tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38749618098769223072024-02-18T20:56:05.467-08:00Minister VickiVicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-12663272431640862402019-01-23T13:14:00.002-08:002019-01-23T13:14:17.476-08:00Reel Theology 2019 - The Green Book<h3>
1 Corinthians 13:1-13</h3>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is the first Sunday
of our 2019 Reel Theology Sermon series. There were so many intriguing movies
nominated for Best Picture for the Golden Globes this year, it was hard to
choose just five to discuss here with you folks. This year, instead of picking
six Best Picture nominees for the sermon series as we did last year, we decided
to include a distinctly award-winning Canadian film, Indian Horse, which we
will be showcasing in a couple of weeks. For three of the six movies, we will
be showing them here in the sanctuary on the Friday evening before the Sunday
they are featured. For more information, just have a look at the poster board
near the office or ask me after worship. This week we are looking the movie, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Green Book</i>. I’m thinking that not
many of you had a chance to see the movie—has anyone other than Christopher and
me? It was released in exactly the wrong timing for this series – a month
before Christmas and was on its way out of the theatre by the time it was
nominated for the Golden Globes and being included in our list of movies. It
should be released to DVD by the end of February. I will give a bit of summary
so I apologize in advance for revealing the story but you need to know the
outcome of the movie so I can talk about the theological implications of this
wonderful tale. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The movie is based on the
true story of when the celebrated black pianist Don Shirley travelled through
the southern United States for an eight-week concert tour in 1962, two years
before the passing of the Civil Rights Act. He hired a white man to drive for
him and, ostensibly, to act as his bodyguard as they got deeper and deeper
south, where Jim Crow laws were in effect and his presence would like be
problematic. The driver, an Italian named Tony Vallelonga who preferred to be
called Tony Lip, had been a bouncer and enforcer for a local nightclub and was
out of work while the club was being renovated. The movie begins with Tony
waking up at home mid-morning by a hullabaloo happening in his living room. His
male family members and friends are excitedly watching a game on TV. He asks
them what on earth are they doing in his home and they indicate they are keeping
an eye on the workers his wife hired. He turns to see his wife offering glasses
of water to two black repairmen. When they are finished drinking, the two men place
the glasses in the sink. After they leave, Tony goes into the kitchen,
carefully takes the glasses from the sink and puts them into the trash can.
After a few days of unemployment, Tony finds himself recommended as a driver to
a Dr. Shirley. He is given Dr. Shirley and is surprised to learn that Dr. Shirley
lives in a lavish suite atop of Carnegie Hall. And he is not a medical doctor
but rather a musician. And he’s black. After some negotiation and a phone call
from Dr. Shirley to Mrs. Vallelonga in which an understanding is reached
concerning the need for Tony to be home for Christmas, Tony agrees to drive for
Don Shirley. Before they leave New York, the management company hands Tony a
book, The Negro Motorist Green Book, published by a fellow named Victor Green.
Folks just referred to it as The Green Book. As black people 1962 did not have
freedom of movement or action in States which the Jim Crow laws were active,
the Green Book was a guide to services and places that would permit black
people on their premises.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">As Don and Tony travel
from New York to the south, they get to know each other, and Tony begins to
recognize that his preconceived notions of what it means to be black in the
United States might not be fully accurate. And Don, a man used to protecting
himself and not showing anyone, much less a white person, any vulnerability,
finds himself opening up to the white man chauffeuring him mile after mile.
Tony embraces his role as bodyguard and Don sees that a white man can be
compassionate and caring. So much happens during their travels but I will leave
them for you to discover when you get a chance to watch the movie. It’s enough
to say the tour ends with Don’s final concert being a bust. Tony has managed,
through many a trial and tribulation, to get Don to each of his scheduled
concerts. They arrive at a big fancy resort for the culmination of the tour, an
hour before the start time and they are hungry. Tony is invited to eat in the
dining room, but Don is told that he can eat in the kitchen. One of America’s
finest pianists, dressed in tails and who is there for all the white people to
hear, is not permitted into the dining room. Well, one thing leads to another
and Tony and Don leave. It is blizzarding in New York when they get home on
Christmas Day. Tony invites Don up to his apartment for supper. Don declines.
Tony arrives to much fanfare and settles down to eat Christmas supper. There’s
a knock at the door and in walks Don. Tony’s entire family, who is sitting at
the dinner table, fall into a stunned silence. Tony hugs Don and turns to his
family and says this is my friend Don Shirley, make some room for him. Everyone
at the table erupts in a chorus of welcoming and shuffling as a place is set
for Don.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This movie has many themes
worth exploring—homophobia, classism, family disfunction, self-determination to
name just a few. Racism against black people is, however, the primary theme of
this movie. While the story takes place in 1962, I’m thinking the overall
sentiments of the movie will feel familiar to many folks living in the States
today. With the election of president who leads from a place of fear and
scarcity and who often refers to people of colour and immigrants as not deserving
the fullness of what it means to be cared for and loved as he would care for
and love himself, with this President’s leadership, the people of the United
States are finding that the equality that was fought for with the Civil Rights
Movement has not yet been fully realized. And it’s not just the States. Before
we Canadians get to sitting up too high on our horses, let us not forget that
we have our own struggles with racism. Some of our most notable issues centre
around relationships with Canada’s indigenous people, our history of blocking Chinese
immigration and interning Japanese people in the last century and how, in some
places in Canada, refugees and immigrants are viewed with suspicion today. Did
you realize that the last school that segregated blacks from whites in Canada was
closed in Nova Scotia just in 1983? This is all to say, we are not immune to
the social issues in this movie, despite us living north of the 49<sup>th</sup>
parallel.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Tony obviously grew up in
time that is much different from today. His childhood would have been informed
during post-war America. His country was divided on whether or not a particular
race of people were fully human and whether those people were worthy of all
that their Constitution promised its citizens. Heck, not only were black people
not considered equal but neither were women. In fact, the United States is one
of only a very few countries which have not ratified the UN Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. (Canada ratified that
Convention in 1981.) Which is to say, a person cannot help the environment in
which they are raised. They cannot help the beliefs of their parents, their
community or their church. When a neighbourhood or school has little diversity,
it is hard to learn about people and situations that differ from your own
experience. It is easy for children to grow up thinking that the way they
experienced life as a child and teenager is how the whole world operates.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Last summer, our 14-year-old
daughter had a summer full of revelations that not all people have lived life
like hers. We have kept our upright deep freeze in the garage, and we use it
primarily for the beef we order directly from a rancher. The beef arrives
wrapped in brown butcher’s paper. One day Abby came home asked, ‘do you
know…that not everyone has a freezer of beef in their garage? That all meat is
not wrapped in brown paper? Other people put their freezers inside the house. They
use it to store other food. And then, ping ponging. Do you know that not
everyone stores medicines in the hall closet? They keep it in a kitchen
cupboard—why do we keep ours in the hall closet? It makes sense to keep it all
in the kitchen.’ These were remarkable realizations for her—someone who
understands that sexual and gender identities can be fluid and exist on a
continuum was shocked that other folks organize their household storage
differently than we do. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Our scripture reading
today is a familiar one—love is patient, love is kind. The greatest of these
love. But what is often missed when this piece from 1<sup>st</sup> Corinthians
is read at weddings, is that middle part. The bit about being a child and
speaking, thinking and reasoning like a child and then putting an end to
childish things when becoming an adult. It goes onto to say, now I know only in
part, then I will know fully. I cannot help but think of a young adult I was
visiting with on New Year’s Eve. She mentioned that she was looking forward to
the year 2020 when she could keep saying, well, it’s all hindsight now—cause
hindsight is 20/20. And, isn’t that the truth? How often have you thought,
jeez, if only I knew then what I know now? Life might not have necessarily been
easier but maybe it would have lessened the fear that came with the
uncertainty.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I believe this is what the
Corinthians reading is reminding us of today. That things change. That, over
time, situations, beliefs, understandings, experiences change. I feel this is
what progress is all about. Decisions and determinations are formed and made at
certain periods in our lives. But, as we grow up and as we experience the world
outside of our neighbourhoods and schools, as we meet others from walks of life
that are not similar to ours, as we learn how others were impacted by the laws
and policies of our governments and our society, we begin to understand that
not all decisions are good for all people. That what feels comfortable and safe
for one group of people, does not feel at all safe or comfortable for another.
That loving our neighbour as our self means our neighbour needs access to
self-determination, healthcare, education and housing just as we have it
ourselves. Progress means to take information that is new to us and we use it
to reevaluate what was and how things currently are, we use this information
that is new to us to see if adjustments are required in order for the health and
care of all of humanity, that the health and care for all of creation is
considered, not just one group of people, not just one type of people, not just
yourself. And we don’t know the totality of human experience in the world. We
can’t know. And so, we must be willing and open to hear from people whose lives
are lived differently than our own. Just because they don’t store their beef in
the garage freezer doesn’t mean they are wrong.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is exactly why
diversity in all of our social systems is so necessary. Why diversity in
business and academia is important. Why diversity in leadership is vital. Diversity
of thought, of belief, of gender, of sexual identity, of mobility, of race and
colour and of religion. Because, when one is a child, one speaks like a child. One
thinks like a child. One reasons as a child. But when one grows up, the childish
things must end and what had been seen dimly in a mirror can be seen more
clearly, face to face. Tony was taught that black people were so significantly
different from him, that they needed to be treated in a different manner than
Caucasian people. This belief would have come from the society and family dynamic
in which he was raised. As an adult, he had no reason to think otherwise. Until
he was confronted with the knowledge that a person he knew, and by extension, a
whole group of people, was being held down by forces that were unjust and
cruel. At first, he did not seem to be willing to look into the mirror to see
more clearly. But, through the love of his wife encouraging him and not
shutting him out when his behaviour was less than stellar and with the
persistence of Don Shirley to not have his humanity ignored and shuttered away
for someone else’s comfort, Tony allowed his heart to open to the wonderful
human being sitting in the back seat of his car. And he allowed his ears to be
open to hearing about that man’s life—the joys and the struggles of it. And he
allowed his eyes to be open to seeing how that man was treated—simply for the
colour of his skin—not because of his education, wealth or behaviour.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">1<sup>st</sup> Corinthians
says, if I speak in the tongues of mortals and angels and do not have love, I
am a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not
rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Tony’s wife was filled with
love. For her husband but not at the cost of the world. Don was filled with
love. For himself and for the man driving him, although that man could not
initially see too far beyond what he knew as a child. And Tony was filled with love.
For a nation that could be better. For community that could be stronger. For a
friendship that could be seen more clearly face-to-face. Because he was willing
to put away childish ways and know, from the core of his being, that faith,
hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. And for
this, we give thanks to God. Amen.</span></div>
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Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-2801402659310144102019-01-23T12:21:00.000-08:002019-01-23T13:14:37.834-08:00Ignoring, Extinguishing, Seeking the Light - Epiphany 2019<h3>
Matthew 2:1-12</h3>
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If you attended worship on the Sunday before Christmas, the
fourth of Advent and then came for one of the Christmas Eve services, you may
have noticed that the cross and the communion table went from being covered in
blue to being covered in white. Stephen and I wore white stoles. You’ll see
that the white remains even though it’s been nearly two weeks since Christmas. The
liturgical colour of white—liturgy or liturgical, by the way, is just a fancy
way of referring to religious ceremony or ritual—the colour marking this
particular religious service that we find ourselves participating together in
today is white. Today, along with hundreds of other churches around the world, we
use white to recognize that today marks a significant day in the life of Jesus.
We use white marking his birth, baptism, resurrection. And we use white today
because it is Epiphany—the day on which the coming of the Messiah was revealed
to the Gentiles, to those who were not of the Jewish faith.</div>
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Epiphany immediately follows the twelve days of the season
of Christmas. For those of us whose world is very much shaped by the secular
world, it sometimes is a funny thing to consider that Christmas is more than
the day after Christmas Eve. Our faith tradition has it that our high holy day
is the evening before the first day of Christmas after which we go home and
move into a more secular celebration of the season. You are forgiven if you
walked into the sanctuary today and were surprised that the nativity is still
up and the decorations have not yet been put away. Because Christmas is over.
If you haven’t already been back to work or kicked the kids out the door to
school with a sigh of relief at the sudden blessed silence of everyone have
been returned to their regularly scheduled programing, you will likely be doing
so tomorrow. And yet, here we gather, amongst the decorations of a season gone
by. We do so because the tale of the Christ Child’s birth, the nativity story,
did not end on Christmas Eve. However we are not a patient people. We don’t
want to wait for the story to be doled out, piece by piece. We want the whole
story, told altogether. And not all people come week by week to hear the story
of Christ Jesus told out in a measured way. They come, all for their own
reasons, during the high holy times, and it is vital for them to hear the story
from start to finish amongst a group of folks choosing to congregate, to hear together
the story of the Word becoming incarnate with all the world. And so, we tell
the story, from the revelation to Mary that she is expecting the child she is
to name Emmanuel, God With Us, all the way to the revelation of that child, the
one to become our Messiah, to the foreign scholars, the strangers from a
strange land, arriving on camels.</div>
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We tell the story as if each moment happens one immediately
after the other. Mary is suddenly pregnant, Joseph does not dismiss her, they
travel to Bethlehem, no room at the Inn, birthing and swaddling clothes, the
shepherds are visited by a multitude of angels, they travel to Bethlehem, the
wise ones interpret the star as a sign, they too travel to Bethlehem. From the
very start of this tale, you know the timeline has been compressed. There are
very few verses between Mary being told by Gabriel that she is expecting to
Gabriel telling the shepherds they are to be the first to welcome the Christ
Child who was born in a stable and is now lying in manger. Anyone who has had
to wait from the time a loved one has shared the glorious news that there is to
be a baby born into the family, for those who have been told they have been
matched with a child for adoption, the arrival of new, young family member
takes days, weeks, months to happen.</div>
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The end of the nativity also seems a bit rushed. The ones we
know as the Wise Men, the Magi lived far, far away. They saw the star, knew the
Messiah had been born and so they began travelling. By all scholarly accounts,
it is thought it would have taken months and months for the Magi to get to Mary
and meet Jesus. So, this sacred story of ours that we hear in its totality each
Christmas Eve, begins with months and months of waiting for Mary’s pregnancy to
come to its fruition and it ends after months and months of traveling by the
non-Jewish scholars to which the Messiah’s presence was first revealed. Which
is why, liturgically, we do our best to keep out the Christmas decorations
celebration the birth of Christ, and we keep keeping on with laying out white
in our sanctuaries, we do this because, because the twelve days between the
start of the Christmas season to now, the day of Epiphany, marks the passage of
time that is not always understood or acknowledged as we tell the tale on
Christmas Eve.</div>
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There are so many aspects of the Epiphany section of the
nativity story that we can consider. Who exactly were the ones that saw the
star and why were they thought to be so wise? What was Herod’s deal in being so
worried about the birth of a vulnerable baby? And what about the meeting with
Herod had the Wise Men so concerned that they defied his orders to return to
him after they met the baby who was to become the Light of the world? Today,
let us look at what the different characters of this story did when it became
apparent to them that God would become manifest as light, hope and love in a
time ruled by uncertainty, angst and fear. Let us look at what epiphanies each
group of them experienced upon the birth of the Christ Child.</div>
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We heard King Herod had called together all the chief’s
priests and teachers of the law—it is written as if Herod had called these
leaders to him in advance of the Magi arriving in Jerusalem and asking the
location of the king of the Jews. The Magi arrived, asked their question and
Herod becomes disturbed. Then the reading goes on, giving us a memory of
Herod—when he had met with the religious leaders and lawyers, they told him of
the prophecy. Past tense. Which leaves the impression that the priests and
scholars knew that God would be sending a ruler who would shepherd the people
of Israel. And they kept quiet about it. They did not share the prophecy. We
know this because if they had shared what they knew, if they shared the
information, Herod would not had to ask where the Messiah would be born and the
people of Jerusalem would not have been disturbed when the Magi arrived in
town, telling of a magnificent star that had risen in the east.</div>
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The priests, the leaders of the very people who were held
under the thumb of the state, who lived their lives at the whim of cruel and
unjust laws, regulations and taxes, the religious leaders of the people did not
speak of what could give hope to the masses. They denied the prophecy. They
gave no authority or credence to their very scriptures, telling them they were
not alone and that God would never forget them. There’s no indication of why
the priests and scholars of the law tried to ignore the prophecy, why they did
not lift it up. Perhaps they were afraid of the consequences of speaking out. <br />
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But
we all know that no matter how much we deny certain truths, eventually we must
face the very reality we are trying to ignore. I like to think as I get older,
I know better than to ignore what needs facing but I think instead of
acknowledging that I’m denying something, my brain has become expert at
assisting me in my denials. Just this week I had to face the hard, cold truth
that no matter how I worked it, there was no way the blocks that I had made
just before Christmas for a quilt I’m working on were going to line up with the
blocks I made after Christmas. I had made a measurement error with the first
set of blocks which I realized while I was sewing them. I assembled those first
blocks knowing things were not correct while my brain whispered to me that it
was a problem that future Vicki could figure out. I didn’t need to do a course
correction, it would work out in the end. However when I went to add the newer
blocks, to my dismay, they did not line up. I had tried to ignore the issue
earlier on but math is math—math is ALWAYS math—and now I have a problem that
I’m quite annoyed with past Vicki for denying there was a problem. The leaders
of the Jewish people denied the authority of their scriptures and ignored the
truth that was promised to them—that the Light of the World was sure to come.</div>
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Which brings us to Herod. You don’t really get a sense of
how much he’s freaking out with the arrival of the Wise Men asking where the
baby had been born but something was off because the Wise Men did not return to
him after meeting the holy child, as he had instructed them to do. This suspicion
is affirmed in the next set of readings in which Herod has a melt-down and
orders all male children under the age of two to be killed. But in our reading
today, it is enough to know the Wise Men do not trust Herod enough to return to
him. The fear of the one who was to shepherd the people of Israel must of
seeped out of him when he met with the Magi. And being as wise as they were,
these men from the east surely understood how threatened Herod would have felt
with the possibility of the prophecy of a king greater than he from long past
coming true. </div>
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Lately the news has been filled with people whose power has
been threatened. I can’t help but think of the sweeping #MeToo movement which
has had many influential men’s careers to end in disgrace after years and
decades of mistreating women. We know, from reporting, that in their attempt to
keep their power, the men did their best to extinguish the stories of the women
they abused or mistreated. Just last month, it was revealed that the president
of the United States worked with a rag magazine to have women’s stories bought
and then silenced because the magazine then owned the rights to tell the story,
which they never intended to publish. Herod heard the prophecy, he asked the
Magi to give him the final detail he was missing and then what? We know. We
know the story. Death and destruction. Because the Magi did not tell him
specifically which child was the Messiah, he went with mass casualties. When
the response to truth telling, to a light shining so that the truth can be
known, when that light is a threat to power and control and the response to
that light is to do everything possible to extinguish it, you must know there’s
something pretty darn special about that Light.</div>
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The dark is not inherently a bad place to be but there is no
doubt that our instinct is to look for light—any light whatever form it might
take when we are uncomfortable, sad or feeling trapped.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sometimes it’s literal light. When I was in
Toronto for a conference in November I came down with the flu. I was alone in
my hotel room feeling incredibly sorry for myself. I knew I needed to sleep but
everything just felt so awful, I didn’t want to be alone in the dark of my
hotel room. So, I turned the lamp onto its lowest setting and turned the TV
onto CNN at a very low volume. It was the mid-term elections in the States. The
glow of the lamp and the low voices of the TV together created the Light I
needed to get through that one night of the worst illness I can ever remember
having. The Light, though, can be so much more than a glow in the dark. When a
dear friend of mine was diagnosed with a very serious condition a few years
ago, it was just about Advent. Once word got out that he was going to have
surgery that would require months of recovery, the men of the church choir that
he sang with showed up at his home and hung the Christmas lights. Casseroles
were prepared and frozen so his wife could tend to his needs. People drove him
to and from appointments. Visits were timed so his wife could rest. His
physical healing would take a lot of time, but his soul found healing in the
love that was shown unconditionally to him. The Light he needed to surround him
at his darkest hour was made manifest in the actions of his neighbours, his fellow
church members, his colleagues and his family. </div>
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Through the child Jesus, God entered the world—no longer a
distant god but now a god of love being lived in and amongst humanity, in and
amongst us. The baby grew and became known as the Light of the World. It is a
light that God promises to us that will never go out. Jesus, the Light of the
World, expressed love and taught lessons throughout his ministry which became
known as The Way. When he was at the Sea of Galilee, he met people of all
shapes and sizes, types and makes and he said to them, ‘Come and follow me.’
With his disciples in tow, he began walking town to town. To Nazareth, to
Bethany, to Jerusalem, to Emmaus. To follow Jesus meant travelling. The priests
tried to ignore the Light that was to come. Herod tried to extinguish the Light
he knew had arrived. But those that met Jesus, those who met the Light of the
World, those people began to follow him, they began to seek him out. And we
seek him still today.</div>
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Epiphany is the revelation to the non-Jews that the Messiah
has come. Epiphany for the priests meant that despite their attempts to ignore
the Light that was to come, God sent it anyway. Epiphany for Herod was that
despite his attempts to extinguish the Light, courage and love would prevail and
the Light would not be put out. Epiphany for the Wise Men was the realization
in their seeking, their journey was not finished when they arrived at the
Christ Child’s side. They must continue along a path not previously known to
them. Epiphany today is a reminder that Jesus came as the Light of the World
and, despite humanity’s and our individual attempts to ignore it or, even at
times, extinguish it, that light, that love will always overcome. That light
will never falter. We are called by God, by Jesus to come and follow. To seek
the light and, day by day, be the love that Christ showed us was possible. May
it be so. Amen.<br />
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-49783559204398024442018-10-24T13:45:00.003-07:002018-10-24T13:49:58.296-07:00Woman! Be Slow to Anger!!<h3>
James 1:19-25</h3>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Alright, I’m
about to say something controversial here. Gird your loins. Are you ready? Ok,
here it is. The Bible was written, every single word of it was written by human
beings. It was not written word for literal word by God in Hebrew and Greek and
then translated into a bazillion different languages. Men wrote the Bible. (And
I’m not being gender neutral here cause the fact of the matter is that it was
very likely all men who put the actual words to paper.) In this context, here
at Symons Valley United Church, that information—not that men wrote the Books
of the Bible—but the fact that God’s self did not write the Bible probably does
not really shock you. And, if it does, I’m sorry. Come see me after worship and
we can chat. Anyway, I wanted to put out in front of us that people, real life
people who were birthed into the world, who were loved and cared for by family
friends, who experienced loss and pain in the course of their living, people
who knew the joy and celebration and the hurt and dismay of living in a world
controlled by men who were not their people, by men whose greed and fear
motivated ongoing violence and oppression of their fellow men and women, these real
life people wrote the entirety of the Bible. The Bible was written by people
who were very much like you and me. By people who were living the best they
could with the brokenness of that surrounded them—the brokenness of their
neighbours and the brokenness of themselves. The Bible is the very real
outpouring of folks who were seeking a better way of living and a better way of
being.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And because
the Bible was composed by everyday sort of people, that means the construction
of the Bible was not a flawless process. The remembering and the collating of
stories to be included in the canon was dependent upon the sensibilities of
many different people, over a long-time frame. And so, there repetitions here
and there, there are continuity issues—you know when you are watching a tv show
and a character is wearing something in a scene but when the camera angle
changes and we see them from a different perspective, they are not wearing it?
The Bible has moments like that. We notice it when we align the common stories
from each Gospel side-by-side. Who exactly discovered the tomb empty? Was it Mary
alone or was it a group of women? Was the woman who poured oil over the feet of
Jesus Mary from Bethany or was it an unnamed woman? These discrepancies exist
and, because of that, biblical scholars through the ages have bickered over which
version is correct and tried to determine if the differences matter. Some of
the bigger discrepancies in the Bible concern seemingly contradictory lessons
or pieces of wisdom. Today’s reading is central to a big argument that took
place in the time of Martin Luther and carries on with us today. You see, when
Paul wrote his letters to the emerging Christian communities of faith, he often
argued against legalism. Doing precisely this or doing precisely that did not
make up the instruction manual for getting good with God. To be a faithful Jew
means following a lot of rules concerning one’s behaviour—rituals, eating only
permitted food and not eating other foods like seafood, refraining from certain actions. To honour God, one had
back in ancient times and still do this day, a daily list of what and what not
to do. Paul essentially threw the rule book away and said, the laws don’t
matter, only your faith matters. Just believe and have faith and you’re good
with God.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFatZdE9ePcYD412FybkZZ_UCgWOoEPYl3L8Fc0v48hA6N9oHy3zkeVt_tI2s92HkyiT-MH5bWR_ZHEe_XxApIdkwsm9yWpCzfTRVcjCyDciMViInpBP-noclN4eaQbMPBZfS8ktJeyw/s1600/Saint_James_the_Just.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="319" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFatZdE9ePcYD412FybkZZ_UCgWOoEPYl3L8Fc0v48hA6N9oHy3zkeVt_tI2s92HkyiT-MH5bWR_ZHEe_XxApIdkwsm9yWpCzfTRVcjCyDciMViInpBP-noclN4eaQbMPBZfS8ktJeyw/s200/Saint_James_the_Just.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">But then,
along came James. James the Just. James, the brother of Jesus. James who likely
witnessed the Risen Christ. Paul argued again legalism, James argued against
antinomianism - which is a twenty-five-dollar word meaning to be freed by
grace from the necessity of obeying the Mosaic Law. More or less, God loves me
so I don’t have to worry about avoiding the steak and lobster special when I go
out for supper. James recognized that by giving up the rituals and the laws of
Moses—the ones Paul said people did not have to worry about—James noticed folks
around him were not really concerned with the world around them. They believed.
They were good. God had their back. There was no needed to fret about the state
of the world. James said, no, no, no. You can believe all you want but your
faith only adds up to a hill of beans if there is no action. This is what we
heard today. Have faith and then work towards righteousness. It’s not the
make-work rules and legalism that you have to work at, but you need to work at
being decent to those around you. It would seem, at this point, the Bible is
not clear—is it by faith alone or through works that one finds themselves on
the right-hand side of God? Biblical scholars say that while each position
seems counter to the other, they, in fact, are undergirded by the same God. As
such, to believe in and to have faith in a merciful and compassionate God that
loves without end is to be someone who works for the wholeness of the world,
not just the wholeness of ones-self. So, two weeks ago you heard loudly and
clearly from Stephen that God loves you and will never forsake you and today
you will hear, God loves you without end and what now are you going to do about
it?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhknMXVHDBz65yjL_1brVOcWTNc079xtHz1JePWA_mcEEJ_ADecF8xjWfYRZyDQiAcpnCBqbyHXRj-AMapx7JbMFngfzAAZh6rH5XvSIfRS-r4RFVW0og0j0_4BbPzqPS2r0NLrTedw7DE/s1600/ed3dd95925efdbd03dd35cfe317e06581.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="736" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhknMXVHDBz65yjL_1brVOcWTNc079xtHz1JePWA_mcEEJ_ADecF8xjWfYRZyDQiAcpnCBqbyHXRj-AMapx7JbMFngfzAAZh6rH5XvSIfRS-r4RFVW0og0j0_4BbPzqPS2r0NLrTedw7DE/s200/ed3dd95925efdbd03dd35cfe317e06581.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A few verses
after what Debra read, James states, loving your neighbour fulfills the law. Two
millennia later, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German minister and theologian who
was imprisoned and executed because of his association with an assassination
plot of Hitler, wrote “What is nearest to God is precisely the need of one’s
neighbour”. Just as Jesus did not name names when asked who exactly is one’s
neighbour but rather described what being a neighbour looked like, James
explains what types of actions makes one a good neighbour. He says we are to be
quick to listen and slow to speak and be slow to anger. Now I have to admit
that when I read the reading this week, I chuckled and then phoned the love of
my life, the one who knows me like no other and read it to him. He laughed out
loud and said he needed to make into a sign—I think he means to have it
somewhere near him at all times so that when my personality dips its toe into
the lake of volatility that I seem to live right next to at all times and I
start ranting about this or that, particularly when he’s been awake for only a
few minutes and I’ve been up for a whole hour already listening to the news or
reading about the latest insanity that is politics these days, he can just put
up the sign and go about his business of getting a cup of coffee. But I
digress.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVB8EIW0Vx43oqgOaYnl9MFIcFSJaW4fAHuOPitIbt5YLqLIALXNB5zrwQaet4g4dhwQFdBoLgJUyvBwLd4wPCed5cw6b4q8_OJWpjfyvXO4oP4Y_OaU7cAdO2V25wZaDtQ5UQUxcuUM/s1600/TNS_Messer_5178x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="1000" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVB8EIW0Vx43oqgOaYnl9MFIcFSJaW4fAHuOPitIbt5YLqLIALXNB5zrwQaet4g4dhwQFdBoLgJUyvBwLd4wPCed5cw6b4q8_OJWpjfyvXO4oP4Y_OaU7cAdO2V25wZaDtQ5UQUxcuUM/s200/TNS_Messer_5178x.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Be quick to
listen. Slow to speak. Slow to anger. Be doers of the word. Don’t only hear but
do. Don’t be like someone who looks into the mirror and immediately forgets
their collar is askew or their hair is all mussed up. Look into the mirror and
see what needs doing and work to get it done. The United Methodist theologian and
author Donald Messer who is known for his work to combat world hunger and HIV/AIDS,
has written, ‘Faith without works is dead. Hoping without helping is sinful.” I
have this quote and Bonhoeffer’s pinned up right up beside my computer monitor
in my office. I have learned, not perfectly, but I have learned that listening
is as important, if not more so, than speaking. I am still learning what it
means to be slow to speak. And I think being slow to anger will always be
somewhat of an elusive virtue for me. However hard it is to imagine
implementing what James says being a good neighbour is all about, it is
important and necessary to keep those encouragements before us as we move
through life. Because loving your neighbour is not about assuming you know what
their struggles are or what needs they have. You learn their struggles and know
their needs by first listening—active listening in which you hear what is said
then respond thoughtfully instead of sitting there with something lined up to
say, just waiting for the other to be done speaking. Have a comment ready to
go, regardless of what their concerns are. Listen and then do. Do with purpose,
do with respect, do with intention.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20y6Ek-IIoKrB5yQ2UxtNF9WA5QIpadqA7tj2Z9MQfiRjIwx-9ShFvyAfhVZ1577v8e2XBz-_tWYFe0IAEQDabqxBrd3ftnT4b829-Q0aIzOpXbX-8MRSu3mPcESBwI0m1BsI46gLqBA/s1600/james-1-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="688" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20y6Ek-IIoKrB5yQ2UxtNF9WA5QIpadqA7tj2Z9MQfiRjIwx-9ShFvyAfhVZ1577v8e2XBz-_tWYFe0IAEQDabqxBrd3ftnT4b829-Q0aIzOpXbX-8MRSu3mPcESBwI0m1BsI46gLqBA/s320/james-1-19.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Being quick
to listen and slow to speak are actions but they also give us a sense of
timing. Listening takes time. Being slow to speak take more time still. And
slowing down the burn of anger takes even more time. Last week Simon and I
witnessed a terrible car crash and it easy to know how to be a good neighbour
in the instant of that moment but often figuring out what it means to be
faithful, compassionate, loving doers of the word, figuring out what would
Jesus do, what would God have us do in a difficult scenario, takes time. Helping
without hurting, being an ally and not taking over, takes time and leads to
having to get organized. Finding a plan that might work. Putting said plan in
motion. I have used this example before, but it holds up. Four years ago, just
before Christmas, I received a call from someone desperate for help. Her family
had experienced a perfect storm of unfortunate incidences and they could not
pay their mortgage. Food was hard to come by. Could the church help. Long story
short, with one email to the congregation, I had $2500 in 24 hours. And I
realized I had put the church in a tough spot. Only then did I slow down. It was
way more money than the situation called for. There were legitimate questions
around appropriate levels of fundraising outside of our policies. So, we had
some conversations. Some praying happened. I reached out for advice. And a plan
developed that allowed for the family to receive the money over time that was
in line with how we wanted to offer justice and love to all who walk through
our doors. It was good. And now we have a plan going forward. My point here is
that planning is good. Sure, we can get so caught up in the planning that we
can’t see the forest for the trees however a plan means we have structure to
work within. And we’ll be aware when we are moving outside that structure which
then might cause us to take pause and take the time to make an informed
decision as to whether we want to make an exception to the rule. Flying by the
seat of your pants can be fun but it doesn’t allow for sustainability. Winging
it works now and then but it gets tiring not knowing what’s coming next.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJyCG8DxHoVvTkK77Z47g6BF2kcBFy4MVlnoUuQXeVjGjgFry1F3QSwT1kixanaqBMqpgqAVJfcQvp0TXhDa2CKltFIoiQhkx8FCKF-Ln5frQQELXwf4z_A9XPAB3k1L74PfBr28HunI/s1600/perfectbalance-R4D013550-1920x1080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJyCG8DxHoVvTkK77Z47g6BF2kcBFy4MVlnoUuQXeVjGjgFry1F3QSwT1kixanaqBMqpgqAVJfcQvp0TXhDa2CKltFIoiQhkx8FCKF-Ln5frQQELXwf4z_A9XPAB3k1L74PfBr28HunI/s200/perfectbalance-R4D013550-1920x1080.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Planning for
what’s coming next is what stewardship is all about. You can’t harvest a field
without seeding it and tending the crop in the months leading to getting the
combine out, you can’t feed the homeless without assembling and preparing the
food. You can’t give a quilt to someone recently diagnosed with ALS without
cutting the fabric and quilting it once you’ve sewn all the pieces together.
