Wednesday, December 23, 2020 – Thoughts before Christmas Eve/Christmas Day 

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke 2: 8, King James Version)

Abiding,
        Hunkered down,

            Living exposed in the fields,
                Out in the open, unsheltered,

Abiding,
        Dwelling in the darkness,
            Mindful of the roars of devouring lions,
                Vulnerable to the vagaries of wolf and bear.

Abiding,
        Keeping watch in the biting winds of misfortune and ever-present threats,
            Tending to our burdens of care and worry,
                Shepherding our tensions and anxieties.

These are strange fields in which to dwell, to camp,
        to pine for shelter,
        to call home for a season.

Truth be told, we confess that we can’t abide these circumstances.
Nevertheless, there seems little choice,
        So we abide and wait,
        And hope
        And long for some new morning
        When God’s Love renews itself in Light and Grace.

Abiding in our familiar fields and environs,
       Waiting,
       Hoping,
       Praying,
For even the faintest whisper of angels on the wing
And for the fresh winds of carolled song
       To clear the night air of fog and fears.

Eager to be anywhere but here,
We anticipate a signal, some word, some fresh opinion
That it is possible not to abide or dwell here any longer,
       But move forward,
       Seek Good News,
       Scurry toward Bethlehem.

The glorious shelter of stable and manger
surpasses the poverty of our fields.

 
In the strength of mother and child
In the wee small hands of a baby
In the mystery of birth and new life
Comes a new invitation:
      “Abide in me and I in you”

Abiding!

Dale

 

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 – Thoughts for Advent Four

“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.” (John 15: 9 – 10, The Message Bible)

                 Forgive me if I have shared this story before. I am at that stage in life… repeating  myself.

                After my first year at McMaster Divinity College, I found summer employment at the youth correctional institute in Cobourg, Ontario as a student chaplain. One of my tasks was to lead the mid-week chapel service.  My text was some modern version of the famous Love passage out of Corinthians. I thought I was being clever, I suppose, by using a fresh, hipper version of the familiar words with images that I had hoped the youth would more readily relate to. My short sermonette was based on those words. If anybody needed to hear the good news of God’s love it had to be these incarcerated children and youth.

                What I will always remember is the effect the text and my words had on one young boy, maybe 12 years old at the most. Not repentance. Not salvation. Not an outpouring of love. But anger, bitterness and frustration. I don’t remember his exact words but at the end of chapel time, he loudly and vehemently denounced the whole concept of “love” as being a great load of hooey and he was tired of hearing preachers talking about it in chapel times. He was a world-weary boy already at his age and his worldliness did not include the rich experience of love.

                It was a reminder that mere words, no matter how pious and even truthful they may be, are of little benefit if there are not actions which strongly back them up. “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:2. The New Living Translation)

                What this child wanted was to truly and deeply experience some form of  tangible, real and unconditional love. But he was far from home, far from those few he cared about who gave him what love he could find,  far from the warmth and comfort of being surrounded by something or someone which cared deeply for his welfare and well-being. Words were useless; didn’t even scratch the surface.

                Although they certainly scratched at his soul!

                Christmas is a season full of Love. One might say that Love is the very essence of Christmas whether one is religious, spiritual or secular in its celebration. That Love is  often expressed through “hearth and kin”,  the practice and experience of homecomings and gatherings and family. It is finding the place where we belong, where we find shelter from what is going on in the big world, a place which beckons, welcomes and includes us without judgment or unrealistic expectations.  A Loving Home is where we kick off our dusty shoes, pull up to the kitchen table and share laughter, joy and blessing over memories, food and drink.

                But this Love has got to be more than words – it must be expressed in our actions, behaviour, and practice. It must be evidenced in the way we treat one another, respect each other, care for one another and embrace not only the shared similarities of “family” life, but have compassionate understanding and inclusivity of our differences.

                “Make yourself at home in my Love,” Jesus tells his disciples.  We rightfully portray the Christmas Message about how Jesus came and made his home among us, the Word made flesh which dwelt among us. But like all family reunions, it works both ways. His Advent became the offer of a homecoming of our own, finding ourselves at the very centre of God’s Love, with God’s arms opened wide like a father greeting his prodigal children. Against all odds, we are intimately at home in God’s Love.

                Not just words. Actions – from manger to cross to empty grave.

 

Dale

 

Wednesday, December 9, 2020 m – Thoughts for Advent Three

“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”  (Philippians 4: 4 -9, The Message Bible)

                I had the privilege of being a classmate of sorts with Sister Miriam Therese Winter at the McMaster Divinity College. She had come to the College from Philadelphia to work on her Masters of Religious Education. Back in the late sixties and in the seventies, Sister Miriam and three other nuns were very popular as the Medical Mission Sisters, a singing quartet. Miriam wrote the words and music - catchy, lively, thoughtful, contemporary and meaningful – a precursor of contemporary Christian music but with a lot more depth and nuance.

                One of my favourite songs from their repertoire is I saw raindrops. It speaks or sings to the experience of finding real joy even in the midst of pain and hurt. “I saw raindrops on my window, Joy is like the rain. Laughter runs across my pain, slips away and comes again.  Joy is like the rain.”

