What’s Prayer Got To Do With It?

What’s Prayer Got To Do With It?

You know, there are a lot of dead souls out there, wandering through life living with obsessions and fears and grudges and resentments and depression.  They do not know how to feel joy, but boy, they are good at keeping a grudge going.  Ask them if they are nice friendly people, they would probably agree they were, but if you let them talk, you may find they are fixated with the horrible person who stabbed them in the back or who is a terrible neighbor or just rubs them the wrong way.

They are in the habit of criticising their neighbors, usually behind the neighbors’ backs, and it is not nice to hear them go after someone.  And yet it is so easy to do.  Just ask me about the last time we replaced the fence between our house and the neighbor’s house, and how we ended up solving our dispute about what kind of paint to use.  I’m no saint, and I can still foam at the mouth at the thought of the ‘latex vs oil’ debate that never did get resolved.

So when I hear the disciples grousing about the guy down the road from them who is casting out demons in Jesus’ name, something that earlier in the chapter, they were not able to do, I can really relate.  Especially in a town with lots of different churches.  It’s so tempting to think that we do church better than ‘them’ whoever ‘them’ might happen to be.  But annoyingly, Jesus doesn’t join their side in the resentment match.  “We’re better than he is,” doesn’t cut any dice with Jesus.  And he launches into a long lecture to remind them to keep their minds on the business at hand.  Don’t forget that you are to be salty, and undistracted from what is important, helping children not to stumble, helping community come together to make a difference in the world.  Be flavorful, zesty, tasty, seasoning for life.  Be the sparkle that makes others around us go, “Wow, I want some of that.”

That’s a big tall order.  How do we be zesty when we’re living the average life with the average challenges from family, neighbors, acquaintances and church community?  How do we be sparkling when we’re in the presence of that annoying so and so who goes out of his or her way to be deliberately annoying and vexatious?

That’s where I think the James reading is important.  What are we to be doing? Calling on Jesus name.  Reminding ourselves to pray.  Prayer?  Yikes!  I don’t know about you, but prayer is one of those things we don’t talk about, right up there with talking about sex, our bank accounts, politics and what kind of computer or phone is best.  Dangerous stuff.

And prayer is so nebulous.  It has a huge ‘ick’ factor for many people, who think about prayer as something a ‘holy roller’ kind of guru does.  I must admit that I never gave prayer much thought when I was growing up.  Wasn’t that something that kids were supposed to do on their knees in their nightshirts right before bed?  What if the floor was cold? What if my knees were bony?  So pretty much as soon as I was old enough to get an understanding that there was something called prayer, I was rejecting it as hard work.  Then there were the gurus that apparently could sit cross-legged in the lotus position chanting ‘om’ for hours at a time.  Boring!  Why do that when there was so much more interesting stuff in the world like root beer floats or ice cream sundaes or even boys?

Then there were the embarrassing people who went on and on about how their prayers fixed their lives and made all their dreams come true.  The people who put ads in the paper, like one I remember reading in the 1980’s, “Thank you God for my Mercedes”, or the athletes who thanked God for their Grey Cup touchdown, and so on.  Really?  God gave you a Mercedes?  Why? 

Couldn’t God give the people on Boyle Street a ham sandwich then?  Wouldn’t 5 thousand ham sandwiches do more good?  So praying for stuff seemed pretty silly or selfish or some combination of that.  And it doesn’t help that James makes it sound like all our problems will be solved if we pray.  Jesus prayed that he might not be crucified, and look at how that turned out.

So how do we look at prayer with modern eyes?  The neuroscientists are doing some interesting work on the power of our thoughts to impact our brain chemistry.  They report “The practise of Gratitude produces the same brain chemical as the antidepressant Wellbutrin, dopamine as well as doing what Prozac does, it boosts the neurotransmitter serotonin.  It’s not finding gratitude that matters most; it’s remembering to look in the first place. One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex.”

They have also found that labelling our negative emotions can lessen their impact.  When participants in a study were asked to name their emotion, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activated and reduced the emotional amygdala reactivity. In other words, consciously recognizing the emotions reduced their impact.  “Dear God, I am so angry at such and such” may actually calm us down.

Even the decision to turn something over to God can help our stress levels.  One of the most powerful prayers we can make is to say, “Oh God, this problem is too big for me.”  But James wants us not to pray just for the sake of ourselves but for our own community.  He wrote, “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.” And the you he used in Greek was plural.  Pray for each other so that your congregation, your fellowship, your community, your town will be healed. 

