c015431f8433c970c-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Woman_in_cage" /></a> <br /><br /></span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> I accept this reality, and so reject the surrealism of Rio which suggests that we can totally excise suffering from our world. However, knowing this, I believe we come begin to accept what we as a species have wrought, and open ourselves to all of who we are, the good, the bad, and the ugly. In this embrace of a world both wondrous and terrifying, we can intentionally find the ways to guard our failings without trapping beauty, unlock our potential, and set ourselves free, and all beings with us. </span></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><em><span style="font-size: 12pt;">How will you gain your freedom, and offer it to others?</span></em></p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-20619522323472436972011-03-29T08:29:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:57.978-08:00Going to Guyana<div><dl id="attachment_1232"><dt><a href="http://www.lafeberconservationwildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/LodgePanorama1.11.jpg"><img alt="" height="204" src="http://www.lafeberconservationwildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/LodgePanorama1.11.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="LodgePanorama1.1" width="502" /></a></dt><dd>Eco-lodge where we will stay (built by donations from Foster Parrots)</dd></dl></div><br /><p> </p><br /><p>The day has finally arrived. Tomorrow I head north to New York to catch a flight to Guyana, where as the guest of <a href="http://web.mac.com/fosterparrots/FOSTER_PARROTS/Conservation__Project_Guyana.html">Foster Parrots Project Guyana</a> I will see what beauty I may, in the hopes that I will find ways to keep beauty ever present in Guyana in the form of the people, parrots, and the other species there.</p><br /><p>In so many ways, this will be a unique trip. One, as I wrote last week, they are home to the <a href="http://www.lafeberconservationwildlife.com/?p=1188">Hoaztin</a>, a bird I have always wanted to see. Marc Johnson of Foster Parrots read of my desire, and has so arranged that we will stop at a place where they work with these birds in the wild.  Another special attribute of Guyana is that they are only one of two countries in Central and South America that speak English. (and the other one is...........).  Furthermore, they still allow legal trapping, harvesting, and exportation of their flora and fauna. From 1900-2002 about 175,000 parrots were exported, and 2003 quotas allow for over 20,000 to be exported a year (this does not include in-country trade for birds that never leave the country).</p><br /><p>While there I will also be conducting an <a href="http://www.lafeberconservationwildlife.com/?p=861">ethno-ornithology</a> survey where I will conduct interviews that seeks understanding about the relationship between humans and birds in a given country and a given people. For this aim, I am going to win the biggest luggage award because of all the video and camera gear. I'm already practicing my usual reply when people stare at my big blue duffle luggage, "It's all gear, not shoes!"</p><br /><p>Along the way there will be only one opportunity for internet access so I don't know if I will be able to blog until I arrive back in the USA on April 13th. There won't be any phone service either so I can't tweet either. However, one of our companions is packing a gizmo (<a href="http://www.findmespot.com/en/">Spot Satellite GPS</a>) that allows you to track where we are in Guyana on Facebook. You can begin tracking now by<a href="http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=597798733&story_fbid=10150137708263734"> clicking here</a>.</p><br /><p>With beauty before me and all around,</p><br /><p>LoraKim</p><br /><p> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-30949215515503942962011-03-23T23:55:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:57.963-08:00Flying Free with Intimate Conversations<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e36e8904970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Blue and Gold Macaw - Sander van der Wel800px-Ara_arara_-Diergaarde_Blijdorp_-two_flying-8a" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0147e36e8904970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e36e8904970b-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Blue and Gold Macaw - Sander van der Wel800px-Ara_arara_-Diergaarde_Blijdorp_-two_flying-8a" /></a> <br />Blue and Gold Macaw (photo by Sander van der Wel)</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>In January I attended the<a href="http://www.parrotfestival.org/" target="_self"> Parrot Festival</a> in Houston Texas. While there I heard a presentation by <a href="http://www.hillcountryaviaries.com/" target="_self">Rick Jordan</a>, “The Future of Aviculture.” He expressed views that if we lose the ability for people to own and breed birds in captivity, we will lose a great good for the people involved, and for conservation and avian medicine. Throughout his talk, he said that we all needed to talk to one another, even though we may have different views.