                As we prepare for Christmas by lighting the Advent Candle for Joy this coming Sunday, it isn’t hard to argue that all the joy has almost been sucked right out of this Christmas and the year 2020. Even as the promise of vaccines now appears to be more of a reality, we are, understandably, cautious and perhaps even a little skeptical or worse, cynical about the future, post-Christmas. It may be taking a lot to simply put a smile on our faces right now.

                But out text invites us to continue to rejoice at the promise of a coming Messiah, as we wait and anticipate the fresh, creative arrival of God’s Kingdom which puts all things right. We can celebrate with joy, thanksgiving, hope and confidence that the incarnational grip by which God has hold of the whole world is going to bear fruit and take charge of the world once and for all.

                That is very good news - “good news of a great joy” as the angel said to the shepherds - for all the people, for us!  It bears repeating: “Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” 

                In other words, don’t let sadness, worry, even grief invade your Christmas. Of course, there is sadness all around us, but this doesn’t mean that we allow unhappiness to take over our lives and push us into despair or darkness. We may  look for and find joy in many of the  little things which pop up in our lives.  But allow those sparks help  ignite a richer, deeper, more intense spirit of God’s Joy flowing through us.

                Joy is the gift of knowing of God’s loving presence and encouragement: “they shall name him Emmanuel which means ‘God is with us.’” (Matthew 1:23)

Do you hear that Christmas message – God is with us. And if God is with us, who can be against us or what chance do such things have to defeat us?

                “I saw raindrops on the river, Joy is like the rain. Bit by bit the river grows, ‘til all at once it overflows. Joy is like the rain.”

               

Dale

 Wednesday, December 2, 2020 - Thoughts for Advent Two

“…the angel reassured them, ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.’” (Luke 2: 10 New Living Translation)

                 I have a disquieting, uneasy and uncomfortable feeling that this Christmas is going to be quite different than normal.

                Bethlehem is in the Red Zone and all businesses are closed. The Inn industry is in shambles; this is usually their busiest time of the year and are normally full. Not this year.  Consequently, Joseph and Mary will not be traveling to their family re-union in Bethlehem. The shepherds are to maintain their social distancing and to remain in their own region over the holidays. Fines will be levied for non-compliance. The heavenly host, if they make any appearance at all, must all wear masks and their numbers are reduced to only ten percent of their usual size. It would be preferable if they did not sing but gently whisper the Good News.  Due to travel restrictions, the Magi will not be leaving for Jerusalem or Bethlehem. These are the new decrees of Caesar Augustus!

                It may not be as bad as this, but most of us are facing very different Christmas celebrations this year because of Covid 19. Susan and I are facing the prospect of not seeing any of our children and grandchildren, outside of a video link. Yikes!

                I need some reassurance that no matter what, Christmas will happen.

                It comes to mind that as we light the advent candle for peace on Sunday, that the Biblical meaning of peace has many complex and evocative characteristics. It is more than being conflict free. It is well-being, wholeness, inner tranquility, freedom from worry and anxiety and inner conflicts, to name a few things which come quickly to mind.

                But I also want to affirm the traits that are about reassurance (with emphasis on the “assurance”) and comfort.  These qualities rise up against the spirit of our times. Both qualities are found in the angel’s words, “Do not be afraid.”

These same words show up three times in Luke’s Christmas Story, once to Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, and then to Mary, Jesus’ mother. They are spoken confidently and boldly in order to break through personal fears, disquiet, worries and confusion.

God is putting his arms around these participants in the unfolding Christmas Drama, assuring them it is going to be O.K., inviting them into God’s future plans and thereby encouraging them to find that deeper sense of reassurance and comfort, that however strange  it all may be, God is moving forward with his promise of Peace through his Love for us. God has not let us go, has not abandoned us, has not thrown us to the wolves.

To be reassured is to be given the strength when we fear that we do not have the legs for walking to Bethlehem on our own. Reassurance often needs to come from outside of ourselves. It is the gift of Faith, Hope  and Love that pushes us to move forward. Surprising ourselves, we can calmly, after all,  get through what is happening. It is the Voice, the Message, that there is Good News coming. This Good News is the reassurance of Peace because it is not Caesar Augustus in charge, it is God. I find great comfort in that!

So, yeah, this Christmas is going to be a challenge. But it isn’t going to stop the reality of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, being front and center in the mix of things. Don’t be afraid. Be strong and of good courage. Peace be unto you!

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27, NLT)

 Dale

 

November 25, 2020 – Thoughts for Advent One

“There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!”

(Romans 5: 4 -5, The Message Bible)

 [The shoulder surgery was very successful and I am ready to continue to explore my spiritual meanderings! Thanks for your prayers!)

                 It is never too early to early to begin creating one’ s Christmas Wish List. As a kid, as soon as the Sears’ and Eaton’s Christmas catalogues were out in early Fall, I would begin to craft my list for Santa. I was very helpful, too - giving him page numbers and catalogue numbers. I didn’t leave it all up to the elves. I don’t recall having any objections if the Big Boy needed a little extra help from outside sources.