What would Athabasca really look like if we all prayed for every single person in it?  A wonderful place where every flavorful, salty person would be at peace with everyone else in one wonderful circle of love and fellowship.  Let us work and pray for that day to come.  Amen. 

Below the Belt

Ever wonder what the first Christian communities were really like?  All love and peace and harmony, right? And especially when Jesus was there, we can easily slip into this vision of a wonderful party, with shades of Jesus Christ Superstar, of a bunch of nice men basking in the glow of Jesus, who like those old paintings I remember from Sunday School, shone even in the middle of the night, he was so holy.

Sweet, wonderful glow in the dark Jesus, going around and healing people, hugging children, and being helpful and forgiving to everyone he met.  Acting like a shepherd, getting his portrait painted with baby lambs in his arms and gazing thoughtfully up into the sky.

Well, if that’s our picture of Jesus and his followers, how do we deal with the scriptures today?  The book of James describes would-be Christians as greedy assassins.  Listen again, “You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts.”  James was supposed to be the brother of Jesus, and the leader of the people of Jerusalem.  So here we have a vision of a rather drastic Church community that James is trying to lead. 

Mark’s gospel is not much better.  The disciples are so wrapped up in their own fighting that they are ashamed and embarrassed when Jesus asks them what they were talking about.  They don’t want to admit that they don’t understand what he’s teaching.  “I’m the greatest!”  “No, I am!” the argument goes on and on until Jesus challenges them.  Just like two kids yelling at each other in the basement when Mom or Dad asks, “What’s going on down there?”

If we look for advice about being community, being church in a challenging time, Jesus and James have the same message.  Keep your big picture in mind.  Don’t go hitting each other below the belt in unfair fights.  Don’t get greedy or violent or selfish or manipulative.

That’s easier said than done.  It’s much more fun to be the victim, resenting how so and so treated me, or the way that I’m going to treat that jerk who’s been attacking me and deserves to suffer.  Revenge is a dish that’s best served up cold, and get them before they get me, right?

Neither Jesus nor James agree.  They don’t think much of the quarrels, complaints, whining, grumbling and competitive jostling for power and status among God’s followers.  In short, don’t act like some politicians who use fear and attack ads to tear down other people.  Don’t go below the belt, don’t act aggressively.  Don’t grasp after possessions or power.  Be more like children.

I don’t know about you, but children have been on my mind a lot recently.  First it was the photograph of Alan Kurdi drowned on a beach after leaving Syria, then it was the horrific story of Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette in Blairmore.  And just yesterday more Syrian children drowned trying to cross to safety.  So when I hear children in the gospel, that’s what I imagine, a child like Alan or Hailey in the centre of a circle of quarrelsome men.

Put a small child in the middle of a bunch of adults, and watch the little ones play, be curious, ask for rides on shoulders, and have very little in the way of power and authority.  A two year old is not going to run for Prime Minister, for example.  And some of you might remember that children were seen in the ancient world as having no status except as a possession of their fathers’, and in some cultures, as disposable as the fathers saw fit.

Children are vulnerable.  They can’t feed themselves when they are very little, they need someone to cook for them and provide for them.  They have to ask for help to even survive.  They have no power over where they live, or what conditions they live in.  But they do have the ability to ask.  Even a newborn will cry when it’s hungry in a bid to get help.

Here’s where I think James and Jesus both challenge us to ask ourselves what is really important.  What do we want our children to feel: welcomed, accepted, loved, vindicated, forgiven, liberated, and hopeful?  If the disciples had thought about what they had wanted in a different way, maybe instead they could have said, “we’d like have a better future for our children, we’d like to have more fair play and fair employment for ourselves and our neighbors, we’d like to feel that we weren’t alone in the struggles of an unfair government system, and we’d like to live free from oppression and the threat of violence.