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>In the spirit of his invitation that we should all talk, I met with Rick alone later in the day. I wanted to hear more about him and if he was willing to hear my story. We began talking of our common roots, of how we both had worked at the Aviculture Breeding and Research Center (ABRC) in Loxahatchee, Florida in the late 1980′s. This was a very large avian breeding facility that only in my last months there began to sell the hundreds of birds that hatched there to collectors and to pet owners. I left in part because these birds were so precious to me and I was not comfortable for them to enter the pet trade where many would end up in situations where they would not be adequately cared for over the span of their lives. I spoke of how much I had been a part of aviculture then, like him, and how after listening to him I could see the good that came of it: relationships between people, building a vibrant human community, income, contribution to science, conservation, and veterinary medicine, and fostering human-nonhuman relationships. He agreed and seemed to appreciate this common understanding we had.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e36e9497970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="ABRC Fighting" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0147e36e9497970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e36e9497970b-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="ABRC Fighting" /></a></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;">Rick Jordan, Sharon Wolf, Julie, and Trent at ABRC in 1989 (mock fighting)</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>I then told him that after leaving ABRC I had begun to work almost exclusively with wild parrots, and I had changed. Seeing their complex and beautifully compelling behaviors and social structures, I found it increasingly difficult to work with birds who were not free flying. It was as if the birds had become the “sacred other” and that I longed to be in relationship with them not on my terms, but based on their evolved natural states. I wanted to be part of a system where birds were granted the utmost consideration, compassion and care, and nothing less, and not one that often treated birds as objects of human desire and not as subjects with their own inherent worth and dignity. I claimed this story as my own, and did not mean it as a statement of what Rick should or should not do.</p><br /><p> It was then that Rick amazed me by saying how he resonated with what I had shared. He told of how he had the chance to see free flying Lear’s Macaws in Brazil. When he saw them, he thought, “I’m glad that there are no Lear’s Macaws in the pet trade. They should be free flying.” Rick then told me that when he returned to the U.S. he was depressed with the reality of seeing his parrots in captivity. The beauty of a flying macaw had shaken him to the core. After several months he then had a chance to see a staff member of his bond with a parrot chick, and the love and care expressed by the human to the bird was also a beauty that deeply reached him.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e36e9932970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Learn's Macaws Rio de Janerio Zoo" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0147e36e9932970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e36e9932970b-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Learn's Macaws Rio de Janerio Zoo" /></a> <br />Lear's Macaws</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p>What surprised us both is how similar we were and how we could get to the heart of what motivated our behavior and relationships with birds. What I also saw was that if we can slow down and hold conversations about our deep appreciation of birds with respect and empathy towards one another, we might harvest the power of relationships between humans, and between humans and birds so that we can make a better life for all. We need all of us at the table to listen and to contribute, because the task before us in conservation and avian welfare is no easy one. There are tragic consequences to our human presence here on this planet, but together, we might just be able to preserve the magnificent splendor of this earth.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>I am grateful for our conversation for it is with the telling of these kinds of stories that we engage in a process of narrative ethics. We place ourselves in the situation of others, and by being there, work out what is ours to do on behalf of others in this complex world.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>Thank you Rick for sharing your story with me, and giving me permission to share it with my readers, for I believe that our conversation will help others share likewise, for the sake of all. </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e86eeb62f970d-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Green-winged macaws Ricardo Sanchez 800px-Ara_chloropterus_-Peru_-four_flying-8" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c014e86eeb62f970d image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e86eeb62f970d-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Green-winged macaws Ricardo Sanchez 800px-Ara_chloropterus_-Peru_-four_flying-8" /></a> <br />Green-winged Macaws (photo by Ricardo Sanchez)</p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-36340248952792608562011-03-14T02:47:00.000-07:002014-11-16T10:12:57.948-08:00Naming Birds, Taming Egos<p>  <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e5fd90fd5970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Wilson wabler" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c014e5fd90fd5970c" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e5fd90fd5970c-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Wilson wabler" /></a></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>Don't mind my inexplicable delight</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>in knowing your name,</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>little Wilson's Warbler</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>yellow as a lemon, with a smooth, black cap..