You can’t offer space to community programs, to AA, to Girl Guides, to a Muslim
prayer group without clearing the snow from the parking lot, without paying the
heating bill, without making sure that no one else will be in the space they
need. You can’t have a visit over coffee and baking without first making it and
putting it out for when the service is over, you can’t serve breakfast at the
Drop-In Centre without asking for volunteers, you can’t have Livestream without
technology and you can’t make change the lightbulbs in the parking lot or the
foyer without hiring a lift to get you up there. Just as you can’t do all these
things without planning, we cannot be a blessing to the world, to our
community, to ourselves without doing first some planning. Planning takes time.
Planning takes into account vision. Planning takes into account hopes and
dreams. Planning takes into account what God would have us do. Planning takes
into account the Good News that was given to us by Jesus, the man who walked
the earth and the Risen Christ who emerged from the tomb. And planning takes
into account available resources—the gifts, skills and time of human power and
the resource of financial power.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYSffWSNZ42iI1JNKyXkyQ2yYzyDmS1j82_j4IdLSQTIBa9bp90PRmidcYyrgMvV50Xfe_YExvRPnnWEXQR4Lq2Wp_0nm33-ZDdAwBlXRwmcei0y-E0x9X-rqPaG507IZSx_jzuDaM8E/s1600/co-sleeping-bed-sharing-parenting-baby-babies-sleep-training-cryitout-gentle-techniques-bedtime-first-year-toddler-breastfeeding-nursing-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYSffWSNZ42iI1JNKyXkyQ2yYzyDmS1j82_j4IdLSQTIBa9bp90PRmidcYyrgMvV50Xfe_YExvRPnnWEXQR4Lq2Wp_0nm33-ZDdAwBlXRwmcei0y-E0x9X-rqPaG507IZSx_jzuDaM8E/s200/co-sleeping-bed-sharing-parenting-baby-babies-sleep-training-cryitout-gentle-techniques-bedtime-first-year-toddler-breastfeeding-nursing-.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How the Treasurer sleeps<br />
when the mortgage is paid.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A few weeks
ago the Outreach Committee showcased the many different opportunities they
provide for folks to get involved in issues around hunger, homelessness and
caring for those with HIV. Our building hosts community programs and offers a
safe and warm alternate for outdoor programs on rainy days through the summer.
Our parking lot is used for bottle drives and, if you can believe it, a base
for local police operations. We welcome people of the Islamic faith to worship
here, in this very space, praying to the same God of our hearts. We offer a
loving, affirming and compassionate welcome to all who walk through our doors.
We do that. Not just Stephen and, but all of us. We can do this because we have
worked together and planned with intention and with love how to do that and how
to be that. And part of that planning is knowing the budget we have to work
with. We generally work within our budget but between this, that and the other,
we found ourselves a bit cash poor before the summer. Michelle, our long-suffering
treasurer, put out a call for funds to cover the cash shortage. $35,000 was raised
for the faith component. Which is awesome. But can you imagine if the income
needed, the general giving’s AND the faith component was given in full through
planned monthly donations? No shortage would happen. Mortgage would be paid.
Treasurer would sleep nice, peaceful, sleeps. The math is this. Certainly not
all of us can give that amount. But lots of us can. And a few of us can give
more. I say this only to encourage you to faithfully consider this month how
you can help this congregation plan. How you can help this congregation do its
best to be a blessing for the world, for our community, for each and every one
of us. To be doers of the word. This day and forever more. Thanks be to God.</span></div>
</div>
Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-19082606020719818182018-10-09T13:53:00.004-07:002018-10-09T13:53:41.152-07:00Scooby Doo and the Avatar Were the Worst!<h3>
Luke 10:25-37</h3>
<div>
This Sunday was Thanksgiving Sunday AND World Communion. The church calendar is intersecting in a fabulous way with the secular calendar this year. If you're church geeky such as me, it might interest you that the following dates/days have been or will be connected:</div>
<ul>
<li>Christmas Eve 2017 - was a Sunday (we had our usual Sunday morning service and then two evening Christmas Eve services)</li>
<li>Ash Wednesday - was Valentines Day in 2018</li>
<li>Easter Sunday - was April 1st. I was tempted to set up a tomb-like structure and have a Jesus character jump out and yell 'April Fools!!' at the start of the service. But I didn't. Cause I'm a grown up.</li>
<li>Pentecost Sunday - was Victoria Day long weekend. So many people leave town that weekend to get their first weekend of camping in. Various combinations of the staff also try to take that weekend off. Not in 2018. We. Were. All. Here.</li>
<li>Canada Day was a Sunday.</li>
<li>Thanksgiving Sunday was the same Sunday as World Communion. Giving thanks as we have communion with Christians around the world. Cool.</li>
<li>Remembrance Day is a Sunday.</li>
<li>Epiphany 2019 falls on a Sunday. Super cool. We'll have to food involved with that service. Have an actual <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Epiphany" target="_blank">Feast of Epiphany</a>. </li>
</ul>
<div>
Anyway - none of this is what the message was about Sunday. I got myself a little distracted. Here's the somewhat organized chaos of what happened...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With some help, I told this story:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">A
man was going down from Calgary to Okotoks, when he fell into the hands of two
pediatric cardiovascular surgeons. They stripped him of all of his vast amount
of money, stoned him, and scurried away, leaving him half comatose.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>An Avatar happened to be going down the same
road, and when she saw the man, she shuffled by on the other side.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So too, a Scooby Doo, when he came to the
place and saw him, he skedaddled by on the other side.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But a Muslim, as he traveled, came where the
man was; and when he saw him, he felt sorry for him.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He went to him and bandaged his elbow, </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">pouring
on water and milk.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Then he put the man
on his own cow, took him to an pyramid scheme business and took care of
him.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The next day he took out two purple
pieces of monopoly money and gave them to the babysitter. “Look after him.” He
said, “and when I return, I will pay you for </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">any
extra damages you may have.”</span></div>
</blockquote>
Does this story sound familiar to you? If you're churched at all, it should ring a few bells for you. It's the Mad Libs version of The Good Samaritan. I asked the youth and children to select verbs, nouns, occupations and such at the start of the service and then I told the story.<br />
<br />
Dave read the scripture reading in French and some folks acted out the story. You remember it right? Some religious people ask Jesus what are the basic laws to follow in God's world. Love God with all your heart, mind and soul. And love your neighbour as you would yourself. At which point, the religious know-it-all tried to trick Jesus and asked, 'But, who is my neighbour?' And Jesus, being way clever, answered with parable rather than a straight-forward, easy to work around answer and told the story of the despised Samaritan being the hero of the injured man. The priest and the Levite were not the heroes. THAT Samaritan was very much the hero.<br />
<br />
And then I asked some questions...<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif;"></span></u><br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What do you suppose the
injured man thought when he saw the priest coming his way? (If you can’t rely
on a religious leader to help you, who can you count on?)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What about the Levite (lay
leader respected in religious circles)? (Disappointed, an outcast, not worthy
of being helped…)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Why do you suppose neither
of them stopped to help? (Ritual cleanliness, being late, maybe they were being
tricked…)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The injured man was a Jew
and Jews HATED Samaritans – they treated them like second class citizens. How
do you suppose the injured man felt when the Samaritan walking towards him?
(Helpless, vulnerable, expecting to be taunted or harmed further?)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What did you notice the
Samaritan did in this story? He took IMMEDIATE action. He saw someone in need
and got involved. He ignored prejudices. He saw a person in serious need and
acted. His concern for the injured man was genuine and long-lasting. He made
arrangements with the innkeeper to return later to check on the man’s condition
and settle his bill.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">How do you think the
injured man felt when he realized the full extent of how the Samaritan helped
him? (THANKFUL) When you live with gratitude, you look at the world with a
different outlook – you are more compassionate, forgiving, helpful, kind.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What was Jesus trying to
say when he made the Samaritan, a hated foreigner, the hero of the story? (Our
neighbour can be ANYONE.)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Not very
often do we come across such dramatic opportunities to help someone else. My son Simon and I saw a very bad accident last week. We got to be good Samaritans because help was very much needed but there are very few moments in life in which we witness such a dramatic event. I can think of two different ways of loving
the world as you would love yourself even when there are no accidents or
violent acts to respond to:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzspvsMDiKiGr7Ww94PS65JdgmNqic8uQLfLUvuCVtFodIwHUqUN69GlM0vuta9AgBMQ9MIzWlJT2M1Q2-v0Ww9qZNwXGGAA6oEcz_-FFMErUbaLHKs5kJp2_CbeH0KsKvyhVO92CtvlE/s1600/cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzspvsMDiKiGr7Ww94PS65JdgmNqic8uQLfLUvuCVtFodIwHUqUN69GlM0vuta9AgBMQ9MIzWlJT2M1Q2-v0Ww9qZNwXGGAA6oEcz_-FFMErUbaLHKs5kJp2_CbeH0KsKvyhVO92CtvlE/s200/cross.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Gratitude - Thumbprint Prayer</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> -- Each day look for at
least one person, place, or moment that you’re thankful for or<u> </u>that
fills you with feelings of thankfulness. When you are with that person, or are<u>
</u>in that place, or have had that moment, leave your thumbprint somewhere
close<u> </u>by. As you do, say—even under your breath—“Thank you, God!” See
how many thumbprint thank yous you can leave in the world.</span></div>
<br />
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<u><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif;"></span></u><br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Helping - Acts of Kindness </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">– write some action you
could perform this week on a piece of paper and put it into the offering plate</span></div>
<br />
The youth and the children then collected all the sticky notes with acts of kindness written on them and taped them to the cross. It was awesome.<br />
<br />
And that is how our message time went on this Thanksgiving Sunday. You can watch the whole service <a href="https://www.facebook.com/836428536470218/videos/1012102995627632/?hc_ref=ARStXHP9RRFd75UqH_6hZgeSN9dFjKG6Pf7-rqqW0TZUjBvd6tYNDDxQvkBrDsFCE4Q&__tn__=FC-R" target="_blank">here</a>.Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-30804636041952064502018-10-02T20:19:00.000-07:002018-10-02T20:19:00.780-07:00This That and the OtherAlright. I'm going to confess right here and now - no burying the lead... I have not done what I wanted/said I would do. I had it in my head that I would read a book in a couple of weeks and then I would write up a little blog post about the book. You know - just write up a little something in between the sermons and other such things that I write in my day-to-day to life.<br />
<br />
It's a funny thing, but there are folks who still don't know that a minister actually does work four (and sometimes five) days of the week beyond Sunday. We compose - on paper or in our heads - sermons. We write grant applications. We write bible study programs. We write newsletters. We write prayers, worship services and blessings for babies. We help with Committee work. We host programs. We make phone calls and visit those who need a pastoral presence in their lives.<br />
<br />
You get it. I know you do. But sometimes I forget. And I think I can write just one more thing before the At-a-Glance gets sent out on Thursday afternoons. Which is a long-winded (I am a preacher after all) way of saying, there's no way I could write a blog post for each book I've read so far this year.<br />
<br />
A valuable piece of advice I received as I was contemplating becoming a leader of international study trips was:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When things don't go the way you thought they would and you realize you can't achieve your goal, you change your goal.</blockquote>
Isn't that amazing? Makes life infinitely better most days.<br />
<br />
Anyway, this is me changing my goal. I will - I WILL - read all the books I set out to read this year but...the blog posts will happen when they happen. And one is happening today. And, with this post I will be more than doubling my finished book listing...so, as my new ministry colleague and most favourite person with the last name Harper says - strap in cause things are about to get a little crazy.<br />
<br />
I've consulted my Goodreads account and according to it and this blog, the last book I mentioned here was<i> Reasons to Stay Alive</i> - book 7 of the intended 26 I want to read in 2018. But I have been reading. Slowly but surely. Here are the books I've read since my last post...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6MVbEJYepwV0LIZp7O80USo4nw8tHfW0S7N4iy84wrG0goMF2-PiO4J2XcpM8TLtz1j8zLMHx5JASCrwFw0m6lopeDSlbFMa41Q3XYzcoK1IQhJ1PffV3MAcmTn9pRT5YUiSPaTNKJo/s1600/%25238.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="308" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6MVbEJYepwV0LIZp7O80USo4nw8tHfW0S7N4iy84wrG0goMF2-PiO4J2XcpM8TLtz1j8zLMHx5JASCrwFw0m6lopeDSlbFMa41Q3XYzcoK1IQhJ1PffV3MAcmTn9pRT5YUiSPaTNKJo/s200/%25238.png" width="136" /></a></div>
#8 -<i> Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions</i> by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A lovely quick read about how to guide your child to respect themselves and others. To treat others as you would like yourself to be treated. To honour each and every being and expect the same in return. I think I knew/had learned most of what was mentioned in this book but there were still some very good realizations in this book.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
#9 -<i> Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist</i> by Franchesca Ramsey<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMkElbvFdqY0qaP1W93YqmuxPtc-s1RKdr5Z8anRE_obk9T0y1hay07GNys3KH3C5xJ5IqDmB68GSPWin5t-Uxq78WZzFUwxoAjjvHraJB7alzttJMI-DgKTDvIXhlPEQAIfnUNDchMeo/s1600/%25239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMkElbvFdqY0qaP1W93YqmuxPtc-s1RKdr5Z8anRE_obk9T0y1hay07GNys3KH3C5xJ5IqDmB68GSPWin5t-Uxq78WZzFUwxoAjjvHraJB7alzttJMI-DgKTDvIXhlPEQAIfnUNDchMeo/s200/%25239.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I saw an interview with Ramsey about her activism as a result of making the short video<i> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylPUzxpIBe0" target="_blank">Sh*t White Girls Say...to Black Girls</a></i> She was catapulted into the limelight with the video and had a steep learning curve on the ins and outs of being an activist. She writes about what it means to be a black woman in America and how challenging it is for a black woman to navigate in the world. If you read only one chapter of this book, read the one about black women's hair - the politics of hair, the discrimination of hair and the rude behaviour associated with hair. </blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBunzLEoA4lxG3Z9dLMT4cy7gG-bPfPJxnyQE3Mm7hraY8jH8VbVjKQLSGzt2-63Y7PdbZQO19ruw6Qw1tJ-61UhCUkznLb_bLj-mhUXgfyMPaNkwIQRBg6p05yAbAHCdyrwrzsOpZkb0/s1600/%252310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBunzLEoA4lxG3Z9dLMT4cy7gG-bPfPJxnyQE3Mm7hraY8jH8VbVjKQLSGzt2-63Y7PdbZQO19ruw6Qw1tJ-61UhCUkznLb_bLj-mhUXgfyMPaNkwIQRBg6p05yAbAHCdyrwrzsOpZkb0/s200/%252310.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
#10 -<i> Yes We (Still) Can - Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump</i> by Dan Pfeiffer<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As many of you know, I'm on a bit of an American politics kick these days. Dan Pfeiffer was very much an insider to the Obama Whitehouse and he continues to offer political commentary on the podcast,<i> Pod Save America</i>. Living through the chaos of the Trump Whitehouse, this book is a fascinating read. And...I want to share this story about my decision to read the book. I had been contemplating ordering it, especially since ordering it within a certain time would mean a certain good charity in the States would get a small cut of the book sales. But I was wavering on whether I would actually read a whole book on politics and forgot about it. At least I thought I did until a box from Amazon arrived at home and this book was in the package. I thought, 'oh, I guess I did order the book - huh.' And I read it. Meanwhile, my eldest son, who follows the same pollical commentaries as I do, asked if I had received a package from him lately. No. No I didn't, I told him. Finally, when he was visiting in August, he tells me that this book was the package that he sent. Oh! That's why I don't remember ordering the book! I thought I was losing it for a little while there. He knew I had it because he and I are connected on Goodreads and he saw that I was reading it despite not realizing the Amazon box had had a gift enclosure note that I had missed. I thanked him and then gave it to him to read.</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNe24EfOSDOwBHSrgydwcqdC5UL7E_oOG5ysn6VIWGMFy2KGCB3_rUXcvcs3PF4rGN8XTArslXp6vGdCMfPpjIyMxS5I00s7mtZAG0OJ73A7_EARtfsm5X_WM0mGLawPHbaBSSYjuYkDI/s1600/%252311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="524" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNe24EfOSDOwBHSrgydwcqdC5UL7E_oOG5ysn6VIWGMFy2KGCB3_rUXcvcs3PF4rGN8XTArslXp6vGdCMfPpjIyMxS5I00s7mtZAG0OJ73A7_EARtfsm5X_WM0mGLawPHbaBSSYjuYkDI/s200/%252311.jpg" width="140" /></a></div>
#11 -<i> More Ready Than You Realize: The Power of Everyday Conversations</i> by Brian McLaren<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
An interesting read about the power of evangelism, testimony, story-telling and friendships. I really appreciate McLaren's gentle push and pull of going deeper in theological exploration.</blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXIyx5ktUxkrC_GEOuAH_Zos8NlBoduvMMe7G_M-IKDwBUiPKwK1rShZmg9tyCOFCT8CO7S1_vXeZ7DDmtH24zDCc03nmNhubWiEhBKvEQawzBv-KWbXZMkdp9iyz-SN8-AEJeQDMngE/s1600/%252312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="228" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXIyx5ktUxkrC_GEOuAH_Zos8NlBoduvMMe7G_M-IKDwBUiPKwK1rShZmg9tyCOFCT8CO7S1_vXeZ7DDmtH24zDCc03nmNhubWiEhBKvEQawzBv-KWbXZMkdp9iyz-SN8-AEJeQDMngE/s200/%252312.jpg" width="130" /></a>#12 -<i> The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World</i> by A.J. Jacobs<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
After reading Jacobs'<i> Year of Living Biblically</i>, I figured he'd be worth reading again. This book is fun but tedious. It's basically a summary of the Encyclopedia Britannica interspersed with vignettes from his life with his wife and extended family - which are the nuggets of hilarity that kept me reading. I do feel a bit smarter having read the book but new bits of information I have are a bit esoteric and likely not very helpful in day to day life.</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6VypBk1aFJCdvhUkKDfNYZufKh0A9m99Fj6Oa5mWTgOmkF12vw0rLXBKl77eNszjkaAggBuZmtH2Y8GWseVxbHPFS6KpKKFkLYrtfJMfV-XFxq654K0JvR11R79jb_CN7sZwkHSVjcs/s1600/%252313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="329" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6VypBk1aFJCdvhUkKDfNYZufKh0A9m99Fj6Oa5mWTgOmkF12vw0rLXBKl77eNszjkaAggBuZmtH2Y8GWseVxbHPFS6KpKKFkLYrtfJMfV-XFxq654K0JvR11R79jb_CN7sZwkHSVjcs/s200/%252313.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
#13 -<i> Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person</i> - Shonda Rhimes<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This book made the pile of books my dear hubby chose to read over the summer. I write that sentence like he chose the books in that pile. How it happened went more like this... </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Him: I think I'm going to read 6 or 7 books this summer. Me: Oh, can I do that with you?</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Him: Sure. Me: Do you need suggestions? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Him: Sure. Me: Okay, this one and this one and this one and this one and this one and this one and this one. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Him: Sure. (He finished all seven books. I finished 4.) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A friend had recommended Rhimes book so I added it to the pile. I wasn't so sure when I started the book but I found it to be a good read. Rhimes is responsible for all the good TV on Thursdays evenings (<i>Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, etc)</i> but she woke up (metaphorically) one day to the realization that she was not living life to its full potential. She was not having fun. She was not living a full life. And this book is about how she figured it out and started living life the best she could.</blockquote>
#14 -<i> The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results</i> by Gary Keller<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDb4PdFs_YPZDMEDfP_aE6FAyJHP_3_WV0cQk3bX3WlgE8VpvAkQrW_M5UNBf2ck0wIQkCGBy9FizybnlDv5hxB1HkDyv8ahSVUXa2cyLatLbpgTIN_n3_5N0EwK1eHsNgDzAcYxO3uAs/s1600/%252314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="346" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDb4PdFs_YPZDMEDfP_aE6FAyJHP_3_WV0cQk3bX3WlgE8VpvAkQrW_M5UNBf2ck0wIQkCGBy9FizybnlDv5hxB1HkDyv8ahSVUXa2cyLatLbpgTIN_n3_5N0EwK1eHsNgDzAcYxO3uAs/s200/%252314.jpg" width="138" /></a>This book was summer homework for the SVUC Board. A great way to help you get focused on what's important and how to accomplish what you'd like to achieve. Easy to read and worthy considering how it can help you get to where you want to go.</blockquote>
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#15 -<i> The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.</i> by MLK Jr himself<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This was a challenging read. Not because of the writing. But because of the terrible and desperate situation African Americans lived in before the Civil Rights Movement. I had no idea how immediately MLK was thrust into state and nation-wide leadership after he was ordained and called to his first congregation. How much his and his family's life was under constant threat. How VERY BADLY white people treated black people during the era of Jim Crow. This book is worth every minute it takes to read it.</blockquote>
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<br />
So. There you have it. I'm up to 15 books out of the 26 on my reading schedule this year.<i> Of Mess and Moxie</i> by Jen Hatmaker is next. It promises to be good ready - Hatmaker regular gets told by Evangelical Christians that, because she's a woman, she has no business expressing her thoughts about theology, Jesus and God. I'm thinking she's a bit feisty and I like feisty.<br />
<i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><br />
<br />Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-22330417168234876572018-09-27T08:04:00.002-07:002018-09-27T08:04:27.067-07:00Season of Creation - Humanity<h3>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Genesis 1.26-28,2.7-8, 15 and Mark 10.42-45</span><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">On this
third Sunday in the Season of Creation, we are looking at the role and
responsibility of humanity in God’s world. We celebrate the diversity of the
human race and rejoice that God’s divine nature is revealed in each and every
one of us. And we reflect on the task bestowed upon us when the first people were
brought to life in the Garden that we know as Eden—the task of caring for God’s
Creation. In the first Creation story we hear that humanity was supposed to subdue
and have dominion over all the earth, which implies to be dominant and to be
bossy, just like your older sibling when you were growing up. Or was that you,
being the bossy one of the kids? You remember those times, when you were
playing make-believe and your sister told you what role you were to play and
what you had to do and what you had to say? Or when your big brother would
settle into his spot in front of the TV and look over at you and tell you, not
ask you, to get him an apple? You feel me? I’m not just working out something
here on my own, am I? Anyway, to have dominion over something calls to mind dominance
without consultation. But there’s the second Creation story and we hear that
humanity was to till the earth and keep it. When you keep something, it usually
means to mind it and care for it, doesn’t it? You have a responsibility to keep
whatever it is safe and sound, and in the case of the hermit crabs that came
home one year during winter break, keeping them meant keeping them alive—which
is a harder task than you might first imagine when you sign the permission form
to do such a thing without considering exactly what it is that hermit crabs eat.
Or that they don’t like dogs and 2-year-old grabby hands very much. Actually,
public service announcement, hermit crabs like neither of those two things at
all.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fKBcPTedlRabBuFp_8YnfjYu4GIqrPPk9ps0Mzsx9ldM9cWK9rqC_AcHvOsSsjzBj2oe8XGjx_-f5KWz1ynEy6M9ZWGmLiXblwlYrq9qy7FDQy-pTeN1fHKVo87nAAhhpp4vbGBpZYg/s1600/iStock_000015832262Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="430" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fKBcPTedlRabBuFp_8YnfjYu4GIqrPPk9ps0Mzsx9ldM9cWK9rqC_AcHvOsSsjzBj2oe8XGjx_-f5KWz1ynEy6M9ZWGmLiXblwlYrq9qy7FDQy-pTeN1fHKVo87nAAhhpp4vbGBpZYg/s200/iStock_000015832262Large.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">All of
humankind, each one of us, are made in the image of God, which, depending on
the day, is kind of hard to get your mind around isn’t it, with all the
ethnicities, gender identities, shapes, sizes and colours we all are, it’s hard
to think of any one image God could possibly be from the world of humans that
now populate the earth. But, what if we don’t think of image as being simply visual?
What if the word image better means a reflection? As in, humankind reflects who
is and what is God? We are to mirror God to the world and to care for the world
as God cares for the world. God is not imagined in the staticness an idol or a
painting. God in known in the freedom of human persons to be gracious and
compassionate as God was gracious and compassionatewith the birthing of the
very world in which we now reside. And, just as God invites, evokes and
encourages, God bestows this power upon humanity to care for Creation. Power to
invite, evoke, encourage does not overpower or demand. This kind of power means
in having dominion is to shepherd, to care and feed the animals or to be the
steward of the household, to ensure there is food enough for the family and
that the home is safe and warm. To have dominion is to secure the well-being of
every creature and bring the promise of each to full fruition. Humans were
tasked to take up their God-given responsibilities to care for the rest of
Creation. We are to treat the world as God would treat the world and help the
world along to realize its full potential.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So, Creation
comes into being and humanity is charged with its care. Take good care of all
that I have made, says God, there’s only one rule. One rule. Do you remember
what it is? Don’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That’s
it. Care for the world and stay away from that tree over there. But, of course,
the illegal fruit is eaten and things fall apart. Humanity is banished from the
Garden and all the difficulties of living are imposed upon humanity. Back pain
and birth pains forever change how our lives are lived but God does not release
humanity from our essential task of caring for the world. Adam and Eve
apparently make it all work. They till the soil, they have children, they keep
themselves and the world alive and healthy. But then, do you remember what
happens next in Genesis? If you ever want to read a fast-paced and compelling
story filled with dramatic highs and lows, read Genesis. It is an exciting
tale. Anyway, the world is created, not once but twice. Humanity is created,
not once but twice. Humanity is told to care for the world. Don’t eat the
fruit. They eat the fruit. Adam and Eve are banished. Crops are planted, babies
are born. Then we move to chapter 4. Remember what happens next? Cain and Abel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We get just
four chapters into the story of all of Creation and the first murder happens.
There is no mention of violence before this point. Cain gives the bare minimum
he thinks he can get away with in his offering to God from his harvest. But
Abel, that annoying younger brother, gives generously from his abundance,
thanking God for all that God has given. God makes it known that Abel’s
abundance is preferred over Cain’s scarcity. Cain gets angry and it shows,
cause he gets this thunder face going on and God basically says, why are you
angry? You held back, you held back what you had to offer. Cause, you know that
God knew exactly the gifts, skill and opportunity Cain had to work with, God
knew what Cain had to offer the world. God basically says to Cain, you were not
as kind as you had the ability to be, you were not as compassionate, you were
not as loving, you were not as generous as you had the ability to be with what
you had. Cain, ashamed and embarrassed of having his greed revealed, finds his
ego bruised because his brother managed where he could not. Suddenly he sees
his relationship with his brother as a competition and he desires what Abel
has—to be the favoured one. To have more than what Abel has. To be more than
Abel. And so, he kills Abel dead. Which, of course, does not improve, at all, Cain’s
relationship with God. And then everything from there pretty much goes to hell
in hand basket. Humanity and God begin the seemingly-endless journey of trying to
figure out a working relationship in which we can get back to making real the
full potential of the world, until we can find our way to the top of God’s
peaceful mountain, where all can be well and all can be well and all manner of
things shall be well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God gave us
the responsibility to care for our world. To love one another as we would love
ourselves. To spread the good news to all of creation. To till the land and
keep the world so that it would flourish just as we hope our children will
flourish. Being kicked out of the Garden of Eden was not the end of this
responsibility. Adam and Eve still bore the responsibility to care for Creation
and we bear that same responsibility today. I know that the story of Cain and
Abel was not our scripture reading today (fun fact, Cain and Abel didn’t make
the Lectionary cut and so, yet another story you very rarely hear from the
pulpit) but I think it is an important story for us to remember when we are
talking about humanity’s role in God’s Creation. Because, it seems to me, when
we are exploring the ills of the world and ask how and why people behave in
such ways that so many people and the environment are harmed—like the decision
making process around this nonsense of Ticketmaster allowing scalpers to cheat
the system to the benefit of Ticketmaster, the decision to deceive people out
of their life savings, the decision to cut taxes at the expense funding
education and health care, the decision made by Volkswagen to cheat on the
environmental tests of their cars, the decision that leads someone to light
what becomes a wildfire, the decision to sell fresh water to corporations while
whole communities of people, particularly indigenous communities right here in
Canada, do not have access to clean, drinking water from their kitchen tap, the
decision to deregulate industry so polluting the environment is not discouraged
or punished…decisions such as these go back to chapter four of the Book of
Genesis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
disregard that Cain had for the life and the well-being of his younger brother
Abel is repeated again and again throughout our history of humanity. Disregard
for another’s life, disregard for the health of our ecosystem, disregard for
those who are not our family, disregard for those who do not love as we love,
disregard for those who do not identify as we identify, disregard for those who
do not believe as we believe, disregard for those who do look as we do,
disregard for those speak as we speak, disregard for children that are not our
children, disregard for people who are not our people. We have forgotten that
our place in Creation is not as ruler above all but instead to be engaged with
and amongst all that God has created, animals, humanity, the environment.