To me it sounds like they are both trying to lead us to simplify what our purpose is in our lives.  To not get all caught up in the daily grind until we lose hope and dignity and kindness, but to remember to connect our lives to a higher purpose, a higher dream, a loftier hope.  A dream that never dies but keeps on showing us the way to a life where we can know real peace and belonging, gentleness and all of that with true integrity and trustworthiness in the service of something much bigger than ourselves, that will leave behind a legacy we can be proud of.  We can follow in the footsteps of James and the other quarrelsome disciples who found themselves profoundly transformed into a community that healed and encouraged, practised generosity and transparency for the greater good of all no matter what your age.  For the vision of God’s beautiful, kind and peaceful community lived among us every day. May we too work for such a vision of God’s kingdom among us.

Talking about the Tough Stuff

"If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

Christianity is not a pilgrim path for the light-hearted or the lazy.  Our lives are on the line, and this is a daily experience.  We humans don’t like to talk about death much, and here in our scriptures, Jesus did just that.  He talked about his life purpose and his death to disciples who were still trying to figure things out.  Jesus challenged them to change their attitudes towards life and towards who he was.  In two of our gospels, Matthew and in Mark, the writers wanted us to know that he had this conversation not in Jerusalem or in Nazareth or even in Samaria.  He had ‘the talk’ in Caesarea Philippi, the district filled with Roman temples and Hebrew rulers like Herod who had compromised their faith in order to fit in with the government of Rome.  I don’t know about you, but talking about being the Messiah, the hero that the people hoped would save them from empires, in the shadow of a roman temple sounds pretty suicidal to me.  I think it would be like driving a Volt to the Syncrude plant in Fort McMurray, or going to downtown Edmonton during rush hour traffic in a John Deer tractor, parking it in the middle of Churchill Square and talk to your buddies about where you are going to plant the corn and the canola next spring.  Yeah, over there by that statue, that gets plenty of sunshine, or it will once we bulldoze the Citadel Theatre.

No wonder Peter called Jesus on it.  Let’s not talk about death!  Let’s not talk about losing the war before we’ve even grabbed our weapons!  For Peter thought it would be about war, most people did think the prophecy would come about with bloodshed and violence.  Being right could only be proved by forcing people at sword-point to realize it.  Might is right, and if God is with us, why, Jesus, why are you talking about defeat?

Going back to Churchill Station, the farmer says, yup, I’ll probably demolish this and that to get the farmland back and then the cops will shoot me.  Nobody wants to hear such a thing.  It sounds like suicide, and perhaps that was what was going on in Peter’s head too.  Jesus being rash, Jesus not having a plan for success, Jesus needs to go off on one of those retreats to teach leaders how to be, well, a better leader.  Nobody wants to follow someone who is already talking about defeat.  About death.

Speaking of death is never easy.  I got an e-mail this week from the Movember fellows who raise money and awareness for prostate and testicular cancer.  This time Movember tackled suicide prevention.  They wrote, “Men are pretty good at talking about sports, work, movies or the latest gadget, but we need to get better at talking about the significant stuff going on in our lives - things like losing a job, the breakdown of a relationship or becoming a father for the first time. These things happen to all of us, and for some, they prove challenging to the point where they have the potential to derail us.”

I was surprised to read this and even more surprised to hear that in Canada, 11 people will die today by their own hand.  That’s more than breast cancer.  Men are more successful than women at suicide, and usually get it right the first time.  Nunavut, if it was a country, would have the second highest suicide rate in the world.  The most dangerous time for men is when they are between 45 and 49 years old, and there is an upswing again at 80.  Children as young as 10 are recorded, too.  Factors that contribute can be unemployment, depression, sexual orientation, living on reserve, family violence, substance abuse or just the challenges of living in a hectic society where no one seems to have time to listen.

Listening is the key.  Being a safe person, a sanctuary for those feelings can make a huge difference to those who are struggling.  And it happens to us all.  We all know someone or of someone who made that terrible choice.  The day that I heard our church treasurer had let depression get the best of him and that his family and children were in shock was a turning point for one congregation.  But it’s not just people struggling with mental illness.  I can remember when I was a young adult away at university wondering what it would feel like and would anyone notice or care.  There didn’t seem to be anything to hope for in my life.  I was a dunce with boys, I was flunking out of school, I was a drain on my parents’ finances, and I didn’t have someone to talk to.  Luckily for me, or God was at work, someone came into my life, listened without putting his agenda on me and said, “have you thought about going back to church?”  What a stupid idea that was! How could some moldy old superstition have anything to do with my life?  But it gave me hope, and it gave me a purpose and it gave me many someones I could really talk to.

