Yesterday afternoon we gathered in the Emmanuel sanctuary to mark the 29th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Over the years I have shared in prayers for Romero and El Salvador in many different congregations, but to share in communion with Salvadoran Canadians, with people who knew Romero, with a congregation of people who have for the most part lived or travelled to El Salvador is a very different experience.
In his last sermon, delivered on the day before his murder on March 23, 1980, Romero challenged soldiers of the National Guard to choose between God and their government: God’s law says “Thou shalt not kill” so do not obey any orders to kill another human being.
“In the name of God, and in the name of this suffering people whose laments rise to heaven each day more tumultuous, I beg you, I beseech you, I order you in the name of God: stop the repression. “
The sermon ended with those words, words that still ring with power all these years later. They underline one of the major themes of this season of lent, the cost of discipleship.
Peter
You may also send your comments to assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will make sure they are posted.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thoughts on the Presidential Election in El Salvador.
It was the day before the presidential election in El Salvador. We, were having breakfast with one of the country’s national heroes, Salvador Sanchez.
He began his career as a primary school teacher but when many of his fellow teachers were assassinated by death squads, Sanchez took up arms. He rose to a senior position among the guerillas. Now Sanchez was the vice presidential candidate for the FMLN. The next day he would become the second most important person in the country.
The surprising thing to our group is that this leader would take the time on the day before the election, to meet with a roomful of national and international election observers from churches. Following his talk and a question and answer period, people lined up for autographs and pictures. Sanchez was not familiar to most of us but from the adoring looks of Salvadorans, we had a sense of what a significant figure he was to them.
After he had been whisked away to another event, I sat down in a shady chair. I fell into a conversation with a man sitting next to me. Luis was his name. Luis told me he was a Lutheran deacon, working in a town in the west of the country.
It had been a difficult couple of years for him. A group of other ministers had confronted him about his ministry. They were not in favour of his work. He was not taking the bible as the literal word of God. His theology was too concerned with this world rather than with saving souls for the next. And yet he felt that he was being faithful to his call, putting programs in place that were dealing with the whole person and the very practical needs of the community.
Nobody was lining up for pictures with Luis, but I felt the goodness of the man and of his work. I will remember him in prayer.
Peter
You may also send your comments to assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will make sure they are posted.
He began his career as a primary school teacher but when many of his fellow teachers were assassinated by death squads, Sanchez took up arms. He rose to a senior position among the guerillas. Now Sanchez was the vice presidential candidate for the FMLN. The next day he would become the second most important person in the country.
The surprising thing to our group is that this leader would take the time on the day before the election, to meet with a roomful of national and international election observers from churches. Following his talk and a question and answer period, people lined up for autographs and pictures. Sanchez was not familiar to most of us but from the adoring looks of Salvadorans, we had a sense of what a significant figure he was to them.
After he had been whisked away to another event, I sat down in a shady chair. I fell into a conversation with a man sitting next to me. Luis was his name. Luis told me he was a Lutheran deacon, working in a town in the west of the country.
It had been a difficult couple of years for him. A group of other ministers had confronted him about his ministry. They were not in favour of his work. He was not taking the bible as the literal word of God. His theology was too concerned with this world rather than with saving souls for the next. And yet he felt that he was being faithful to his call, putting programs in place that were dealing with the whole person and the very practical needs of the community.
Nobody was lining up for pictures with Luis, but I felt the goodness of the man and of his work. I will remember him in prayer.
Peter
You may also send your comments to assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will make sure they are posted.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
God's Call
Sometimes God’ call is unavoidable. It just comes knocking on the door. That was the case for Sister Eugenia Bonetti. He first call took her from Rome to Africa where she worked for 24 years. When she returned to Rome, she responded to another call.
A young woman came to the door begging for help. She had escaped from her captors who had made her a sex slave. She was a Christian and asked the sisters to pray. This encounter opened Sister Bonetti’s eyes to the extent of the evil of human trafficking. She has been helping to open others’ eyes ever since.
Her own congregation now has 250 sisters working to provide safe havens and rehabilitation for these victims of modern slavery. She has connected with sisters around the world and organized them into a network of support and service. She has pushed governments to catch up with the church.
Eleanor Gaeten, senior coordinator for public policy in at the US State Department said it was faith-based groups and women such as Sister Bonetti who first brought the issue to the attention of lawmakers and government officials. These sisters were the ones visiting the slaves in detention and following up with them when they were released.
The sisters have the background of working with the poor. They are more trusted than the police. They have that welcoming and comforting maternal presence. A great need meets a compassionate heart. What a perfect fit.
Peter
You can also send your comments to assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca
and I will make sure they are posted
A young woman came to the door begging for help. She had escaped from her captors who had made her a sex slave. She was a Christian and asked the sisters to pray. This encounter opened Sister Bonetti’s eyes to the extent of the evil of human trafficking. She has been helping to open others’ eyes ever since.
Her own congregation now has 250 sisters working to provide safe havens and rehabilitation for these victims of modern slavery. She has connected with sisters around the world and organized them into a network of support and service. She has pushed governments to catch up with the church.
Eleanor Gaeten, senior coordinator for public policy in at the US State Department said it was faith-based groups and women such as Sister Bonetti who first brought the issue to the attention of lawmakers and government officials. These sisters were the ones visiting the slaves in detention and following up with them when they were released.
The sisters have the background of working with the poor. They are more trusted than the police. They have that welcoming and comforting maternal presence. A great need meets a compassionate heart. What a perfect fit.
Peter
You can also send your comments to assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca
and I will make sure they are posted
Saturday, February 28, 2009
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
You can also send your comments to assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will make sure they are posted.
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
You can also send your comments to assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will make sure they are posted.
Monday, February 23, 2009
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
You can also send your comments to the assistant webmaster assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will make sure they are posted.
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
You can also send your comments to the assistant webmaster assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca and I will make sure they are posted.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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
If you wish, you can also send your comments to the Assistant Webmaster and I will ensure they are published assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca
Monday, February 9, 2009
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
If you wish, you can also send your comments to the Assistant Webmaster and I will ensure they are published assistant.webmaster@emmanuelunited.ca
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