Humanity was made in the image of God. The Divine is revealed through us
humans, our actions and our behaviour. The Divine is revealed through our
ability to be just, to be loving, to be compassionate with all aspects of God’s
creation. And knowing that each one of us—each and every person who walks this
earth—is a reflection of the Divine, how can we possibly continue to support
those making the decision of Cain when the well-being of one or a very select
few is lifted above and over the well-being of another of God’s people, another
of God’s reflections? How can we assist in shepherding Creation and the world
to its full potential when we allow for an individual’s or a corporation, which
let’s face it, is made up of a bunch of individuals, when their greed and egos
take priority over that which is best for the community, for those who do not
have a voice at the table, for those who are at the margins, for those whose
needs are ignored?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This Season
of Creation is an opportunity to be reminded that each one of us most
definitely have a role in keeping God’s Creation. In shepherding this world
that God has created into being a place of peace and joy. Jesus told his
disciples this very thing. In the reading from the Book of Mark, Marci read,
Jesus says, you know the leaders of those non-Jews, they are leaders who bully
and who lord their authority over those they rule. But, he says, this is not
how God wanted the world to be. Those who lead must lead from amongst the very
people they are leading. In fact, those that lead must be right where the
people are—they must drink the same water, they must have the same access to
health care, their children must attend the same schools, they must live as
close to the city dump as others, they must walk and drive the same streets and
see all aspects of the community they are leading. You must serve those you
lead. And, then, shockingly, he tells them that he came not be served but to
serve. And this is exactly how we, you and I, can continue to keep this world
and Creation of God’s. But, we who live right here can help our community and
our province. Believe it or not, but it was not planned to hold the Outreach
Showcase on Humanity Sunday but I could not help but recognize how fortudious
it is that in my conculsion today, I wanted to encourage each one of us to go
out and serve the community you live in, serve the needs of this city of ours, serve
the environmental needs of our living space and the wider province. If each one
of us were to serve in some small way or another, we cannot help but make a
difference in our world. And, when we serve together as a community of God’s
people, the impact we can make on Creation will be even greater. And, today,
you when you leave the sanctuary, the Outreach Committee has very nicely set up
a series of displays in which you can see what type of God and Jesus loving
ministry they make possible to those in need. And they cannot make it possible
without engagement by people from this congregation. Not only will you witness
the impact we, as a community of faith, in our surrounding communities, but you
will have the opportunity to see where you and your family can participate,
where<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>you can serve the very people and
environment that you live with and alongside. And if you have an idea or a plan
for further ways we can make a difference in God’s Creation, talk to anyone from
the Outreach Committee, I’m sure they would love to hear your idea. We are not
alone this world. We live amongst and with God’s Creation and God is with us,
God never leaves us. Thanks be to God.</span></div>
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Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-5009411334631642792018-09-18T15:21:00.000-07:002018-09-18T15:21:54.524-07:00Season of Creation - Mountain Sunday<h3>
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Isaiah 65:17-25, Mark 16:14-16</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPiNn_-gQ5dmlY2OR_EcTOW37LmfmhXXoK4ZcTiUg_iUme_006XE2w3aN5_omNijNXAL5oEmoaseZUnZiytR-3z03Fz8G1EsbYph3P98aFz7DVb-aRxXP06lCnoyomsfYfGVvfaPAjQD8/s1600/mtrobson1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="560" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPiNn_-gQ5dmlY2OR_EcTOW37LmfmhXXoK4ZcTiUg_iUme_006XE2w3aN5_omNijNXAL5oEmoaseZUnZiytR-3z03Fz8G1EsbYph3P98aFz7DVb-aRxXP06lCnoyomsfYfGVvfaPAjQD8/s200/mtrobson1.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Robson</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_TqkiMXTzC6DyC51LAXi5PyzsiHp8ijvAoIZzTgMu_-weUOY3tV86RhkyXO_A0NoKocyAGQaqlllqfxaQrcpyBzDpU04BTzOKrdaEs-QG0agz7Ba-TO8g5o2rH19FIFt79EsI_W0MII/s1600/everest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_TqkiMXTzC6DyC51LAXi5PyzsiHp8ijvAoIZzTgMu_-weUOY3tV86RhkyXO_A0NoKocyAGQaqlllqfxaQrcpyBzDpU04BTzOKrdaEs-QG0agz7Ba-TO8g5o2rH19FIFt79EsI_W0MII/s200/everest.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everest</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">On this second Sunday in the Season of Creation, we
celebrate the beauty and grandeur of the mountains. There are many hills and
high places in the world that are referred to as mountains such as Mount
Tisdale, the sledding hill in the prairie town my dear spouse grew up in. And
I’m told there are mountains under the ocean but since I really do not enjoy
being in salt water at all, I’ll just trust that to be true and leave it at
that. At the risk of sounding a little snobby here, those of us living in
western Canada know what real mountains are. The Rocky Mountains range nearly
5000 kilometers from northern British Columbia south to New Mexico. Mount
Robson in BC is nearly 4000 meters at its highest point and Mount Elbert in
Colorado reaches just over 4400 meters. However, when compared to the growth
chart that God keeps on the doorway to the kitchen in heaven, mountains like
Everest and K2 seem to have had growth spurts like no other as they measure
over 8000 meters. Nepal, Pakistan, India and China are home to over one hundred
mountains that are over 7000 meters. So Robson measures in at 4000 meters and
Everest is nearly 9000 meters—to put that into perspective for a minute cause,
I know, measuring anything other than distance with metres is still a bit
foreign so let me explain that 4000 metres is still very high (13,000 feet)…when
I was in Peru a number of years ago, we flew from Lima on the coast to the
mountain city of Cusco. In an hour and twenty minutes, we went from being at
sea level to being 3400 meters above sea level. One woman in our tour group who
was six months pregnant was forbidden to travel to Cusco because that sudden
elevation would cause her and her baby distress. Going from 0 to 3400 meters in
80 minutes is no joke. As a very active person, I was sure I would be fine. I.
WAS. NOT. FINE. I suffered headaches, lightheadedness and aches and pains. My
mind had darkness envelope it if I took stairs of any sort. And I was by far
not the worst in my group. It was a bit of a gong show as I would carry another
woman’s bag along with mine as she crawled up stairs and I took one. step. at.
a. time.</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDi1Zf3Ftu7CBuXu-TG_Jl7IZkZMA30_Hoptqx9rz6A4msuoBFk1Jnw-3LgVxOi3rotuQbe2krHwXCDyo4beLlQqaXecVoAYSSd9c17bEO8bkW0cciMPcpCUXjAqXmTH-ApHHD7sCgN0U/s1600/break.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDi1Zf3Ftu7CBuXu-TG_Jl7IZkZMA30_Hoptqx9rz6A4msuoBFk1Jnw-3LgVxOi3rotuQbe2krHwXCDyo4beLlQqaXecVoAYSSd9c17bEO8bkW0cciMPcpCUXjAqXmTH-ApHHD7sCgN0U/s200/break.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The mountains of God’s Creation are unmatched for strength and
their imposing nature. The height and breadth of the mountains demand respect
from anyone traveling through their peaks and valleys. As well from those who
b<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikH_IXSZUFWHqB1Eu5iNRvhdiSy4S4PGQXeW3o1MSGrASy9lNFu5lTKWvUXXerCGs1-eu9Fdo0RnpXRd9By1_VMSRVNsrONQY35jRHtDfXRSplwV3qgBfYd_34YLfdbg1MRHSl9VoDvF4/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikH_IXSZUFWHqB1Eu5iNRvhdiSy4S4PGQXeW3o1MSGrASy9lNFu5lTKWvUXXerCGs1-eu9Fdo0RnpXRd9By1_VMSRVNsrONQY35jRHtDfXRSplwV3qgBfYd_34YLfdbg1MRHSl9VoDvF4/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>uild and ride the railways, swaying along cliffs and climbing, climbing up and
over the passes. And from those whose job it is to clear for roads and bridges.
It still boggles my mind when I think of how much dynamite was required to
create the break in the peak near Golden, BC. They changed the route of the
highway from running along the river to going up and over or rather through the
mountaintop. Instead of tunneling, they just blew a whole section of the peak
away and then built this MASSIVE bridge that I call the Star Wars bridge
because it reminds me of those bridges you see on other worlds in the Star Wars
movies. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxAuO7quoeXR-GSQLd_i_PGfgiUxXO5Eco81jbMVwbT2dcuuLDugxrY7iJOgEcZJjP4ZSbOP7J9mWWk9_z388nFmD-laY5TO1UqXSIOeidvC76YB_P1MtTDcLxj8PmE80Wg4kQaJmGBSc/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="750" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxAuO7quoeXR-GSQLd_i_PGfgiUxXO5Eco81jbMVwbT2dcuuLDugxrY7iJOgEcZJjP4ZSbOP7J9mWWk9_z388nFmD-laY5TO1UqXSIOeidvC76YB_P1MtTDcLxj8PmE80Wg4kQaJmGBSc/s200/bridge.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Anyway, until humanity gets involved, the mountains are solid, stable
and enduring features in our world. The very sight of them calls to mind God’s
power and the strength of nature. Because we live right at the foothills of the
Rockies, we might be forgiven if we forget once in a while, that not everyone
experiences the breath-taking beauty of seeing the mountains on the distant
horizon each and every clear sky day. Bella, a member of my youth group at GC
in ON in July was a member of the Youth Pilgrimage that was to make its way
across Canada through the summer. The journey in Newfoundland, meandered their
way to General Council and then continued travelling west, with Victoria being
their destination. They were stopping and visiting with United Church folks all
along the way. I asked her what she was looking forward to after they left
Ontario, which is her home province. She was so excited to see the Rockies. Her
face just lit up when she spoke about it.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rtexD2jHvrZ7O_ixGFRj4Ha_xz4yjBrCeJ6iGFAFMMhgr7zvZvcSuVWWCi_guCxCEjWXYJM9lmMHB-LCiI8sXHOwgglQOWEAulOIvnhvsGRRs-MQCKa76SvvO-CLc6QztOZJQ5briG0/s1600/Mount-Nebo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="686" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rtexD2jHvrZ7O_ixGFRj4Ha_xz4yjBrCeJ6iGFAFMMhgr7zvZvcSuVWWCi_guCxCEjWXYJM9lmMHB-LCiI8sXHOwgglQOWEAulOIvnhvsGRRs-MQCKa76SvvO-CLc6QztOZJQ5briG0/s200/Mount-Nebo.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Nebo</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="642" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7uBTZ5ftNN1f3tTfL_jT7mF8Z9qn5sFVjCxHF7XNo3pAbFLJFIMGnn1ubAA1PdrPdJJyKfnzLrZWFVWTj_5dMz7bTWrF_xy6n-EwfsbjAydGVVkBF1y-fhMvK3md9GHeLenTJY0B5zA/s200/sun+egypt.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="133" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Sinai</td></tr>
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Mountains are essential in the telling of the story of God’s
People. Moses climbed Mount Sinai more than once so that God could speak
directly to him. Moses stood at the top of Mount Nebo overlooking the Promised
Land after forty years of wandering in the desert. He saw where the former
slaves he led from Egypt would reside, but he would not, hi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7uBTZ5ftNN1f3tTfL_jT7mF8Z9qn5sFVjCxHF7XNo3pAbFLJFIMGnn1ubAA1PdrPdJJyKfnzLrZWFVWTj_5dMz7bTWrF_xy6n-EwfsbjAydGVVkBF1y-fhMvK3md9GHeLenTJY0B5zA/s1600/sun+egypt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7uBTZ5ftNN1f3tTfL_jT7mF8Z9qn5sFVjCxHF7XNo3pAbFLJFIMGnn1ubAA1PdrPdJJyKfnzLrZWFVWTj_5dMz7bTWrF_xy6n-EwfsbjAydGVVkBF1y-fhMvK3md9GHeLenTJY0B5zA/s1600/sun+egypt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>mself, descend into
the valley and cross the River Jordan. Jesus gave his Beatitudes sermon on the
side of a mountain, he miraculously fed four thousand people on the side of a
mountain. It is said Jesus was on retreat on a high mountain with James, John
and Peter when he was transfigured into shining light. Moses and Elijah
appeared there alongside him at that moment. In the Bible, mountains are
sacred, they are set apart. The wonder of looking up at a mountain still exists
today. Climbing a mountain, being on a mountaintop draws us closer to the
Divine. Blessings and God are revealed when one can look down upon all of
Creation from the top of a mountain. Those things in our lives that are big and
overwhelming in our everyday lives are made small, even insignificant when perspective
is gained from the mountaintop.</div>
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The prophet Isaiah used the sacredness of the mountain to
get the attention of his fellow Jews. Remember last week that I told you that
Jeremiah was warning the people that God was not pleased with their selfish
behaviour and that there would be consequences? Jeremiah was warning that the
Babylonians were on the doorstep to Judah, ready to take them into exile, far
away from their homes and the Temple. Today’s scripture is from many years
later and the people have been released from captivity. The first of the former
exiles are returning to the city of Jerusalem and have found it to be a mess. Everything
in the city needs to be rebuilt and Isaiah is saying there is no better time
than right then to reimagine a new way of living so as not to get themselves
into another situation in which God would allow God’s people to be overtaken by
another hostile force. Isaiah uses the image of the mountain to call to mind
what is sacred and powerful in the history of God’s people and to encourage the
people to work towards a peace that is beyond anything they have ever
experienced.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>No one will die young, the
wolf and lamb will eat alongside one another, the lion will dine on straw,
snakes will vanish as they did from Ireland and no one will be hurt and no one
will destroy anything again. On the mountain, the former things of violence,
death, greed, threat and exile are forgotten, and new possibility thrives. The
true expansiveness of God’s vision for our world is known. Upon God’s peaceful
mountain, in the words of Julian of Norwich, “All shall be well, and all shall
be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”</div>
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And then, to fast forward from the time of the ancient
Israelites to the time of earliest Christians and Jesus tells his disciples,
“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” Jesus
has been crucified and raised and yet his disciples do not believe. He arrives
into their presence, gives them a lecture on their lack of faith and then sends
them out into the world to make a difference. To make the change they know God
wants for the world. To walk the talk they have been teaching for the past
three years. To go and be the hands and feet of the very Christ who stands
before them. Go! Go and proclaim the good news for all of creation. Not just
good news for humanity but for ALL OF CREATION. Go, be the love of God for
people, for animals, for plants, for the watersheds, for the plains, the
mountains, for the grain fields and the forests. Proclaim the good news to
everyone and everything within God’s great and awesome Creation.</div>
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<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Nk5sO52CiIN1vCD4ZN5Fo9FJXVnLPJixU1t9p65UKslNkj83iRCETah4ZZeDUpKxihYaBXfJexgD-l9CuHXrUd35O-ITGQskpOT-GH4ZpHVO19G-T9UYLrrP5WZpqOaYkCPxyWXvsN8/s1600/rocky-mountains-moraine-lake-banff-national-park-i29202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Nk5sO52CiIN1vCD4ZN5Fo9FJXVnLPJixU1t9p65UKslNkj83iRCETah4ZZeDUpKxihYaBXfJexgD-l9CuHXrUd35O-ITGQskpOT-GH4ZpHVO19G-T9UYLrrP5WZpqOaYkCPxyWXvsN8/s200/rocky-mountains-moraine-lake-banff-national-park-i29202.jpg" width="200" /></a>There are many days
that we can look to the west and take joy in witnessing God’s great and awesome
Creation in the distant ribbon of mountains that create the very horizon that
receives the setting of the sun each and every evening. And we do not worry too
much about what Creation needs from us. But then there are days, days and days
of such smoke making its way over those very mountains and hanging low over our
province that we cannot even see those rock steady, forever standing there
mountains, the mountains of which we reside at their very feet. We could not
see them this August. Do you remember Bella, the pilgrim who was so excited to
finally see the Rocky Mountains? Well, she didn’t have the chance. There was
too much smoke. In fact, once the Pilgrims arrived in Calgary, the leaders
decided to cancel the final portion of the Pilgrimage due to health concerns.
They didn’t make it to BC at all. Our climate is changing. It was forest fires
in August and now it’s hurricanes this month. While there are many reasons for
more aggressive wild fires and hurricanes in recent years, there is an
overwhelming understanding that humanity has not respected the natural world
and we are now paying the price. We are living the consequences of paving over
the earth that absorbs rainfall, for taking down forest to plant corn, to feed
cows, the cows that add crazy amounts of methane into our air, we build expensive
places near flood plains and then expect the water to be contained. It’s hard
to imagine God’s peaceful mountain when we cannot even see the mountain to
begin with. </div>
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<br />
The Bible is our foundational text. We read the Bible
despite it being an ancient document. We read it and learn from it because it
is not a dead set of books. It is a living document. The wisdom given to God’s
people over two thousand years ago has truth for us today. There are any number
of prophets walking this earth today but the words Isaiah spoke to his fellow
citizens ring as true today as they did then. We live with war, with cancer,
with ALS and MS, we live with suicide, we live with poverty, hunger, with
bigotry and racism, with past hurts that are deep and painful, we live with ancestors
whose bad behaviour impacts us yet today, we live with greed that has no regard
for other people’s well-being, for the environment, for world peace. Where
Jeremiah gave words of dire warning last week, Isaiah reminds us that it is up
to us to reimagine, to reorganize ourselves so that violence, hatred, disregard
will become former things and God’s vision for reality, for heaven to exist on
earth, is a living possibility. Isaiah tells us that in God, there is always
hope. There is hope because we are not done living, we are done having faith,
we are not done working, done striving for a better world. If not for us but
our children.<br />
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="margin: 0px;">Martin Luther King Jr. used the image of the mountain as a
call for hope. King calls for unity, economic actions, boycotts, and nonviolent
protest, while challenging the United States to live up to its ideals. (Memphis
TN, April 3, 1968)</span><span style="margin: 0px;">.
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="margin: 0px;">Well, I
don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it
really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I
don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live - a long life; longevity has its
place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And
He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen
the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know
tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy,
tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man.</span></blockquote>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
As Moses and Martin Luther King Jr understood, we may only
have the opportunity to look into the Promised Land of a healthy environment
and a world without war and hate, we may not make it there ourselves, we know
very well it is for our children, our community’s children and grandchildren
that we must continue to heed the demand to work towards healing for all of
Creation. The United Church of Canada’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Song of Faith</i>, our most recent statement of faith that was written in 2006,
says:</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;">In grateful response to God’s
abundant love,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>we bear in mind our integral connection</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>to the earth and one another;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;">we participate in God’s work of
healing and mending creation.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;">Divine creation does not cease</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>until all things have found wholeness, union,
and integration</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>with the common ground of all being.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Upon God’s peaceful mountain, All shall be well, and all
shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well. It can be a hard and
arduous journey up to the top of that peaceful mountain but God promises us
that the view will be amazing once we get there. </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></span></div>
Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-45040699716031626422018-09-12T11:45:00.001-07:002018-09-12T11:45:49.662-07:00Season of Creation: Sky Sunday<br />
<br />
<h3 style="margin: 0px;">
Jeremiah 4.23-28, Mark 15.33-39</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyONXGHNMCWtF8RhRfNRB-LpVpEVwyQDD91aF890VgX-ipn4PvedG4Js51dIphf9oIrqR6YSDH-7T4sEA2rPjFYYBhfidBmBlJB2UmVwVwbMpN12FKeZtj0nE1WEuCr0TJG-hfBv-KyGA/s1600/season+of+creation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="866" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyONXGHNMCWtF8RhRfNRB-LpVpEVwyQDD91aF890VgX-ipn4PvedG4Js51dIphf9oIrqR6YSDH-7T4sEA2rPjFYYBhfidBmBlJB2UmVwVwbMpN12FKeZtj0nE1WEuCr0TJG-hfBv-KyGA/s200/season+of+creation.jpg" width="108" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
In and around the year 2007, the wider ecumenical church
agreed to set aside a portion of the church calendar to recognize the amazing
gift God has given us in the form of all aspects of the environment—our diverse
ecological systems, the waters of the oceans, lakes and rivers and all of God’s
flora and fauna—even, I reluctantly add, spiders. This time set aside is named the
Season of Creation. The colour for this Season is orange and when the United
Church of Canada introduced Creation Time into the liturgical year in 2010,
this symbol was designed for the occasion. There is the tree of knowledge, the
circle of wholeness, the four colours of the elements of creation: earth-brown,
air-white, fire-orange, and water-blue. In this year of the three-year rotation
of themes, we are celebrating the beauty and magnificence of the sky, of the
mountains and of humanity. And the fourth Sunday of this Season, September
30th, we will be celebrating animals and we invite you to bring in a photo of
your pet or pets so that they may be blessed during the service. We will be
celebrating all these things but we will also be exploring the many ecological
issues and concerns that exist for each of these aspects of God’s great
Creation. Knowing that humanity was given dominion over the earth and all of
inhabitants, that we are to be stewards for all that God has created, we ask
ourselves, how have we been holding up our responsibilities? If God were to
speak to us as God spoke to the first male and female, and if God were to ask,
so…what have you got to say for yourselves in how you’ve managed this Earth of
mine, how is it that we would explain our actions? The actions of our
ancestors, the actions of our leaders, the actions of ourselves?</div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWBuM9UpxMe8r0tgrlTwMpkrwFE3IhmxXP46nqhqVucl_rF9Rw245b-aCW0KcSZxffSaj7-JQrUSP7Bp7svRvdqHT2AhiZdsggdcuxpVfOV1rDm8Q64BhgKKzh3zZMI0VMZqV_DuGnmM/s1600/india.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1133" data-original-width="1511" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWBuM9UpxMe8r0tgrlTwMpkrwFE3IhmxXP46nqhqVucl_rF9Rw245b-aCW0KcSZxffSaj7-JQrUSP7Bp7svRvdqHT2AhiZdsggdcuxpVfOV1rDm8Q64BhgKKzh3zZMI0VMZqV_DuGnmM/s200/india.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taj Mahal, 2007</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
This Sunday is Sky Sunday, which I think is a lovely way to
begin Creation Time because, wherever you are in the world, whether you are in
Zambia, or Peru, or Palestine, or Ireland or India or in the Northwest
Territories of Canada, each and every one of us has the experience of looking
up to expansiveness of the sky. Of course if you are in Zambia or Peru, the
night stars are different from what is seen from the northern hemisphere. And,
depending where you are in India, you may not see the actual sky in very
populated places for the abundance of smog and smoke. What Calgary had for
smoke blotting out the sun this summer, is how many Indians live, day in and
day out. The sky is one of the few aspects of nature that all the earth has in
common—we are connected to one another across the world in that each of us
experience day and night, the sun always rises in the east and sets in the
west. For many Christians, it is to the sky that we glance when we speak of
Jesus ascending after his resurrection, and when we wonder about heaven and speculate
where God might possibly reside, should God be such that God needs a resting a
place.</div>
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It is in this connection to one another through our sky that
makes our responsibility to care for the sky and the atmosphere all that more
great. Albertans well know that what happens to the sky in some other location
has the potential to severely impact our living here at home. The smoke from forest
fires make it easy for us to see and feel how missteps in care for the
environment can reach far and wide around the globe. There was more than once that
we woke up in the morning and decided to restrict our outdoor activities last
month due to the smoke. In fact, when I stepped outside and smelled the smoke,
I was instantly transported back to the UCZ’s Theological University, where we
stayed last year on the youth trip. Instantly I could feel the grass beneath my
feet and feel the cool morning air on my arms. You see, for lack of centralized
garbage removal, the Zambians burn their garbage at night and the smoke lingers
until the morning. There are many concerns about wildfires these days that did
not seem to exist a few decades ago. Humanity is spreading further and further
from town and city centres which restricts allowing natural forest fires to
burn. We know that forests need fire now and then for its life cycle but we are
disrupting those cycles. As well, there have been an increase in droughts over
time which means the forests are drier now and more susceptible when someone
throws a cigarette butt out of a car window or when a campfire is not properly
extinguished or when an ATV’s hot exhaust ignites dry brush. </div>
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One valuable takeaway from our smoky summer (I understand
that the smoke from the wildfires in BC even reached PEI and Ireland) is a
physical reminder that what we do to the environment has an impact that is far
more reaching than just the immediate area, whether we can see it in the moment
or not. I am not sure if the ancient Hebrew people had concerns for their
environment, but there are many metaphors used in the Bible that use various aspects
of creation to make a point about the behaviour of humanity and the nature of
God. The prophet Jeremiah lived in a time that rife with instability and
discord. Impending doom and destruction was about to befall Judah—it can be
confusing, but after King Solomon’s death, the twelve tribes of Israel divided their
lands into two kingdoms, Israel to the north and Judah to the south—which
included the city of Jerusalem. As the Bible tells it, people of Israel were
not behaving well and God allowed them to be taken into captivity by the
Assyrians. Fast forward a hundred and fifty or so years later and Jeremiah is
watching the world around him fall apart. Remember, a prophet is someone who
can anticipate or predict a certain future outcome based on current and past
actions. Prophets anticipate what the future might hold if current attitudes
and behaviours are maintained. One simply needs to imagine what the trajectory
of such decisions might have beyond their immediate impact and what unintended
consequences might rise up as a result of those decisions.</div>
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And so, the prophet Jeremiah, living in Judah, is witnessing
the society around him crumbling. 2 Kings, chapter 17 tell us, Judah also did not
keep the commandments of their God but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. The
people of Judah have forgotten to know and to find ways of living with hearts
of justice, community-mindedness and compassion. Jeremiah, knowing full well
his history, knew that those very customs of Israel had resulted in Israel’s captivity.
It did not require a Magic Eight Ball to understand that the seize of Judah,
this time by the Babylonians, was close at hand. In our scripture reading
today, Jeremiah is telling these people they have become vulnerable to powers
and principles other than the one true God and their actions and behaviour have
consequences for all of Creation. Creation suffers and bears witness to the
consequences of humankind living only for self and forgetting their hope in
God. Jeremiah reminds everyone that God sees what’s happening and God is not
pleased. In the verses right before Daniel began reading, God likens humanity
to stupid children who have no understanding. Says the people are skilled in
doing evil but do not know how to do good. Don’t hear that in the sanctuary
every day do you? This is one of those instances that the Lectionary
conveniently skips over. Jeremiah goes on, with the piece that Daniel read, and
tells the people that God is watching the very Creation that was gifted to
humanity, the very Creation that was given to humanity to have dominion over,
for them to be stewards of, that Creation is being undone because they have
forgotten God and allowed themselves to ruled by self-interest and desire
rather than the virtues that arise from relationship with God. Because of their
selfishness and greed, fear and cowardice, the earth was waste and void. All
the birds of the air had fled. The heavens above grow black. The sky became
black just as it did the moment Jesus died upon the cross that was used to
torture and execute him hundreds and hundreds of years later. Our behaviour has
consequences that reaches far beyond that which a simple apology or monetary
fine or bucket of water or a Band-Aid can fix.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBQRdBT_rkYkqI4g-FUfvv0mo7Mezod7WjtpGgSeIkJsYe1wluYoIpBEFzcIIXGjijCfZkdn8i8meNsmzoSAsE3VK-SUmHK-XXd4BpRmiSq_c87aEgTjDpoGIA0GADwaTEakIqSDo7aA/s1600/sun+egypt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="642" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBQRdBT_rkYkqI4g-FUfvv0mo7Mezod7WjtpGgSeIkJsYe1wluYoIpBEFzcIIXGjijCfZkdn8i8meNsmzoSAsE3VK-SUmHK-XXd4BpRmiSq_c87aEgTjDpoGIA0GADwaTEakIqSDo7aA/s200/sun+egypt.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me standing at the top of<br />
Mount Sinai at sunrise</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It is often said that even if one experiences the presence
of God at church, one can always find God out in nature. The feeling of being
in the mountains or surrounded by grain fields, at night, far away from the
lights of city so that the magnitude of milky way can be seen, near the ocean,
along a stream, with the elegance of a hawk or falcon soaring high overhead,
the magnificence of a huge flock of birds flying together across the sky, the
sun rising and setting, the moon, full and enormous, right at our doorstep. I
love to travel. I love to go see other countries and cultures. But when I am
away, I miss being at home. I miss my people. I miss them a lot. And sometimes,
when wifi and the phone are not available, I can sometimes feel untethered from
the family and friends that I wrap around myself and my life, giving me a sense
of comfort and stability. And, in these moments of feeling unmoored from my
particular place in the world, no matter where I am, what continent I’m on or
what nation I am in, I go outside and I look up. I look for the sun and know
that yesterday that very sun rose upon my people at home and I feel their love
traveling with it. I look up and see the moon and know that very moon will soon
be making its way through the sky to put those I love to bed and I send my love
with it. The sky is important. The sky protects us from cold of space. The sky
holds for us the very oxygen we need for life. And it is up to us to keep that
source of oxygen healthy. Because, believe it or not, on Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs, air is more fundamental to our well-being than free wi-fi.</div>
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I was fretting about what to say here because it seems so
difficult for an individual or those who are not involved at a high level in
corporations or government to make a difference over how our air quality is
maintained. So much of the damage to our air and sky that has resulted in
climate change has been because of industry and manufacturing. It can seem too
big of an issue for us to manage as simply being citizens of the world. But
then I had this funny experience this week. I am invited, now and then, to be
filmed preaching sermons from the recent past so that those congregations
without a minister can put together a worship service and have a preacher give
a message. On Thursday, I pulled out and adapted a sermon for this coming
Advent—from the Book of Luke, where John the Baptist is saying we need to make
the roads straight, bring the mountains low and raise up the valleys in
preparation for the Messiah’s arrival. It was weird to be preaching Advent in
September but the long and the short of it was, I was hearing myself say that
this specific piece of scripture tells us that we are to be co-creators with
God for the coming of peace in this world. Only by our participation and
involvement in the bettering of our world, can true peace be known. And, as it
turns out, I was preaching to myself because in that moment, I remembered that
we cannot abdicate our responsibility for a healthy sky and for clean air, we
cannot abdicate our stewardship of the very sky that God breathed into the
world at its beginning. We cannot. So, even though we may not be decision
makers in industry or with the government, we must still do our best to affect
change.</div>
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And. So. God gave us to the responsibility to be stewards
for the Creation given to all of us. God can see, just as clearly as Jeremiah
could, just as clearly scientists across the world, just as clearly—or not so
clearly—as those who live in cities besieged by smog, just as clearly as us
living under a haze of smoke from wildfires hundreds and hundreds kilometers
away, we are not fulfilling our responsibilities to our very best ability. We
cannot leave the impetus to be better, to steward better, to care better for
our environment just up to the powerful and those with authority. We can affect
change as individuals and as members of a wider community and as citizens united
together.<span style="margin: 0px;"> On a large, global level there the </span>United Nations. Goal 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals concerns the climate. The Canadian government approach is listed on the website for Canada’s Action on
Climate. Locally there's the City of Calgary initiatives. What can we do - individually and together as citizens of this city, of this country and of this world?<br />
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<br />Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-67156997677676888572018-07-17T14:24:00.002-07:002018-07-17T14:24:49.181-07:00Biblical House of Cards<h3>
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This summer Stephen and I decided that we would use the
Lectionary to guide the themes and topics of our summer services. Throughout
most of the year, we work with the Worship Ministry to choose themes that are
meaningful and relevant to the congregation and I then find scripture readings
that are most appropriate for the themes. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to just
pick up a predetermined schedule and choose from one of the four readings on
any given Sunday to use for the basis of our sermons. The Lectionary was
designed so that dedicated followers would make their way through the Bible
every three years. One of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke is the focus for
one of the three years with the Gospel of John sprinkled throughout the more
high holy times. This year, Year B, we are making our way through Mark. Two
weeks ago we looked at the end of chapter five and, last week, we read the beginning
of chapter six. Obviously, this week I chose not to stick with the Gospel
reading but, rather, I went with the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scripture
reading instead. The order of the readings is so that from Advent to
Pentecost—December until about June—is arranged as Narrative Time which tell of
how God has dealt, is dealing, and will deal with God’s people, with us. Ordinary
Time, the time after Pentecost and back to Advent—so, June to November—tells
us, then, how we should respond.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If you pay attention each week during the periods that we use
the Lectionary, you will notice that, frequently, the readings do not follow
directly from one to the other. From week to week, even within the reading
itself as happens today, there are breaks in the verses read. Some portions of
scripture are consistently skipped year after year. We highlighted this last
fall when we used a reading or two from the Song of Songs—a rather detailed love
poem that is supposedly an allegory describing God’s love for Israel. Stephen
and I led a short bible study on a number of rather serious stories that are
ignored altogether by the Lectionary designers and would never be read out loud
in any sanctuary if a preacher only ever followed the Lectionary. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Today you can see that the reading is from chapter six of 2
Samuel. And for some reason some verses early it the chapter are left out as is
the final bit of the chapter. Some might say that these verses were left out to
make the reading a reasonable length. But let me tell you what’s missing and
you might have a better sense of why the powers that be decided to set them
aside. So, to give you the setting for the story, you need to know that just in
chapter five David was anointed as king over all of Israel and had recently
conquered Jerusalem, calling it the City of David. Remember King David was completely
human and, as such, possessed an ego and desire for power. His ego and his want
for power drove him to decide that God needed to reside within the gates of his
city. Chapter six begins with David gathering his men—thirty thousand
altogether. This vast number of people sets the tone of what’s about to happen—this
shows how powerful David was to have had thirty thousand men at his beck and
call. So, he gathers the thirty thousand men and he arranges for the ark of the
covenant, the ark of God to be settled in Jerusalem. For those of you who will
remember your Sunday School lessons, you will remember that the Ark is not
filled with sand and angels of death as it was in the Indiana Jones movie,
Raiders of the Lost Ark but rather, the Ark of God was a small box which
contained the stone tablets that had the Ten Commandments inscribed upon them.
