Another Journey

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

For the inquiring minds that want to know YES Edmund and I are on another adventure and after 28 hours on the road, long layovers in Toronto and Munich, we finally arrived in Rome today at about 5 p.m. local time.  We were too late and tired to go out in the city today but its many pleasures that need discovering await tomorrow.  Yes I have googled the top 10 things to do in Rome and at least two of them are not cumbersome at all -- eat the local pizza and gelato.  Sounds easy enough!

Jokes aside however there is a serious element to our trip and it is not all holiday and fun, though I am sure that it might appear that way!  We are continuing on with our sabbatical studies, for Edmund the Sacred and the Profane in constant tension and my studies of Spirituality, as we visit the holy sites of Rome where so many pilgrims journey every year.  Our hosts in Rome are the Benedictine Sisters with whom we will live in community and worship and there will be a five day road trip to Florence, Venice, Assisi and Naples.  The tour of Italy will be jammed packed.  We are looking forward to this new adventure, the study time, the exploration and experience of spirituality as pilgrims to this city and country.

So for those who will follow and are on holiday/sabbatical with us I hope that you enjoy the next part of the journey your comments and your insights are, as always, very welcome.

Change....is ALWAYS possible!

A priest and pastor from the local parishes were standing by the side of the road holding up a sign that reads, "The End is Near! Turn yourself around now before it's too late!"   

They planned to hold the sign up to each passing car.  "Leave us alone you religious nuts!" yelled the first driver as he sped by.  From around the curve they heard screeching tires and a big splash.   

“Do you think,” said one clergy to the other, “we should just put up a sign that says ‘Bridge out’ instead?”

Sometimes a little humour goes a long way!  Sometimes a little humor has a serious message! Sometimes a little humour hammers home a point in a way that nothing else can!  Most of us love a good joke or story and if there is a something to be learned from it then so much the better.

I am sure that the clergy in the above joke had the best intentions even if the message was not as clear as it could have been for the immediacy of the situation.  However, when we think about it we realize that we can sometimes be like the driver of the car, rushing along not giving thought to the deeper aspect of the message and thinking those who are trying to slow us down, warn us about the follies of our actions are nuts.  After all we know what we are doing.....right?

“What things get tossed our way in life that we are often not prepared for?” The answer is unique to every person who attempts to answer it.  The trials and tribulations of life are generally not planned and prepared for, impossible to brace yourself to absorb the impact.  Even when you know difficult times are ahead it is impossible to truly know how you will respond until it happens.   Joys and celebrations are often more easily planned and even when they are not are more willingly received and embraced.  It would be great if we were able to turn ourselves around before it is too late but generally speaking how easy is it to convince someone that a particular route is bad, a life altering decision is the wrong one?  We are more likely to be like the driver and scoff at the warning and zoom along our merry way thinking that we know what we are doing.  The warnings of those with good intentions will likely not deter us from the path that we intend to travel.  The message can be clear or ambiguous but most of us will believe that we know what we are doing!  The second aspect of the warning is clear there is still time to make a change in our decision, to become more informed. 

Now what about hindsight...it is always perfect vision!  In light of what we have rushed through, the warnings that we may have ignored, the voices of caution that have been tossed aside we look back and realize that maybe we should have been more cautious, certainly listened more to the voices of reason and experience.  Yet there is something to be learned by the experience.  No experience sticks with us as a reminder quite like those where we make mistakes and hopefully learned from them as opposed to constantly repeating them.

So while the message, the end is near, turn yourself around before it is too late was not clear for a bridge out situation it is an important message for us as we zoom through life.  Turn yourself around ...slow down before it is too late to enjoy life and the beauty that surrounds us, before we wander so far down a dark path that we think there is no hope of return, before we close ourselves off to all that is good, before we lose sight of the good that still exists in the world and in us, it is perhaps an inexhaustible list of things that we can do to change, to improve on the self.  Turn yourself around...is something that we can all benefit from at various times in our lives.  Change is always possible.

Questions to ponder

In my last three sermons; Christmas Eve, the Sunday after Christmas, and Epiphany, I have asked those gathered to consider a question.  On Christmas Eve we considered the question are you ready?  In light of all of the preparations that we undertake, gift buying, decorating, cleaning, baking,and on and on the list goes with what we hope to accomplish, it is easy for us to forget what we are really getting ready for.  So on Christmas Eve, perhaps a little late, an important question to consider was asked Are we ready?  Not for the merry go round of tasks but have we taken time to get ourselves ready to receive God's gift of love in the world and in our lives.  Were we able to make some use of the advent time to prepare ourselves as well as the multitude of other tasks that needed to be accomplished?

Then a few days later, for the Sunday after Christmas, we read about a twelve year old boy that was accidentally left behind in Jerusalem and parents who hastily returned and frantically searched for three days.  So when we are looking or seeking or desperately searching in our relationship with Jesus what are we looking for?  Tie that to the question " Are you ready?", and we are forced to consider the preparation of ourself so that we can comprehend what it is or who it is that we are looking for.

