Prayers of the People

Every Sunday as our community gathers we get a fresh reminder of the our need for one another.

That happens as names are added to the list that is passed from hand to hand among the congregation and then offered up in the Prayers of the People.  It also happens in conversations over coffee after the service. 

This Sunday there were names on the list that refer to situations that are heart-breaking:  the loss of a dear friend to cancer, the death of a wife and mother, the tragic death of a child in Kenya.  There were mentions of illness, and operations and daily struggles of various kinds.

I share the list aloud in the time of prayer but there is much more taking place than that.  People listen and add their prayers and then in the hallways, further conversations lead to a word of support or follow-up action.

Being part of a community of faith offers all kinds of support that makes us more resilient in times of difficulty.  Some times we get to offer that support and some times we get to receive it.  Both of these are a blessing.

The Big Picture

Last month Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow led a workshop in Ottawa on Evolutionary Christianity.  Dowd claims that “science and religion can be mutually enriching forces” in our world.  In one of his books, Dowd quotes Barbara Marx Hubbard’s grateful reflection on the fourteen billion year journey that has brought humanity to our present.

 

“Every entity that ever moved or swam or crawled or flew, every being that reproduced itself, all the vast numbers of species now extinct and presently living who have invented the amazing capability which we have inherited as our eyes, our ears, our organs, our very atoms, molecules and cells – all of these preceding us are represented in our emergence now.

 

We bow down in awe and gratitude for the past.  Without all that came before us, none of us would be awakening now.”

 

There’s a big picture reason to feel thankful this season.

 

 

Birthing Pains

On March 17, the Wesley and Emmanuel church communities will vote on whether to amalgamate into a new community.  From the looks of it, this will happen!

 

 If the vote is “yes”, there will be some change ahead.  Even though we are keeping the Emmanuel name and the Emmanuel site on Smyth Road, the way ahead has been altered.

That change holds promise for us all but if it’s like any other change in our lives, then the shift has the potential for disagreement, upset and spiritual growth.

Parker Palmer, a Quaker and a voice of wisdom that I have often appreciated, speaks of five habits that we can cultivate which will continue to move us forward in positive ways.

1.      An understanding that we are all in this together.

2.      An appreciation of the value of “otherness.”

3.      An ability to hold tension in life-giving ways.

4.      A sense of personal voice and agency.

5.      A capacity to create community.

As a participant and an observer in the steps of this journey toward amalgamation, I have noted that questions and fears have been out in the open and treated with respect. Experienced Presbytery leadership has been crucial.  Individuals in both congregations have taken the initiative to engage and that has made a significant difference.

 

The above five points have been evident in the conversations and meetings that have taken place, which makes me feel hopeful.  If we vote “yes” on the 17^th, then in the coming year, as we explore what this new community will be and do together, it may be helpful to continue to keep these points in mind.

 

We’ve had a couple of new babies born recently at Emanuel.  Another one may be coming soon.  Every new birth shakes up our lives but what joy there is in every new creation!

 

 

Peter

 

Walking By Faith

Our moderator, Gary Patterson, recently had the opportunity to meet with other church leaders in the Canadian Council of Churches. He discovered that other church leaders, from across the liberal/conservative spectrum were facing distrust of institutions, spiritual not religious people.  Apparently we're in the same boat.  Says Gary in his blog,

"Willard Metzger, head of the Mennonite Church of Canada, described his sense of what was happening by imagining the church leadership as being in a boat, trying to go forward but being surrounded by fog. You can’t see what the future church looks like or even where it’s going to be found. But you keep peering ahead, watching carefully, trying to read the currents, hoping you won’t hit the rocks. Always staring ahead, trying to discern what’s out there. Then the fog clears for a moment, and you catch a glimpse of the “new church”…but it isn’t anything like what you thought it would be. And then, just as you reset the tiller, the fog closes in again, and you’re forced to steer by faith once more.

There was talk about this being God’s work—that what is happening to the churches, to all of us, is the movement of the Spirit, similar in many ways to Jeremiah’s understanding of the exile of Israel into Babylon. We are not being called to “fix it” but to discover new ways of being, to discover where God is already doing a new thing and join in.

There's something in the New Testament about walking not by sight but by faith.

with thanks to Gary and to Christine who passed this on.

 

Peter

 

 

 

 

Camel-lot

The first thing we have to do

is to notice
that we’ve loaded down this camel with so much baggage
we’ll never get through the desert alive.
Something has to go

Then we begin to dump

the thousand things
we’ve brought along
until even the camel has to go
and we’re walking barefoot
on the desert sand.

There’s no telling what will happen then.

But I’ve heard that someone,
walking in this way,
has seen a burning bush.

That Francis Dorf poem is going to accompany me  through Advent.  I shared it at a recent Presbytery meeting and I intend to repeat to myself until I learn it by heart. 

That’s my Advent spiritual practice.

I like that idea that even the magi may have brought along too much stuff. If camels have their limits, I suppose we do too.

 

 

The Tragedy In Newtown, CT.

The whole world has been sharing in the sadness this week.  With our communication systems, we have been drawn into the grief of the community of Newtown, CT. 

 

We shared in a Sunday School pageant this morning.  As the children came up in costume, sheep, angels, shepherds, the shadow of that grief was present for me and I am sure for others. 

 

A colleague shared that Martin Crebbin and the Newtown Congregational Church have opened their doors and hearts to the broken-hearted around them.  Martin’s family is safe but he and his church are doing the job of Christian community, following in the steps of the Wounded Healer, being present and caring to the people around them. 

 

Those churches, like us, will continue to light Advent candles and trust in a light that no tears can erase and no darkness can put out.

 

Hands And Feet Of Jesus

The film, The Hobbit, makes its debut shortly.  What a wonderful story about dragons and elves, a guiding wizard named Gandalf, and a most unlikely hero, a little furry creature named Bilbo Baggins.  Bilbo is the one who goes in search of a great treasure guarded by a fire-breathing dragon.  (Spoiler alert!) After a long journey, many dangers, toils and snares, the dragon is defeated and peace returns to the land.

 In their song of celebration, the people sing of rivers running with gold, just as the old songs had prophesied.  Bilbo says to Gandalf,

 “Then the prophecy of the old songs have turned out to be true, after a fashion!” 

 “Of course!” said Gandalf.  “And why should not they prove true?  Surely you don’t disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself?” 

 I know film studios release films at this time of year not because its Advent but because of potential profits.  If Tolkein  was still around, this dialogue between Baggins and Gandolf suggests his deeper thinking could be about potential prophets.

Like you and me.