It had rings at each corner and four men carried it by placing two poles
through the rings on either side. This was the proper way of carrying the Ark—these
were the instructions from God to Moses—no human was to touch the Ark
itself.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The Ark was carried by the
Israelites as they wandered through the desert for the forty years. Wherever
they set up camp, it was put in a special tent called the Tabernacle. When the
Israelites crossed over to the Promised Land and they were trying to conquer Jericho,
they carried the Ark around the city once each day for seven days until the
walls of the city came tumbling down. The Ark of God was central to the faith
of the Israelites. Wherever the Ark was, so was God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And so, fast forward hundreds of years…David has been anointed
king and now wants it to be clear that he is God’s chosen leader so he declares
that the Ark will be moved to Jerusalem. As it begins it move, David and the whole
house of Israel celebrate by singing and dancing before the Ark along its
route. And then there is a break the reading. What happens between verse six
and the beginning of verse twelve is astonishing. Amongst this celebration,
something devasting occurs. One of men in charge of moving the Ark dies a
terrible death. You see, David did not follow the proper protocol of
transporting the Ark. He had it placed on a cart pulled by oxen. It was carried
by poles through the rings at each of the four corners. But the ox stumbled at
one point and it looked like the Ark was going to fall off the cart. A guy
named Uzzah placed his hand on the Ark to prevent it falling and he was
immediately struck dead by God. Shocking! Just shocking. So, now, at this
point, David and God have a falling out and, David is suddenly afraid of doing
anything more to annoy God so he parks the Ark in a house nearby.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlrAWgTeb2QZV0PoCJE0gqSUyjRSzLK774KCYyLB-5T8k8EKN6OXe1KJskxFBsPi3E0ziOXZ3X0GioQh36BB8ygS4D8YJTwxSAtRv-AIBlELR4-vJzwJaXMHtHt9cnFaYtxK6BvzQ73U/s1600/DA3VMSUUwAEVD-M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlrAWgTeb2QZV0PoCJE0gqSUyjRSzLK774KCYyLB-5T8k8EKN6OXe1KJskxFBsPi3E0ziOXZ3X0GioQh36BB8ygS4D8YJTwxSAtRv-AIBlELR4-vJzwJaXMHtHt9cnFaYtxK6BvzQ73U/s200/DA3VMSUUwAEVD-M.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">For three months the household finds itself suddenly blessed
in all manners of being. This is where our reading picks up. David noticed the
blessings bestowed upon the house and decided to give God another try. This
time, as the Ark is being carried to Jerusalem, there is no mention of oxen or
carts so its likely being carried in the proper fashion. But, David really
upped his game. He sacrificed a bull and a fatted calf—something that normally
only the priests would do. And he does so while wearing a priestly garment—an
ephod. Which is kinda like an apron that you might see an employee wearing at
Lowes Home Depot. Its significant here that he is wearing the vestments and
performing the rites that are normally for priests only. But I’ll get to that
in a moment. It seems that he was wearing the ephod and nothing else. We don’t
realize just how indiscreet David was in his choice of garment when the
Lectionary is read as is but for now we will carry on,<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I’ll tell you more in moment. So, we have
David wearing a priestly aprong and he dances with great enthusiasm as the Ark
enters Jerusalem. The Ark is settled and there is a feast. The preaching for
this scripture reading, without mention of Uzzah’s death of course, usually
involves exhortations to celebrate God’s presence, that dancing is okay—a
serious concern for some Christians—so dancing is alright and, just as
importantly, we must remember to be joyful before God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So, that’s the end of the reading but not the end of the
chapter. It is in the last four verses is when we find out not only about
David’s lack of underwear and we find out how David is working on his own House
of Cards. We learn how his political machinations are as well considered as
those of Francis Underwood. You see, in the last four verses, David returns
home and gets bawled out by his wife. Do you remember that a woman named Michal
was observing David’s entrance into Jerusalem and she despised him in heart?
Well, not only was Michal the daughter of Saul, the first King of Israel, who
by the way had put out a hit on David but, in a crazy turn of events, was
himself killed and David was lifted up to take the throne. Michal as David’s
wife helped him evade being found and killed. But, that love aside, she is
very, very annoyed with David. She lays right into when he gets home. HOW DARE
YOU embarrass me!! How poorly the King of Israel distinguished himself,
disrobing himself as any vulgar fellow would. That’s actually what she says.
So, here we know that’s David’s altogether was on display as he danced his way
through town. But then the significance of all that’s happened is revealed. We
find out the motivation behind David’s actions. He tells Michal, it is before
God, who chose ME not your father, that I dance. And it is before the commoner
that I reveal myself. THEY will hold me in honour. And, just before we leave
Michal, I’ll let you know the chapter ends with these words: Michal, the
daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her deat. In other words, lived
her life without worth. Either she was barren, or David set her aside, it makes
no matter, her criticism mattered not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">David’s words to Michal towards the end of the chapter puts a
different spin on the story than just one of celebration and joy. David is
telling Michal of how important it is that his ascension to the throne needs to
be recognized, accepted and celebrated not only by the powerful of the
country—both the political leaders but also the religious leaders. And so we
know why he insisted on behaving as a priest would—sacrificing animals and
wearing vestments—or rather, one vestment. His bawdy nature appealed to those
who lined the roadways as the Ark the Covenant, as God’s very self, made its
way to take up residence in Jerusalem, the City of David. Make no mistake, this
is a story of politics, of power, of ego, of dominance. Even poor Uzzah’s death
cannot be overlooked. David’s arrogance allowed him to think he could set God
aside when God’s wrath came down upon his plans. I don’t know why Uzzah was
killed—maybe there was an accident and the poor man died along the way. Perhaps
in an effort to explain why, it was realized that the Ark was not being
respected and so its mistreatment was attributed to God. But’s placement in
this story is necessary because it reminds of us David’s humanity—he is scared
of God. He had been behaving as if it was all him that made his successful
possible, as if God wasn’t involved at all. His feeling chastised doesn’t last
long but he’s brought down a notch amongst his self-celebratory travels to
Jerusalem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I don’t know really how I feel about this story about King
David. On one hand, the full story, the whole of chapter six, shows how deft
David was in the political arena and gives us a rare glimpse of what little humility
David possessed. On the other hand, unless we read the whole chapter together,
we are left with an impression of David only as a man of faith. The edited
scripture reading doesn’t show us David’s political manipulations and hidden
agenda. The loss of Uzzah is forgotten, the fate of Michal is ignored. I find
it frustrating when we don’t acknowledge the whole of the Bible. Its stories
tells us so much about the early days of God’s people. I think that it would be
easy for us to ignore the pieces of scripture that make us squirm. I understand
sometimes storytellers want to leave out certain details because the wholeness
of the story might make some uncomfortable. Picking and choosing only those
pieces of scripture and those pieces of narrative in our lives that make us
comfortable, acknowledging only the ‘good’ pieces of the story allow for us to
overlook those who are hurting or those who are suffering or those whose
humanity is being denied, overlooking the uncomfortable so that we may remain
blissfully in our own comfort is not how our world will be healed. And
remember, Jesus did not worry for a minute about the comfort of those who
followed him or those who challenged him. Our scriptures call us to remember
and know the uncomfortable so that we can learn and grow. And maybe use them to
help figure out how to deal with what makes us uncomfortable in our world
today. Thanks be to God.</span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-80798160555295831162018-07-12T00:00:00.000-07:002018-09-12T11:46:22.647-07:00You Don't Know Everything I Know<h3>
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Mark 6:1-13</span></h3>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A couple of
years ago, when I was on sabbatical, I went to Amsterdam with my spouse and my
Dad. We had a few days there before we started a river cruise through Germany.
We took a bike tour through the city and one of the stopping points was in a
rather large courtyard that had small little fenced in yards in front of doorways
in the surrounding buildings. In some yards there were woman sitting reading or
working in small flower beds. There was a small chapel in the middle of it all.
The guide was telling us about the place—he was speaking German, French and
English. He saved the English for last because the three of us were the only
English speakers on the tour. I had heard him say the word Beguine when he was
speaking to the others. When he came to the English, he described how this
courtyard was for a group of women doing God’s work, the group of them were
called, and he interrupted himself here, I don’t know the English for Beguine.
And I suddenly realized where we were. We were amongst a cloister of faithful
women who devote themselves to service in God’s name by doing the work of
Christ for the surrounding community. I spoke up and said—there is no
translation—they are the Beguine in English too. My spouse and Dad looked at
me, confused. Why would I know that? I then explained to them who the Beguine
were and what they did. Why do you know this they asked? Because these are my
people I replied. The Order of the Beguine was one of the precursors to
diakonia re-emerging in Europe.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When we were
on another bike tour, this time in Germany, we found ourselves looking up in
the hills to the Abbey of St. Hildegard. The tour guide was uncertain what the Abbey
was about and I told him that I knew. Again, I caught my spouse and my dad
off-guard as I gave a history of Hildegard von Bingen and the significant role
she had in religion and in science in the 12<sup>th</sup> century. They didn’t
know that I knew all that information. I remembered these two funny moments
when I read this week’s scripture about a prophet not being respected in their
own hometown. It’s not that my dear spouse and dad do not respect me here at
home in Calgary, but I think, as with is often the case with people that we’ve
known for a long time, they thought they knew everything I knew. They have
debated and discussed with me over the years about all manner of things, but I
had never really talked to them about these bits of historical knowledge that
I’ve gained over the years since being called in diaconal ministry with the
church.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I think this
is what happened to Jesus when he returned to Nazareth. ‘What are you talking
about?’ the neighbours and childhood acquaintances would have said. This IS
Jesus, son of Mary, we’re talking about, right? The carpenter? Brother of
James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? What do you mean he can heal people? WHAT DO
YOU MEAN he knows something new about God that hasn’t been said a thousand
times already in the synagogue? WHEN did that all happen? You see, all those
who knew Jesus when he was growing up and working in Nazareth before he went to
be baptized by his cousin John and headed out to the desert, all those who knew
him since he was a young, wee thing, thought they knew all what he knew. And,
why wouldn’t they? They grew up side-by-side, with the same people around them
as they went about learning a trade and going to synagogue each day. They
figured they knew everything he knew. Also, social status was a fixed thing in those
days. You couldn’t or even dare to try rise above your station. Before Jesus
left town to find John the Baptist, he wasn’t a rabbi, a teacher, a learned
leader of any sort. He was simply a carpenter. The son of Mary. Notice his
earthly father Joseph is not even mentioned although Joseph is named in similar
stories in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The biblical scholars take this
omission of Joseph as further proof that the people of Nazareth would have had
little consideration of Jesus as someone significant—he was fatherless—without
lineage or ancestry.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We have,
with today’s scripture, the realization of Jesus and his disciples, that they
had to leave, had to go beyond their family and friends to create a wider
community of faithful people who could work towards the kingdom of God. Jesus
was able to heal just a few people in Nazareth. Last week we read from the
chapter just before this one and explored how the healing amongst people
requires not only the desire of the one who has caused the damage or hurt
amongst but also requires the willingness of those who have been damaged or
hurt toparticipate in the healing process. The example I used last week was
that just because I, as a descendent from folks who immigrated to Canada years
and years ago, just because I want reconciliation and healing to happen with
the indigenous people who are living with the impact and consequences of
signing the treaties and the creation of residential schools across Canada,
just because I want healing to occur, it can’t happen until those who have been
hurt are, themselves, ready to enter into the healing process. Such as it was
in Nazareth so long ago. Jesus healed those people who were willing and able to
participate in the healing. The bleeding woman told him the whole truth. The
little girl got up and walked after he raised her back to life. They were not
passive receptacles of Jesus’ healing touch. Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus,
was not open to healing of Jesus, whether it was by touch or by teaching. And
so, he and his disciples left, going from village to village, offering the love
of God’s word.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jesus sends
the Twelve disciples out in pairs. They are to take nothing but a staff and the
clothes they are wearing. They take no other burden as they travel, sharing
what they have heard and witnessed and experienced along the way as they
followed their leader and teacher. Jesus tells them that if those they visit do
not welcome them, they are to shake the dust off their sandals and carry on. If
they are unwilling to hear the loving words of God, they are not prepared for
the healing that comes with the message. It takes full participation in the
healing of ourselves and in the healing of that which is needed by others so
that the kingdom of God can break through into our world in the here and the
now. People of southern Africa have given us a phrase for this healing—unbuntu.
It means—I am not whole until the world is whole, the world is not whoel until
I am whole. The world is not healed until I am healed, I am not healed untilt
the world is healed. Full participation for God’s kingdom is required. But our
time is limited and so Jesus says, don’t waste your time. If a household is
resistant to hearing the Word of God, then move on. Move on and don’t fret and
linger over what you cannot change. The Serenity Prayer by Rheinhold Niebuhr
comes to mind in this dusting off one’s sandals. This is how he wrote the first
stanza—it’s been altered slightly over the years, but here’s how he wrote it:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">God, give us grace to
accept with serenity<br />
the things that cannot be changed,<br />
Courage to change the things<br />
which should be changed,<br />
and the Wisdom to distinguish<br />
the one from the other.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What happens
though when we discover that it is, us, ourselves, who are resistant? It’s all
well and good to lay the refusal to heal, to change, to improve, to work
towards God’s kingdom, at the feet of the other. Using their unwillingness to
participate in the healing of God’s world as reason to not, yourself,
participate in living out the teaching of Jesus? What happens when there is
some area, some regret we can’t get over, some grudge we can’t let go of, some
hurt that has come to define us, some addiction that imprisons us, some anger
that has taken ahold of us that we are we are having difficulty entrusting to
God? What happens we are the people of Nazareth, refusing to see Jesus for who
he was, for who he is—the one who offers the love of God to all, to each and
every person, regardless of their status, their occupation, regardless of who
they love or who loves them, regardless of how they look, how much they weigh,
how tall they are or how able they are. Some might call that salvation. I call
that healed. In the knowing that all are worthy of the love of God, and in the
knowing that we are to love one another as we would love ourselves, what is
holding us back from making that real for each and every one we meet? Healing
is not a passive event. Healing does not happen simply because you will it into
being nor does it happen in isolation. Healing happens because you work to make
it happen. Healing happens in community, in loving one another and allowing
yourself to be loved in return. Healing happens when you are willing to hear
the other and to allow that they might know and understand something that you
didn’t know they knew. Healing happens when we don’t restrict the other to who
they were years, months, days ago. Healing happens when we acknowledge that
others could have grown and learned and had their eyes opened just we,
ourselves, are attempting to do. Healing happens when we recognize the work
that is being done by others as they participate in the coming of God’s
kingdom. Healing happens when we know we are not alone working towards making
heaven happen right here on earth. We live in God’s world. We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.</span></div>
Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-23683531090072341972018-07-11T15:49:00.001-07:002018-09-12T11:46:44.008-07:00Celebrating Canada's 150th & Healing Ourselves<br />
<h3 style="margin: 0px;">
Mark 5:21-43</h3>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
Last year I spent Canada Day in Chicago, Illinois. It was an
odd thing, being out of the country for Canada’s birthday. Particularly since
my family wasn’t with me on a day that we usually spend together and because it
was a special year. It was Canada’s 150th. I was in Chicago, and I say that
like I was touring Chicago, which I wasn’t as I barely left the university for
the entire ten days I was there but I was there because I was attending a world
gathering of the diaconate from the many different denominations of Jesus’
church. It was an incredible feeling being in the States because as a Canadian
I had freedom of movement—I had crossed the border with no issues and did not
worry about needing to carry my travel documents with me, because, back then
the United States still considered Canada its friendly neighbour to the north,
not some milk-subsidizing national security threat with a highly offensive and
duplicitous prime minister. I had no problems traveling to Chicago unlike
serval others of the conference who were not permitted to enter the country
because of their nationality—people from Asia and Africa. We left their name
tags on empty seats throughout the conference to remind us of who was missing
that week.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
Anyway, the Diakonia
World Federation had gathered in Chicago. Diakonia is a greek word that means
‘service among others’. The diaconate was created in the very early days of the
emerging church when it was realized there was a need to share what was
happening at the gatherings of God’s people that were taking place in each
other’s homes. After Jesus was resurrected and then ascended to the heavens,
the followers of Jesus began meeting together. They realized, due to illness or
other serious matters, there were others who could not make it to the
gatherings and it was decided that a certain style of people would take food
and the good news from the meetings out into the community as well as stand at
the door to the homes where the gatherings took place and welcomed everyone
into the meeting. They welcomed people in and they took that welcome out to
those in need.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
With certain culture influences on the church, the role of
the diaconate fell by the wayside until the 1800s when a desperate need emerged
for care and attention to given to those who could not manage for themselves—particularly
for prisoners who were not fed or given basic necessities unless the church or
families provided for them, those folks who were too sick to work or to care
for their families—remember, in the 1800s people were imprisoned not necessarily
because they did something heinous but because they were too poor to pay their
debts or they had committed some small infraction. There was no social safety
net back then in any form. If you were destitute, you had no assistance outside
what the church and your family could provide. And so, the diaconate was
revived to help serve those who were oppressed, poor, ill or widowed. You might
be familiar with the more modern terms of deacon or deaconess. Depending on the
denomination, the diaconate’s responsibilities range from reading the gospel
during the worship service, taking consecrated elements from communion out to
the sick following worship, offering pastoral care, leading children and youth
programs, working as parish nurses, as teachers at community schools of all
sorts, as organizers of food banks and shelters for women and children, as allies
for the LGTBQ community and for those working towards reconciliation with indigenous
communities.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
The diaconate is by and far made up of lay professionals.
People who have been trained in specific professions and then use their gifts
and skills to serve the church. The United Church of Canada is the only
denomination that recognizes the diaconate as paid accountable clergy and as
such, the diaconate also serve and lead congregations in the same capacity as
ordained ministers. In the United Church, as a diaconal minister, I am called
to social justice, Christian education and pastoral care. Stephen, as an
ordained minister, is called to the word, sacrament and pastoral care. When I became
a minister I was gifted with a bowl and towel to represent that it is service
that I am called and Stephen was gifted with a chalice and plate, representing
his call to sacraments. We are both trained in all aspects of ministry but the
focus of our education has been slightly different.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
So, now knowing all this about the diaconate, you can
appreciate when I say that our Canada Day celebrations last year in Chicago
were, at times, somewhat uncomfortable because of our calling to social
justice—we could not ignore the growing awareness that was sweeping across
Canada last spring of the juxtaposition that the nation of Canada was created
at the expense of the First Nations of people who were living on this land
before the settlers arrived. We were celebrating our nation being 150 years old
but the indigenous people had been on the land for much longer than the
settlers. Many Canadians were feeling uncomfortable with celebrations that were
predicated on the attempted destruction of culture and way of living. In
discussions that were taking place at the time at home and in Chicago, I heard
it said and I likely said it myself, why can’t it just be done? Why can’t the
damage and hurt that was done just be fixed and we move forward? Why can’t the
healing be as simple and quick as it was for both the woman and the girl in
today’s scripture? Jesus made it look so easy. </div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
The healings that take place in today’s scripture reading
are twofold. The first, the woman, an individual, who in her own personal
suffering reaches out and, without seeking permission, is healed. Can you
imagine how terrible it would be to menstruate for twelve years—cause make no mistake,
this is what’s happening in this story. As a man you may not fully appreciate
what that might mean. You may have to reach a bit to find yourself somewhere in
this story but in the famous words of Matthew Taylor-Kerr, suck it up princess
because women, for years, have had to find themselves in the stories of men.
So, men, today I invite you to find yourself in the story of this individual woman.
Can you imagine her discomfort and pain and the inconvenience she might have
been experiencing, and it lasting weeks, and months and years? It would have been
a horrible thing. And to top it off, not only would she have been feeling
miserable all the time, she would not have been permitted to do most normal
daily activities because she would have been in a constant state of
uncleanliness. So, this woman risks everything to venture out to see the famed
healer Jesus. Not considering herself worthy, she just touches the hem of his
robe, hoping his power is strong enough to work through the slightest of
contact. And it does. And from there Jesus goes to raise a recently deceased young
girl—did you notice that she was twelve years old, the same length of time the
woman had been bleeding? The storyteller wants there to be no mistake that the
stories of these two are connected. Anyway, the family of the girl seek Jesus
out to make their daughter well again. She dies but then is resurrected by
Jesus, which he seems to do with very little effort, with very little cost to
himself. Of course, it is the girl herself who is healed, however it is the
gathered family who is amazed. The girl rises, the family rejoices.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
Certain Christians tell anyone who would listen that, if
only they knew Jesus, healing and blessings would be heaped upon their heads.
Like it is a simple thing. Like it is an easy as a thing as the healing of this
woman and this girl. But we know this is misleading. We know that just because
we wish for something to happen, life doesn’t work that way. Jesus does not
work that way. God does not work that way. The work of Jesus was not
one-directional. While it may seem that it was easy for Jesus to heal or
perform miracles but we must remember that Jesus very often required something
from those he healed. He demanded they walk to him, to have faith, to explain
themselves, to get up, to tell him the whole truth. The little girl was not
brought back to life and had no expectation put upon her but she was to
immediately get up. She was to walk despite just having been bedridden. The
bleeding woman came forward to confess it was her who touched the hem of Jesus’
robe and, did you notice this, she then told him the whole truth. Jesus offered
healing but the healing needed to be received. This demonstrates that healing
the hurt, the pain, fixing the broken and damaged requires not only the desire
to be healed but also requires an ability to offer a healing path forward. And
both of those things together require a lot of work. Because humanity is
perfectly imperfect, it is not easy to be completely open ourselves to healing
in any given moment or to assist another down a path—whether through apology or
reparations or offering another form of justice—and having that path that is
free and clear of any other personal agenda.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
In Chicago last year, there were a plethora of discussions
about what justice might look like for many different groups of people. Those
denied the fullness of humanity because they are black or brown or because they
find themselves with the LGTBQ spectrum, or because they are differently abled
or because cultures and ways of living have been denigrated or because they
live with any sort of mental illness. And God knows, we wish that justice for
everyone was as simple as Jesus telling the young girl to get up. That we could
reconcile with the people who make up the First Nations of this country for all
the pain and damage created in the systemic racist policies of our various
incarnations of government and for the ongoing missteps we collectively take in
trying to sort out the many different layers of discrimination and bias that
affect relationship between all citizens of this peace-loving and polite nation
of ours. However, we know that healing does not happen with the touch of hem.
It happens when the whole truth of a matter is revealed. And, at any time
relationships are broken, the whole truth can be hard to find. Hard to
acknowledge. Hard to admit. And it is not just our desire to fix what’s broken,
those who have been hurt need, themselves, to be in a place that will allow for
healing to happen. And some hurt runs so deep and ragged, it’s difficult to get
to a place that one can hear the other telling their truth. It can be
overwhelming to know where even to start in the fixing that the relationships
and situations that are hurting or broken is some significant way. Maybe the
place to start is simply with leaving the chair empty when someone does not
show up because they are not permitted, or welcomed, or physically able, or
were not invited or forgotten, or ignored, or not even considered. Healing involves
being made welcomed AND being welcoming. And healing involves being prepared to
be open to hearing the truth and telling the truth. The whole truth. May it be
so.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-46447344841040995182018-06-19T15:10:00.002-07:002018-06-19T15:10:17.629-07:00Scripture Shall No Longer Be Used As a Weapon of Mass Destruction<h3>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Matthew
25:31-45</span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></h3>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Today, in
the United Church of Canada, is Aboriginal Sunday, the Sunday closest to June
21<sup>st</sup>, the summer solstice, which is the day that was declared by the
Governor General of Canada in 1996 as National Aboriginal Day. Last year the
day was renamed as National Indigenous Peoples Day. This is a day for all
Canadians to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and
outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. The lives
of all Canadians, those who have relatives that immigrated here years and years
ago and those, like my friend Louise, who will become a Canadian in early
August, the lives of all of us are bound up with the lives of the first peoples
of this land we now call Canada. Depending on when and where you grew up, your
connection with the Indigenous people of Canada may be extensive or it may have
been limited or even non-existent. However, whether you realize it or not, your
life is connected to the lives of the indigenous people of Canada. For no other
reason your life is bound up with their lives, is because of you sitting here,
right here in this space, on this holy ground, your life is bound up with the
lives of indigenous people because of scripture. Because you have decided to be
Christian. Because you have decided to be counted amongst those of us who
follow the prophet Jesus who upon his resurrection and ascension, became our
Christ. Because you woke up this morning and came here to worship instead of
sleeping in or going for an early brunch. Your life is wrapped up in the life
of Canada’s indigenous people because you are here today.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Throughout
the history of time, humanity has used its imagination to create weapons of
mass destruction so that one group of peoples could gain dominance over
another. The desire for power seems to be a universal characteristic for us
humans. It might, in fact, be our fatal flaw, a piece of our DNA that prevents
what would actually ensure our own happiness and peace. Peace for ourselves and
the peace we want for others, if for no other reason, so that their problems
would no longer infringe on our lives. Or, it could be that this want and need
for power is a learned behaviour so embedded in our different cultures that it’s
hard to distinguish between what is nature or nurture. Humanity has a
remarkable array of weapons at its disposal for use when leadership and power
is threatened. Guns. Gas chambers. Nuclear bombs. Torture. Incarceration. Separation
of families. Financial sanctions. These are weapons of mass destruction. But
the weapon that has been used to hurt, by and far, the most number of people in
the history of humanity is scripture. The word of God, the word of Allah, the
Mormon word of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, the Scientologist word of Ron
Hubbard, the word of Saint Paul have all been used to hurt, to condemn, to
ridicule, to dehumanize, to disempower, to disenfranchise, to belittle, to
hate. The Pharisees used scripture to crucify Jesus and leaders today have used
scripture to damage and to inflict pain upon the least amongst us. It’s being
used TODAY. In our western, so-called civilized place in the world.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4DA2bGWGxh4CRo0DcP1ULQNRkCYnD2kxgHO2dvDEtvDl9Wuqb2oikFTQ84oevuouDPPsje9f6WryBmtoqiKcs6LQvC5H1vVI1IrkOTITBsCUI785ONh8PHgMjeYwc79uaroTZINd1sk/s1600/custom_with_only_three_words_only_love_matters_poster-r5978f85c480c43639aedff88274adf22_wvo_8byvr_307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="307" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4DA2bGWGxh4CRo0DcP1ULQNRkCYnD2kxgHO2dvDEtvDl9Wuqb2oikFTQ84oevuouDPPsje9f6WryBmtoqiKcs6LQvC5H1vVI1IrkOTITBsCUI785ONh8PHgMjeYwc79uaroTZINd1sk/s200/custom_with_only_three_words_only_love_matters_poster-r5978f85c480c43639aedff88274adf22_wvo_8byvr_307.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Gospel,
the four books of our Bible, tells of a person of God who was so filled with
the light and love of God’s peace, that people from far and wide were drawn to
him to learn how they too, could be the hands and feet of God in a world that
was fraught with fear and uncertainty. A world filled with people whose greed
had them working diligently to oppress and repress others. Jesus showed up in a
world of laws, of restrictions, of government, of empire. Jesus showed up and
said to the world, the laws do not matter, the rules do not matter, sabbath
does not matter, prayers do not matter, if first and foremost we do not love
God and secondly if we do not love one another. Nothing else matters. He then
spent the rest of his ministry trying to show the people what loving God and
loving one another would look like. Like when he spoke the words we heard
today. The righteous are worried, it’s not overly clear to them how they will
know whether they will be the sheep or the goats when the Son of God returns. Whether
they will be entering into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says, oh, that’s easy.
Whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done to me. When you
have loved the other as you would have loved yourself. Jesus not only told
stories but acted so that others could see how one might behave if love above
all else was the driving force in life. He ate with the tax collector, with the
prostitute. He visited the poor and destitute. He healed the sick on the
sabbath, he offered a hand to the downtrodden, to the mentally ill, to the
widowed, to non-Jews, to the uneducated, to the weak. </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCdcIzTGdPyTQXzjLO7vHVcHsV076so8T9p57c1JCVcAH4qqcdRBStgtPb_lVll9TBMkWPxe4x-Yut8IPFAGeCJMa7uYsDqGy-6Xuo7S5CcvN4Sy-nG0Q6_QBoff94nvSNBApap3IOx8/s1600/prosperity-gospel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="865" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCdcIzTGdPyTQXzjLO7vHVcHsV076so8T9p57c1JCVcAH4qqcdRBStgtPb_lVll9TBMkWPxe4x-Yut8IPFAGeCJMa7uYsDqGy-6Xuo7S5CcvN4Sy-nG0Q6_QBoff94nvSNBApap3IOx8/s200/prosperity-gospel.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Since his
execution, the followers of Christ have interpreted his words and actions. Some
of those interpretations made it into the Bible. Letters were written. Prophecy
and revelations were shared. But, if you’re Christian, you understand that no
further divine laws were created after Jesus. However, this has not stopped
humanity from searching through the words written and bound up in the Bible to
find ways to gain or maintain authority and power in their lives. Scripture
from Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians was quoted to keep slaves in their place
in the United States – servants, be obedient to them that are your masters
according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart. The
Bible was used to tell black people that they needed to submit to white people
and then used to help the white people whose riches were built literally on the
backs of the black people, to develop a gospel of prosperity, declaring their
success was a sign that God’s favour was upon them. The Presbyterian and
Methodist churches took a line from Matthew 28, the one where Jesus says, go
and make disciples of all nations, they took that as direct instruction to go and
compel those unfamiliar with Jesus to declare Jesus as their personal lord and
saviour. Because of this mission, along with their strong commitment to
universal public education, it was a natural fit for the Presbyterians and the
Methodists to assist in running Residential Schools for the Canadian
Government. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUv8hCsPdxSJWwOlFiXdvz37U-UAQmgQpQIblyk3GgYKcPdukN1IkfaSEjA9qOiDqpDfq0nOlQcmn9JJxzGrV34CxfOE8nZLzl_ag1ZvZXu3jIr19rGf9rMp9eGX7MdYZwhZycUgXZMg/s1600/Invoking-Romans-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUv8hCsPdxSJWwOlFiXdvz37U-UAQmgQpQIblyk3GgYKcPdukN1IkfaSEjA9qOiDqpDfq0nOlQcmn9JJxzGrV34CxfOE8nZLzl_ag1ZvZXu3jIr19rGf9rMp9eGX7MdYZwhZycUgXZMg/s200/Invoking-Romans-13.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Unfortunately, their mission goal of providing education and
proclaiming the gospel was not tempered by respect for the existing culture,
values and spirituality of First Nations. In another letter from Paul, written
to followers of Jesus who were living under a dictator and whose lives were
under constant threat, Paul commends the fledging church to keep its head down,
to submit quietly to the prevailing political winds so that they might evade
persecution. He wrote them, ‘everyone must submit himself to the governing
authorities.’ These words from Romans 13 were used by Adolf Hitler to legitimize
the Nazi authoritarian rule in 1930s Germany. I’m sure these words were used by
the fictional leaders of Gilead to subdue the handmaids. And they were used
this very week by a nation’s administration that seeks to repel, not welcome the
tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The problem
with picking and choosing pieces of scripture to back our leadership, to justify
of our actions and our beliefs, the problem is that we forget something
crucial, we deny something essential. And that is underlying everything that
has been written and said about Jesus since the time of his ascension, needs to
be laid upon the foundation of love. Which, according to the story today, is
understood through action, through the treating of each and every person as if
it were Jesus himself standing before you. Or at the receiving end of your
email. Or is the one impacted by the law or bill just passed in Parliament. Or
the one waiting line in front of you at the drive through at Tim Hortons.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember you’re honking at a real person rather than
just a vehicle when you’re waiting in line at Tims, isn’t it? Or is that just
me? I can understand that the Presbyterians and the Methodists viewed the
native people of Canada as the least of these that Jesus spoke of in story of
the sheep and the goats. The establishment of the treaties and the resulting
system of Reserves set in motion a series of circumstances in which the cultures
and languages of the native people were not valued. As such, people new to the
land that became known as Canada did not gain awareness or learn about the
fullness and richness of the lives of indigenous people that existed when the
Europeans began showing up on their shores.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhtwox49OJJgaEdmQEhnUajPdwTdyzeOuauNwgWB_ktiN_fA6QFfXfdR-zMkWQVhVg9Zmu0iCZOGmo5_nYCEr8rkzPSdIc2cH6zbxnksBZMC4IGCMsn77DYfKNyGCqon7uyWnIno0Ums/s1600/norway-house-berens-river1-e1357322431414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="714" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhtwox49OJJgaEdmQEhnUajPdwTdyzeOuauNwgWB_ktiN_fA6QFfXfdR-zMkWQVhVg9Zmu0iCZOGmo5_nYCEr8rkzPSdIc2cH6zbxnksBZMC4IGCMsn77DYfKNyGCqon7uyWnIno0Ums/s200/norway-house-berens-river1-e1357322431414.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When the
Methodists and 70% of the Presbyterians voted to create together the United
Church of Canada, they brought with them, responsibility to oversee twelve
Residential Schools across Canada – from Norway House in northern Manitoba,
where my family lived when I was a small child, to Alberni in British Columbia
to Mount Elgin in Ontario. The church leaders and volunteers who ran these
schools understood one of their mandates to be was to form the Indian child so
that they could grow up to interact and be productive in the western European
culture that the new country of Canada was being built upon. We hear today the
phrase used behind closed doors in certain government meetings was, ‘beat the
Indian out of the child’. The Indians were annoying. They were barriers to
complete control and ownership of the vast lands of Canada. Mixing this belief
with the religious seeking to convert the so-called savage allowed for the
devastation of the Residential Schools to develop.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXFkvbj41gPH1uWLPCvsAbV76GyOYaE1uNFV65DkT45zmEbI4ZyrS7usHVph7fO3M_unbQXQy-0KSkmhAHCpPlW-87U0lWskzfznZ0TlCHooig5rcsknP6H72bEjzA7_xjyMVIgFDcRY/s1600/whatever-you-do-to-the-least-of-my-brethren-you-do-it-to-me-quote-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="620" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXFkvbj41gPH1uWLPCvsAbV76GyOYaE1uNFV65DkT45zmEbI4ZyrS7usHVph7fO3M_unbQXQy-0KSkmhAHCpPlW-87U0lWskzfznZ0TlCHooig5rcsknP6H72bEjzA7_xjyMVIgFDcRY/s200/whatever-you-do-to-the-least-of-my-brethren-you-do-it-to-me-quote-1.jpg" width="155" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Can you
imagine, just for a moment, what might have happened if those religious leaders,
those faithful at the table planning with the government, if they remembered
for just a moment Jesus’ story of the sheep and the goats? That Jesus said,
whatsoever you did not do the least of these, you did not do to me. And
whatever you did do to the least, you did it also to me? If the faithful
imagined for a moment that Jesus, as young child, would no want to be separated
from his family or, possibly as a parent, would not want to have his children
taken from him. Or from their mother. I can’t help but think that if some
Christian, early on in the process of creating Residential Schools, if that
Christian stopped to think, hmmm…what a minute, Jesus never said anything about
destroying cultures when bringing the Word of God to all people. Jesus did not
tell us to conquer and divide. Jesus taught us and showed us how to build up one
another with love.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is why
the lives of each one of us here are bound up in the lives of all indigenous
people today. Because scripture calls us, Jesus tells us, that for the kingdom
of heaven to be possible on this earth, we must first treat the least of those
amongst us as if we were treating Jesus himself. And we now know better than we
did before. We are aware of the necessity and value of a diversity of cultures
and people living together in the same land, in the same nation. We know that
we have much to learn from one another. That one way of being does not
supersede another. We have admitted wrongdoing. We have apologized. We have
participated in a Commission to find out what truth and reconciliation might
look like. And, we’ve been told, it looks like what is contained in the 94
Calls to Action listed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a series of
actions which are intended to redress the legacy of residential schools and
advance the process of Canadian reconciliation. We are bound up in the lives of
others because our scriptures tell us that peace on earth is not possible
without caring for and creating justice for the least amongst us. The least
like Jordan River Anderson from Manitoba.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><i><b>**At this point I shared with the congregation that I had just recently realized how close Jordan's story is to my family situation. I had a sister who was born in 1961 while my family was living in Norway House, MB - the same community as Jordan. She was also born with a very disease and was flown to Winnipeg. The health care system permitted my sister to live at home for periods of time between hospital visits until she died in Norway House at the age of two.**</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezUVQ1rFKJ9DpzNVBVa2lf54dAkRqOYsSYxqYeOdDRetbG8VFAULBU6E_VOA_dK9d4YALhXxqbmqwoJmXCzJ9hRh2hhM0DvcicCK6B9TS9r-96apnFK8nuW-V6DyRljik3Fa5gMDInbc/s1600/JORDAN-PRINCIPLE-RULING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezUVQ1rFKJ9DpzNVBVa2lf54dAkRqOYsSYxqYeOdDRetbG8VFAULBU6E_VOA_dK9d4YALhXxqbmqwoJmXCzJ9hRh2hhM0DvcicCK6B9TS9r-96apnFK8nuW-V6DyRljik3Fa5gMDInbc/s200/JORDAN-PRINCIPLE-RULING.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jordan’s
Principle, as it’s called, is the basis for the third call to action listed by
the TRC and it states: We call upon all levels of government to fully implement
Jordan’s Principle. Jordan was from Norway House Cree Nation. He was born in
2000 with a very rare disease that required hospitalization. As people from
northern Manitoba do when they need acute medical care, Jordan was moved to
Winnipeg where he lived the rest of his life. He lived in the hospital for two
years until it was determined that he could move out to a family home as long
as it was near the hospital. However, the different levels of government could
not decide who would pay for what. The result of which meant that Jordan lived
the rest of his days in hospital. He died at five years old having been prevented
from living in a family home due to financial disputes. Eleven years
later—eleven years!! the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal determined that approaches
to services for First Nations children was discriminatory and Jordan's
Principle was created. It says: all First Nations children can access the
products, services and supports they need, when they need them. This means
giving extra help with a wide range of health, social and educational needs
when needed so First Nations children have an equal chance to thrive. Which, in
a nutshell means, the government of first contact pays for the service and
resolves jurisdictional/payment disputes later.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTU7XHNG37SL84QA_x3C5naIv-H_aActVxXb3hf4M4_L2K4s02b0tID03byCnCnx4ExI-rZN4UA6BkWmptDl6mrWpO4dPYb3GBk9OKFFr5_-zc7z4JDOgCiCqL_ULor2-d407L7eVELQc/s1600/CallsToActionPDF.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="302" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTU7XHNG37SL84QA_x3C5naIv-H_aActVxXb3hf4M4_L2K4s02b0tID03byCnCnx4ExI-rZN4UA6BkWmptDl6mrWpO4dPYb3GBk9OKFFr5_-zc7z4JDOgCiCqL_ULor2-d407L7eVELQc/s200/CallsToActionPDF.png" width="153" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">There is
nothing easy about the 94 Calls to Action and nor should there be. Travesties
were done in no small part as a result of taking scripture and using it to deny
the spirituality that was in this land long before any European arrived. But
surely to God, we can manage number three which more or less says that we will treat
children, who are vulnerable, who need love and care, who enter the world at no
fault of their own, who live in remote areas, we will treat these least amongst
us just as we would treat my sister and any other child in our<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>country regardless of ethnicity, language
used, family of origin, where they call home or who their parents are. We could
use scripture for the good news it was supposed to be. We could stand up and
demand that we treat the least of us as would treat Jesus. We can stand up and
declare that our children will not be left hungry, not be left naked, not
denied the access to return home just as we would never deny those things to
Jesus. It is time to take back our scriptures and no longer allow them to be
used for weapons of mass destruction. It is time to take back our scripture and
use them as Good and Holy News for our world, for our communities, for our
friends, for our family, for ourselves and always, always, for the least that
live amongst us. May it be so.</span></div>
Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-24482032791769846672018-06-12T15:15:00.002-07:002018-06-12T15:15:21.097-07:00Images of God: House Fires and the Burning Bush
<br />
<h3 style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
Exodus 3:1-15</h3>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><i>**Remarkably enough - when I got home after church on this Sunday, I discovered that someone in my life lost their home to a house fire in the early hours of Sunday morning.**</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0fYv2RPU5FpaN0bHVdSeEZKjB9gqSN0RkzsfFD66IyHAAQ4h2H_EYisqIXNan0-lkW-BBGWcLy28bIiUbMheOGgh3xeZEAS5r4xg65_60k3knNEZx4bqj5-BQWYuPihmwALA1IDIF7I/s1600/17375.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="480" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0fYv2RPU5FpaN0bHVdSeEZKjB9gqSN0RkzsfFD66IyHAAQ4h2H_EYisqIXNan0-lkW-BBGWcLy28bIiUbMheOGgh3xeZEAS5r4xg65_60k3knNEZx4bqj5-BQWYuPihmwALA1IDIF7I/s200/17375.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This year on Pentecost Sunday, which was just on
the long weekend last month, anyway on Pentecost Sunday, colleague of mine, who
lives in a small town, went to church in the morning, as usual, and led
worship. He preached, as I did that day, about the miracle that happened on the
first Pentecost—he spoke how tongues of fire came down, as if from heaven, and
rested above the heads of those followers of Christ who began to gather
together in community in the days after his<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>ascension. Remember the fire represented the Holy Spirit moving in and
amongst the people who were not giving up the teachings of Jesus, even though
he was no longer there in body to lead them. God, through the Holy Spirit,
inspired Peter to preach and three thousand were joined to their number that
day. Anyway, my colleague preached about this fire descending upon God’s people
and it did not harm or burn anything. He left church after worship and returned
home as he normally does on Sundays. And then his beeper went off. Not his
phone or an alarm. It was the beeper he carries everywhere with him because he
is volunteer firefighter. He spent the rest of Pentecost Sunday trying to quell
a fire that ended up consuming a family’s home that afternoon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Several
times in the Bible, God shows up in people’s lives as some form of fire. God
was in the pillar of fire that went before the Hebrews as they escaped Egypt.
God lit the way as a torch in Genesis. The Holy Spirit came as fire on
Pentecost. And God is revealed to Moses in the burning of the bush that was not
consumed by fire. The bush was at foot of what is now known as Mt Sinai. Fun
fact, Saint Catherine’s Monastery has been built up around what is believed to
be the bush that continues to grow from the roots of the original burning bush.
The experience of my colleague was a sober reminder that fire is a force in our
world that we have every right to be wary of—to be careful around and to be
scared of in some circumstances. I’m sure the early Hebrew people had a similar
relationship to fire as we do today. Fire is necessary in our lives but we very
well know that fire consumes and it harms when it escapes our control. As an
aside, when the alerts went off on all of our phones in May while I was at a
large gathering of clergy for the Conference. When the alert sounded on the one
hundred phones in the sanctuary, the minister from Fort McMurray, went into a
bit of shock as the collective noise of the alerts sounded so very much like
the alarms that rang through her town in 2015, telling people they had to
evacuate in a great hurry.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qh1D5vmp_eaoaV5cSbfni_mGPxhb9y-Bky1zTZ_lQPJ0XINYAHu9MXHL-Ah-bXRIvOqr5k6hA9kGP6O6y2g6HP5-76Y9OXEnICLh9JRhEit5-kRIocOyWXgvWlDLB1OZwjNC93s7reI/s1600/burning-bush-exodus-moses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="500" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qh1D5vmp_eaoaV5cSbfni_mGPxhb9y-Bky1zTZ_lQPJ0XINYAHu9MXHL-Ah-bXRIvOqr5k6hA9kGP6O6y2g6HP5-76Y9OXEnICLh9JRhEit5-kRIocOyWXgvWlDLB1OZwjNC93s7reI/s200/burning-bush-exodus-moses.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The power of
fire is incredible and immense. Maybe that’s why the Hebrew people used the
image of fire when trying to explain how God was making God’s self known in
their lives. But, rather than the fire being a frightening sight, the fire that
represents God is a fire that continues to burn without having to consume
anything. The fiery bush is an icon of the Divine—a biblical symbol that offers
a window into God’s presence—an awesome and powerful holiness that is, at once,
dangerous and attractive, frightening and comforting, untamed and reassuring. We
have talked about humanity being made in the image of God and how an expansive
view of God goes beyond the male imagery of our Creator to include not only
women but also those non-human images. We need also to consider a vast range of
imagery for God because no one image can encapsulate the totality of what or
who God is in our world and universe. And, as I’ve said before, we, the people
of God are perfectly imperfect and so we do not have enough understanding of
the mystery that is God and, as such, we cannot give a comprehensive
description of the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, the God of David, the God
of Jesus. We do, however, have enough imagination to use metaphors and similes
to describe our God whose face has been seen only by one person—Moses in his
old age, just before he died. Each of these comparisons give a small picture of
God but when we all share what we believe to be true about God, the mystery of
God is revealed a little more every time and what we understand about God is
increased bit by bit.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-S0DBBlxv2eFEl4bPB2ucfgeuzIGYoLDj3Tem9Ly3sZsQGH2pghIg4eZ3v87mM5x_tD3exG1wt0IQwY_MZ7VjxwP5WEyekWFsj1hOKOUp8HI-FSiskO2sn36BdaoP-DhL-AhZE0qYJkA/s1600/Beloved-1200x630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-S0DBBlxv2eFEl4bPB2ucfgeuzIGYoLDj3Tem9Ly3sZsQGH2pghIg4eZ3v87mM5x_tD3exG1wt0IQwY_MZ7VjxwP5WEyekWFsj1hOKOUp8HI-FSiskO2sn36BdaoP-DhL-AhZE0qYJkA/s200/Beloved-1200x630.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So, we have this
story and the others, that are images of God filled with the immense power of
fire and yet the fire is not destructive, affirming that our God is a Creator
not a destroyer. Just as when the breath of God moved over the earth, it created
the world, it did not destroy it. Just as the wind of Pentecost did not blow
apart the gathering place of God’s people. Just as the hen of Jerusalem
protected her chicks, she did not force them to stay out in the cold, all these
images tell of a God that continues, without ceasing, to care for our
well-being. We don’t name God after these images. They are metaphors and similes.
They paint for us a picture from which we can discern the nature of God. And
so, we don’t call God ‘Fire’ but we call God Powerful. We call God Beloved. We
call God Creator. We call God Lover.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Later, in
this story of the burning bush, God reveals something akin to a name for God’s
self, which, in turn, reveals more of the character of God. Moses is being
difficult with God. God tells Moses to go free the people of the Egypt and
Moses is resisting. Because I have a somewhat belligerent sixteen-year-old, I
can imagine the non-edited version of what this discussion with God sounded like:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Moses, you aren’t doing anything important right now, go set my people free.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Do I have to?</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Yes, they are enslaved, they need freeing!</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Right now? Because I’m in the middle of a game of Fortnight—I might win.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">You have to go now, it’s important – go before I unplug the PS4.</span></div>
</li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It’ll be a waste of time because they won’t listen to me.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Oh, for the love of Pete, will you just go already? They’d be free by now if you had left when I told you to go.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What if they ask for a password or something so they know it’s you that sent me? I know, why don’t you tell me your real name? Better include your middle name, so they know it’s you.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Arg! Just tell them I AM WHO I AM has sent you. No middle name. I AM for short. Now go!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Alright, alright, I’m going already. Sigh.</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwRPgHyaCFPlnoVrtkjnc6PwUOUFf14FpYbB6i0Mi3Ow9WGI0Umag7hwDzA1jqQGwYoUJWyCGm1yY6ZdSMtEqZpJklip0wfKVl9oBowo45Gz7uzH59yyaYVui5JFBxKYmD5eDueJtXFEk/s1600/YHWH-the-name-of-god-1-720x340.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="720" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwRPgHyaCFPlnoVrtkjnc6PwUOUFf14FpYbB6i0Mi3Ow9WGI0Umag7hwDzA1jqQGwYoUJWyCGm1yY6ZdSMtEqZpJklip0wfKVl9oBowo45Gz7uzH59yyaYVui5JFBxKYmD5eDueJtXFEk/s200/YHWH-the-name-of-god-1-720x340.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So, God very
cleverly avoids giving Moses a name but does give this expression of I AM WHO I
AM. I can’t help but think it’s like responding to the kids after they’ve asked
why they have to do what you say and you say, because I’m the mom that’s why!
So, Moses is resisting, and God says I AM WHO I AM and that’s plenty enough
authority for you to do what I need you to. The scholarship around this great I
AM suggests that this phrase could be more accurately interpreted from the
Hebrew as I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE. Either way the expression ends up as YHWH
in the scriptures—there are no vowels in Hebrew. In English, we pronounce that
as Yahweh, which we use as an alternate name or title for God. The name Yahweh
is built upon the Hebrew “to be”. Through saying, I will be what I will be, God
reveals that God will be made known through God’s actions for others. And, as
you make your way through the Bible, it is easy to get caught up in the chaos
and turbulence in the lives of God’s people. No one would blame a first-time
reader if they judged God as being harsh and unforgiving. But upon closer
inspection, we realize that it is not God who is harming and punishing people
(let’s not get into a discussion right now about the flood or Lot right now,
shall we? I’ll need another hour of worship time to talk those ones through).
If we look more closely at the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, you will
see that the misfortunes that befall the people of God were because of their
own actions or inaction. King David asks for a lot of smitting to happen by God
in the Psalms that he composed but there is little evidence that God responded
to his requests of vengeance.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cpOtdH0MN602_TwpYBMoYgVFbs6tjzZLr_fubVl3FOFDNpYbZ8BQnRIwDPl_fq_fDx9Rs6V-20yrxuljxnDVkKayg23B2RQToEXxHlnBKUaPwhQpFpj7tauAKjzw-KFKVQNtJrNyzeg/s1600/I-AM-wordle_sogm2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="830" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cpOtdH0MN602_TwpYBMoYgVFbs6tjzZLr_fubVl3FOFDNpYbZ8BQnRIwDPl_fq_fDx9Rs6V-20yrxuljxnDVkKayg23B2RQToEXxHlnBKUaPwhQpFpj7tauAKjzw-KFKVQNtJrNyzeg/s200/I-AM-wordle_sogm2.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJHVg031tDUzFJlrj0BLRBS0fdDKZcjqw3P2mO8Sy1CFkHJKcNONexxv5w6qOm7WHJ3NunSC09Th7Bg_WERXbugFsOMn48sGZKkbnT7X6vlryfk1VVxPMESAJwR6dKiv9J-IEPFyHgkA/s1600/DSC_0115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If we can
agree for now to set aside the flood and poor Job, it can be said that the God
of the Hebrew Scriptures offers again and again for humanity to return to righteousness.
To remain in relationship with their Creator, to be welcomed back again and
again into the love that is God. God freed the slaves of Egypt, led them
through the desert despite their contentiousness, led them into the Promised
Land. God did not set aside Jacob for his greed and his betrayal of his brother
Esau. God gave the exiles living in Babylon hope through the words of the
prophets. God gave the people Jesus to live the love God knows that is possible
in our world. God did not let Jesus perish but rose him from the tomb to
declare to the world that hate and terror will never win out over the power of
love. I will be what I will be – God has shown that God will be many things.
God will be just, kind, loving, compassionate, forgiving, merciful, full of
hope, peace and joy. There are so many images we can use for God and how the
Holy Spirit moves in our life—fire, wind, the majesty of the mountains, the
perfectly formed intricate flower, a crop of wheat rippling with the breeze,
the open sky of the prairie, the crashing waves of the ocean. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizmTQPzeXt6xPY3MyoQ1TRo4Z4wzDJYl38nB6rkU3NtwF2BSmxIhDFD0DHfPdKx9cA48Ral55WgFOMh481DoUjs2aB-x0KtmbizJRkSiOHQqehgBDWLsY_3lJrvxBD2ZnmsPwxJd9wdM/s1600/eric+simon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="864" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizmTQPzeXt6xPY3MyoQ1TRo4Z4wzDJYl38nB6rkU3NtwF2BSmxIhDFD0DHfPdKx9cA48Ral55WgFOMh481DoUjs2aB-x0KtmbizJRkSiOHQqehgBDWLsY_3lJrvxBD2ZnmsPwxJd9wdM/s200/eric+simon.png" width="133" /></a></div>
<div>
God is seen even
these goofballs and my friends Andrew and Samson. But let us remember that
images are only perfectly imperfect glimpses of our God. God will be what God
will be and so take you the images you h<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJHVg031tDUzFJlrj0BLRBS0fdDKZcjqw3P2mO8Sy1CFkHJKcNONexxv5w6qOm7WHJ3NunSC09Th7Bg_WERXbugFsOMn48sGZKkbnT7X6vlryfk1VVxPMESAJwR6dKiv9J-IEPFyHgkA/s1600/DSC_0115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJHVg031tDUzFJlrj0BLRBS0fdDKZcjqw3P2mO8Sy1CFkHJKcNONexxv5w6qOm7WHJ3NunSC09Th7Bg_WERXbugFsOMn48sGZKkbnT7X6vlryfk1VVxPMESAJwR6dKiv9J-IEPFyHgkA/s200/DSC_0115.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a>ave of God, lay along beside them, what
characteristics of God you know to <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJHVg031tDUzFJlrj0BLRBS0fdDKZcjqw3P2mO8Sy1CFkHJKcNONexxv5w6qOm7WHJ3NunSC09Th7Bg_WERXbugFsOMn48sGZKkbnT7X6vlryfk1VVxPMESAJwR6dKiv9J-IEPFyHgkA/s1600/DSC_0115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a>be true to help make the picture you have be
less fuzzy and more in focus. We each may only have a limited ability to see
and understand God but if we can share our images with one another and talk
about how God will be through describing God’s characteristics, together we
might better reflect the God that made humanity, made each and every one of us,
in God’s own image. May it be so.</div>
Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-19450366137184395072018-06-07T10:11:00.001-07:002018-06-07T10:11:53.623-07:00Why Do You Stay Alive?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBncZtxEIt-zqslkzJ35tikXD514Qs7D7dQxvrgqwY1z-jgnJ6qLRngfiDejCWAjjEERJg1COFj_nU8MU_E9B7ezZnaxZcTPqU1Z5zIsOlYJEf_LObtU3U6zdnKd0chLCs8kWApMrwUU/s1600/amarite.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="398" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBncZtxEIt-zqslkzJ35tikXD514Qs7D7dQxvrgqwY1z-jgnJ6qLRngfiDejCWAjjEERJg1COFj_nU8MU_E9B7ezZnaxZcTPqU1Z5zIsOlYJEf_LObtU3U6zdnKd0chLCs8kWApMrwUU/s200/amarite.png" width="199" /></a>Two weeks ago I took two books home to read by the end of May. A big one and a little one. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s autobiography and<i> Reasons to Stay Alive</i> by Matt Haig. Naturally I picked up the little one first cause it wasn't going to take very long to read before I started the brick-sized book of Martin Luther King.<br />
→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→<br />
<br />
Well. Theory is one thing and reality is another. Matt Haig's book is a compelling read that a fast reader could whip through in a time of dedicated reading. But that would be doing him and his book an injustice.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiij6FDmdWyGwYIEsjJft7_p_KdsmBGmZfqjSsJ4b0NcrvetZUZG6jNzDEDdacKvCL5yWQB2TSQodzjGTF6WPHfrTBURr5VCM99ITcfppxl0yS2CKc_H-ylYCY03Vm60nYWGlZuk5a0Ryk/s1600/ows_145885188238086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="857" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiij6FDmdWyGwYIEsjJft7_p_KdsmBGmZfqjSsJ4b0NcrvetZUZG6jNzDEDdacKvCL5yWQB2TSQodzjGTF6WPHfrTBURr5VCM99ITcfppxl0yS2CKc_H-ylYCY03Vm60nYWGlZuk5a0Ryk/s200/ows_145885188238086.jpg" width="142" /></a></div>
Matt Haig is a best-selling author who is married with a couple of children. (I did a bit of work on the Google while taking reading breaks.) By all accounts, he is an accomplished man who have people who loves him and who he loves. In addition to his creative talents and his identity as a spouse and father, Matt has another facet to his life - mental illness. It is easy to look at successful people who have found love and who family in their lives and assume they are happy. But we forget each and every one of us has a history and a life full of details that we choose not to lay bare at the feet of anyone who knows of us. Kate Spade comes to mind as I write this - her death by suicide after years of depression came as a shock to those who felt they knew Kate through her designer handbags.<br />
<br />
Depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses lie to those people who live with them. I know this because depression is not an unknown entity in my life or those I love. Matt found himself suddenly and completely disabled at the age of 24 by mental illness. With his parents and girlfriend supporting him, Matt crawled out from under his illness over a long period of time. He still has moments when the illness tries to take back power over his mind and life but he has managed to choose life over death for nearly twenty years.<br />
<br />
<i>Reasons to Stay Alive</i> is a recounting and description of his debilitating illness and his subsequent recovery. It is a challenging and difficult read. It is also a story of hope and encouragement. It is an excellent read to have a better understanding of the impact that mental illness has on a person's life (and those who love that person). We would never ask someone with a broken leg to help us move our furniture and yet, people who live with mental illness, are often told they are lazy and/or unwilling to get better when they are unable to participate fully in their lives. Mental illness is very real. And it can be incapacitating. The more of us who understand mental illness, whether we have it or not, the better our world will be.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyT3Umzq_yL1Rac1icm7WN2XUV8ehFBfOKGFp0d4z4GEvn8B3tRuZNn3OBBwg_tReUG8Y3a34Q7rhnJLd31ss1G-eUuW1oKw3uArJ4gv4Ms04UhpjwOsDzpRNqjwRuqnNbYTqG_Uh95WA/s1600/31398211_1480546812068166_4819486010905722880_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyT3Umzq_yL1Rac1icm7WN2XUV8ehFBfOKGFp0d4z4GEvn8B3tRuZNn3OBBwg_tReUG8Y3a34Q7rhnJLd31ss1G-eUuW1oKw3uArJ4gv4Ms04UhpjwOsDzpRNqjwRuqnNbYTqG_Uh95WA/s200/31398211_1480546812068166_4819486010905722880_o.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The bookends of this book have photos of reasons why people choose to stay alive. Here's my reason to stay alive.<br />
→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→<br />
What is your reason to stay alive? Feel free to post a photo in the comments of this blog or on my Facebook post. And then go read the book. As always, if you want to borrow my copy, drop in to the church and I'll lend it to you.<br />
<br />
PS. I'll read about Martin Luther King next week. 😊Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-80370675742710347392018-05-30T11:38:00.001-07:002018-05-30T11:45:40.098-07:00The Old White Guy in the Sky<h3>
Genesis 1:26-27</h3>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_X6suwUM09HFn4Tclgacj3nrrPtkg0zkMwvkx6CdMSIrx1M1rcs73PfFD67-Lc4p3JreYi4ZF71lxET9EIsdEI92sLrPt46NS2EMleVRhXCn4tw-_jPsmFVSpj00Ia-3vQcNAU8eU3lA/s1600/god+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_X6suwUM09HFn4Tclgacj3nrrPtkg0zkMwvkx6CdMSIrx1M1rcs73PfFD67-Lc4p3JreYi4ZF71lxET9EIsdEI92sLrPt46NS2EMleVRhXCn4tw-_jPsmFVSpj00Ia-3vQcNAU8eU3lA/s200/god+2.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I love going
over this story of Creation with the youth group during confirmation classes.