This past Sunday we celebrated the arrival of the Magi, a few days early according to the calendar, but a significant arrival for the Holy Family.  They came to honour and worship him as well as to bring gifts.  What gift will we bring? rounded out my questions for consideration.  Each person gathered was encouraged to give thought to what their gift is and how it could be offered and utilized by God for the building of the kingdom that we, as disciples, continue to actively participate in building.  The gift that we bring, no matter how insignificant we may think the offering is, has an important role in the continual building and growing.

So for those who gathered it was not merely a message of hope, glad tidings and gifts but a careful examination of self, what we seek and the gifts that we each have to offer for the building up of ministry.

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean.  

But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."  

Mother Teresa

As you consider the questions for yourself

     Are you ready?

     What are you looking for?

     What gift will you bring?

remember as well that you are an important and significant part of the ongoing ministry that we are called to build together and your offering is significant and an important contribution .... for the ministry like the ocean will be less with even one drop missing! 

New Toys And Resolutions

It is New Year's Eve and instead of the usual hustle and bustle in our household as we prepared for guests, some of them overnighting with us, and the New Year's Eve party that we traditionally held, we are having a quiet day.  I am playing with a new toy and trying to figure out how it works...so far so good.  I have added my kobo app and my email app and now I am figuring out how to access my blog!  Finding it was easy and quite by accident I found the post page...my challenge is to be able to access this page again!  So this new toy?....well it's an iPad mini...don't ask the model I've no clue.  It was my gift this year for Christmas.

So I have a new toy that can slip in my handbag for a multitude of tasks.  New toys are always fun to play with and Christmas certainly brings a variety of toys to all ages.  I like a certain practical aspect to my toys and this one will definitely be a winner.  Compact and multi purpose what more could I need...well a tutorial won't go astray!

As I quietly sit here playing, and hopefully learning, it is also a time to reflect of the past year and the hopes for the new year which is upon us.  We have let go of an old and cherished tradition of a house party and will be having dinner with friends.  We will watch fire works from the backyard and have a much quieter ringing in of the new year.    It is hard to let go of a cherished tradition but we will still be making memories and celebrating together.

New toys and resolutions sometimes mean that we move on and forget about what came before or what brought so much enjoyment.  However I think it is more important to regard it as an adding on to skills learned and memories made.  So while I have a new toy to make my life simpler the old ones are still valued and while we start 2016 in a new manner there are many treasured memories that we also carry with us.  New toys and resolutions remind us that we continue to grow and learn and look forward to what is on the horizon of a new year.  As you head into 2016 I hope you find yourself challenged with new toys, thoughts and growth while you continue to cherish the memories that you have made.

Falling Behind

An apt title for this post as I noticed my writing has been a little lax for the last few months.  So as I sit here  in my Christmas apron, listening to Christmas music I figured that it is time to write before Christmas Eve and day hit! A friend asked me on Saturday when my marathon of services would begin,  I replied that it would be the very next day when I had 3 services and so it would be for Christmas Eve as well.

However in the midst of what may well appear to be a marathon, this past Sunday  I traveled to St. Matthew's (my third congregation) where we concluded the services for 2015 with what has become a tradition in the congregation, the Service of Carols and Lessons.  It is undoubtedly one of my favourite places to have this service.  A tiny church (it holds about 50 people) situated on a prairie field in the country. Heated with a wood stove.  Candles burning. And then the service starts with the old familiar carols and the beautiful retelling of the Christmas story by a variety of parishioners and visitors. The crackling fire, candles glowing and everything pure and white with the snow  some how makes the service even more special.  It somehow sets the tone of the season that we are about to enter into.

While I felt like I had fallen behind because I had not done all of my usual preparations and baking I realized with this service at St. Matthew that I am right where I need to be at this time.  Not bogged down with all that has not been accomplished but remembering what is important in this season and that is being ready for the welcome of the Christ into our midst again.  My question became, not what do I have left to get done but, am I ready?  Did I use the four weeks of advent to prepare myself for what it is we are celebrating this season?  Hope, Peace, Joy, Love were the themes to help us prepare ourselves for the coming of the Messiah.  It is easy to fall behind in the daily tasks that we set for ourselves the important thing is that we have spent the time wisely on the things that are important and that our time has been well spent getting ready and preparing in the most important way ... preparing ourselves to receive the most important gift the gift of God's Love.  Have a wonderful Christmas season.