Movember wrote, “Tragically, for too many men, the first and only time they talk about how these changes have affected them is in a suicide note. So, we have a simple message - Men, we need to talk, especially when things get tough.”

Jesus knew how to talk about the dark and dangerous things, he talked honestly about his life and the life of his followers.  We who call him “messiah”, are called to also be honest and talk about the tough stuff.  However, we need to remember James’ wise words that our tongues can be dangerous.  Not all of us are able to rein it in and listen calmly without interruption to taboo topics.  Not all of us are called to be teachers or suicide prevention experts.  But we can point the way to people we know are good listeners.  We can say, “so and so is safe,” or “let me drive you to the emergency room”, or “let me go with you to the doctor’s office” and so on.  We can ask, “where do you find hope?” and remember that for hundreds of years, people just like us have pointed to gatherings just like this as a place to find that hope.  Jesus is my hope and my messiah.  Who do you say that he is?

The Syrophoenician mother (Mark 7:24-37)

A Dramatic Monologue

Well, that didn’t go the way I expected! Most things go the way I expect, it’s the nature of the job I’m in, well, my husband and I of course.  I know, most people would be shocked at such a well-known person as myself in this neighborhood.  I can usually be found in the nicer end of town, with the other merchants.  After all, my family has been there as far back as we can remember, selling our dyes around the world.  You’ve seen emperors and kings wearing the purple that only they can afford, woven from thread dyed in our vats.  Our people have sailed around the world for hundreds of years as successful merchants because of the sea shells in our waters.  Everyone has heard of my people, and most folks welcome our traders with open arms!

I wish I could say the same for our neighbors.  Those troublesome Hebrews who think they are the center of the universe.  They have sneered at our Gods, knocked over our altars, and been a quarrelsome bunch ever since they arrived.  They’ve caused nothing but trouble for our greatest heros, too.  You’ve heard of Goliath, right?  So tall and so mighty a warrior that he could end wars and battles just by walking onto the field.  Sure prevented a lot of unnecessary bloodshed in his day.  At least he did, until some pipsqueak had a lucky shot with a slingshot.  And just a kid, if I remember rightly.  And our most famous heroine also helped prevent wars.  Remember, Delilah, right? She used her brains and beauty, and even her hair dresser to stop one of their fiercest warriors in his tracks.  What was his name again? S something, and stories said he had a whole lifetime of bad hair days until she fixed him up.  So if I’ve got height and smarts, I’ve come by it naturally, with such noble ancestors as that!

So when my housemaids were gossiping instead of doing their duties, I eavesdropped before giving my usual scolding.  Turns out it was a good thing.  One of their countrymen was in town for a visit, a Hebrew man and his friends.  The leader of the group was some kind of faith healer, and judging from the gossip of the girls, much more effective than the run of the mill shysters and snake oil salesmen we usually see around here.  We’ve seen our share of the medics, healers, doctors and priests these last eight years.  My husband used to go down to the docks when our trade ships came in, hoping that some Greek-trained doctor might be able to help.  We even turned to the Roman surgeons with their leeches and blood-letting, but those Roman fellows are more handy with a saw than a potion.  We borrowed the Governor’s personal physician, too.  No one helped. They tried, goodness knows, but they all gave up in the end, except the ones who kept promising better results with larger amounts of gold.  We gave up on them long before they gave up on us.  Like my husband says, “Never match wits with a Phoenician.”

The bizarre thing the girls said is that this guy never asked for payment.  Inconceivable! They always want something.  Every last one of them have their hand out for something.  And as my husband says, “you get what you pay for”, especially when it comes to healers.  But this time it felt like a sign.  My husband had told me just this morning that he was tired of throwing good money after bad and we had just better get used to the fact that no one knew how to help our daughter.

I was heartbroken, of course, and went straight to my daughter’s room.  It didn’t help that she was in the throes of another fit.  They seem to be getting stronger the older she gets, and it’s everything we can do to keep her from biting her tongue clean through, or to keep servants around to help take care of her.

So like I said, it felt like a godsend when I heard the girls gossiping, and I had a pretty good idea where I’d find them, in one of the bigger houses in the Hebrew neighborhood.  So I put on my most subdued shawl, they have some crazy notion that women should keep their heads covered, and made my way here.