There are a few of these quirky events in the Bible where you think you know
the details but it turns out they are made up—like the number of wise men who
visit baby Jesus—we think there are three because three gifts are listed but
the actual number of people who traveled to see the Christ Child is never
revealed. The youth are always surprised when they find out there are two
creation stories—this seven day one with God saying things like, let there be
light and then creating humankind and then the story in the next—you know the
one where the man is created and given the job of naming all of creation and God
feels sorry for him being all alone and creates a woman from his rib. Two very
distinct stories of creation. Anyway, the creation story Donna read for us is
from chapter one and takes place after God has created everything in the world,
except for humans. We don’t know much about God at this point other than how
powerful God must be to have created so much out of nothing. Over these next
three weeks, Stephen and I will be exploring the images that we have for God.
Many of us grew up in a time in which there was not much question of how we
would describe God if asked—the answer would likely be, an old white, bearded
man, living in heaven up in the sky. I don’t know about you but when I was
younger I couldn’t help but think of Charleston Heston like in this photo—he
was actually playing Moses but to my mind, this is how I thought of God while I
was in Sunday School. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It’s hard to know
when this older male image of God was created in the imagination of
humanity—perhaps Michelangelo had something to do with it when he revealed his
painting in the Sistine Chapel—you know the one, where God is creating humanity
by reaching out and touching fingertips with Adam.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Translating
the Bible into English would likely also have been a factor. The Old Testament,
the Hebrew Scriptures, were written in Hebrew. Hebrew does not have pronouns
such as the English language—no ‘he’ or ‘she’. But the Hebrew language does assign
a gender to all things in a similar way of the French language. As such, God
had a masculine designation, not necessarily because the early Hebrew people
understood that God was a man, God was just happened to be masculine. I
suppose, it’s just as likely God could have had a feminine designation just as
the Hebrew words for grapevine or sun. Of course, later in the Christian
Scriptures, the New Testament, Jesus refers to God as Abba, which is Aramaic
for father—abba refers to a relation of personal intimacy—which is exactly what
God is to Jesus. Jesus was likely very aware of the story of how his mother was
made pregnant through divine intervention and so it follows that Jesus would
have thought of God as his father, therefore directing humanity’s imagination
to the image of a older man. The lighter features of God comes from the very
fact that it was western Europeans who have had authority over the church for
so many years. Using English, Bible states, God created humankind in his image.
The word for God is masculine and the English language requires a pronoun to be
used in this situation, so the sentence is God created humankind in HIS image. Our
history had men interpreting the Word of God for the people, and so they read
this bit of information revealing what God was and they looked at themselves. Their
logic probably went like this…if God made us in his image, we must be what God
looks like. Which leads us to the pervasive uses of older, male imagery for God
today. Even in the TV show, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Simpsons</i>,
the character of God is light skinned and has a long white beard. Here’s a fun
fact that I’ve shared before but I still like to point it out…God is the only
Simpson character to have five fingers, the other characters all have four
fingers on each hand.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">There is
nothing inherently wrong with this older male imagery for God other than it can
be restrictive when portraying God if other perspectives are not permitted. The
English language is limited when it used to describe the Holy Mystery that is
God. Last week we heard the early Christians speaking about the Holy Spirit
using images of fire and the sound of wind because they did not have the
language to describe the fullness of how God was moving in their lives on the
day of Pentecost. As much as we try, developing a comprehensive image of God is
very, very difficult, impossible even. But humanity, as a general rule, likes
order in the world. And, let’s admit it, we the faithful, like rules and
organization. If you need any proof that humanity values consistency as a
virtue, have a look at the success of McDonalds or stand behind someone at
Starbucks as they discover the location they are at has run out of earl grey
tea. You can’t possibly make a tea latte with anything other than earl grey.
And, no, English breakfast is never, ever an option for a London Fog, thank you
very much! As much comfort rule and order offers to us, sometimes consistency
can be filled with ruts that are hard to escape. And when our religious
structures become too rigid with the portrayal of God, there is not room for
those people who do not find comfort or peace in those portrayals. If a child
suffered at the hand of their father growing up, perhaps the image of God as
the loving Father cannot be reconciled with their abusive father. If a person
has been sexually assaulted by a man, it might be hard to find comfort in
praying to a man for strength and courage. There are also people who find it
challenging to consider the greatness of God’s mystery being contained within any
type human form. It is helpful for those folks to be given space for God to be
more, to be bigger, to be wider than any one person. For people whose vision of
God does not include Charleston Heston, we to allows for an expansive view of
the one we call the Almighty.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsM6G2iVDtxrfRoOO5a2Mnls5zSYLXqhzIW-HUbZVH5g3iNtCJIq1BVdRhp2sk88aeMy3BKljSYvB5DjXVmbyS9PRgXqq1w-JIEyLIIuDUdjuUEBrh6siL2HvCv6bpmmpbfLFeUxxCqbg/s1600/mans-first-breath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="468" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsM6G2iVDtxrfRoOO5a2Mnls5zSYLXqhzIW-HUbZVH5g3iNtCJIq1BVdRhp2sk88aeMy3BKljSYvB5DjXVmbyS9PRgXqq1w-JIEyLIIuDUdjuUEBrh6siL2HvCv6bpmmpbfLFeUxxCqbg/s200/mans-first-breath.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Let’s take a
moment to look at our scriptures to examine what they tell us about God. There
are many, many descriptions for God throughout the whole Bible—metaphors such
as fire, wind, the quiet after a storm and also characteristics such as being
just, loving, wise and in all places at all times. So, in this very first
chapter of the entire Bible, we find ourselves at the end of a rather
impressive list of things and creatures that God has managed to create and we
know that all of it is good. Then God makes humankind. In a stunning revelation
we find out suddenly that God does not seem to be alone. God says, “Let US make
humankind in OUR image.” It turns out that God is not an ‘I’ but rather, God is
an ‘us’. As an aside here, this is a piece of scripture that certain Christians
use to explain the Trinity and to ‘prove’ that Jesus was with God since the
very beginning of time. However, the same Christians then ignore the next few
lines and use only the creation story from chapter two to explain how women are
to be subordinate to men. But I’ll leave that for another Sunday. So, to recap,
God is an us, not an ‘I’ and God wishes to make humankind in their
likeness—again plural rather than singular. God goes ahead and makes humankind
and AGAIN we hear plural not singular—God created THEM. Male and female.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixoQcHQNPyA-ZcqtBQfuOSCFHRXevZZmK1dl0wuphvbQULhSmasCTuDo6mmT_xe8rLDaXKPZi1La2PiKrx3fO-ohxCF5otbz5tOezEdIUS0InJHjAcqku9bt1MQ-NS8yVm55cBgUWN_C0/s1600/Psalm_139_5-3840x2160_watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixoQcHQNPyA-ZcqtBQfuOSCFHRXevZZmK1dl0wuphvbQULhSmasCTuDo6mmT_xe8rLDaXKPZi1La2PiKrx3fO-ohxCF5otbz5tOezEdIUS0InJHjAcqku9bt1MQ-NS8yVm55cBgUWN_C0/s200/Psalm_139_5-3840x2160_watermarked.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Did you
notice that the male is not named Adam in this story? That happens in chapter two.
The Hebrew word for red dust is adama and it is believed that Adam is named for
the dirt from which he was created. Back to chapter one and the male and female
being created together. One thought is that this one being had the male facing
from one side and the female facing from the other. Psalm 139 says, "You
hem me in—behind and before, you have laid your hand upon me.” At some point,
they were separated. Or it could simply be that both were created at the same
time as individual beings. What is important to take away is that both men and
women were created in the likeness of God. Which then begs the question of how
it is that we haven’t used other images for God alongside the father, an old
man with a beard? If we, each one of us, are made in the image of God, we do
not have to look very far to find out some of the possibilities of what God is.
Male, female, transgendered, homosexual, heterosexual black, brown, white,
tall, slim or wide.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii513PPB2LGWvfzw1j0K0WdVYqAM_jjJWLuPKhLiGGCU-wTz-gkzeYt8rXektegq_X4ldxA3VbfN15cd5nfP4FILOk2RmuKQcdxPZQ2vt_MTsDRGSZ9cj1IxOF7ndwu3A1s1mTrw_3sR4/s1600/lightstock_341997_medium_b._nathaniel_sullivan-e1501644421559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1347" data-original-width="1600" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii513PPB2LGWvfzw1j0K0WdVYqAM_jjJWLuPKhLiGGCU-wTz-gkzeYt8rXektegq_X4ldxA3VbfN15cd5nfP4FILOk2RmuKQcdxPZQ2vt_MTsDRGSZ9cj1IxOF7ndwu3A1s1mTrw_3sR4/s200/lightstock_341997_medium_b._nathaniel_sullivan-e1501644421559.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Last summer,
in Zambia, in response to the question as to why the United States and Canada
had so many gays when Zambia had none, I told the Zambian taxi driver that we,
in Canada and in the United Church know that a person has no more control over
whether they are born gay or straight than they are born black or white or male
or female. We are born the way we are, just as God would have us be. And each
and every one of us is made in the image of God. God can be many things. I’ve
shared here before that when she was four years old, Abigail described God as
being big and blue and riding a bike. I think of God as being a big cloud type
of thing, like a massive flock of birds that move in tandem together in the
sky—as the love from which we are born and the love to which we return when our
time on earth is at an end. But it is helpful for me, particularly when I’m in
the drive through line at Tim Hortons and I’m feeling tense about who might cut
into the line to remember that each and every one of us reflects God and all
the possibilities of God. However, individually we are not the sum total of all
that God can be. Remembering that God created humanity, both male and female
together from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">their</i> likeness—from the
plural we were created into community. Neither one alone is the full image of
God—only in the community of humankind is God reflected. For us to begin to
understand the Mystery of who and what God is and the power of God in our
world, we need to be with each other. We need to be together, acknowledge one
another, try to understand one another, be loving to one another, offer grace
to each other just as God’s grace is given to us, to ensure justice for our
neighbor as we would want for ourselves, to be compassionate and full of mercy
just as God is, for each and every one of us is made in the image of God. God
has created us into a community in which we are encouraged each and every day
to call each other into full being in fellowship, a fellowship that can only be
accomplished when we look at the other and recognize that God is as reflected
in the person before us as God is reflected in ourselves. And, if you need
reminding of all the possibilities of who the US is that is our God, of the US
that made humankind in their image…here are some photos of just a few in this
world who bears God’s image…</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>**At this point a slide show of images of a diverse group of people, including Donald Trump, Syed Soharwardy and Wab Kinew- photos and selfies - appeared on the screen while Donna and Karen sang<i> I Am a Child of God</i> - #157 More Voices - by Cheryl and Bruce Harding, 2002**Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-42453414689939914122018-05-24T13:19:00.002-07:002018-05-24T13:19:40.904-07:00Is it Pentecost? Or an Ice Cream Truck?<h3>
Acts 2: 1-21, 41-47</h3>
Video shown at the start of the message time: <a href="https://skitguys.com/videos/item/pentecost2" target="_blank">The Skit Guys: Pentecost</a>. The characters are talking about the excitement of Pentecost and one of them wonders if the sound from heaven they are hearing is an ice cream truck - because what is more heavenly than the sound of an ice cream truck entering your neighbourhood?<br />
During the scripture reading, an emoji version of the reading appeared on the screen - see below for the emoji reading.<br />
These are my notes that I used to speak with the children (and the congregation).<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykMzIKnjmC4U6wtvjmKymxm7qlUfRdIj-wpzB5GHa5i2toE69IdwGf8OhsSvxAw0nPespPAxyRobKphwLVvmVZNIxFlZkVMGwt5mJ8_E7IeHRPQh5k9ji6eUe4EPNhb02-SRwm_DKKWU/s1600/Pentecost.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykMzIKnjmC4U6wtvjmKymxm7qlUfRdIj-wpzB5GHa5i2toE69IdwGf8OhsSvxAw0nPespPAxyRobKphwLVvmVZNIxFlZkVMGwt5mJ8_E7IeHRPQh5k9ji6eUe4EPNhb02-SRwm_DKKWU/s320/Pentecost.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pentecost is a time of celebration – it is the birthday of
the church. Just at the beginning of Acts, Jesus ascended to heaven after
spending some good, quality time with the disciples. They witness him rising up
towards the sky and they stand there, dumbfounded. What were they to do? How
were they going to manage? And then some bright spark says, why are alls y’all
standing there just looking up? Jesus is going to return one day. The disciples
stop looking up and start looking at each other and realize they have work to
do. They return to Jerusalem and go about replacing Judas with Mattias. They
begin to pray together in one another’s home and one day, fifty days after
Easter Sunday, they find themselves in a unique set of circumstances. What they
later can describe only as the Holy Spirit descends upon them and transforms
them from the students of Jesus to the apostles carrying on the ministry that
Jesus began when he was born into the world as the Word Made Flesh. They were
not the only ones affected that day. People from all over the land experienced
the Holy Spirit moving that day.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As much as we have tried to contain God to certain images or
descriptions, God is so much bigger and mysterious than any language we humans
could possible use. We are limited in our understanding and knowledge of the
wholeness of what God is and what God can do in our world and in our universe –
we have no idea. Which is why Christians have three expressions and
understandings of God. We call it the Trinity. While there are many ways to
describe them, here is one way – God the Creator, Jesus the teacher and the
Holy Spirit, the inspirer.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3z9G-ox2v0gzGMHqxmckCbl0hq5FE0mBp0Iel_i_l9XSU53qk1OcLFJTaYDvAkGrh3ObavvTvfoUNWjoaNJSiJ6RhNuTOKya_MNwxrzKt4D2x_snHSRYDLUYxjI6nQ6YMz1oezxFE3OY/s1600/wind+blowing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="1000" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3z9G-ox2v0gzGMHqxmckCbl0hq5FE0mBp0Iel_i_l9XSU53qk1OcLFJTaYDvAkGrh3ObavvTvfoUNWjoaNJSiJ6RhNuTOKya_MNwxrzKt4D2x_snHSRYDLUYxjI6nQ6YMz1oezxFE3OY/s200/wind+blowing.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In an attempt to express how they experience the spirit of
God, the early Hebrew People often used the imagery of wind or breath to
describe how God moved in their lives. Breath of God – <i>ruach</i>, a Hebrew word
meaning wind or breath – refers to Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The early Christians experienced the Holy Spirit in the
sound of rushing wind but there were earlier cases of the disciples comparing
the Holy Spirit to wind…</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Book of John – 3:8 – Having just said one must be born of
water and Spirit to enter into the kingdom of heaven - The wind blows where it
chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from
or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">John 20:22 – breath – In the locked room after his
resurrection to the disciples Jesus said, “When he had said this, he breathed
on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.”</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Making
Wind (We made the sound of a thunderstorm using the campfire game of rubbing our hands together, snapping fingers, clapping hands and stomping our feet as loud as we could.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Another image the early Hebrew people used for God was fire.
Can you remember when fire was used in the Old Testament – Hebrew Scriptures –
to represent God? The burning bush. And now today we hear that tongues – not
tongs – of fire came down upon the people of God, to show the Holy Spirit
moving in their lives. Let us create an image for ourselves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Making Fire (The children and members of the congregation were invited to come forward to light a bunch of candles in the sand table on the stage. The lit fire at the top of the tall tapers brought to mind what the tongues of fire might have looked like resting above each person at the time of Pentecost.)</span></div>
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We welcomed three new members during this service. Following the service, we shared a potluck meal together, had a Pentecost treasure hunt, sang happy birthday to the church and then shared this awesome cake (made by the great Heather Klekta).</div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-63074929617249157302018-05-15T15:38:00.000-07:002018-05-15T15:38:15.007-07:00Marching Onward<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Disclaimer</b><br />I began writing this blog sometime near the end of March.<br />PEOPLE - it's now MID-MAY!!! I no longer have any idea how time works.</div>
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I've been serving in full time ministry for almost seven years and I still find myself surprised that the distance between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday is so very, very short. When I was a kid, six weeks was an eternity. Remember what it felt like when the first day of summer holidays or Christmas Day was six weeks away and EVERY single day was like a full week worth of time and so it took FOREVER for the celebrations to begin? Pure torture. But now it seems the six weeks of Lent fly by in the blink of an eye. Which is all to say, that I did, in fact, read my March books but the blinking of my eye did not allow for me to sit down long enough to write about them. I found a little time today, in the quiet of this Wednesday afternoon to reflect on the books I read last month. (And now it's a Tuesday in May. SIGH.)<br />
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I began March by reading<i> A Year of Biblical Womanhood</i> by Rachel Held Evans. You will recognize Evans name from previous books I've written about in this blog. Evans is a former evangelical Christian. She is still a Christian but no longer identifies as evangelical. She spent her twenties exploring what aspects of Christianity remained important to her and what aspects of her Christian upbringing she needed to let go of in order to live faithfully as a loving and compassionate servant of God.<br />
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In her former evangelical world, there had been much emphasis on controlling what women could and could not do as a follower of Christ. Supporting her husband by staying home and raising children was on the "Do" list. Preaching or being in church leadership was on the "Do Not Do" list. Whenever a woman moved out of her lane, so to speak, she was likely to be reminded of her role in God's world. As part of her faith journey, Evans decided to earnestly explore what the Bible (and presumably God) had to say about what it is, exactly that is expected of women and live a year following what biblical rules she could find about womanhood.<br />
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After culling the Scriptures for all references to how a woman should behave, Evans selected 12 virtues and did her best to fulfill them, one at a time, each month - following some general guidelines on how to act or not to act such as she didn't cut her hair for a year and covered her head when instructed to do so. The virtues were: Gentleness, Domesticity, Obedience, Valor, Beauty, Modesty, Purity, Fertility, Submission, Justice, Silence and Grace. Many instructions of how the biblical woman is to behave can be found <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs31&version=NIV" target="_blank">Proverbs 31</a>.<br />
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And this is my confession...I got four months into her year of biblical womanhood and became so annoyed with the whole project that I put the book into a time out. There are so many reasons to be annoyed with a religion that attempts to restrict woman that it would be impossible list them here. So I won't. I will just say, the book sits somewhere between my complete pile and my desk and every once in a while I pick it up but progress is slow. Life is too short to read books that cause existential angst.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqn6SJBKQ666UC2oQfTE4ATb8SgTntPFn9zlqrNoWVlMhcVrW9DoIjOTT6dwpXHNaJMhwWy99tOjgbeYsjzSOiWV3eePjUnbqclZHMfQtW7G1cXgfWxdLMkWMehzHmC5K7xzWYyPzXXYU/s1600/loneliness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="625" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqn6SJBKQ666UC2oQfTE4ATb8SgTntPFn9zlqrNoWVlMhcVrW9DoIjOTT6dwpXHNaJMhwWy99tOjgbeYsjzSOiWV3eePjUnbqclZHMfQtW7G1cXgfWxdLMkWMehzHmC5K7xzWYyPzXXYU/s200/loneliness.jpg" width="131" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqn6SJBKQ666UC2oQfTE4ATb8SgTntPFn9zlqrNoWVlMhcVrW9DoIjOTT6dwpXHNaJMhwWy99tOjgbeYsjzSOiWV3eePjUnbqclZHMfQtW7G1cXgfWxdLMkWMehzHmC5K7xzWYyPzXXYU/s1600/loneliness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>The next book I read, however, did not cause me any angst other than to be sad that there will be no other books coming from its author, Marina Keegan. Unfortunately this author of<i> The Opposite of Loneliness</i> was killed in a traffic accident within her days of graduation from university. She was a talented writer and had volumes of material which her parents and former instructor curated to create this tribute to this wonderful and talented young woman. The book has a variety of fiction and non-fiction selections.<br />
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I want to lift one idea from Keegan's book. She wrote an essay for the graduation issue of the<i> Yale Daily News.</i> She speaks of the variety of communities that she found herself at home in while studying at Yale. She mentions that there is not an opposite word for loneliness. If there was, that is what she felt while at Yale - the opposite of being lonely. As I was sharing this essay with someone who joined the Brene Brown book study earlier this year, he told me - "I know what the opposite of loneliness is - it is belonging. Brene Brown taught us that." Lovely.<br />
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This book is definitely worth the time. If you'd like to borrow it, please just ask. You can borrow the other one too. 😉<br />
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Next on my list (For April. Cause, remember, I don't know how time works.):<br />
<i>Reasons to Stay Alive</i> by Matt Haig and a biography of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><i></i><i></i><br />
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<br />Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-34541786064714953132018-05-03T11:21:00.001-07:002018-05-03T11:21:18.263-07:00The Purse is Stalking Me!
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<h3 style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Romans 12:2</span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmL2OTHfYJZ6L1n-XgaInfUp2mZhLn5a5X4qLs5H2XqtoS3Q3th7gYqyBJJ2T1x9HcOpyX2dP0gDMeJo_72TtxBYb6W4sZ4C72Z6qYu5SEivXqyNhjh8pMbT0JaC01mHcra8b8ujXt45U/s1600/work12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmL2OTHfYJZ6L1n-XgaInfUp2mZhLn5a5X4qLs5H2XqtoS3Q3th7gYqyBJJ2T1x9HcOpyX2dP0gDMeJo_72TtxBYb6W4sZ4C72Z6qYu5SEivXqyNhjh8pMbT0JaC01mHcra8b8ujXt45U/s200/work12.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">For this
month of April, we have been exploring a variety of spiritual practices. And
because Stephen and I appreciate a certain amount of good and reasonable order
to things, we chose spiritual practices that all start with the letter ‘s’. For
a long time in our schedule, this Sunday’s topic was listed as “another s”. As
it was my Sunday to preach, it was up to me to find a spiritual practice that I
wanted to talk about which also happened to be an s-word. And I just could not
find one. Until one day, as I was writing in my bullet journal (and if you want
to know what a bullet journal is, come talk to me later) but as I was working
in my journal, I thought, that’s it – I want to talk about journaling. But
journaling does not start with an s. So, I did what I had to do when we were
naming child number four. We both liked the name Abby if the baby was a girl
but because our naming rules (and, yes, we had naming rules to help in the choosing
of names for our kids—that’s one of the many joys of living with me—just ask my
dear spouse). Anyway, the naming rules included the rule that no one would be
named with a nickname. They had to have a full name. So, we agreed on ‘Abby’
but then had to work ourselves backwards to get to Abigail. This is what I had
to do with the word journaling—which, if you think about it, is just another
way to say writing. So is the word scribing. And so here we have it—another s
to round out our month.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Stephen
explored the practices of stillness and simplicity. For the Sunday we looked at
the practice of sabbath, Dave Robertson spoke about how he used cycling to deal
with his cancer diagnosis, which has recently returned with no good outcome in
sight. And today we are looking at how we can use writing, journaling, scribing
to calm our minds, ease our souls and allow the Divine to enter into our here
and now. As people of faith, we use spiritual practices for a variety of
reasons however the fundamental purpose of a spiritual practice is to make
space in our lives for the Divine. You will notice that we have not
specifically mentioned prayer. Prayer is, of course, a spiritual practice but
we wanted to lift up these other particular practices which cause us to
declutter, so to speak. They allow us to clear out and make room for thoughts
and ideas to flow unencumbered. They free up time in order to allow the
processing, for different experiences to be uncovered, layer by layer. And then,
sometimes in those times of making such space, prayer can be known to leak out
of us. Maybe it happens by accident. Maybe it happens on purpose. But I think
in times in which we open ourselves up to self-exploration and discovery,
prayer happens. The Divine is sought. Or maybe it is that you realize the
Divine is seeking you. You simply give thanks for what you have or what is
before you. Or you cry out for help because it all seems impossible. Or, like
so many of us, you begin the complicated process of negotiating for peace of
mind and soul. Perhaps then, the Holy Spirit might move. Maybe it moves gently
like a breeze brushing ever so gently past our cheek. Or maybe it moves with an
insistence such as when the wind grabs at the front doors of our church on
certain weather-filled days up here on this hill we sit upon. The moving of the
Spirit sometimes reveals to us an answer we’ve been seeking or sometimes points
us in a direction we had not previously considered. Spiritual practices make
space for God to be made known in our everyday living. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Our first
scripture reading today was from Proverbs. The Book of Proverbs is regarded as
a collection of wisdom—a significant set of teachings of how to live a happy
and peaceful life by honouring and respecting God as all good and all powerful.
Today, from chapter four, we heard that above all else we are to guard our
heart as it is the wellspring of life. For anyone who has had their heart
broken by a lover, a friend, by a family member, we know that it is instinctual
to protect our hearts after a hurtful event by turtling in, wrapping ourselves
so tightly around our hearts that it is hard, on most days, for another to find
their way in. But, the way of God, the way of Christ, is not to wall off our
hearts. Rather than close up hearts from the world, our God calls us again and
again to keep our hearts open, as the hymn says, to the joy and pain of living.
To keep ourselves open we must dare to be vulnerable and reach outward rather
than retreat inward. But we can’t protect ourselves in a world that has little
regard for our tender hearts until we know ourselves well and believe firmly in
the path before us. And we can’t know these things unless we take the time and
space to explore matters within us. Proverbs goes on to tell the reader to keep
corrupt words from leaving the mouth, to keep their gaze straight and to not
veer off their path. But how is one certain which words are not corrupt? Or
that the direction in which one is looking is the correct one? Or, for that
matter, that the path one is on is the path set by God? Paul tells us in his
letter to the Romans. By renewing your mind and testing what it is that is
God’s will. By taking time to allow God to enter in and speak. For giving space
to seek out God and for God to find you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Paul knew
that making and keeping a connection with God is a difficult thing in a world
that is out to get us. Well, maybe it’s not the world, as in God’s creation
that’s out to get us—unless, of course, you don’t count the poisonous spiders
or the spiders that are so large that they are likely to induce heart spasms
when you encounter them—if you can just set those aside, I don’t think it’s so
much the world that’s out to get us so much as it is humanity’s need for
conformity that’s out to get us. In order for humanity to first survive, in the
beginning of time, humans had to band together to hunt and protect themselves
from the elements of nature. Now our survival is directly tied to understanding
the necessary social norms for one to advance and succeed in supporting oneself
and families. In order to survive, humans have always had to conform to what
the collective did or believed. Society through politics, religion and social
groups pressure us to stay within certain boundaries of tradition and customs and,
this way, we are marked as who we are supposed to be and what we are to believe.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Advertising
pushes us further to conform to whichever groups we belong. Everyone has what
they are selling and shouldn’t you also have it? Or, better yet, you can belong
to a more elite group if you just get this other, more expensive thing over
here. And we know from recent revelations from Facebook that we are being
manipulated and coerced in ways we never understood before. Although the news
really wasn’t all that surprising. I am currently being harassed by a purse on
Facebook. I made the mistake of expressing an interest in a certain very lovely
bag that popped up in my Facebook feed and now the advertising for that bag is
stalking my every moment I’m on Facebook. I have yet to come up with a logical
rationale for Christopher as to why I should just buy the darn purse so it’s
still lurking there in my newsfeed whenever I log on.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So far, I am
holding strong. But that’s just a purse. What about those advertisements or
postings that prey upon those who have been hurt? Who are broken? Who are
lonely? Who feel inadequate or not worthy? And who amongst us has never found
themselves in one or more of these categories? And so, when we see signs or
notices that encourage ways of thinking that dehumanize others, that dismisses
the goodness and the joy of others, that disregard the truth of other people’s
experiences and lives, how do we advert our gaze? Because not being conformed
to a world of fear and scarcity that certain leaders uphold is a tall order. To
believe in a world of love and abundance, this world of possibility that God
has been telling humanity about since the beginning of time, a world of peace
and unity that Jesus taught about for his whole ministry, to believe in this
type of world is to fight every moment to look the other way rather than to
allow the glimpses of injustice, hatred, oppression, immorality, greed and
violence to define our world.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">‘Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind.’ It takes transformation, a renewal of the mind, to detach
ourselves from the world’s attempts to occupy us with things that do not
matter. Paul implores us to shake off the negative effects of this world and
attend to things that matter and to discern what is good. Transformation such
as this happens only when we take the time to ask questions, to express our
doubt, to search ourselves for what we know to be true, to notice how the Holy
Spirit has and is moving in our world, to allow for the teachings and sayings
of Jesus to be the wisdom and truth guiding our actions and to listen for the
small, still voice of God, that continues to speak to us whether we can hear it
or not. And how do we do that but through spiritual practices such as scribing
otherwise known as journaling.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Now, I have
a small confession to make. After all this working towards how journaling can
be beneficial in making a connection with the Divine and discerning how best to
live your life, I woudn’t blame you if you thought that I might be pretty great
at journaling. I am not. My journaling totally follows how I approach
completing tasks. I don’t. My personality type is very much about starting
things. Not finishing things. So, I have journal after journal of all the trips
I’ve been on. They all look the same. I start out strong with lots of details
of the activities we’ve done and the people we’ve met and, inevitably, by day
four or five, my writing begins to wane. And by the end of the trip I’m too
exhausted to write anymore. Oh, I always, always tell myself I will go back and
fill in the missing details. But I never do. Oh my goodness, I just picked up a
lovely looking journal that I’ve had for awhile. It was like walking down
memory lane as I looked at the variety of entries I had written. Apparently, I
bought it for my last year of ministry training.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I don’t
journal well but I like to draw. I’m not an artist like my mom was but I like
using colour and making simple line drawings. I often find myself praying in a
free-flow kind of way when I do that in my journal. I also like to make lists.