</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em> </em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>Just do what you do and don't worry, dipping</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>branch by branch down  to the fountain....</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em> </em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>A name is not a leash.</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>-Mary Oliver (in Swan)</em></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>Just two days ago a man came up to me brimming with ideas for a "bird ministry."  He wanted to teach troubled youth bird identification as a means to connect, focus, and move towards wholeness.  Without dropping a beat I said, "Count me in."  I'll do anything to get people to enjoy beauty, so that they can respond to it.  Though I have degrees in birds and they are my vocation and calling, I've never been overly concerned with their names, or teaching people names.   Beauty is beauty no matter what you call it. In fact, I have seen the pursuit of adding bird names to a "life list" detract from the objective wonder of the bird itself as the ego asserts its control in the field.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>In this case, however, teaching the names to young people and helping them recognize the individuality of species is a discipline that is liberating.  Identifying birds gives them a choice to contribute as citizen scientists, and is a means to better understand their world.  Naming unleashes the wild possibility within.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>Here comes the paradox.  We need to "know" names to contribute to this world, and we don't need to know names to contribute wholeness and healing.  Name it and then let go knowing anything about the bird so that you can meld with pure interconnection. </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>Dogen the Buddhist might write (if he were a Birdist):</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>There is a Wilson's Warbler.</p><br /><p>There is not a Wilson's Warbler.</p><br /><p>There is a Wilson's Warbler.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><em>What might you un-name today?</em></p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com90tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-11479813364696530422011-03-03T01:09:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:57.935-08:00Owls Get a Kick Out of Soccer<p> </p><br /><p>There is nothing as liberating as a good soccer game.  It can also be dangerous in parts of the world as soccer has been the inciting stimulus for riots, death threats, murder, and in one case,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War" target="_self"> a war between Honduras and El Salvador</a>. Recently this harm extended to an owl.  A tame barn owl, the mascot of a Columbian soccer team, flew down to the field during a game and was hit by the ball.  While still stunned, Panamanian footballer <a href="http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/75811,life,video,fury-as-footballer-luis-moreno-kicks-opposition-owl-mascot-to-death-in-colombia-video" target="_self">Luis Moreno kicked the bird off the field</a>.  The bird died two days later, suffering a broken wing and shock. The crowd yelled "murderer," and Moreno had to leave the game under police escort.  Since then he has received threats.  He won't be prosecuted because Columbia has no laws against animal cruelty, although the <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/03/02/colombia.soccer.owl/?hpt=T2" target="_self">soccer league penalized him</a> by requiring a fine and banning him from the next two games. </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><object height="344" width="425"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/e/7jyA_yrD1ko" /><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/e/7jyA_yrD1ko" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" /><br /></object><br /> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>This is a painful reminder of how humans in their worst moments do not have the capacity for compassion and care, even when beauty of game and bird surrounds them.  But sometimes we do.</p><br /><p>In a 2008 soccer game between Finland and Belgium, a great-horned owl visits the game, flying around the stadium and landing on the goal posts. The officials stopped the game and the crowd cheers and applauds the owl. Smiles and laughter abound.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><object height="306" width="500"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/e/ZMKGuoLGvo8" /><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="306" src="http://www.youtube.com/e/ZMKGuoLGvo8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" /><br /></object><br /> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>In another instance, rescuers remove another Great-horned Owl that had become entangled in a soccer net.