Once upon a Christmas far away in Bethlehem
Mary being great with child had no place to lie down
So Joseph found a stable in which Mary had her child
Once upon a Christmas was the birth of Jesus Christ

Once upon a Christmas in a manger far away
A King was born His palace was a manger filled with hay
His royal robe was swaddling cloth a halo was His crown
Once upon a Christmas away in Bethlehem

And all the world rejoiced because the King was born at last
A savior had been promised now it had come to pass
And the joyful news that He was born spread quickly far and wide
Once upon a Christmas was the birth of Jesus Christ

Once upon a Christmas from the Far East wise men came
With gold and myrrh and frankincense to praise the newborn King
And shepherds left their flocks and came to see and worship Him
Once upon a Christmas away in Bethlehem

And all the world rejoiced because the King was born at last
A savior had been promised now it had come to pass
And the joyful news that He was born spread quickly far and wide
Once upon a Christmas was the birth of Jesus Christ

Once upon a Christmas far away in Bethlehem

 Dolly Parton - Once Upon A Christmas Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

Feeling the Blues?

In the midst of all of the preparations that are taking place and the rushing around that people will do as well as the normal daily events and work it is sometimes difficult to realize that not everyone is into the festivities and that the song Blue Christmas rings closer to the truth than Jingle Bell Rock.  What is it about the Christmas season in particular that increases the blues and depression for countless numbers of people?  Some will say that the shorter days and longer nights, colder weather have an impact.  Others feel the loss of loved ones keenly.  Many are intensely lonely and that somehow magnifies at Christmas when friends are eagerly looking forward to going home for the season or conversely looking forward to family members coming to spend it with them.  It is a tough season filled with very mixed emotions. 

We know that it is impossible to get far in life without being hurt and feeling pain.  The wounds that life gives us can run deep.  In order to safeguard and protect ourselves we build walls and resistance to love, become less trusting and isolate ourselves.  Then we wonder why we feel sad? Add to that a season of merriment, celebration and gatherings of friends and countless parties and the loneliness and sadness that is felt is magnified –after all everyone else is so happy!  That in turn increases the loneliness that we might feel.  We are reminded though by our very inclusion in events that it is through friends, faith we can start to feel better and whole once more and with their help we learn to open ourselves up again.  We learn to become compassionate and willing to let people be a part of our lives once more.  We heal!  It does not mean that we have forgotten what has wounded and saddened us it simply means that we are moving forward, making new memories to build on the old ones.  In means that new joy can be found in the midst of the sadness that has become a part of our very essence.

The “spirit of this season” brings with it mixed emotions for many people.  I would encourage each and every one of us not to not gloss over the pain, loss or loneliness as it is a part of us and makes us uniquely who we are.   However, I would encourage each of us to be willing to be open to the new experiences, new memories that can be built and grown and to be open to those who invite us to be a part of and share in the festivities so that a new spirit can begin to grow in us.  

Asking the right questions

As I listened to the meditation talk on Monday entitled Jesus the Teacher Lawrence Freeman emphasized that the answers are not as important as the questions.  He emphasized that a good teacher knows that the important thing is to have their students ask questions.   When we consider that the emphasis is usually on whether one has or knows the answer it forces you to re-evaluate how you look at things.  The question was raised what is the good of knowing the answer if you do not truly understand the question.   Answers in and of themselves are sometimes not  enough.  The example that was offered was that of a student that struggled with math.  The student and his friends discovered that the teacher’s book contained the answers in the back and they further determined that there must be more than one of these books in existence.  After some searching they were able to turn up another teacher manual which contained the answers to the questions and they bought it.  Suddenly the math marks were greatly improved, until they got different questions.  Having the answers was no good when the formula was not understood and the question as obscure as ever.

 

It is important to grapple with questions and it is fine to sometimes not have the answer.  Questions lead us on a peculiar journey and force us to look at ourselves as well as struggle with the answer or the outcome.  The answer is not always the same (unless it is math) as the question will be understood differently by each person and will have a different meaning for each person.  Monday’s talk, Jesus as teacher, said that he was generally referred to as teacher, rabbi by many who encountered him and who still encounter him.  Now consider his question to the disciples “Who do YOU say that I am?”  Since it is not the answer that is important but the question I hear a different emphasis on the “You.”  It becomes a personal question and not merely a question tossed out to the disciples on that particular day and in that particular conversation.  It is a question to be struggled with and the answer – well it could be Peter’s, or what some of the general public were expressing.  The question though is still one for personal reflection.  After thinking about what others say then ask how would I answer? 

This was also a timely question as this week’s confirmation class talked about “Who is Jesus” and the answers of the young people were statements of fact about, birth, baptism, ministry, death and resurrection.  After much discussion I asked them to write in a few lines “Who is Jesus for you.”  I am always pleasantly surprised by their answers and the deep thought that they are giving to our discussions.  The answers were not text book perfect, nor were they the proclamation of Peter but they continue to grapple with the importance of this question and reflect on how it will impact on them as they continue to grow and be at their best.

The answers, as important as they are to us, are not as important as the questions.  In this season of Advent as we prepare the way for the kingdom of God it is a timely question for us to ask of ourselves “Who do YOU say that I am?”  …and the answer…well the answer is yours!