                Now as grandparents, Susan is compiling gift suggestions from the parents of our seven young grandchildren, often with input from those two or three who can articulate their own Christmas Wish Lists quite thoroughly. Our adult  kids may groan at the thought of more stuff from over-indulgent grandparents, but hey – that’s the way the Christmas Cookie crumbles. It has been bad enough at how little we have seen of all of them this Fall.

                Now if my family is reading this, here is my 2020 Wish List -  an adult Lego toy, a new jack knife, a bottle of Scotch, a couple of Cohiba cigars, a good humidor to put the cigars in, and a partridge in a pear tree. (Actually, I am not just joking about the partridge as I would really like to try to cook a pheasant or a partridge, but don’t know where to find any.) If there is a way that they can make the Blue Jays win the world Series – that would be nice, too.

                My Hope List is an entirely different matter.

                In a way, it matches my Prayer List. The two are intimately connected.

                My Hope List includes the way forward to end this Covid pandemic and the release of effective vaccines, more time to be with our families especially our grandchildren, good health,  some quality time beside a big body of water (be it an ocean or a Great Lake).

                But my Hope List is not nor should it be just about me and my desires. I hope that that there will be political stability and sanity  returning to our neighbours to the South, or that “Black Lives Matter” or “Indigenous Lives Matter” are more than passing catch phrases, that the year 2020 will eventually emerge into a New Light, bringing a spirit of Peace, Balance, Possiblity and Creativity.

I am not sure we will ever recover “normal” but perhaps that has been the whole point – to become alert to the need to repent of a “normal” that is not healthy, not wholesome, not receptive, not vigorous, not generous and is crippling and unsustainable for a good life.

                When we are hemmed in by a whole of troubles, it is a time not to give up but rather the exact time to dig deeper, to hold on harder and to keep alert for what God is planning to do next. This is what makes “hope” so different than shallow “wishing”. In our Christian context, hoping is the ability to latch on to the strength and vigour of God in the expectation that there is more to come. It may be different than what we wish for but since God is Love Incarnated, so will be God’s future.  

                “Pay attention, my people. Listen to me, nations. Revelation flows from me. My decisions light up the world. My deliverance arrives on the run, my salvation right on time. I’ll bring justice to the peoples. Even faraway islands will look to me and take hope in my saving power. Look up at the skies, ponder the earth under your feet. The skies will fade out like smoke, the earth will wear out like work pants, and the people will die off like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my setting-things-right will never be obsolete.” (Isaiah 54: 1 – 6, The New Living Translation)

Dale

 

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

“I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration — what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” (Psalm 139: 14 -16 The Message Bible)

                Susan claims that I am not the man she married.

                Yikes!

                But she’s right. I turn sixty-nine this week and over the years I have lost several body bits and pieces and have had others replaced. This coming Monday, I am having shoulder replacement surgery. Eventually I will have the other shoulder replaced as well. My kids call me the bionic man.

                This is the last blog for a few weeks while I recuperate. I will probably be back in mid-November.  I probably could type with one hand and not be any worse than I am with two. But the shoulder needs to be rested for several weeks while it heals. I am putting myself on the Injured List (a baseball reference).

                Satchel Paige, a Negro League baseball player, once said that if he had known he was going to live this long he would have taken better care of himself. Well said! 

                Our bodies are marvelous creations indeed.  We were created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26) I don’t think we reflect on that imagery as much as we might. Perhaps the apostle Paul had this rich imagery in mind when he wrote: “Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.” (1 Corinthians 6: 19 -20, The Message Bible)

                I know that I could have and should have taken better care of myself over the years. My arthritis is mostly hereditary (thanks Mom)  but a lot of my other physical issues are pure laziness and lethargy. I see men, my age, jogging, riding bikes, just walking  and taking better care of themselves than I am. Ten thousand steps – maybe in a three months for me, at best, but not in a day.

                I can’t preach  what I don’t practice particularly well, but  I am aware that total well-being is a combination of physical, spiritual and mental health. It is all too easy to allow oneself to go backwards in any of those areas.  This lousy pandemic becomes an excuse to cocoon in our personal and  private nests. No travel. Little or no socialization. No or very limited church. Some are afraid to stick their noses outside the front door. I am an expert at reclusiveness.

                Yet there is a need to feed, nourish, exercise, and keep fit this marvelous thing we call our bodies and souls. I am supposed to be practising deep breathing exercises and I am doing so.  Deep breath in through the nose and let it our through the mouth. Fill up my lungs, expand their capacity, take in more oxygen. I do it several times a day for two or three minutes each time. It is a good analogy for taking care of the rest of me.

                Breathe deeply in the love of God. Exhale the toxins of the world around you. Fill your capacity for love and forgiveness. Take in the beauties of life and appreciate more fully the wonder of living. Exercise your soul in some way. Enlarge your spirit. Move the muscles of your ability to live responsibly and meaningfully.  Get up and do something, especially if it is for someone else. You will feel better, stronger and more alive.

                There are no replacement parts for our whole body, soul and spirit. We need to make sure that God’s design on our personal creation does not fall apart.

                Bend those knees. Lift those hands.

Dale

 

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

“Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51: 7. New Living Translation) 

                Powerwash! I needed a Powerwash last week.