I’m not sure what I expected, but I didn’t expect the look of hostility I got when I walked into the room.  I’m used to my gold rings and fine clothes bringing me a good deal of respect, especially amongst people like them.  They smelled of fish and sheep, for goodness sake!  It was immediately obvious to me who the leader was, he held himself like a temple priest, with dignity and quiet authority.  I didn’t care, if he could fix my daughter, I didn’t care what they thought of me, or my people, or my gods or my temples or my employment.  The only thing that mattered was my daughter!

I guessed that money would not buy this man’s help, but I could not believe him calling me a dog! Or my people dogs! I said the first thing that came to mind, “Even the dogs get crumbs from the children’s table!”

As soon as I said it, I knew that my big mouth had doomed my daughter.  These Hebrew men don’t like their women to talk to them in public, and with such disrespect, too.  I started to cry in anger and fear and helplessness.  My husband was right.  She was doomed through no fault of her own.  Then he touched my shoulder.  I looked up, and saw him, really saw him for the first time.  This man, this teacher, he looked tired, like the whole world was on his shoulders, like he had to carry a burden far too big for him, like he could see into the future and what he saw there was not pleasant.  Like he was trying to heal everyone in the short time he had left.  I could feel goosebumps at his gaze.

He smiled sadly at me.  For a moment it felt like we were the only people in the room and we had both forgotten to breathe.  “So many children, so many lost, and sick and dying children,” he whispered.  “So many mothers risking their lives and their hearts to find hope for their children.”

He said my daughter is healed because of I dared to challenge him.  I believe him, even though I haven’t gone home yet.  And once I get back, I’m going to see what I can do to help those other children who are lost, sick or abandoned.  My servant girls can help, now that my daughter is going to be okay.  I hope he comes back, or his followers.  It’s not just about me after all.  Sometimes we need to challenge our leaders, and sometimes we need to see a bigger story.  There’s so much to do, and so much to learn.  He can’t do it all himself, and if I can take some of that burden from his shoulders, I will have done a good thing.  It’s the least I can do.

The Pillow Method

Posted 05-02-08 at 11:20 AM by Grafter

I was introduced to this communication tool during an Interpersonal Communications course I attended at my University. The Pillow Method was reportedly developed by a group of Japanese school children and first reported by writer Paul Reps in the book Square Sun, Square Moon published in 1967. Its purpose is to help boost empathy or find merit in another’s position. The name comes from the analogy that a pillow has four sides and a middle, just like all problems. By working though each side of the problem, viewing an issue from each perspective, we should be able to find value in another’s perspective.

I've created a visual to illustrate the method and positions and attached to this blog.. In the center I placed a symbol synonymous with finding direction, a compass rose. In this case I have used the Numbers one through four instead of north, south, east, and west to signify where to begin and which direction to move toward.

Position 1: I’m Right, You’re Wrong. This is the perspective most of us default to when we view an idea or hear a differing point of view. It is the perspective that we believe and have faith in, and requires little effort for us to understand. As a metaphor I have used the yellow circle with the green border to signify “I’m right.” The blue circle with the red border and cross hash symbolizes “You’re wrong.”

Position 2: You’re Right, I’m Wrong. In this position we must play devil’s advocate and begin looking for flaws in our own perspective. It also requires us to find the strengths in the other’s position or view. This is often the most difficult task to accomplish However, the fact that we can understand another’s position does mean we have to approve of it. Position 2 is represented by the same metaphors of Position 1, but are reversed in this case.

Position 3: Both Right, Both Wrong. Once arriving at the third position we should be able to acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of both perspectives. Each side has merit and flaws. More importantly, we should be able to identify commonalities between our positions. Position 3 is represented on the pillow with two yellow and green circles and two blue and red circles. We now have a broader view than we previously had.

Position 4: The Issue Isn’t as Important as It Seems. In this view we may find that we have made the issue out to be bigger than it truly is. Even in the most severe or traumatic events the effects of the dispute will eventually lesson or fade away. I have used the same yellow and blue circles to signify this position. In this case they surround question marks as if asking “What were we arguing about?”

Position 5: There Is Truth in All Four Perspectives. The process of looking at an issue from these four positions should yield the idea that most disagreements contain both right and wrong elements. Whether or not we have reached agreement, we are able find merit or understating of an opposing position. This is the middle ground. I have used the Japanese script for “Truth” to signify this position and to give appreciation to the young Japanese children who have been credited with The Pillow Method.