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><object height="306" width="500"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/e/098Cwxf0Gys" /><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="306" src="http://www.youtube.com/e/098Cwxf0Gys" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" /><br /></object><br /> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>There is beauty all around us, and there is nothing as liberating as people responding by loving and saving the birds of our world.  How though do we make sense of our complicated natures where we both get a kick out of birds and kick them?</p><br /><p>Sufi poet Rumi writes, "There is a field out beyond wrongdoing and rightdoing. I'll meet you there."</p><br /><p>On that soccer field, great apes and owls are neither wrong or right. Instead  we are caught up in our goal directed lives, and make tragic choices that harm ourselves and others. </p><br /><p>May we this day see the beauty within and without, and in our gratitude, not penalize the beings of this earth.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-25369356606383993592011-02-18T04:27:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:57.923-08:00Owl Ethics - Spotted Owl Versus the Barred Owl<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e5f4de377970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Spotted Owl - USFWS" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c014e5f4de377970c image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e5f4de377970c-800wi" title="Spotted Owl - USFWS" /></a> <br /> Spotted Owl (photo by USFWS)</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p style="text-align: left;">The <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2011/02/make_this_call_in_the_wild_sho.html" target="_self">northern spotted owl is in the news again</a>, this time as linked to the death of 1200-1500 barred owls.  This summer, the USFWS may release in an environemental impact statement their reccomendation to kill barred owls. This is in response to the increasing range of the native barred owl who pushes out the the endangered spotted owl. </p><br /><p>"It's a wrenching decision that splits wildlife biologists and environmentalists. Killing one native animal to benefit another is such a leap that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hired an environmental ethicist to guide its discussions."<br /> <br /> "There's no winner in that debate," says Bob Sallinger, conservation director with the <a href="http://audubonportland.org/">Portland Audubon Society</a>. </p><br /><p>Making difficult decisions is not new in wildlife management and conservation.  Federal workers have killed comorants, terns, and seals to protect salmon and in Puerto Rico, Red-tailed Hawks are killed to reduce their predation on the endangered Puerto Rican Parrot.</p><br /><p>As a wildlife veterinarian I have been faced with the moral dilemmas present in this work and have been severely challenged as I wade with others through the ethical morass of wildlife care and management.</p><br /><p>For this reason I recently finished a chapter, <em><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/files/wandering-through-the-wilderness-of-ethical-discourse---joyner-for-ufl-and-website.pdf" target="_self">Wandering Through the Wilderness of Ethical Discourse</a></em>, in the book <em>Topics in Wildlife Medicine: Ethical Considerations in Wildlife Medicine. </em>This book will be published by the <a href="http://www.nwrawildlife.org/home.asp" target="_self">National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association</a> (NWRA).<em>  </em>In it I suggest that our lives are full of tragic decisions and that to care for ourselves and others we must improve our skills in ethical deliberation, and we need to do it together.</p><br /><p> For this aim I am traveling to the <a href="http://www.nwrawildlife.org/documents/sympbro11.pdf" target="_self">NWRA 2011 Symposium</a> in Albany, NY next week to give a seminar on Compassionate Rehabilitation.  My hope is that we can learn and practice together how to talk to one another so that we use our community resources to arrive at the best decisions to help the most species and individuals.</p><br /><p>One way I suggest we do this is to practice Needs Based Ethics.  In this approach we do not say that one species or individual is of more worth than another.  Instead we bring to the table a deep appreciation of the worth and dignity of all of life.  What guides our discussion is discerning and empathizing with the needs of all species and individuals within a given situation.  By keeping our hearts and minds open, which I admit is difficult given the loss of life resulting from our daily activities, choices, and conservation management decisions, we can come up with creative solutions. </p><br /><p>In the end, not all beauty may be preserved in the way we'd like.  We may howl over owls, but not at each other through the tactics of shame and blame.  In the end, we will have one another with which to mourn and can claim that at least we did not turn from the splendor that is ever present to us in owl, human, tree, and fish.  <em> </em></p><br /><p>  <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e862878f8970d-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Barred Owl" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c014e862878f8970d image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c014e862878f8970d-800wi" title="Barred Owl" /></a></p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-36891354119652262572011-02-18T03:00:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:57.913-08:00Paper: Wandering Through The Wilderness of Ethical Discourse<p><span class="asset asset-generic at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c014e86281d4e970d"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/files/wandering-through-the-wilderness-of-ethical-discourse---joyner-for-ufl-and-website.pdf">Download Wandering through the Wilderness of Ethical Discourse</a></span></p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-82802897757582039802011-01-21T01:59:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:57.895-08:00Compassionate Communication with All Beings<p><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e1d055a8970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Edited PR CC" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0147e1d055a8970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e1d055a8970b-800wi" title="Edited PR CC" /></a></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;">Dr. Ursula Aragunde Kohl, me and participants at the CC Workshop in Puerto Rico</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>Last weekend I was in Puerto Rico offering two separate workshops on Compassionate Communication. One was to the <a href="http://www.lafeberconservationwildlife.com/?p=942" target="_self">Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Project</a> and the other to a conglomeration of animal welfare, social services, and faith organizations in San Juan. This was the first time I had chosen to concentrate on organizations that deal with nonhuman animals. My goal in so doing was to support and nourish the humans so that they in turn could help all beings flourish.</p><br /><p>In my home faith tradition, Unitarian Universalism I am also gearing up to offer workshops in Compassionate Communication to those interested in the interweaving justice issues that include nonhuman animals. I will do this as part of the <a href="http://www.uuam.org/reverence.php" target="_self">Reverence for Life Program</a> that the <a href="http://www.uuam.org" target="_self">Unitarian Universalist Animal Ministry</a> is offering our congregations. Now is the time to struggle with how we covenant with earth and her beings as our association of congregations deals with the <a href="http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/issuesprocess/currentissues/ethicaleating/index.shtml" target="_self">Study Action Item: Ethical Eating and Environmental Justice</a>. In the last few weeks congregations and list serves have been abuzz with commenting on the Draft Statement of Conscience that deals with this compelling and complex topic. Comments on the draft are due February 1st and we as an association will vote on the final draft at General Assembly in June, 2011.</p><br /><p>How shall we come up with a statement that includes the wide diversity of who we are and yet challenges us to hold the needs of all species ever more tenderly?</p><br /><p>My response to this question, at both the workshops and to my fellow Unitarian Universalists is this:</p><br /><p>It’s important to think of how animals feel and suffer, how their evolution has brought them to where they are , and what they are thinking as we research how their brains work. Yet, we can never know what is “best” in the morass of ethical vagueness that cloaks humanity. Let this complexity be not a death shroud for any. Instead, let us lift up the few things we can know:</p><br /><p>    All beings have needs that connect us in an interdependent web of inherent worth and dignity.</p><br /><p>    We can bring kindness to every moment.</p><br /><p>    Everything is a practice ground for the skills of compassion.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>May this be our prayer in intention, word, and action in the months to come.</p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com77tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-3393627674490916512011-01-05T02:05:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:57.881-08:00National Bird Day<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><br /></em></strong></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em> <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0148c7543ace970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Obamadogtax" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0148c7543ace970c" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0148c7543ace970c-800wi" title="Obamadogtax" /></a> <br /><br /></em></strong></p><br /><p><em> </em>It's the turning of the year, and perhaps like me you are thinking of taxes coming due and all that paperwork. Here's a poem by Mary Oliver - "Percy Speaks While I am Doing Taxes."</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>First of all, I do not want to be doing this.</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>Second of all, Percy does not want me </em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>  to be doing this.