                No, I wasn’t taking my car through a carwash nor was I using a high powered spray to clean my driveway (which by the way I think is a pointless waste of time and good, clean water). I haven’t installed a new more powerful shower head in the bathroom.

                My Chrome book/mini-computer began not to cooperate with me. Among other things, it wouldn’t download Facebook or Messenger. Oh, the horror! Being the highly competent techie that I am – not – after trying a number of possible remedies, all of which failed of course, I took it into my good friends at Staples.

                After their initial examination, they recommended the Powerwash. It is a setting by which the current operating system is wiped out and replaced with the same but working operating system. That’s what they did for me. I lost a couple of things but in about a half hour I was up and running again. Thanks to Powerwash.

                I would really like to apply a Powerwash to the year 2020; wouldn’t you? Let’s just reboot the whole damnable year. It isn’t worth saving. I want a do-over. A fresh beginning. Wipe it out of our memory banks.  Somebody hacked into the year and literally sent us a virus. It’s time for a Powerwash – clean up this mess and let’s have a better operating system up and running.

                But I also am thinking that sometimes our lives could use a good Powerwash, too. Perhaps that is the real meaning of repentance. But I know that throughout my life there were so many things I am sorry for or regret or shouldn’t have done or failed to do or said in anger or should have done differently or made better choices, that I would like to erase those bits and have a clean slate. I have had more than my ample share of good things, too.  I don’t want to lose those memories but I will take a Powerwash just the same.

                Repentance is a start.  But atonement is the religious word for the gracious, powerwash gift of God’s Love which cleans the human heart, spirit and soul.  No wonder it is compared to a second birth.  It is God’s fresh claim on our lives, to help us to put our lives back in good and proper order. We are infused with a new operating system, one that leaves the junk behind and restores love, joy, peace and harmony. This redemption helps us reconnect to those good applications that make life more livable and complete. God helps us to forget and let go of the past, find forgiveness and reconciliation and  give us a re-boot  - not just in the backside but fresh opportunities to live a better and wholesome life. Some might label that as righteousness.

We are made right by God’s Love, Grace and Mercy.

Now that is what I would call a Powerwash.

            “Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
                scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
            Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
                set these once-broken bones to dancing.
            Don’t look too close for blemishes,
                give me a clean bill of health.
            God, make a fresh start in me,
                shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.” (Psalm 51: 7-10, The Message Bible)

 Dale

 

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

“What a wildly wonderful world, God! … All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it. If you turned your back, they’d die in a minute— Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud; Send out your Spirit and they spring to life— the whole countryside in bloom and blossom.” (Psalm 104: 24 – 30 The Message Bible) 

                “I just want my dog to live longer.”  This is the title of a fairly recent Blues’ song by Curtis Salgado. “I don’t care where his nose has been; I let him lick my face again and again.”

                This song takes on some added poignancy for Susan and myself as we said good-bye to Kramer, our black and white Australian Shepherd, last Thursday. He was only thirteen but over the last year, old age had  caught up to him very rapidly until finally it incapacitated him completely. He was existing but he was no longer living any quality of life. Susan noted that he had stopped wagging his little nub of a tail quite some time ago. When you lose your wag, life is barely worth living. We made the choice, tough as it was, to put him to sleep.

                We were, at least, the third home for Kramer. We have often wondered what kind of life he had lived in those other places. We don’t think he was abused but neither did it appear that he was adequately loved.  He never learned to play like most dogs. He was neurotic, anxiety-filled, jealous of other dogs, and to be frank, a few apple slices short of a full MacDonald’s Kid Meal. In spite of all that, he was a very handsome dog. Best of all, he was full of abounding, unconditional love and affection for Susan and me. Indeed, he loved all people. At Hallowe’en, he eagerly greeted the kids who came to our door. He’d follow the Post Office delivery man down the front sidewalk. (He also owned an Aussie.) He and Susan had a very special bond and this loss has been especially hard for her.

                Kramer loved pasta. He would slurp down long strands of spaghetti. Even as his appetite began to fail, he would still eat Kraft Dinner. He loved bread, especially corners of sandwiches. If we weren’t careful, he could clean out a loaf of bread from a plastic bag without even tearing a hole in the bag. When he was younger, he thought he was a lap dog, despite his size, and would get up on the couch with us and sit in my lap, demanding a scratch or two or three. One of his favourite spots was to lie on top of Susan's foot,

                And so on it goes – lots of memories, mostly good. We are so thankful that the two dogs finally were getting along again over the last few months. Charlie even seems to miss him too and has been moping around the house this past week.

                I don’t really have any great profound spiritual insight out of all this. But it makes me aware how precious life is and how brief it can be. Our pets give us love and fill our lives with joy and happiness. We can’t imagine a life without our dogs even though we will outlive them. Why we put ourselves through such grief every time is because the love and the companionship and the fun of having these creatures in our lives outweighs the sorrow at the end. Just the same, my greatest wish is that my dog would live longer.

                Someone once said that if dogs don’t go to heaven, then I want to go where they go.

                Amen to that!

 

Dale

 

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

“Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.” (3 John 1:2, New Living Translation)

                 The headline is startling: “Half a million US kids diagnosed with Covid.”