When I am feeling anxious or overwhelmed and I’m fretting, Christopher says,
why don’t you make a list? And he’s right. What the list is listing doesn’t even
really matter. It’s the action that allows me a moment of feeling like the
world is not completely out of control. And as often as not, the Holy Spirit
will move as I’m making the list and I will notice what’s been missing and has
been the cause of my underlying anxiety. Or She will make explicit that what I
was worrying about really isn’t the bother of worry about it. There was a time,
when our house was chaotic with four children between the ages of 1 and 7, with
three very energetic boys who loved to cover their baby sister with stickers or
stick her in a laundry basket and see what they could do with said-basket and I
felt like I had NO space, time or energy to talk to God, much less hear God
speaking to me. But I found if I sat down just before I went to bed and jotted
down all the things swirling in my </span></div>
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brain—the to-do lists, the things I needed
to remember, a funny thing the boys said or did—I would jot it down in a
journal beside my bed. When I was done, I would close my eyes for a moment and
think, “There you go Jesus—you take it. Thanks.” Christopher called it my,
‘giving it over to Jesus’. And I would sleep pretty well those nights, except
for, you know, the nights where there was barfing, I had a nightmare, I can’t
sleep, the night terrors—other than those events, I usually slept well because
I didn’t have all those thoughts distracting me and bothering me—Jesus had
them. And the next morning, I had a look at the list and notes and I took back
only those that needed doing. Because, remarkably, somehow in the night my
brain had the space to come up with solutions for some of the concerns that I
had been worried about the night before. I think, maybe, this is some of what
Paul was writing about, be transformed and discern what is good and acceptable
and perfect.<br />
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Not all
spiritual practices work for all people. It is a well-known fact that I can’t
sit still or stay quiet for much longer than an hour so a silent, six-day yoga
retreat like the one she did in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eat,
Pray, Love</i> is definitely not for me. My brain might explode. But I know
plenty of others who would love that type of practice and would learn so much
about themselves and how they want to be in the world. Simplicity would work
for me if we could agree that my craft room is not included and no laundry
baskets for sorting go near it. And Sabbath for me is Monday. Just as Dave
cycles, I have my own routine for Mondays that give me the space and the
freedom to work through thoughts and feelings from the past week, to make my
lists for what’s coming and to do certain activities that allow my brain to
shut off for a little while and make room for God to enter in. We have had some
pretty good chats, God and I, on Mondays. Not that God isn’t in and around my
life other days of the week, it’s just that I listen best on Mondays. And I
journal. In my own way and with lots of different colours. In a variety of
notebooks. Which I am definitely not hoarding. What practice works best for
you? What gives you the freedom of space and time to connect with the Divine?
What do you do to allow for transformation to take place, so that God can enter
in, so that the teachings of Jesus can be considered, so that the Holy Spirit
may move in your life? God is always with us but sometimes it can be hard to
see or hear how God is working in your life. Finding a spiritual practice that
works for you, will work for God and reveal more clearly that God is indeed
working in your life and in this magnificent world of ours. Thanks be to God.</span></div>
Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-80995132641541884682018-03-08T11:11:00.001-08:002018-03-08T11:11:42.667-08:00On Being Wild<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Do you remember the TV show,<i> Gilmore Girls?</i> Before a year and a half ago, I wouldn't say that I did. The show was on from 2000 to 2007 - the precise time I was in the midst of losing my mind trying to keep between two and four little humans alive and somewhat healthy. I had two boys, aged two and under, when the show started. There were four children (another boy and then a girl), between the ages of nine and three by the time the show ended. When I sat down to watch TV in those years, it needed to be the type of show that did not require any sort of maintenance of keeping up with story lines. <i>Law & Order</i> and <i>Survivor</i> were my kind of shows back then.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012. Or was it 2013?</td></tr>
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Fast forward a decade and life has gotten somewhat easier in that keeping the children alive no longer requires vigilant monitoring of their every move. Now I sit in wait, cell phone at hand, ready to help solve transportation issues, giving meal suggestions and taking part in discussions on whether or not the unnaturally bent finger requires a trip to the ER or not. And I can watch TV again. Or rather, I can partake in the joy that is known as Netflix.<br />
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I am one of those people who like to start things at the beginning. My dear spouse can just pick up watching TV shows wherever they happen to be in a series. I cannot. I need to start at the beginning. I'm like that with book series too. So, Netflix is totally my jam. I've watched more than few entire series of shows while putting in time in my sewing room.<i> Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Shameless, Grace & Frankie, 13 Reasons Why</i> and, not only<i> Gilmore Girls</i> but also<i> Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life</i>.<br />
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If you have watched the follow up season to the<i> Gilmore Girls</i>, and I am, in no way, recommending that you do (it was a disappointing reincarnation of the TV show - as I suppose most reincarnations are - and I know some of you will give me grief over this but, you have to admit, I'm not wrong), you will know that the mom, Lorelai, at one point has an existential crisis and decides that she needs to be off by herself for awhile. Her solution is to go be wild. Not wild, as in 'out of control' but be<i> Wild</i>, as in follow in the footsteps of Cheryl Strayed, who hiked the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT) and wrote a book about her experience.<br />
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Before I watched that episode, I had a vague memory of the movie of the same name coming out starring Reese Witherspoon but had had no interest in seeing it for some odd reason as I normally quite enjoy Reese Witherspoon's movies. A memory that stuck with me from Lorelai trying to be<i> Wild</i> was that <i></i>an important component of the being<i> Wild</i> was that one had to throw their hiking boot over a cliff. Which struck me as odd. I didn't get the joke. I didn't know the inside story, which obviously was nagging at me at some subconscious level over this past year. When I sat down to select books to read for my 2018 26 books in 52 weeks challenge, something triggered in a small recess of my brain and I included Strayed's memoir of her hiking the PCT.<br />
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Not only did I find out about the boot throwing, I found out all about it on page one. And despite having that itch immediately scratched, I couldn't put the book down. I don't normally enjoy these types of memoirs but Cheryl Strayed is a talented author who knows how to carry a narrative. The book is filled with facts about the PCT and the mountains the Trail goes up and over that I never knew I would care to know about but am now glad that I do. She shares details of her past life that are neither flattering or inspiring all the while she is managing to hike some 1100 miles with a ginormously heavy pack on her back.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The PCT</td></tr>
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I found Cheryl's book to be quite endearing. I kinda sorta (and know that I never will) want to hike out in wilderness as she did, carrying all that I need on my back. I'm happy that she did it so I can know, in some sense, what it might be like. I understand some of Cheryl's pain of having lost a mom too soon but I don't know how to feel about the decisions she made in her early adult years. I appreciated how open she was about her fears, her struggles, her selfishness, her uncertainties, her anger. I also appreciated journeying with her as she began to heal from the inside out, as she received generosity from nearly every person she met along the PCT, as she learned more about who she is and how she wanted to be in the world once she arrived at the end of the 1100 miles.<br />
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I loved this book. If you want to borrow, just ask. What's next on my list? Something TOTALLY different...<i>A Year of Biblical Womanhood.</i> I kid you not.<br />
<i></i><i></i><i></i><br />Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-44145253849512060982018-03-05T19:17:00.000-08:002018-03-06T12:49:45.852-08:00Celebrating 10 Years of Affirming Ministry<div>
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The Annual General Meeting of Symons Valley United Church takes place on the last Sunday of February. This year's AGM marked the 10th anniversary of SVUC becoming an affirming congregation. To be an affirming congregation in the United Church of Canada means that there is full inclusion of all people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. In order to become an affirming congregation, a congregation needs to go through an intentional discernment process and then hold a vote at a congregational meeting. More information about the process can be found at the <a href="http://affirmunited.ause.ca/" target="_blank">Affirm United website</a>.</div>
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Symons Valley United Church also moved into a new building, in a new community ten years ago. As several new communities build up around us, we have many newcomers attending worship services and programs. Over these past few years, we have had many folks join the congregation and so when the plans for recognizing the 10th anniversary of becoming affirming were being made, it was realized that we should recall some of the history of what led the congregation to begin the discernment process. Alice, longtime member of the congregation who participated in that discernment, gave an oral history via recorded video of the events leading up to the affirming vote. Alice recalled how the congregation felt strongly that God's call to love all people was not limited in any way. She also spoke about how the process to become affirming resulted in a deeper commitment to be an open and loving community especially in light of moving locations and opening their doors to the new residents moving into the surrounding communities. Here is the Statement of Affirmation that now hangs at the front entrance of the church building:<br />
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We believe that all people are sacred in the eyes of God, welcome at God's table, and entitled to full and equal participation in the life of the church. We recognize that congregations have historically condemned and excluded some persons and groups of persons through active effort or complicit silence. In response to our understanding of Christ's invitation to the table, we declare that we will: continue to be open and affirming of all, regardless of age; ethnic, cultural or spiritual background; sexual orientation, gender identity; family composition; or physical or mental capability, and we will work to live out diversity and justice through our actions and our witness in the world.</blockquote>
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Shari D followed the history recounted by Alice. Shari's story with Symons Valley began nearly four years ago. When she and her husband returned to Canada with their two children after a few years of study in California, they were looking for a church that was open and inclusive to all. They found Symons Valley by searching for 'gay-friendly churches' in Calgary. When they entered SVUC for the first time, they had a good feeling about the congregation when they saw the rainbow hangings that greet everyone at the front door. Shari spoke about how she appreciated the welcoming nature of the people of the congregation. Over time, as they got to know people, Shari noticed that same-sex couples were treated just as she and her husband were treated.<br />
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The third person to speak in our celebration was Letitia. Letitia and her partner Shauna began attending SVUC soon after Shari. Letitia first became connected to the congregation through our annual dinner theatre production - she volunteered to do hair for the production. One of the performance days, she noticed the rainbow candle on the communion table (we store it backstage during the week). She asked, 'does that mean what I think it does?' She was told that it did. When she mentioned that her partner was a female, the response was, 'Oh? Is she coming to the play?' With that, she and Shauna decided to try coming one Sunday. With her Catholic upbringing, Letitia mentioned that she was not certain how she and Shauna would be received but they came anyway. She recalled being somewhat shocked at how the fact that she and Shauna were not made to feel uncomfortable because they were a couple. And so they came back the next Sunday. And have been coming ever since. Both Letitia and Shauna are now active and vital participants in congregational life, including singing in the choir. We are a more full and loving community of faith because of them.<br />
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I began serving Symons Valley United Church nearly seven years ago. There have been many moments over these years in which I have been so proud to walk this journey of faith alongside the many good folks of Symons Valley UC but never more so than during this celebration of being an affirming congregation in the United Church. Only about 5% of congregations in the United Church are affirming despite the fact that it has been thirty years since the denomination voted to ordain and commission openly gay and lesbian clergy. Here in Calgary, just over half of the congregations in the city limits are now affirming. There is still a lot of work to do in this world of ours which still has pockets of ignorance and bigotry regarding LGTBQ+ issues and human rights. God, Jesus and the Bible are still being used to promote hate and violence against the LGTBQ+ community. While we cannot change everyone's understanding and point of view, we can be the change we want too see in the world. I see God's love being poured out by the faithful folks of SVUC and celebrate that they made a decision ten years ago that declares for all who ventures in that God loves them regardless of their shape, size, colour or who it is that loves them or who it is that they love. Full stop.Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-17263116665421131572018-02-22T13:52:00.001-08:002018-02-22T14:36:33.812-08:00Belonging Everywhere and Nowhere<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Have you heard of Brené Brown?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Yes? </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Skip this paragraph.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">No? </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Then watch <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability" target="_blank">here in her first Ted Talk</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Seriously.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Right now. Spend 20 minutes and get to know her.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">DO IT.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay, good. Now you know why I like reading her books. She
writes in the same way she is able to tell a story. She knows how to tell a
good tale and all the while she's talking, you are learning something. At the
very same time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">At Symons Valley United Church we have found a pattern of
doing a book study after Christmas. Often into Lent. Folks like to be
challenged a little bit but, like all of us, don't want to be burdened by texts
that are dense or too academic. Last year we read Brené Brown's <i>Daring Greatly</i>
and everyone loved it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This year we are reading her most recent book, <i>Braving the
Wilderness</i>. In preparation for the book study,<span style="margin: 0px;"> I </span>read the book as my 2nd book for the year - Book 2 of 26. We have read
through only the first two chapters so I don't to give too much away here but I
can tell you some of my favourite parts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Braving the Wilderness is about belonging. Brown takes a
quotation from Maya Angelou:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">You are free only when you realize that you belong no place - you belong every place - no place at all.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">and...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">True belonging doesn't require you to<i> change</i> who you are; it requires you to<i> be</i> who you are.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It seems that so much of what hurts in life is feeling that we don't belong. We don't feel accepted or included as we fully are. We don't belong in our family, in our social circles, in our work place. Much of what <span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Brené Brown writes about is being authentic - about being fully who we are - about being the person that God intended us to be. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">That is where the Daring and the Braving come into action in Brown's writing. It's takes courage, vulnerability and faith to stand up in today's world and be okay with being and saying exactly what you know to be right and true, regardless of what the group around you believes. Even if what you have to say is more about expressing doubt and asking questions.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8zVRN6Jv3xmg-p285Dqi4VmiccIPzevHKZXOSQU4qrl38Ti5__x36RrCoV6rsjnMW4EeMsEMHQU39qOb9Q0N69dBpFPUPKYhpqpiUgiGEZDZmB_Ut4XjQEiqPGwApM4byd545N9TeoOo/s1600/37986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="278" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8zVRN6Jv3xmg-p285Dqi4VmiccIPzevHKZXOSQU4qrl38Ti5__x36RrCoV6rsjnMW4EeMsEMHQU39qOb9Q0N69dBpFPUPKYhpqpiUgiGEZDZmB_Ut4XjQEiqPGwApM4byd545N9TeoOo/s200/37986.jpg" width="138" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Funnily enough, as these things happen to be now and then, the next book I picked up to ready (Book 3 of 26) was Brian McLaren's<i> A Search for What Makes Sense: Finding Faith.</i> McLaren's book is more for a reader who is struggling with faith - whether because they find themselves in a faith tradition that no longer makes sense to them or because they have not grown up in a faith community and are trying to understand what they are looking for.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">In other words, they are seeking to belong.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I was struck how these two books meshed together. McLaren writes:</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Good faith is honest. Shouldn't good faith feel free to express both doubt and confidence?</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span></span></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Good faith is communal. Since my individual understanding is so limited, don't I need connection with a group of trusted companions, so we can help and encourage one another in our common search for faith, God and truth?</span> </span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "calibri";">In other words, we naturally want to belong. We are pack animals. But belonging to a group should not cost us our ability to seek truth, express doubt, ask questions and to be fully who it is that God made us to be.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "calibri";">Next on my reading list...<i> Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail</i> by Cheryl Strayed.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><i></i><i></i><i></i><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><i></i><i></i><br /></blockquote>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-24973717758956679672018-02-11T14:55:00.002-08:002018-02-11T14:55:36.192-08:00Reel Theology: The Post
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Luke
4:28-30, 22:39-43</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Well, here
we are, at the last in our Reel Theology sermon series. We’ve looked at a
variety of movies with a wide range of themes and topics. We started with “I,
Tonya” and Stephen explored how the lack of love in Tonya’s life drove her to
seek love in places and people that could not offer her love in return. Then,
through “Ladybird”, we explored the determination of Christine in not letting
go of her plans for the future only to discover that her success going forward
was built on a foundation of love from her past. Then Stephen looked at the
impact of isolation and reminded us that it is in community that we find healing
when he spoke about “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. With “The
Greatest Showman” I spoke about how God’s love is for all people, no matter the
size, shape, colour or ability.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And last
week, I looked at how God’s grace was portrayed in the movie “Dunkirk”. And
this in last week of the series, we are looking at “The Post” starring Tom
Hanks and Meryl Streep. In December when we were choosing the movies to preach
on, this is the movie I was most excited to see and to talk about. For those of
you that were here last week, know that, as unwilling as I was to see the movie
“Get Out”, that’s how much I wanted to see “The Post”. One of the reasons for
my desire to see it is because I’m thinking we’re watching the Americans live
through a similar type political upending, right now, in this modern day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Let me tell
you, my dear spouse would have been quite surprised a couple of short years ago
if he heard me say that this movie out of all the ones we selected, was at the
top of the list of which one I wanted to see the most—a movie with a story is
primarily about political intrigue. You see, it was not all that long ago, I
will admit, that I had very little interest in politics—Canadian, much less
American. But then, in 2016, November 8<sup>th </sup>happened. It was a Tuesday
and we had a Board Meeting. Nancy McKellar and I sat together, taking peeks at
her phone, and watched with despair as Donald Trump made his way to becoming
the next President of the United States. Donald Trump. President! I got home
that night and threw up my hands and said, this is it, the world has gone to
hell in handbasket. The 15-year-old, who was watching the poll returns, told
me, it can’t be all that bad Mom, let’s see what he can do. Remember this is AFTER
Trump was caught on tape talking about sexually assaulting women and had twelve
women accuse him of sexual harassment, never mind all the horrible things he
had said during the campaign. Anyway, November 8<sup>th</sup> resulted in me
paying a lot closer attention to everything that’s happening in the States.
When the time came that I could name people in Trump’s administration and those
Senators who were speaking against the Muslim ban and rallying support for
their version universal health care, that was about the time in our household
that I realized that those that I live with had only so much patience for
American politics. What I find fascinating, is that at this point over a year
into his presidency, Trump and his cronies are the creators of and the
participants in a modern day political train wreck. And it’s happening right
before our eyes. My generation has not ever really experienced something like this.
Maybe the Iran-Contra Scandal but not something that has impacted the whole country
the way Trump’s policies are affecting all manner of people across his nation and,
then, even into ours as travel across borders is restricted and NAFTA and the Paris
Agreement no longer seem to be important to the government of the US. So, this
train wreck is happening in slow motion and I can’t seem to look away.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So, I wanted
to see “The Post” because I was interested to see how an earlier political
scandal played out—now that I understand the structure of the American
government, it’s a lot less confusing to watch these US political dramas. This
movie is advertised as the struggle experienced by the Washington Post, a local
Washington, DC paper, in publishing the highly controversial Pentagon Papers in
1971. Now, remember, 1971 was the year before Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
began reporting about the Watergate break-in. The Pentagon Papers were
thousands and thousands of documents that had researched and assembled as a
history of the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The Papers revealed that
the U.S. had secretly enlarged the scope of its actions in the Vietnam War with
the bombings of nearby Cambodia and Laos, coastal raids on North Vietnam, and
Marine Corps attacks, none of which were reported in the mainstream media at
the time. The Papers demonstrated that successive Presidential Administrations
had systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress. The
publishing of the Papers allowed the nation to discover how deeply they had
been betrayed by their government. So, that’s the basis of the movie but the
story of publishing the Papers is not really the Washington Post’s story. In
truth, it belongs to the New York Times, whose staff spent three months vetting
and confirming facts before taking the risk of being charged with treason in
making the Papers public. The Washington Post did their own reporting but, the
fact of the matter is, they were quite secondary in the drama of being attacked
by the White House and having to defend their First Amendment right and the
right to publish.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The underlying
story line of “The Post” is, I think, the more intriguing story—especially in
light of the recent growing awareness of the role of women in society and the
world. “The Post” can be seen as the story of a pivotal moment in the life of
Katherine Graham, the publisher of The Washington Post. The movie displays how
Katherine grew from being rather meek and unsure in her role as Publisher of
her father’s paper, to becoming a resolute and confident leader who finally takes
on the mantle of the guiding force of the paper that had been in her family
since 1933. Due to a poor relationship with her mother, who was distant and
often away, Katherine’s lack of self-confidence was apparent well into
adulthood. Despite having worked for a newspaper in San Francisco and for the
Washington Post itself since 1938, her father gave control the of the paper to
Katherine’s husband in 1946. When asked if that ever bothered her, she replied,
“Far from troubling me that my father thought of my husband and not me, it
pleased me. In fact, it never crossed my mind that he might have viewed me as
someone to take on an important job at the paper.” Katherine never planned on
running the paper but the sudden death of her husband in 1963 elevated her abruptly
into leadership. It might seem odd to young women today when the Prime Minister
of Canada is asked why he has appointed so many women to Cabinet, his response
is simply, it’s 2015 but let us remember that in 1963 women were simply a
non-entity in the business world. Time and time again, we see Katherine enter into
board rooms and meetings in which she is the only female amongst a dozen men.
The very few women in leadership in the Sixties and the early Seventies had no
female role models, mentors or examples of how the weaker sex could possibly
function in rooms full of powerful men. One quotation that sums up the attitude
at the time towards women being leaders over men, which seems unbelievable
today and which my movie mates thought was hilarious that I was them to hear
it, one of the men says behind Katherine’s back, “A woman preaching is like a
dog walking on its hind legs. It’s not supposed to happen.” So, you can see,
the mountain that Katherine had to climb in order to establish her authority as
Publisher of the Washington Post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Cindy read
two passages from Luke today. The first takes place near the start of Jesus’
ministry once he returns from the desert where he was tempted by Satan. The
second reading takes place at the end of his ministry, in the dark of the night
in the quiet hours just before he was arrested for blasphemy. Both moments are
examples when Jesus finds himself uncomfortably dealing with the outcome of his
beliefs and his actions. Jesus knew what he was about. After his baptism and
his time of trial in the desert, Jesus firmly believed that his role was to
upend society as everyone knew it—so that the poor, the ill, the widowed would
no longer suffer at the hands of those who lived by greed and fear-mongering
and who remained willfully ignorant to God’s call for humanity to create a
loving and peace-filled world. Jesus returns to his hometown after swinging
through Galilee and being glorified by all there who heard him speak. He
arrives in Nazareth and speaks at the synagogue. You can imagine that he might
have been a bit nervous, speaking for the first time in front of the folks he
grew up with. His words are heard but the people are not prepared to recognize
his authority. Is this not Joseph’s son? they ask—as if Jesus could never be
more than the son of carpenter. He holds his ground and continues to speak as
one very knowledgeable of God’s ways. How dare he, this son of a carpenter,
he’s no religious leader. The people who have known him his whole life rise up
and kick him out of the synagogue and down the road. They kick him out. Out of
his hometown! Can you imagine what he must have been feeling? But he keeps
himself together and passes through their midst. He stood up and said what he
knew to be true and when he was challenged, he did not capitulate. He held his
ground.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The second
part of the scripture reading is similar in nature, but from a different
perspective. Jesus has caused trouble everywhere he went during his ministry.
In-between the miracles, the healing, the preaching the Good News and modelling
God’s love in his actions and his behavior, the Jewish religious leaders who
worried more about their peace rather than God’s peace, have challenged him
every step of the way, telling everyone who would listen exactly which societal
norms and religious laws he was breaking, and they plotted to kill him.
Relentlessly pushing, Jesus did not give up saying what needed to be heard so
that change, real change could happen in the world. And, when he arrives in the
last few free hours that he has, he knows there is no going back. His path has
been set and it leads in only one direction, to the cross. He prays, asking God
to take his cup—that cup that is so full of anxiety, trepidation and certainly
some fear of what’s to come, it’s so full that it is nearly over-flowing—God,
please take the cup. But then he says, not my will, but yours be done. Jesus
knows that just as he stood up all through his ministry, he needs to keep
standing now. He had been a fierce advocate for speaking truth at all times,
even when it meant people would not fully understand and might be angry with
him. He couldn’t speak out against complacency, against the sins of the world
and against the systemic disregard for the common good in all the days leading
to the Garden, and then just denounce it all and walk away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
definition of integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral
principles, the state of being whole and undivided. One does not simply have
integrity, one builds and cultivates integrity by behaving authentically in a
consistent and predictable way. Brene Brown, the author of the book we are
reading for this winter’s book study, <u>Braving the Wilderness</u>, says that
for someone to fully belong to any one group, they must first belong to
themselves—we must be authentic to who we are no matter the pressure from the
outside world to compromise our principles, give up our beliefs or enter into
moral ambiguity. We seem to be living in times in which the truth is constantly
up for debate, an era of fake news. Promises are made and not lived out. In
these days of the phones in our pocket, there is very little chance that what
is said, even in a closed setting, can be denied. And now, more than ever, it
is becoming apparent that some of our leaders will say anything to be elected
only to renege later. How do we explain to our children, how do we justify to
ourselves that it is okay to say one thing in once circumstance and then then
say the opposite later? When Justin Trudeau campaigns on election reform and
then virtually ignores the electoral reform commission’s report? Or when Trump
says he loves the Dreamers and wants nothing more than their security but then
holds their citizenship hostage against a variety of other political matters?</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Integrity is
essential for peace to reign in our world. Integrity means that speaking truth
is important. When you are truthful, when you have integrity of spirit, of
action, of belief, when you have integrity trust is created and built upon.
Change can happen. Voices can be heard. Peace can be found. Jesus modeled
integrity that came at a great cost. It is said that both faith and integrity
always come at some cost—if they were free, neither of them would be much to
build a foundation upon. Katherine’s integrity, the principles that she tried
to live her life by, the moral compass by which she set her path, were not
necessarily known because no one thought her opinion important, but when the
time came, when push came to shove, when the White House was using every scare
tactic in the book, when that happened, she did not back down. When her
personal relationships with politicians caught up in the mess of the conspiracy
could have influenced her to set aside what was good and right to do, she
didn’t let their likely embarrassment sway her. It was not easy, but she stayed
standing. She remained authentic to herself and by saying, do it, publish, her
commitment to truth, her integrity, shone through the fear and stress of what
might come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Watching
this movie in which someone, particularly a woman with all that’s happening now
in our society, that this person sticks firmly to her principles and her moral
character and allows for the truth to be known, is so heartening in today’s
world. Those who stand for truth, whose integrity is solid, models for the rest
of us of how important it is, even when we want our cup, the burden of standing
strong, to be taken from us, their behaviour models how vital it is for each
one of us to make known that what is right and good must always stand over what
is hurtful, what is fearful, what is evil. Knowing that truth and integrity are
not necessarily priorities of certain leaders today, it’s more important than
ever for us to act with integrity. Which might, in turn, give another
encouragement when called upon, to act themselves with integrity, to behave
with honesty, to be whole and undivided in their moral principles. Let us hope
and pray that it may be so. Amen.</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-3457867566899802592018-02-08T09:05:00.001-08:002018-02-08T09:05:23.868-08:00Reel Theology - Dunkirk<h3>
John 15:12-17, Ephesians 2:8</h3>
<h3>
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When Stephen and I were choosing movies for this Reel
Theology sermon series, we had to pick from movies that, for the most part, we
had yet to see. We selected movies nominated Best Picture for the Golden
Globes. There are two awards in the Best Picture category—best dramatic movie
and best musical or comedy. We chose three from both categories. We read the
synopsis and watched the trailer for each of the movies. There was much discussion
whether we should include the movie “Get Out” or “Dunkirk” in our list—both
being the intense, somewhat scary type of movie. It turns out, that on a scale
of 1 to 10, with 10 being that we enjoy intense, somewhat scary movies a lot
and 1 being that we, in no way at all, enjoy these types of movies, it turns
out that both Stephen and I are great big fat 0s on this scale. Neither of us saw
“Dunkirk” when it was released last summer nor had we seen “Get Out” which was
released last February. When the time came to watch the trailer for “Get Out”—which,
by the way is in the comedy category—Stephen completely bailed and left the
room. He had seen it once and didn’t need to see it again. We both agreed that
it had all the makings of a horror movie, not a comedy. Anyway, It didn’t take
us very long to choose “Dunkirk” over “Get Out” and then for him to suggest I
be the one preaching on it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZkgN2AoMe-2GIxQXjCB0or7wAP48S50rR0VDwks273MpR9VI7fnft7hwXHOel6FRyXlRsCMtRuzdb6o-ZEs4mVy5ChjLO34o_ji8gDZ8QaH_Jc5qBDqq20wEUWIdmgUDNBRULKg-ZLyc/s1600/scary-movie1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1508" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZkgN2AoMe-2GIxQXjCB0or7wAP48S50rR0VDwks273MpR9VI7fnft7hwXHOel6FRyXlRsCMtRuzdb6o-ZEs4mVy5ChjLO34o_ji8gDZ8QaH_Jc5qBDqq20wEUWIdmgUDNBRULKg-ZLyc/s200/scary-movie1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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I will say that I have heard very positive reviews for “Get
Out” and it seems that we all should be watching it for how it portrays modern
day race relations in the United States. My dear spouse has assured me that
“Get Out” is well worth the effort and suggested we watch it at home, where all
scary movies should be watched so I can keep an afghan close at hand to hide my
face behind and he will pause it right before the really scary places and warn
me about what’s about to happen. You can understand why the youth had so much
fun making a minister-level of scary for the haunted house last fall. So, here
we are. I ended up watching Dunkirk by myself on the Red Arrow to Edmonton. I’m
sure I looked odd when I was tilting the iPad up and down and away from me
during certain scenes. It was hard hold the iPad and cover my eyes with my
scarf.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2FuU4eKbJbRjI3dObSfNW0OJSX_ogPzxL_DnUbJZwTHZPcreHZ8D0whfvX5PrXSHZFlNC8fx23eVZWhEx76rJaGfPOoM6xSD6rvcrWUEaN-YKeen2ejvDieOTUKWEKhgT5stC1ckR-l0/s1600/Best-Movies-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="220" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2FuU4eKbJbRjI3dObSfNW0OJSX_ogPzxL_DnUbJZwTHZPcreHZ8D0whfvX5PrXSHZFlNC8fx23eVZWhEx76rJaGfPOoM6xSD6rvcrWUEaN-YKeen2ejvDieOTUKWEKhgT5stC1ckR-l0/s200/Best-Movies-3.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCl7wcqHSihtQE2YuJLRCCDHdpmW4PRnmWy2XC2NCODMeoXDb_BzduDkmq_VvTywfnGqKpAmFe3hcIo2dilr7bPm9vj_tPm4ld3IKedLFJDUHocJMZmY04FyDOfkc9NTLF0xlXuyiKEo/s1600/tmp524953555858096129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="475" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCl7wcqHSihtQE2YuJLRCCDHdpmW4PRnmWy2XC2NCODMeoXDb_BzduDkmq_VvTywfnGqKpAmFe3hcIo2dilr7bPm9vj_tPm4ld3IKedLFJDUHocJMZmY04FyDOfkc9NTLF0xlXuyiKEo/s200/tmp524953555858096129.jpg" width="200" /></a>The movie version of “Dunkirk” is about the evacuation of
some 338, 000 soldiers from the beach and harbor of Dunkirk in the north of
France in 1940. Allied Belgian, British and French soldiers had been cut off and
surrounded by German troops. Over a period of eight days, a rescue operation
initially planned for 45,000 men grew exponentially so that seven and a half times
that many were rescued. The evacuation of Dunkirk is a moment in our history
that is filled with acts of heroism, self-sacrifice, miracles and unbelievable
feats of sheer will and determination. The movie gives very little detail about
the how and why of the decisions that brought the 400, 000 troops to the coast
at Dunkirk. We are not told much of the events leading up to the evacuation
nor, when the movie is finished, are we told what happened once the men are
rescued. None of that matters in the telling of this event. The evacuation and rescue of that vast number of troops, who waited with incredible patience and
self-control lined up from the beach into the water, day after day, is story
enough. That the story is about the rescue efforts made by the British for the
Allied forces will likely give cause for those of us on the victorious side of
the overall war to pay attention but even if you took the reality of Allied
versus Axis away, the movie would still be a riveting tale.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRI407BWv7tCzQiU76_c6oRVU8WphJHczlkUPEezzSE2asdLklr-Msj1ue6it93LAzy8VaYj1lr5GCMizIgGhQUaECPzZGaww00Qu_AYym_CAMf3hawxhYPlahjt-HuTLqwpjurwP_RY/s1600/main-qimg-c616171967b73665476ded54c169b400-c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="602" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRI407BWv7tCzQiU76_c6oRVU8WphJHczlkUPEezzSE2asdLklr-Msj1ue6it93LAzy8VaYj1lr5GCMizIgGhQUaECPzZGaww00Qu_AYym_CAMf3hawxhYPlahjt-HuTLqwpjurwP_RY/s200/main-qimg-c616171967b73665476ded54c169b400-c.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>
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Dunkirk was such a massive operation, it would be hard to
know where to focus over those eight days of getting troops off the beach. In a
clever manner, the movie narrows the experiences of the evacuation to three
story lines. We don’t know names so much as know personalities of the
characters, the way they fight to survive in what became, I’m sure, felt like
hell on earth. At first, there is a young soldier who emerges onto the beach
which already has thousands of men. Over the course of the week he spends on
the beach or in the water and water vessels trying to get away, he is joined by
one and then another soldier. The three become united in their efforts to
survive. There are three other men, or rather, two men, a father and son, and a
teenage friend, who leave Ramsgate, England just across the English Channel, in
a small pleasure boat having been requisitioned by the navy to assist with the
rescue. There were 850 of these so-called little ships of Dunkirk, that could
get close enough to the beach to ferry the soldiers out to the larger carriers.
