The Guardian for May 30 confirms that western troops are on t he ground in Libya, and have been for some time, working with the rebels.. Some, at least, seem to be British SAS.

That goes way beyond the  UN mandate. So we are almost certainly into a war, and an illegal one.

When I taught military history, I used to talk about the sort of thing that gets talked about on Nov 11, how over a hundred thousand Canadian died in the  twentieth century to, among other things, ensure that we, the Canadian people, would decide when and where to go to war.

You may have heard about the letter by this title that I have written as an open letter to all Canadians, to be read in pulpits across the United Church this Sunday (January 17th) and personally delivered to the Governor General, the Prime Minister, and other party leaders on Jan. 18th. Others, including all parliamentarians, will also receive it.

My last message from Copenhagen was over a week ago. Daily blogs were planned to end on December 18th, but it’s time to renew my regular (normally weekly) correspondence.

Bleached coral from the Pacific Ocean was the most eloquent voice in Copenhagen this week (during the Ecumenical Celebration for Creation), accompanied by glacier stones from Greenland, dried up maize from Africa, remarkable faith leaders from around the world, and words of scripture, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Rom. 8:19).

Thought I’d blog before midnight for a change. There’s lots happening outside of the main place of negotiations (the Bella Center) these days, so one can still be involved in important things without being on site. For the first time, I’m back to my room midday before more later afternoon/evening sessions. It’s difficult to even get into the Bella Center now, but more about that later.

Late last night I promised to share our statement, and here it is:

I thought this afternoon would allow for a first break of the week, but then interesting things unfolded—all day!

Church was the place to be in Copenhagen today. Spending the day with church leaders was a blessing too. I began the day in the presence of one very special church leader who is serving as the epicentre of eco-hope here in Copenhagen.