                It makes me pause, anyway. Of our seven grandchildren, three of them are going into elementary school (William, Henry and Spencer) and two others (Declan, Amelia and Beckett) are going into day care this Autumn, with a fourth (Naomi) in January.  Along with that reality, there is also the fact that two of our adult children (Nick and Katie) are school teachers. When the provincial government tries to assure us that they have a sound plan for the re-opening of schools, be very skeptical. Although there is some chaos to be expected in these unusual and difficult circumstances, I am witnessing too much confusion, miscommunication and sometimes, just plain stubborn stupidity coming from the top. It adds to the stress of students, teachers, parents and grandparents.

                On top of that, we have two nurses in our family. Maggie works at the hospital in Goderich. Erin returns to work at Sick Kids in Toronto this month, after her maternity leave is over. Krista returns to work in January at the University of Waterloo, Nate is an essential service worker in a medical chemical company. Our family is heavily invested in the current Covid culture.  As are many, many others.

                Hoping and praying that all remain healthy in body and spirit is the least that those of us who are on the sidelines can do.  But I will confess that it almost hardly seems to scratch the surface. But  neither can we simply put everyone in a protective bubble as much as we would like to try. Life goes on, even during a pandemic. So, I am hoping and praying!

               Stay healthy. Stay strong.

                And pray!    

               God has great compassion for the vulnerable, for children, for those exposed to the side-effects of harm and suffering.  Pray that the right vaccines soon became available. Pray for your families. Pray for the front-line workers. Pray for governments to make wise and compassionate decisions.

               Stay healthy. Stay strong.

                And trust!

              Words alone are not going to protect our loved ones from harm. Our words become stronger when they are influenced by faith and bolstered by our confidence in God. We are not alone. We are not abandoned. We have a strong ally. We have a source of strength. We are embraced in Love.

                Stay a healthy. Stay strong.

                And act.

                Let’s not kid ourselves. All of us need to cooperate in doing our part to fight Covid. Ignoring it is not an option. Wishing it to go away is not an option. But we can set examples in our families by doing the right things, e.g. wearing a mask. God expects us to be smart and responsible even as God helps us against this disease. Protect our families. Protect our neighbours. Protect the stranger. It is amazing how we see our prayers answered when we actively become part of God’s process and response. God doesn’t want to go it alone anymore than we do!

                So to all the children going back to school, to the teachers,  to school custodians, to the secretarial staff, to all on the frontlines everywhere  – stay healthy; stay strong. The Lord is with you!

 

Dale

 

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

“Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught.’ Simon Peter joined them and pulled the net to shore—153 big fish! And even with all those fish, the net didn’t rip.” (John 21: 10-11, The Message Bible)

                My Grandpa cred peaked last week. It’s time for another fish story.

                We were up at Nick and Erin’s cottage last Friday for Becket’s first birthday. It was a great day all round! William (7) and Henry (almost 5) were fishing off the end of the dock, their hooks baited with worms. They weren’t catching any thing.  William wanted to cast out into deeper water. He’s pretty good at casting but he asked me to toss the line out. I did and he decided to let me fish the cast. Now I have cast off that dock more times then I can remember over the years (Susan’s parents owned the cottage first) and I cannot recall ever catching a blessed thing. But this one time, I felt a bite, yanked and, lo and behold, I had a fish - a small mouth bass. Not very big but it was still a fish. My grandsons were very excited and impressed with Grandpa’s fishing luck. (Trust me; it was luck.)

                I used to love fishing but have gotten away from it for quite a long time.  Some of my fondest memories of my father were spending time fishing with him when I was young. I have never been the best fisherman or the most successful. I would go out with friends for a day’s fishing expedition and we caught nothing on most occasions.

                Therefore, I remember the few successes I have had.  A large pike while I was fishing from the bottom of a canoe while Susan and my sister-in-law Janice paddled.  A large catfish fishing from  the shores of the Bay of Quinte. A honey hole from which I pulled several large mouth bass of various sizes (catch and release) fishing from a rubber dinghy along the shore of a lake where we had rented a cottage. Not many, but memorable.

                It does not really surprise me that one of the disciples counted the fish on that memorable day. There were 153 fish – big ones! One might argue that they should have been paying attention to the miracle who was standing on the shore talking to them – a living Jesus. But sometimes, it’s the minor things that stick in one’s mind when one is overwhelmed with wonder and being God-struck. It was probably customary to count the fish so as to know what the full value was of your catch when one went to sell it. Doing something ordinary and familiar helps keep one’s equilibrium in unbelievable and incredible circumstances.  Even after a few appearances by Jesus, the disciples had still gone back to their old way of living. But a living Jesus won’t go away!

                We don’t easily forget many of the details of special moments. As silly as it may sound the disciples remembered caching 153 large fish on the same day as they, once again, encountered a living Jesus who was preparing something so mundane as breakfast on the shore. What a mixture of ordinary and extraordinary all happening at the same time, don’t you think?

                Jesus takes the ordinary stuff in our lives and feeds us with his presence. He appears on the shorelines of our futility and encourages us to toss our cares aside. Jesus makes his presence felt in the regular routines and changes the circumstances in ways we barely can imagine.