Attached Thumbnails

Position 1: I’m Right, You’re Wrong.

Position 2: You’re Right, I’m Wrong.

Position 3: Both Right, Both Wrong.

Position 4: What’s the bigger picture?

Position 5: There Is Truth in All Four Sides

What are you hungry for?

What are you hungry for?

What is it that you truly hunger for, what you are looking for to feel fulfilled in life? I spent some time this week listening to people’s hungers; they would go on about their latest triathlon results or the shopping trips and the atrocious prices of back to school supplies.  There were people wondering how safe their neighborhood was and wanted more than anything to know what was going on.  I wish they would tell me, one lady said, that there was a meth lab shut down in the house down the street.

 I heard kids not being allowed to say what they hungered for; they were bombarded with all kinds of ideas for what they wanted painted on their cheeks.  Some would accept the suggestions, others would have their own ideas that they would finally mention in a whisper.  Some knew what they wanted as soon as they sat down, others took a long time to even get up the courage to come sit near the goofy looking clown with the silly outfit.  Then there were the unspoken wishes that I could only guess at.  Who knows out of the number of kids I met which ones were living in abusive houses where addiction or violence is a regular part of life, as normal as the wallpaper in the living room.  Who knows how many are not getting enough food to eat, or enough love to grow healthy hearts, minds and souls.  The reality is that I met and chatted with at least one child who has lived with so much trauma that he or she is already suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Then there are my friends and family and connections.  I asked one young adult, and she said, “I am hungry for restored faith in the base goodness of people.”  Wow.

One fellow said that there are five major issues that people are hungry for, and most people hunger for one or two of the following:

They feel abandoned and hunger for home

They feel betrayed and are fighting for justice

They feel helpless, like an outcast and crave belonging

They feel guilty or ashamed and wish for forgiveness

They feel controlled by a cruel world and long for connection.

What do you feel when you think about your place in the world? Do you feel abandoned? Betrayed? Helpless? Guilty? Controlled?  Do you feel some combination of those?  Do you long for home, or justice, or belonging, or forgiveness, or connection?

Jesus says, regardless of what you hunger for, I am the answer.  I have come so that you might have a fulfilled and rich life.  I have come that no matter what unfairness you have struggled with, what terrible deeds you have committed, or how the world has treated you, you will be fed.

What a bold statement!  So bold that his followers find it too weird to accept.  How can this Jesus say such crazy things?  Many leave, rather than accept his invitation. 

They might be leaving because they think he’s preaching cannibalism, or because he’s insulting the Law that says to not eat meat with blood in it.  They might be leaving because they don’t understand that he is being metaphorical and poetic in this teaching.

Or maybe they can’t handle the basic idea at the root of the scandal of Jesus’ teaching.  God has come down into the world with its nitty gritty, painful dirty life.  God is living through Jesus, the word made flesh, which means that God can interact with us in the daily tasks and challenges.  For those who are used to God as a great ‘theoretical concept’, this is a terribly upsetting idea. 

The followers that leave can’t stomach the scandal of such a repulsive idea, and when we take the bread and dip it in the cup, we shouldn’t take this for granted.  It was weird back when John wrote about it, and it is weird now.  Jesus says, “Does this difficult teaching offend you?" A better translation might be, “does this offensive teaching scandalize you?”

It still does.  We look around at the world and wonder why on earth God would want to have anything to do with such a pack of lying, betraying, broken, lonely and helpless bunch of creatures.  But the story of God we have received down the years points to exactly that.  God provides a covenant of hope with the people, God provides mana in the wilderness, God accompanies them into exile when they thought God was all about place.

God pushes the idea of community when they feel most impotent under the rule of the Romans.  Does this scandalize you?  Does it scare you that God may still be here?

Jesus calls us to believe just that, and I find it comforting to know that his word for believe means to have confidence in, or to trust in.  Trust in, dare to trust that in the simple act of eating bread, God is in your life in the midst of the chaos and the fear.  Practise trust, pretend you trust, experiment trusting in that crazy idea. 

Put on your safety gear of truth, integrity, courageous peace, faith, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray constantly for yourself, your friends and neighbors, and everyone here who gathers together. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, and that I may declare it boldly.  Pray that we, as a community continue to look for the hidden promise that we can all, regardless of what we hunger for, find the hope and the healing that comes in God’s time to every one of us.  Thanks be to God for the mystery of the gospel message of Jesus, the word made flesh.  Amen!