</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>hanging over my desk like a besieged person</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>  with a dull pencil and innumerable lists </em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>    of numbers.</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em> </em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>Outside the water is blue, the sky is clear, </em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>  the tide rising.</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>Percy, I say, this has to be done. This is </em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>  essential. I'll be finished eventually.</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em> </em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>Keep me in your thoughts, he replies. Just because</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>  I can't count to ten doesn't mean</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>I don't remember yesterday, or anticipate today.</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>  I give you one more hour, then we step out</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>into the beautiful, money-deaf gift of the world</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em>and run.</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><em> </em></p><br /><p>Just this last month I read about language research with <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/23/worlds-smartest-dog-knows-words/" target="_self">a dog who knew</a> more than 1000 words.  They do understand a lot.</p><br /><p>Currently I am reading the book, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Parrot-Behavior-Andrew-Luescher/dp/0813827493/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294239403&sr=1-2" target="_self">Parrot Behavior</a>" and just yesterday read about parrots that that understand not just hundreds of words, but can combine words into sentences.  They do understand a lot.</p><br /><p>All of this reminds me of the movie, "Forest Gump" where Forest says, "I may not be smart, but I know what love is."</p><br /><p>No matter how we see the intelligence of another being, whether it is comparable to humans or to other species or not, I do believe that we share with the other social vertebrates a common neural structure of emotional responses that evolved out of this beautiful earth.</p><br /><p>Baby, we were born to run, to love, and feel deep gratitude for the gifts around us.</p><br /><p>And in light of it being <a href="http://www.nationalbirdday.com/" target="_self">National Bird Day</a>, I offer deep bows of gratitude those who were born to fly!</p><br /><p><em> </em></p><br /><p><em>What were you born to do?</em></p><br /><p>  <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e14aa4d9970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="National Bird Day" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0147e14aa4d9970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0147e14aa4d9970b-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="National Bird Day" /></a></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-51737001172743277992010-12-24T00:27:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:57.870-08:00The Year of the Sparrow<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0148c705b770970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Savannah Sparrow" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0148c705b770970c image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0148c705b770970c-800wi" title="Savannah Sparrow" /></a> <br /> Savannah Sparrow (<em>Passerculus sandwichensis</em>)</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>I have never really thought much about sparrows, but this seems to be changing.  In <a href="http://www.yearsrisingmaryoliver.blogspot.com" target="_self">my other blog reflecting on Mary Oliver's poetry</a>, sparrows have come up frequently in her poems and my writing.  Then on Sunday, as part of the local <a href="http://www.lafeberconservationwildlife.com/?p=851" target="_self">Christmas Bird Count, I was a member of a counting circle</a> that emphasized sparrows. We formed "sparrow lines" to flush out and identify the birds. Okay, I was more of flusher than an identifier.  Only two days later I received in the mail rather serendipitously a promotional nature calendar whose subject  was...wait for it....sparrows!</p><br /><p>Then yesterday this story was brought to  my attention:</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /> <em>"Tell me, how much is a snowflake in weight?" asked a sparrow a wild pigeon.</em><br /><em> "Not more than nothing" was the answer. </em><br /> <br /><em> "Then", the sparrow says, "I want to tell you a wonderful story: I was</em><br /><em> sitting on a branch of a pine tree, close to the trunk when it started to</em><br /><em> snow. Not much, not like in a storm. No, it was like in a dream, without</em><br /><em> any touch of intensity. Because I did not have anything else to do I started</em><br /><em> to count those snowflakes which fell on my branch and the needles. Their</em><br /><em> number was 3 741 952. When the next snowflake fell on the branch - not</em><br /><em> more than a nothing as you said - the branch broke." </em><br /> <br /><em> The sparrow did not say more, he took off. </em><br /> <br /><em> The pigeon, which is supposed to be an authority since Noah in this topic,</em><br /><em> thought a while about this story and then said to itself: May be there is</em><br /><em> only one voice missing on our earth that peace will be in our world. </em><br /> <br /> <br /></p><br /><p>Is yours the missing voice?