                Cast your spiritual lines into deeper water.  If one way isn’t working, try another. But more importantly, lift your  eyes away from your routines and occupations, your busy-ness and old habits. That’s Jesus waving at you from the shore.

                Don’t forget it!

 Dale

 

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

“I said to myself, ‘Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.’ But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said, ‘Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?’” (Ecclesiastes 2:1 1-2, New Living Translation)

                 “I think I’m having fun now.”

                Profound words of our five-year old grandson, Henry. We were sent a video of him enjoying roasting marshmallows in a fire-pit down at the dock at their cottage. Would all of life be so content as with nothing more than the enjoyable, sweet taste of a fire-roasted marshmallow. Wait until you taste S’mores, kiddo. Your head will explode.

                I had a friend who used to always be pestering me whether I was doing anything for fun. Frankly, I didn’t really understand the question, and I never had an answer that satisfied him.  His idea of  fun was not necessarily my idea of fun. But it does bring up the question: what is the definition of “fun”? How do I know whether I am having fun or not?  I expect the minute one asks these “penetrating” questions about fun, whatever I am doing ceases to be fun any more.

                I haven’t done any fishing in a very long time. But when I did go fishing back in the day, it was fun just to let my little aluminum skiff drift in the currents of the lake on a warm summer afternoon, dangle my line in the water, light up a good cigar and hope that I really didn't catch anything. It was too much effort to take the fish off the line. I could do that all afternoon. For somebody else, that would be so boring as to drive them loopy.

Is fun the same as enjoyment? Is fun the same as pleasure? Does fun always have to be raucous, busy and over-the-top? Some people find it fun to take one of those stomach-turning, wild rides at an amusement park.  Personally, I prefer a really good meal at a quiet restaurant. Fun for me is a day with any or all of my grandchildren.

                Fun is in the eye of the beholder.

                The old grouch who wrote Ecclesiastes scorns any idea that the meaning of life is found in pleasure or, for our purposes, having fun. Perhaps, some might feel you aren’t supposed to disagree with anything in the Bible, but I disagree with the writer on this issue. Perhaps, he is pondering those pleasures that go to excess, that need artificial stimulants, anything that comes at other people’s expense or embarrassment.  (I have always hated practical jokes.)

                I would argue that laughter is not silly at all but a necessary part of life. There are certain things in life that put a smile on your face. There are many things that make us laugh, giggle, chuckle, guffaw and make our eyes twinkle with amusement.

Joy, fun, and pleasure add mightily to the vitality of human living. It is food for the soul. It is nourishment for the spirit. It is sustenance for long days and weary nights that we all go through.

Christianity has had a bad rep, albeit well-earned to a large degree, of being a religion that eliminates having any fun. It is perceived as a faith of “thou shalt not ________” and there is a long list of what fills in the blank.

It is too bad that we can ignore the idea that Jesus was a bit of a party animal. Maybe that is too strong of an image, but we see him  in the Gospels as someone who enjoyed a good food, good wine and good company. He loved being with children. He attended weddings. He was always at somebody’s house for a meal.  He told stories about banquets. Angels danced in one of his parables. He hosted his own feasts on hillsides. Despite his very serious and somber mission, he found the enjoyable side of life and reveled in it.

He wanted life’s  happy fullness to be infectious. “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (John 51:11, NLT)

Smile, Jesus loves you! Now that’s hilarious! But it puts a smile in my heart.

Dale

 

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind.” (Matthew 13:47, New Living Translation)

                 Our grandson, Spencer, has acquired a fascination with the things of the ocean, partly because of his favourite animated show, The Octonauts. Recently, for his fourth birthday, we gave him a small aquarium set including five colourful tropical fish. We helped him set it up. He has been taught how to feed them and care for them. Although there has been one fishy death, so far so good.

                It has brought to mind that I used to have tropical fish and did so for many years. In fact, watching Spencer and his aquarium gave me the itch again. My interest started when I was a pre-teen. Our Sunday School superintendent, Tom Stovell, raised fantail guppies. He ran a S.S. contest in which if we memorized and recited the 66 titles of the books of Bible, we would receive two guppies. There were even two songs which dittied through the names of the books of the Bible, one for each testament. I remember them both still, and sometimes will use the songs to find those hard-to-find prophets like Habakkuk or Haggai. I started out with two guppies and my interest expanded from there, for quite some time. At least, they are a lot easier to care for than goats or donkeys!

                There is something very peaceful and calming about simply watching  fish swim around in an aquarium.  

                There are a lot of great fish stories through the Bible, everything from Jonah and the whale to the several gospel stories that brought together Jesus and his fishermen disciples. Jesus always seemed to have a proclivity of knowing where the best fishing holes were.

In our text, Jesus used a fishing analogy to suggest that discipleship meant casting a wide net to embrace people of all sorts, shapes, colours and sizes. Jesus’ Kingdom is very inclusive and indiscriminate about whom it takes in. There is in this parable the reality that evil has no place in God’s big aquarium, i.e Kingdom.  But besides that, God’s net is big and wide.