And, in the third storyline, there are, at first, three pilots fighting over
the ocean, near Dunkirk. Three become two, and then becomes one. Each of the
men, teenager included, is either trying to survive or trying to help another
survive. The difference between life and death is razor thin.</div>
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It’s hard to know where God was in the Second World War. You
could say that about any war, but World War II seemed especially heinous. People
have trouble seeing how God was at work in the world in those years. It seems
that we allow greed and fear and anger to often cloud our decision making. We
know that is with us in all times and in all places, but are we always with
God? So much of humankind’s folly is at odds with the peace of God’s kingdom.
Truly evil things are done during war. These moments of madness make heightened
the sin and brokenness of our humanity but these moments of confusion and
terror also give opportunity to see more clearly the grace of God which is
given to us in this world time and time again. If only we recognize it for what
it is. Breaking through the mass chaos of the events in this movie, there are
brief slivers of time in which God’s grace can take your breath away if you
have the eyes to see and ears to hear. A stranded soldier is rescued from the
middle of the English Channel by the men on the boat. He is in
distress—shell-shocked and frightened. The father treats the soldier calmly and
gently. Makes sure he gets a cup of tea. Makes sure he is comfortable. Grace. Later
there is an accident and the teenager is badly hurt by soldier. The son, a
friend to the teenager, is angry and scared at first but over the course of the
day, he experiences, second-hand, the terror of having to fight for survival, and
later, when the distressed soldier when asked if the boy is alright. The son
reassures him. Yes, he says, he’ll be alright, even as the boys’ body is being
carried off the boat by stretcher in the background. The son knows it was an
accident and he knows the solider could not bear the burden of yet another
tragedy. Grace. And near the end of the movie, when the evacuated soldiers are
moving by train through England, they are feeling ashamed for needing to be
rescued. They are afraid that the Allied world will think them cowards and hate
them. The soldiers cannot bear to look up when they come into a station filled
with civilians. They think the noise they hear are protests against their
retreat but then they realize that the crowds are cheering for them not against
them. The people waiting at home for word of their troops on the ground, are
celebrating their safe return. To their surprise, the soldiers are not blamed
for the military failure but rather are greeted with joy and with thanksgiving.
Grace upon grace in a time of fear and desperation.</div>
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One definition of grace is that it is the free and unmerited
favour of God. Grace is our unearned help and our undeserved blessing. Grace is
bestowed upon each of us by God without expectation or explanation. In our
world, in our common lives, we are governed by a deep-seated understanding that
we get what we earn. We get what we deserve. We work, we get paid. We borrow
money and we pay interest in exchange. We receive a Christmas card and we are
sure to give one in return. Our common lives is often an equation that
eventually balances out. Tit for tat. Quid pro quo. That is the economy upon
which we structure our everyday lives. But God does not operate within the
economy of credit and debt. God does not keep a tally. God’s economy leaves no
one behind. In the fullness of divine love, no one is left out. That is the
gift of God. That is grace.</div>
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Sometimes the witnessing of grace can feel like catching a
break. The soldier caught a break in not being found guilty in the manslaughter
of an innocent boy. The returning soldiers caught a break by not being blamed
for the mistakes of the military leaders. But grace is so much more than that,
isn’t it? For God is there, mixed up in the mess of life. The United Church’s A
Song Faith states, ‘we are a community of broken but hopeful believers’. Even
in the hurt and damage we do to one another—with wars, distrust, greed, fear,
with the lack of love, A Song Faith reminds us that:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
God transforms, and
calls us to protect the vulnerable, to pray for deliverance from evil, to work
with God for the healing of the world, that all might have abundant life.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We sing of grace.</blockquote>
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War brings moments that are extreme and magnify what is
broken about humanity and so, behaviour that is kind and compassionate that
might seem insignificant in another time, are also magnified and we can catch a
glimmer of God working. But I would hope that we do not need war to open our
eyes and ears to recognize God’s grace. In our everyday lives, grace can the
nudge from God, reminding us to extend of the courtesy of assuming good intent,
or at least the absence of bad intent, on the behalf of the actions of another.
Or God’s grace shows up in the unnecessary gracious of another when you’re
‘assuming good intent’ radar is not functionally properly. Like the other day
when I was in the lineup for the Tim’s drive through and this guy made like he
was going to cut in front of me in line. I expressed my concern for his lack of
lineup etiquette. He could easily of escalated the “discussion” but he
didn’t—he rolled down the passenger window and explained he was trying to get
out of the way of someone backing up. Sigh. You see, I just assumed bad intent
on his behalf. Thankfully I wasn’t a total jerk during the “discussion” phase
of the interaction but I still felt bad. Why did I move so quickly to the
negative possibility of his motives? Probably cause I was in a hurry, just like
every other time I’m at Tim’s. As much as I try to allow for grace to enter in
and allow me to be gracious, sometimes it’s hard when I’m in a hurry. Again,
from A Song of Faith, “God tends the universe, mending the broken, reconciling
the estranged.” I said sorry and bought the man his coffee when I got to the
window. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDftaQxAh8mChap5tGrWtF-hWe0ib5d_fqGi_nWTlYHwweNuDlFrgKGAmIvdYqb4swvwC39skH1nH95ZniLk4YTMqqIfKhEtImMPDhyfWAVL3u8FUjTP4knARdBHwzbKITcBun1GZFzJs/s1600/5709061_1439904972.7651.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDftaQxAh8mChap5tGrWtF-hWe0ib5d_fqGi_nWTlYHwweNuDlFrgKGAmIvdYqb4swvwC39skH1nH95ZniLk4YTMqqIfKhEtImMPDhyfWAVL3u8FUjTP4knARdBHwzbKITcBun1GZFzJs/s200/5709061_1439904972.7651.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Grace can be knowing, really knowing that so much of our
life circumstances can be summed up with, there but for the grace of God go I.
By luck or happenstance, we are in the right place at the right time when
someone else is not. By the skin of our teeth, we miss a near disaster when
another does not. I read a post from a clergy person in the States that I met a
couple of years ago. She told of her dear friend, a young man who had lost his
parents and sister to a driver who had taken too much Xanax—an anti-anxiety
drug that can make you drowsy. Anyway, in the collision, the driver’s
2-year-old child was also killed. The driver had just recently been sentenced
for his actions and he received what would seem to be a rather light sentence.
Two reasons why the judge was somewhat lenient were that when the driver was
free from jail for a short period of time, he returned to the scene of the
accident and saw that small crosses had been erected—three for the young man’s
family and one for his daughter. Knowing that the young man had set up the
crosses and had included his daughter in the memorial, cause the driver to
begin doing whatever he could do to make reconciliations for his actions. That
he was actively working to make things right—as right as could be—showed the
judge that he was taking responsibility for his actions and because he was and
because the young man who lost his family wrote a letter stating that he
believed there were extenuating circumstances to the accident, that he
understood the driver did not enter onto the roadway that day with the intent
to kill his family, that the driver made a mistake, the judge was lenient in
the sentence. The grace of God shown by the young man, setting a cross for a
child he did not know and in the writing of the letter,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJejlP9IlnboLmpyc-inRsBdvjbCgEbmMXKpoqIhVFdQ-m3hmCioXi5gCkHd4ECE15RntQ8sSvg91-HY-LWp07UwamVgR14fxctyPLNkvRnllmtR0p_aNyGd7IljX8SeaaFxdoRAlvj7k/s1600/il_fullxfull-320700222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJejlP9IlnboLmpyc-inRsBdvjbCgEbmMXKpoqIhVFdQ-m3hmCioXi5gCkHd4ECE15RntQ8sSvg91-HY-LWp07UwamVgR14fxctyPLNkvRnllmtR0p_aNyGd7IljX8SeaaFxdoRAlvj7k/s200/il_fullxfull-320700222.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
God transforms what we have broken. Grace is more than mere
kindness, it is God working in our world, it is the transformation of life. We
need the assurance of grace when we are recovering from mistakes and need grace
to sustain us if we are uncertain we are taking steps in the right direction as
we make our way in life. You do not earn grace. Nor do you buy it. God’s grace
is given abundantly and without reserve. God loves you and offers you grace, in
the good and difficult times in your life. God offers you grace even when you may
not recognize it in the moment. God offers you grace whether you believe you
deserve it or not. God’s grace is not a transaction. God’s grace is for you.
May you recognize it in your life this day and forevermore. </div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-245043755697155572018-02-01T13:23:00.002-08:002018-02-08T08:10:39.296-08:00Reel Theology - The Greatest Showman<h3>
Matthew 8:1-4, 15:1-11</h3>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0px;">
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<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>I'm not a stranger to the dark</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>Hide away, they say</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>'Cause we don't want your broken parts</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>Run away, they say</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>No one will love you as you are</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i></i><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>But I won't let them break me down to dust</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>I know that there's a place for us</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>For we are glorious</i>*</div>
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So, I will say right now that I love this movie. I have seen
it twice and if you like it as much as I do, you might want to download the
movie soundtrack to save you some money from having to see it again and again.
The combination of catchy music and the funky dance moves make me feel warm and
happy inside. It pretty much has everything—a love story that has mean parents
getting in the way and they have class differences, success is had through grit
and determination, there’s personal growth, there are precious friendships and,
not only one underdog, but several folks who are down and out who overcome the
odds set against them. It’s a lovely story.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPbFJxCbt-CctHDPlkfTxr61M7s9nzHwAB78AwSvNmeSNGdcMrtIOK9dyZs5S2agERzjP5MWhOhKYyyDn36-whJMMRAelRI7PbN9bzBLyw2RcvD4OI0GLQYpyh4lVhjVlP-E_DemSIUQ/s1600/The_Greatest_Showman_poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-ccLn7v5zWgQ1g5xJLNCDImaSUIsn2DuecDqNursgtOpSfMLL77S-nhRuZ1yro705P9rYaz8w4vrxZd1EzqMBXsFyC33GWoD6UVy_26FSThLLMsdJn9qn0nS6Z63-fClPfCV34hydT0/s1600/A1xPD-hT6sL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>The story of “The Greatest Showman” is loosely based on the
life of Phineas Taylor Barnum, who, in 1871, created what would become the
Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus, which shut down for good last
year. To say it is loosely based on the historical figure of PT Barnum is a bit
of a stretch. There are only three essential details that connect this movie’s
story to the life of PT Barnum. PT indeed marry a woman named Charity and, of
course, he did create a museum of oddities which evolved into a travelling
circus and, for those of you who have seen the show, he really did introduce the
Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind to America. The rest of his story has been
reinvented and reimagined for the movie. How<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-ccLn7v5zWgQ1g5xJLNCDImaSUIsn2DuecDqNursgtOpSfMLL77S-nhRuZ1yro705P9rYaz8w4vrxZd1EzqMBXsFyC33GWoD6UVy_26FSThLLMsdJn9qn0nS6Z63-fClPfCV34hydT0/s1600/A1xPD-hT6sL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-ccLn7v5zWgQ1g5xJLNCDImaSUIsn2DuecDqNursgtOpSfMLL77S-nhRuZ1yro705P9rYaz8w4vrxZd1EzqMBXsFyC33GWoD6UVy_26FSThLLMsdJn9qn0nS6Z63-fClPfCV34hydT0/s200/A1xPD-hT6sL.jpg" width="161" /></a>ever beautiful and compelling the
story, it is important to know that this movie is primarily a work of fiction. I
point this out because there are relationships and moments in the movie that
simply did not happen or could not have happened in the time in which PT Barnum
lived and when he created the circus. But I’ll get to that later.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8Ten7TAGJ2HGDt29imhatWY5rOt1NFYaWadKehzSc80r2jvYZF5gqx4wn5nPs2XUI87T_4ZGXOJb2bC5zAc6I0gDTYMx7dPAqcCIJtb9HpWCkZGD3nmHU2ZOm7D_r-JHW-9ZEWd3v28/s1600/81ccLZ7AHML.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The movie begins with Phineas as a boy who is living in
poverty with his father. As all good tales go, there is tragedy in the boy’s
life and he must find a way in a world that is cruel to those born within the
lower classes. Thanks to the kindness of a woman who has some sort of unknown condition
that sets her apart from the rest of society—you saw her in the trailer, she
was the one who gave the Phineas the boy an apple—anyway, because of her
kindness Phineas survives a rather desperate time and carries on and become a
self-sufficient adult. Later, in another bleak moment, Phineas is inspired to
start a museum of oddities. His memory of how the somewhat deformed woman
helped him when he was younger, leads him to create a new show, a circus
displaying people who are, themselves, odd, who are not the normal, not usual—a
bearded lady, a giant, a wolf-man, Siamese twins, a man tattooed from head to
foot, stem to stern. The Circus has its opponents in those who fear the
unknown, the unusual. Phineas must fight against so many cultural norms to
create a home for his own family and then the family he creates with the people
of his Circus. Despite his successes, he cannot escape the lower class into
which he was born. The deformed and strange human oddities he befriends are
thought to be the result of moral depravity and so the righteous protest his Circus
along with those people who fear what they don’t understand. There are two
consistent aspects to Phineas’ character in the movie—he loves his wife and
children <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8Ten7TAGJ2HGDt29imhatWY5rOt1NFYaWadKehzSc80r2jvYZF5gqx4wn5nPs2XUI87T_4ZGXOJb2bC5zAc6I0gDTYMx7dPAqcCIJtb9HpWCkZGD3nmHU2ZOm7D_r-JHW-9ZEWd3v28/s1600/81ccLZ7AHML.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: left; color: #0066cc; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1600" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8Ten7TAGJ2HGDt29imhatWY5rOt1NFYaWadKehzSc80r2jvYZF5gqx4wn5nPs2XUI87T_4ZGXOJb2bC5zAc6I0gDTYMx7dPAqcCIJtb9HpWCkZGD3nmHU2ZOm7D_r-JHW-9ZEWd3v28/s200/81ccLZ7AHML.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a>without reserve and he cares deeply for the friends he finds the
creation of the Circus. Of course, there wouldn’t be a story worth watching if
there wasn’t a hiccup now and then in how Phineas treats his family and his
friends, but, overall, it is evident that he cares not for what society
determines as acceptable—he loves regardless of what’s ‘right’.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>When the sharpest words wanna cut me down</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I am brave, I am bruised</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I am who I'm meant to be, this is me</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Look out 'cause here I come</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And I'm marching on to the beat I drum</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I'm not scared to be seen</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I make no apologies, this is me</i></div>
<i></i><br /></div>
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When Stephen and I were looking ahead to the movies we chose
for this sermon series, it wasn’t hard to connect scripture with this story. The
relationships Phineas developed with the people who came out from the shadows
to be in his show is reminiscent of how easily Jesus approached the people of
his time who had the terrible disease of leprosy. Leprosy is contagious disease
that affects the skin, mucous membranes, and nerves, causing discoloration and
lumps on the skin and, in severe cases, disfigurement and
deformities. Leprosy still exists today but is now mainly confined to
tropical Africa and Asia. I don’t think that I’ve never met or seen anyone with
leprosy but I’m pretty sure that if I did, I would think twice before I would
stretch out my hand and touch them as Jesus did in the scripture reading that
Kim read for us this morning. Jesus did exactly what no one else would do, he
reached out to the one suffering. Besides just the looking gross and inherently
not wanting to get too close, Jews would not have touched a person known to be
ill because it would mean they would be unclean until they could perform their
ritual cleansing. And until they could be ‘clean’, they could not interact in
many everyday social activities. Of course, this was in the days before germs
and the miracle of soap were understood—it was important to follow the
religious laws because it often meant that you stayed healthy.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
When I was in grade six, I was called from class to go to the
office. Being a relatively well behaved student, I was a bit confused. Once I
got there, the school nurse was waiting for me. I can still remember her
worried face as asked me to show her my hands and then to open my mouth. Being
careful to not touch me, she took a quick look and, from the look on her face,
she did not like what she saw. Turns out, a teacher had notice the spots that
had recently appeared on my hands and reported my condition. I was sent home
immediately with diagnoses of hand, foot and mouth disease. I felt like a
pariah. While that was a relatively minor illness, I was quite impacted by
being secluded because of it. A few years ago, with our first youth trip to
Zambia, I had a parent who informed that her daughter would not be shaking
hands with any Zambians for the fear of catching some illness of sort or
another. I told the mom the youth would either shake hands or not come on the
trip because greeting one another with a handshake is central in interactions
in Zambia. The importance of connecting through the slapping together of hands
and the unique way they have of shaking the hand that is offered cannot
stressed enough. Being afraid to touch another person in Zambia is to diminish
their personhood. So, neither my hand, foot and mouth disease or the hand of an
everyday Zambian does not even begin to approach what leprosy must look like
and yet Jesus did not hesitate. He was asked help and he could have just
offered prayers of healing for the man. He could have just prayed. But he
didn’t. When asked for help, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched the one
that no one else in that society would. And he did not rush to the mikveh, the
ritual bath, to cleanse himself. He touched the man and did not then pull out
his hand sanitizer. He touched him and asked God to free the man from illness,
to make him clean. And he was.</div>
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The second part of the scripture reading takes place soon
after Jesus healed the leper. Jesus is about to sit for supper and, again, has
not done the proper ritual. He is criticized by the religious leaders. His
response is basically, what does it matter if I do a certain thing, a ritual, if
I then go about my life without being kind, without being compassionate? He points
out that it does not matter the fuss that is put into eating or not eating from
list of ‘proper’ foods if one does not offer words of love to all they meet? I
can imagine this was absolutely shocking to those who heard Jesus say this.
Remember, these were the days that strict food laws were in place not only to
offer a sense of community and belonging to those who followed the laws but they
existed also because people had discovered, over time, if they ate certain
types of food or prepared some foods in certain ways, people would become ill
and sometimes die. So, to disregard the food laws would have been monumental.
But Jesus was not disregarding the safety of food preparation so much as he was
disregarding the false sense of piety connected to them. It is not what goes
into your mouth that makes you more faithful to God, it is what comes out of
your mouth that lets the world know your commitment to God and God’s love for
the world. </div>
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In the Book of Acts, Peter, the rock upon whom Jesus built
his church, had a dream sometime after Jesus is killed. Peter and his fellow
apostles had been debating about what the emerging church will look like—who
can join, who can do what, etc. One point of contention was whether one had to
be a Jew before becoming a Christian—remember, Jesus did not set out to start a
new church, at the time the followers of Jesus were considered more a sect of
Judaism rather than a stand-alone faith tradition. Anyway, one night Peter
dreamed a dream in which a blanket descends from the sky, presumably from
heaven, and on it were all manner of animals. Peter interprets this dream as
confirmation that all animals can be mixed up together, there needs to no
longer be a strict separation of certain foods from other foods. The laws of
Judaism did not need to be followed if one followed Christ. Yay, they could eat
bacon! This was an earth-shattering change. The social norms that had developed
out of the Jewish cleanliness laws meant that one had to be careful about who
they came into contact with and who they associated with. Division would have
been a natural outcome of such norms and where there is division, relationships
are difficult to foster. And when relationships do not foster, it becomes
easier and easier to see the unusual, the odd, the strange as something scary,
unpredictable, unhuman.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Another round of bullets hits my skin</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Well, fire away 'cause today, I won't let the shame sink in</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>We are bursting through the barricades</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And reaching for the sun (we are warriors)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Yeah, that's what we've become</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i></i><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Won't let them break me down to dust</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I know that there's a place for us</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>For we are glorious</i></div>
<i></i><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
But with Peter’s dream, the newly emerging Christians could start
eating bacon and they could begin eating with the other, the outsider, those at
the margins. Remember Jesus ate with all he met along the Way—with prostitutes,
tax collectors. He healed the blind, drove demons out of the ill and he cured
the lepers. He sat with people with illnesses and deformities. It was confusing
why one person and not another would be unfortunate and become ill or be born
with a deformity or to be profoundly unlucky with their life circumstances.
This random selection of fortunate and unfortunate, the ancient Hebrew people turned
to God and let God take responsibility for the good and the bad. And if you had
something bad happen to you, if you were not what was considered normal, surely
God had weighed in and found you lacking in some manner. It was in bad form to
associate with those that God had clearly judged to be less-than. Their
misfortune might rub off onto you. And yet Jesus did associate with the
less-than. With the ill, the unfortunate, the down and outs. He did openly. And
he did so while calling those who wouldn’t hypocrites. Because if anyone needed
to know God’s love, it was the very people who had been rejected by society.</div>
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At some point in his life, the real PT Barnum became a
politician. From one of his speeches is the line, “A human soul, ‘that God has
created and Christ died for,’ is not to be trifled with. It may tenant the body
of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab or a Hottentot – it is still an immortal spirit.”
In a time when people of colour were disregarded as less than human, when those
who were not normal or who suffered misfortunes in life were considered beneath
the general public’s care, PT Barnum made a home for the unusual. This sentiment
comes through more so in the movie than the reality of PT Barnum’s life. As I
said earlier, the progressive views that the movie displays are improbable
considering the time the movie was set in. Although PT Barnum advocated for an
end to slavery and pushed for African-America suffrage, in his younger years he
was a slave owner. The movie does depict an openly inter-racial couple but it
is hard to imagine that could have been possible in the mid-1800s. But that is
one of the reasons this movie is so compelling—what seems to have been
impossible, becomes possible. Social barriers are broken, courage is found to
stand up to what is unjust, the strong fight the good fight so that the broken,
the scared, the ill, the hurt, and the unusual can come out into daylight and
be seen. The movie version of PT Barnum creates an environment of welcome in
which each person’s worth is recognized regardless of how there are packaged up
for the world to see. He says to those who have not known any kindness from
society as he tries to convince them to join his Circus: They don’t know it yet
but they are going to love you. </div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>When the sharpest words wanna cut me down</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>Gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>I am brave, I am bruised</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>I am who I'm meant to be, this is me</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>Look out 'cause here I come</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>And I'm marching on to the beat I drum</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>I'm not scared to be seen</i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<i>I make no apologies, this is me</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
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No matter the size, shape, colour of those in his life, he
sees them fully for who they are. His actions showed his love. And that is what
Jesus taught us to do so long ago with the lepers, the prostitutes, the ill and
the poor. And that is what God would have us do as we leave this place of
comfort, safety and love and go back out into the world to share God’s love
with all we meet. To know that in the praying for healing, courage and hope, we
must never forget to also reach out in love and offer a hand that is
compassionate and welcoming for love is not distant. It is as close as a
handshake, an arm around the shoulder, a hug, a hand held in prayer. I pray
that it may be forever so. Amen.<br />
<br />
*Lyrics from<i> The Greatest Showman</i> soundtrack - song:<i> This is Me</i></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><i></i><i></i>Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874961809876922307.post-934886959929684052018-01-18T11:57:00.000-08:002018-01-18T11:57:18.897-08:00Evolving in Monkey Town<br />
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Isn't January great? In the first days of the month we make New Year's resolutions. And the for the first few weeks we actually follow through with said resolutions. And when we do, we feel such a sense of accomplishment. And we try our best to not worry for the next goal cause that's for our future selves to worry about. Right? Or is that just me?<br />
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I love New Year's resolutions. In January.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
February is another set of feelings. Cause. You know. Ash Wednesday needs planning. So does the AGM. And that stupid Masters thesis proposal isn't going to write itself. And there's the little trip to Ontario that I need to make. (Did I tell you that I have the privilege to be a Youth Group leader for General Council 43? Yay! But there's some traveling ahead to prepare for that.)<br />
<br />
Anyway.<br />
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Life in ministry has a tendency to hit hard in February because Lent always (ALWAYS) seem to take ministers by surprise. It always (ALWAYS) comes a lot sooner after Christmas than you would think.<br />
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But I digress.<br />
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This year I've set my reading goal to be 26 books. They are stacked every so beautifully on one of my bookshelf. I am excited to read each one of them as I carefully selected them just last month. I love looking at books. And holding books. And choosing books. And buying books. It's the reading all of that's hard. There never seems to be enough time. I sometimes think having a chauffer would free up some valuable reading time.<br />
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Today I am happy to report in about book #1 -<i> Faith Unraveled</i> by Rachel Held Evans. I enjoy Rachel's writing. When I was on sabbatical I read her book,<i> Searching for Sunday</i> and very much enjoy it. As do lots of people on Twitter. I regularly see tweets that are thanking Rachel for her wisdom in that book. So, as I do when I like something, I get more of it. In fact, if you pay attention over the next year, you will see a few repeat authors (Hatmaker, McLaren, Barnes) - I might be able to run workshops on each of these theologians by the time I'm finished the pile. From Rachel Held Evans, I selected<i> Faith Unraveled</i> and<i> A Year of Biblical Womanhood</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcrLVoRayUXhyphenhyphen38CbiE-AhJr4Bozq_Db5vaWrxdLAnZWS9qMvmwUysJ8j03nHEsDA7bP6AN0CBw8osUse2igrq92bfJISEMV88tLh1wsOPLKy8ZNvjs1OvodNMSnJpmJfGvoZy9xrV60/s1600/1395693353683.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1452" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcrLVoRayUXhyphenhyphen38CbiE-AhJr4Bozq_Db5vaWrxdLAnZWS9qMvmwUysJ8j03nHEsDA7bP6AN0CBw8osUse2igrq92bfJISEMV88tLh1wsOPLKy8ZNvjs1OvodNMSnJpmJfGvoZy9xrV60/s200/1395693353683.jpg" width="137" /></a>The long and short of <i>Faith Unraveled</i> is that it is a memoir about Rachel's faith journey. She grew up as a conservative, evangelical Christian in Dayton, Tennessee, which is where the Scopes Monkey Trial took place in 1925. The trial was a test of the law, at the time,which prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools. The American Civil Liberties Union sought a teacher who wished to sue the State to oppose its anti-evolution laws. Some bright spark figured that Dayton would be put on the map if the trial took place in their courthouse. A local teacher by the name of John T. Scopes was found and the trial took place in the heat of that summer. Essentially, it was a science vs. religion spectacle. Dayton acquired the name, Monkey Town (a play on evolution's assertion that humans are just a short genetic hop from primates).<br />
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The trial was many things and both sides think they won. Scopes ended up being charged with violating the law as he admitted to teaching evolution in his classroom. Dayton ended becoming fervently religious. Conservative religious. Evangelical religious. Rachel grew up in the nineties as a believer in the black and white of God's Word as presented in the Bible. All of life could be seen through a biblical worldview and there was only one correct path - the path of her church and pastor. A critical event occurred as the US was about to invade Afghanistan in 2001 and was broadcast on TV. This event made Rachel ask questions of her faith tradition and her God. Questions that her friends, student colleagues, parents and religious leaders could not answer to her satisfaction - thus beginning the unravelling of almost she had ever believed in. And the building up again of her faith and the establishing of a firm foundation upon which she meets God and Jesus.<br />
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I very much enjoyed this book if, no other reason, than it speaks to what we, in the United Church of Canada, know to be true - doubt and questions are not denials of faith but essential components of faithful living. Here's one of my favourite lines, from chapter 19 entitled,<i> Adaptation</i>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i></i>I may have met one or two people who rejected Christianity because they had difficulties with the deity of Christ, but most rejected Christianity because they thought it means becoming judgmental, narrow-minded, and unkind. People didn't argue with me about the problem of evil; they argued about why Christians aren't doing more to alleviate human suffering, support the poor, and oppose violence and war. Most weren't looking for a faith that provided all the answers; they were looking for one in which they were free to ask questions. (203)</blockquote>
If you'd like to borrow this book or any other one that I've written about, swing by my office one day - I'd be happy to lend it to you.<br />
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Onto book #2 - <i>Braving the Wilderness</i> by Brene Brown - the book we are studying for our Lent Book Study. See the <a href="http://symonsvalleyuc.com/braving-book-study/" target="_blank">SVUC website</a> for more details.<br />
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<br />Vicki McPheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577303641357019621noreply@blogger.com0