</p><br /><p>Is it the sparrows?</p><br /><p>Is it mine?</p><br /><p>What I am learning, oh Lord, ever so slowly, is that all beings matter, for each sings a song of life, and of death. </p><br /><p>So to affirm this knowing I plan to embody this song.  I shall learn more about sparrows this year.  Let them no longer be unidentifiable "little-brown'jobs" but daily miracles to discern.</p><br /><p>May I in this year come to know the voices in the field as I add my song to theirs.</p><br /><p><em>Whose voice shall you join this year?</em></p><br /><p> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-5699767820973350252010-12-08T04:32:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:57.859-08:00The Lama of Birds<p><strong><br /></strong></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0148c6858565970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="080c2ef9e0" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0148c6858565970c" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0148c6858565970c-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="080c2ef9e0" /></a> <strong>Tashi Sange. Photo: Geng Dong</strong><br /><br /></p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; color: #00bf00;">Tibetan Buddhism produces much for us to admire, including now a lama of birds.  Tashi Sange, also known as the <a href="http://life.globaltimes.cn/life/2010-11/595723_4.html" target="_self">Bird Whisperer</a>, dedicates his life to protecting the environment and birds of his homeland of Tibet.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; color: #00bf00;">Sange always loved birds, even before he moved to a Temple at 13 years of age.  Sange spent much of his free time at the temple observing birds, whom he imagined were his father and mother.  When he reached 15,  he began recording his observations, later to draw and paint his subjects, and thus his hobby turned into a lifetime passion.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; color: #00bf00;">One interviewer, Geng Dong, said "He regards birds as his friends. I remembered he once whispered to a Tibetan Bunting just like he was speaking to close friends."  Geng adds,  "I think he got a lot from Tibetan Buddhism, such as the equal rights of human beings with other life and the harmonious coexistence between nature and humans."</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; color: #00bf00;">I wonder if his love of birds came before his path of Buddhism, a path he uses to sustain research and conservation for over 25 years.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; color: #00bf00;">This is the order at which I came to religion, birds, and conservation.  As a child I spent my days with birds, talking and singing to them as I wandered the fields and woods of my childhood.  Their songs led me to conservation and my religious calling as a Unitarian Universalist minister.   I came to Unitarian Universalism and my spiritual practices sprinkled with Sufism, Buddhism, and nature spirituality only 13 years ago. What if, instead, I had entered on this path at age 13 as did Sange.  Perhaps I could have given so much more in return for the company of birds.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; color: #00bf00;">No matter the past, the question now is how to sustain ourselves into the future.  </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; color: #00bf00;"><em>What do you do to sustain your efforts?  </em></span></p><br /><p> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949196962750253954.post-81573612205481132242010-11-17T08:55:00.000-08:002014-11-16T10:12:57.847-08:00Counting Wild Parrots – Counting on Wild Hope<p>  <a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c01348922b8ec970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Pillar Canyon" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c01348922b8ec970c image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c01348922b8ec970c-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Pillar Canyon" /></a></p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> Pillar Canyon</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p>Though it’s just now 6 a.m. on November 14, it is already light when Fernando Aldana comes to the door of my temporary home in Antigua.  He greets me with warm enthusiasm and apologizes for his sleeping son, David, in the back seat. We quickly plan our day and then head off to Finca Pillar for some early morning bird watching.  Fernando is a biologist and bird guide and has given his day to showing me birds and then helping to conduct a count of the parrots sleeping at the roost site used by the Yellow-naped Amazons in our study area 15 years ago.  The goal is to see how the population of parrots has changed over the years.