I have always enjoyed the gospel stories in which the disciples are frustrated, disappointed and exhausted by a night of futile fishing. Jesus comes along and tells them to fish in a different spot or throw their nets on the other side of the boat. Suddenly the disciples have more fish then they know what to do with. Pretty good for a carpenter, eh?

We are reminded that sometimes we need to be more creative and innovative in our ways of reaching the world with God’s Grace and Love. Old methods and tired approaches come up empty and bear no results. Jesus helps us to see with new eyes that by using a fresh tactic that we, too, can find the inclusiveness that is demanded of Gods Kingdom.  Sometimes, we think too small, are too selective, or too particular that we miss out on the abundance of life that is swimming all around us and which fits into God’s loving embracing net.

There are risks in letting out our nets of love into deeper waters. Evil loves to tangle those nets up and snarl them and tear holes in them. But the overall results outweigh the risks. God’s Love remains abundant and generous even in long nights and futile days.  We need to have faith like Peter who said to Jesus after being told to cast their nets again, “Master, we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” (Luke 5:5, NLT)  He was glad he did!

            Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the Heaven above;
            Deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Savior's love.
            I, though so unworthy, still am a child of His care;
            For His Word teaches me that His love reaches me everywhere.

Dale

 

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

“I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.” (Mark 11:23 -24, New Living Translation) 

                It’s not always the mountain which is in the way that might block you; it’s the immovable huge boulders.

                For whatever reason, our house seemed randomly picked by the gas company to have a new gas meter and gas line installed into the house. They warned us way back in June. They showed up last week to begin the digging and installation. After an hour or so of  excavation at the side of the house, one of the workers came to the door to tell me that they had encountered a very, very large rock over the gas line somehow. How it got there, nobody seems to know. But it was in the way and they didn’t have the right equipment to dig it out. They would have to come back.

                They arrived yesterday with a backhoe and a small bulldozer. Guess what – they still couldn’t get the massive boulder out. Apparently, it is really, really big! Maybe not mountain size, but considerable. Maybe it was the peak of one for all I know.

What do you do when you face a large immovable object? Go around it. Makes sense.  Job done.

I am always challenged by Jesus’ words which, on first simplistic and superficial glance, suggests that if I just have enough faith, God will answer my prayers without question and without fail.  Even a mustard seed worth of faith might be adequate. I have encountered many sincere Christians who felt they have failed their loved ones, themselves and God, when based on these verses, their prayers were not answered as they had hoped. They despaired because they believed their faith was weak and inadequate. Mountains in the shape and size of illnesses, cancer, grief, hardships, depression, anxiety, fears, pandemics even, didn't slide off into the depths of the ocean and disappear forever.

Jesus is, of course, speaking metaphorically but nonetheless these are powerful verses to try and understand. Let’s immediately rule out that this is some sort of God’s blank cheque for us to fill out and for God to pay out.  People who might use this verse of enhancing their personal prosperity and welfare are out of line.

More to the point, prayer is our ability to join in communication with God and express to him our hearts, souls and minds; no conditions, no holds barred. “Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 -18, NLT) We can be assured that God listens. In his generous love God sends us the power to endure, to cope, to see beyond the “mountain”, enabling us to get through or even around what appears to be hopeless and we feel helpless

God’s power emerges in our ability to stand tall, face the problem and trust that, no matter what, God is a force to be reckoned with in any and every situation. Trust is the key here, trust that no matter what, God has not abandoned us or the people we love. God can work in the most dire of circumstances. The results may be different and difficult for us to understand or accept. Yet we can face and even conquer great challenges with God’s grace and love working in and through our most difficult moments.

    “The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level.                                                              The curves will be straightened,                                                                                                                   and the rough places made smooth.                                                                                                              And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.” (Luke 3:5-6, NLT)

Dale

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray...” (Luke 11:1, New Living Translation) 

                Last week, my car was rear-ended when I was stopped at a stoplight. Everyone was okay and the damage to my vehicle was very, very minor. But because it is a lease car, I decided to do my due diligence so that my Subaru dealer doesn’t complain at the end of the lease. I reported the incident first to the local collision centre and  then phoned my insurance company.  To make a long story short, I ended up talking to four different people about this minor accident with a potential of a fifth, should I pursue my claim.

                It is a good thing that our personal communication with God does not work like the insurance business. If it did it might sound like this. I call it:

 “The Fable of the Wonky Donkey”

                Mr. Nobody had a donkey. But the donkey’s hindquarters did not coordinate with his front quarters. He was wonky donkey.  So, Mr. Nobody took his wonky donkey to the vet. She took down all the particulars: his name was Spunky, he was two years old, he had long ears, he was gray and had brown eyes. He was wonky. She took several pictures of Spunky for his records to be kept at the vet’s clinic. But she didn’t think his wonkiness was too serious and sent Mr. Nobody home with a few pain killers.

                But being a conscientious donkey owner, he was still concerned about Spunky. So, he phoned Mrs. Elderberry, the   coordinator of Fairweather Baptist Church’s prayer chain and asked that his donkey be put on the prayer chain. He explained that Spunky was a wonky donkey. Mrs. Elderberry diligently took down all the particulars. Spunky was two years old, with long ears, gray and had brown eyes. He was wonky. Dutifully, she sent the word through the prayer chain with the details and soon all six women were praying for Spunky the wonky donkey.