Open Wide your hearts!

I'm a little behind in posting sermons, but here's one from before my summer holidays.  May it be a hopeful inspiration to all who read it.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to hold a three week old.  As the baby got passed around from one auntie or grandma to the next, I was impressed to see the men also take turns.  Uncles, boyfriends, grandpas held this little baby with wide open hearts, and it was a joy to watch.  I hadn’t seen the baby’s dad since he had run away from home at 16, all surly and angry at the world and his parents.  But there he was, also with a wide open heart, smiling and at peace with himself.  I could tell that he wanted to be in his baby boy’s life for the long haul, messy diapers, skinned knees and all.  He had made the transformation to being a father that had a wide open heart for his boy.

This transition is not easy for people, and men in specific.  They are supposed to be as tough as Paul, enduring tragedies and suffering without comment, being the strong silent cowboy that rides off into the sunset.  Not exactly a wide open heart in that imagery.  Nor does it transform the people around them or make the world a better place.  The lone cowboy is one who solves his problems with a gun, and knows that because he is truthful, his six-shooter will make justice come true.  Unfortunately, we know that all too often that is a lie.  A police officer gets shot while trying to deal with a racist man.  A congregation loses 9 members in a prayer service, and so on.  Where do we find ways to help men have open hearts without being ridiculed for appearing weak?

I think that we can look at our gospel story for clues.  Jesus has been telling stories to his friends and followers.  The fishermen let him use their boat as a podium.  These are rough and tumble guys used to living hard lives.  It was so rough that If you ever get a chance to go to Israel, you will find a boat discovered in 1986 that dates back to the time of Jesus.  It’s 27 feet long and patched with 10 kinds of wood to keep it afloat.  These were desperate times for the men, with the Romans moving in and overfishing. 

Taxes meant that it was hard to make ends meet, and many men went elsewhere to become indentured servants if they became bankrupt.

 Going across the Sea of Galilee would not have been a big deal for these men, it is only 13 kilometers wide.  But in another sense, it would have been a very big deal.  On the other side was where there were Gentiles, those people who were not Jews.  Gentiles would have been Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Phoenicians, and other foreigners.  Jesus wanted to go teach there?  What a disturbing idea!  Somehow they went along with it and took Jesus across.

There are many similar movements where we are going to the other side in our own day.  The TRC has wrapped up its deliberations, and Dr. Marie Wilson has asked us to accept the historical evidence of the abuses of Residential Schools.  Wab Kinew challenges us to rethink our stereotypes as a way of healing our country.  Theo Fleury dares to speak of the treatment he got at the hands of his hockey coach.

All too often, calls to rethink our ideas and move to the other side, to open our hearts wide, lead to backlashes.  General Tom Lawson spoke about men’s behaviors being part of who they are.  A young man took a gun into a black congregation.  And the Government of Canada is still not interested in finding out what is happening to aboriginal women who have gone missing in Canada. 

Backlashes lead to storms that blow up when we least expect it, storms inside our hearts, storms in the media, storms in our families, storms in our industry or our jobs, storms in our community.  They leave us feeling bewildered, confused, and sometimes even scared.  The disciples are terrified, and are sure that they are going to drown in the attempt to do something new.  Jesus only makes their confusion greater.  They are familiar with the story of Jonah and the whale where a storm comes up because Jonah is going the wrong way. 

God convinces Jonah that he must turn around and go where God wanted.  Maybe the fishermen thought the storm was God’s way of saying, ‘turn around, Jesus, and stick to your own side.” So when Jesus wakes up, he doesn’t say, like Jonah did, “let’s turn the boat around, let’s pray for God to forgive us.  No, he talks to the storm the way they imagine God talked to the waters and wind in the days of creation itself.  Who is this Jesus, who is even greater than Jonah?

The last verse says that ‘they were filled with great awe”, but the Greek is phobon megan, or mega phobia!  Discovering that we are being called to do hard work is scary.  Some never manage it, like the shooter in South Carolina.  We are called to re-examine our racist assumptions, our skewed sense of history, and even our national identity by the TRC.