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0133f6037959970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Me leaning fernando" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0133f6037959970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0133f6037959970b-800wi" title="Me leaning fernando" /></a> <br />Leaning on Fernando for a Good Bird Sighting</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p>We walk up a canyon trail, bundled up against the cold weather, and stop to identify the many versions of humming birds and warblers around us.  Fernando is a wonderful guide, gracious and welcoming in manner.  A real treat is his son David who has a great eye for noticing objects and animals in the environment. He helped us see many wonders, including himself who was bright, engaging, and fun to watch as he explored the trail sides.  </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c01348922d650970c-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="David and Fernando" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c01348922d650970c image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c01348922d650970c-800wi" title="David and Fernando" /></a> <br />Fernando and David in Pillar Canyon</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p>After midday we head down from the highlands to meet Colum Muccio and his wife Silvia Ruiz de Muccio. Colum is the director of ARCAS and Silvia is an artist whose projects and breadth of creations is astounding. Over lunch we began to talk of plans for the parrot projects of the south coast and possible grants to fund these projects.  We then drove around Escuintla and entered the study area that comprised the three fincas, Caobanal, El Trebol, and Ilusiones.  We have permission to enter Ilusiones to count the birds who roost there.</p><br /><p>The scene is quite different than when I was here the last time in April 2009. Then the sugar cane was being harvested and loud trucks roared day and night, throwing up dust and fumes to add to the snowing ash of the burning cane fields.  This evening it is quiet as the sugar cane still grows tall  around the roost trees.  We place ourselves in locations so that we can see the birds as they fly in and then sit quietly for over an hour. </p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0133f603c2f7970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Sylvia and colum" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0133f603c2f7970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0133f603c2f7970b-800wi" title="Sylvia and colum" /></a> <br />Silvia and Colum Counting Parrots</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>I began to worry as it is almost dark and there is only one pair of Yellow-naped Amazons in the tree.  Three more pairs fly in for a total of 8 birds. Last year we counted 12.  Fifteen years ago we counted 250.  Though we have only 2 counts so far, I fear that we know enough – the population has crashed. We will conduct a year’s worth of counts in this area to confirm what the preliminary results show.</p><br /><p>I admit to having a heavy heart as we drive away in the dark back into the high lands.  Still, I am grateful that I have these biologists and this young man David to witness the loss, and to share in plans of what might yet be done.  I asked David if he had hope and he said, yes, because something could still be done.  This is great wisdom – to go on working because we can. He also added via email a few days later; “There are few animals left in our big world but we have to remember not to lose the HOPE. We are responsible for the animals but (it) is very hard to make all the job so we should remember that God is there for us and in this time he is very important to help us  to conserve parrots  like the  Yellow naped  and other animals.”  His father, Fernando answered similarly. He said that his hope came from God , for what humans destroyed, God will restore. </p><br /><p>During the count at the roost site a lone parrot sat on top of the tall Ceiba tree acting as a sentinel.  Though I was under the sugar cane stalks, I felt as if the bird was looking directly into my soul.  She was like a bright light atop the darkly foliaged tree that once held so many of her kind.  We, the counters, are the holders of the light of love in the darkness.  As Fernando says and I agree, we can save a little bit of it at a time.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0133f603f2aa970b-pi" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Sugar cane" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a010534b8668f970c0133f603f2aa970b image-full" src="http://liberatingwings.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b8668f970c0133f603f2aa970b-800wi" title="Sugar cane" /></a> <br />Looking up at Roost Tree Where Lone Parrot Perches</p><br /><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><br /><p>Question to all of us:</p><br /><p>How might we save even a little bit in the face of such devastation and darkness? </p><br /><p>Answer to consider:</p><br /><p>By loving a little bit at a time: even if we feel like just one lone parrot on top of a tree when there used to be hundreds.  From that beauty and rededicated observation, I believe we must count on ourselves to love ourselves as our neighbors of all species.</p><br /><p>Thank you David, Fernando, Colum, and Sylvia for sharing this day and adding hope to our shared work a little bit at a time with every word uttered and parrot counted.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><br/>LoraKim Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07305359695072392847noreply@blogger.com0