John Updike - A Great Loss

Ever since the recent death of John Updike on January 27, I have been feeling the loss and wishing I could attend a memorial service in his honour. That of course did not happen but I did get a chance to do some reflection on his passing.

A friend who knows I love John Updike’s writing, put me onto an interview with Adam Gopnik on the Charlie Rose show. Gopnik listed his reasons for admiring this genius. Google Charlie Rose if you are interested.

Gopnik’s final point was that Updike had a great subject for his writing - the loss of faith and its replacement with sex, shallow spirituality, our family and shopping. Updike is sympathetic to this search. He doesn’t scold. But he does observe that these substitutes are inadequate.

Gopnik does not mention that John Updike was a Christian. On Sunday morning he could be found in a Congregational pew in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. More than that, he served on the church’s building committee.

John Buchanan, in the Christian Century, leaves with us an observation by Updike of taking a walk on one of those sunny days in late autumn.

“Why do we love them, these last days of something like summer, of freedom to move in few clothes, though frost has flattened the morning grass? They tell us we shall live forever. Stretched like a rainbow across day’s end, my shadow makes a path for my feet: I am my path.”

Peter


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Eboo Patel and Progressive Islam

Watch out for this name. Eboo Patel. I can’t think of a more hopeful voice for interfaith dialogue. Patel is rallying young people to a kinder gentler Islam than gets most of the press these days. Progressive Christians will find a like-minded thinker in this progressive Islam.

Rose Marie Berger of Sojourners asked Patel what he would like Christians to know about Islam. He answered, “Three things...

1. The core tenet of Islam is mercy. “In the name of God, the all merciful, the ever merciful.... Be merciful on earth if you want the one in heaven to be merciful to you.

2. Diversity and pluralism is revered in Islam. One of Patel’s favourite line in the Quran is from Surah 49 - “God made you different nations and tribes that you may come to know one another.”

3. Islam is a tradition that has inspired jazz and poetry and love in one fifth of humanity for many centuries. It’s a remarkably diverse group of people so don’t think simple things about them.

Nice to see charismatic leaders that want to give this world a shake. In a good way.

Peter


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There's Probably No God

So the Freethought Association of Canada is stepping up its campaign to place provocative ads on buses. “There’s Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life.”

Should Chrstians be upset? Should we write letters? March somewhere? Take a stand and register our vote that there is a God. So far more people are voting against, which means what. That antis are more tech savy than pros? Who knows? And why should United Church folk get upset? We are all for provocative ads that stimulate dilaogue on the big issues.

Let’s hope that the church doesn’t get pushed into a defensive posture once again. Is our faith not big enough to accept critique or disagreement? Maybe not. Recently the Vatican newspaper reported that John Lennon is now officially forgiven for claiming in 1966 that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” Apparently that led some Christians to burn Beatles albums.

Maybe if we took ourselves a little less seriously, others would take us more seriously.


Peter


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Misbehaving In Church

What do you do when it’s your kid that’s misbehaving in church? Well it may be a stretch to call a 2 year old’s antics, misbehaving, but they certainly can be a distraction to the ones trying to pay attention to a speaker or a prayer.

I have watched many kids over the years, as little ones begin to get louder or make a break for freedom while parents look on, wondering if and when to intervene. This time it would be my granddaughter distracting the flock.

There we were, 70 plus Emmanuelites gathered for worship after a day of snow, rain and hail on the hills at Gray Rocks. Our theme followed the scripture of Jesus reaching out a hand to touch Simon's mother in law and invite her back to health. The question for our discussion was, when have we experienced someone reaching out a hand to us to invite us into the community of God’s care? Can you remember a person who did that for you?

At first it was just quiet twirling about in the middle of the big circle. Not too annoying while we were singing. Just feeling the music. Maybe the parents should grab her but she dances just beyond convenient reach.

Then others begin to join her. A liberation movement is afoot. The timing is not good because now there are speakers trying to communicate a message. Eventually our little angel body-slams another 2 year old into the carpet. Her dad sprints to the scene and carries her back to the seat next to me. Mackenzie begins to cry as she realizes that she has disappointed. Or maybe she is just ticked to have lost her audience.

Then her little victim, noticing the tears, sympathetically approaches. Mackenzie gets down, reaches a hand out, very gently touches the face of the little girl and says, “Sorry.”

Myrna, from across the room, says, “There’s the example you were asking for.” Myrna is one of the grandmothers in the room. She knows about these things.

Peter


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Road To Revitilization

Today our congregation made a decision to take another step down the road toward the revitalization of the CE building. As we were told, this is not a commitment to a precise set of blueprints or to an exact amount of money. Other steps and future decisions still lie ahead. But it was a big step.

What I found striking was not just the Eleison but the careful process that got us here. The biggest rounds of applause at the meeting were reserved for the long list of folks that did the “in the trenches” committee work. Cam Johnston thanked the committees involved for their hundreds of hours of work. Chair Graham Kneen read out the names of the many volunteers. What this said to me is that administration matters. How many great ideas have floundered on poor administration. Not the case here.

Louis Weeks in a recent Christian Century article, stresses the importance of the administrative side of a church operation. “How meetings are run, how new leaders are apprenticed, how the books are kept, how communication is structured, how events and programs are implemented and evaluated - all of this is crucial to congregational life, but rarely understood as ministry.”

So today we worshipped, shared sandwiches and coffee, and then weighed the reports and recommendations before us. All of this, and perhaps especially the professional and sensitive administration was a profound statement about our community and our ministry.

Peter


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