Dr. Wilson said that it’s not by feeling shame or guilt or trying to fix each other that we will change Canadian History, it’s by how we treat each other, day to day even when we are terrified.  We can become honorable and loving fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts and neighbors dedicated to supporting all the children of Canada.  We can be become a country where racism and cultural genocide is a thing of the past.  We can call for a place where education and healthcare is funded equally for all.  And we can learn to see Jesus in the boat beside us, opening our hearts wide, smoothing our waters and calming our storm.  May it be so for us all.

Pentecost Party!

Happy Birthday!

Pentecost is one of my favorite holidays of the year, and even more so now that this building celebrates its birthday on the same holiday.  Happy 102^nd birthday, Athabasca United!

It’s the day we reflect on the third, most mysterious and most elusive member of the Trinity, the Spirit.  It’s not a comfortable topic for some, surprisingly enough.  We squirm and wonder if we have to start rolling on the floor or speak in tongues.  As a person who has been in the United Church since I was a child, there’s no way I want to talk in words that even I can’t understand.  And it’s easy for me to get puffed up with pride that I’m not like those people, you know, the ones who let their religious experience get all emotional, loud and demonstrative.  I’ve got enough British and Scottish strict Presbyterian and stiff upper lip to shy away from such a display.

Spirit is dangerous, it is spontaneous, and it is impulsive.  We’re not always comfortable with it, and for good reason.  There are times when too much spontaneity can get us into trouble.  There are times when an impulse can lead us into dangerous situations.  Sometimes our ideas or urges can be problematic to say the least.  If I indulged in chocolate every time I had a craving, I would be heading for serious trouble with my health.  A little self-discipline can be important in such a situation!

Someone once suggested that you can tell which of the three aspects of the Trinity a congregation feels most comfortable with.  A congregation that is most comfortable with God, will have an intellectual understanding of their religion and their faith community will be filled with discussion groups and book studies.  A congregation that focusses on Jesus will talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus that is intimate and emotional, and they will want to know if you are saved. 

A congregation that puts the Spirit central to their faith will be comfortable with speaking in tongues and healings, and their worship will be very active and participatory.  I saw a preacher in one of those congregations act out Jonathan’s sneaking up on the Philistines and he actually got down on his hands and knees and snuck across the stage.  All three groups tend to think that they are better than the others, and that they really ‘get’ the message of what it means to be a Christian.

Maybe it’s time to remember that we are all works in progress, groaning inwardly some of us, and outwardly too.  Maybe it’s time to remember that we are waiting with patience for things that we can’t quite explain, but that is what living in hope is all about.  Maybe it’s time to wonder if there are times that we can celebrate the spontaneity of the Spirit, but with the wisdom of God and the compassion of Jesus.  Maybe it’s time to learn from each other and people from many different Christian traditions to try to heal our understanding of what it means to be Christian in a world where many people fear that idea of being a faith-filled people, being religious.  Maybe it’s time to explore being spiritual, and claiming that part of our faith. 

I do believe that we can be pilgrims on a journey, doing our best to practise hope and patience and love with each other, remembering that we are none of us perfect, and that we can all encourage each other and learn from each other.  When we come together in that way, we find God’s healing presence is with us in ways we least expect.  God is still speaking to us, is still healing us, and is still creating us.

Some might think that the United Church is not a denomination that honors the Spirit much, but if you happen to go to Conference next week in Slave Lake, you might be surprised. 

When Jean and I go as your delegates to Conference, the understanding of is that we will be touched by the Spirit and discern what is needed for the many choices that we face. 

Our Song of Faith says this about the Spirit:

We sing of God the Spirit, who from the beginning has swept over the face of creation, animating all energy and matter and moving in the human heart.

We sing of God the Spirit, faithful and untameable, who is active in the world.

The Spirit challenges us to celebrate the holy not only in what is familiar, but also in that which seems foreign.

We sing of the Spirit, who speaks our prayers of deepest longing and enfolds our concerns and confessions, transforming us and the world.

We offer worship as an outpouring of gratitude and awe and a practice of opening ourselves to God’s still, small voice of comfort, to God’s rushing whirlwind of challenge.

Through word, music, art, and sacrament, in community and in solitude,   God changes our lives, our relationships, and our world.

The church has not always lived up to its vision.

It requires the Spirit to reorient it, helping it to live an emerging faith while honouring tradition,    challenging it to live by grace rather than entitlement, for we are called to be a blessing to the earth.

Grateful for God’s loving action, we cannot keep from singing.