                The prayer for Spunky was intercepted first by Angel Bob in the Prayer Brokerlink Bureau. It was his job to sort out prayer requests and send them off to the right department. He took his job very seriously, no matter the size of the prayer. He listened very carefully and meticulously took down all the particulars. Spunky was two years old, with long ears, gray and had brown eyes. He was wonky.

                Angel Bob decided that this prayer request needed to go to the Equine Division. He phoned Angel Marylou and told her that he had a prayer request for a wonky donkey.  She was very concerned. She thoroughly took down all the particulars. Spunky was  two years old, with long ears, gray and had brown eyes. He was wonky.

                Once she had recorded everything, Angel Marylou contacted Angel George.  Angel George was a donkey specialist. He knew everything there was to know about donkeys. He painstakingly took down all the particulars. Spunky was  two years old, with long ears, gray and had brown eyes. He was wonky.

                Mr. Nobody had a dream that night in which Angel George spoke to him. He was saddened to hear that Spunky was wonky. His recommendation was to take Spunky to a very expensive specialist who would evaluate Spunky and decide an equally expensive treatment.

                Mr. Nobody thanked the angel but couldn’t help but ask whether his prayer would ever reach God’s ear. Angel George replied that that was not how the system works. Heaven had middle management bureaucracies to help streamline the whole prayer network.  God didn’t have the time to handle every prayer request, personally.

                Mr. Nobody listened to the explanation and asked, “Perhaps, I could speak to your supervisor. Is St. Peter available?”

The End

    Jesus  said to them, “When you pray, say: “ Our Father, who art in heaven…”

    What a relief!

Dale

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

“You can’t keep your true self hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed. You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day’s coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town.” (Luke 12: 2-3)

(I am going to take a three week break. We will get together again on Wednesday, August 5.)

                I don’t feel like the Lone Ranger because my mask has slipped way down my face and sometimes it feels like I am about to rob a bank, but I have begun to wear a medical cloth mask whenever I am out in public. (Some might say it is an improvement and should have happened long ago.)  As Susan and I reconnect slowly with family, I think it is wiser and safer for them and us to take simple, common sense precautions.

                Some people are protesting the mandatory use of masks which I quite frankly don’t get. I will admit that my mask can be slightly uncomfortable in this heat wave we are having, fogging up my glasses in stores and poking at my claustrophobia ever so slightly but it still is no big deal. It is nothing permanent. Mind you, just this morning, I read an article on how to put on, wear and clean our masks, what to do and what not do to do. Now, that was daunting!  But I am still going to wear my mask until this pandemic is over once and for all.

                This may be the only time in our lives when wearing masks is a good thing. But Jesus wasn’t talking about physical masks, of course. He was talking about our outward masks of elitism and thinking we are better than anyone else. He seems especially mindful of the hypocrisy of religious people who say all the right things about faith, love, compassion, grace and justice but don’t practice what they preach. Their superficial piety cloaks a judgemental, critical, discriminatory attitude of superiority and self-righteousness.

                There are other kinds of masks we wear. We hide our pain and hurt and grief. We hide our mental health issues. We hide our worry and anxiety. We put on a happy face and hope others won’t notice we are hurting inside. We don’t want others to know we are feeling weak, afraid, broken or just plain worn out. We pretend that everything is okay when it isn’t. Sometimes, some might feel guilty about their hidden feelings, because they think that a Christian shouldn’t ever feel this way and therefore their faith is now weak, to top it all off.

                But sooner or later the mask drops and we have to deal with what is inside. God’s Love is healing but God’s Love also can expose what is eating away at us before it can begin the healing process. It can  be risky to let our masks fall off our souls just as it is risky not using a mask during these Covid19 times. Some might judge us, ridicule us, disrespect us, think less of us, but compared to the pain we are hiding, those brief and temporary realties are small things which we shouldn’t sweat. Those sorts of people have got their own stuffy mask to contend with.

You or I need to breathe in some fresh air for the heart, soul and spirit. We need the Spirit of God to restore our soul. It can be daunting to let God really see us for ourselves. But if we say that God loves us unconditionally, why don’t we live and act like that it is really true? God sees under these masks anyway; we are not fooling God.

                Let the Sonshine in!

Dale

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

“Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, free of care in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.” (Matthew 6:26, The Message Bible, with a minor alteration of my own.)

                Happy Canada Day everyone! Stay True North, strong and free!

                I sat there, outside, on a beautiful, warm summer Sunday,

                                thinking and praying about the world we live in.

                The robins’ sweet, joyful warble interrupts my worries and concerns.

                I stop yammering at and hectoring God.

                I listen to her song,

breaking through the rustle of the breeze in the trees

                                and I marvel at her unbridled enthusiasm for the day.

                Why, I ask myself, is she so happy and  ecstatic about her life?

                                She eats worms, for heaven’s sake!

                But she sings for all her worth, uninterested in my questions or opinions,

                                careless of my mood and my thoughts.

                She does not even know I am eavesdropping on her serenade.

                                Nor does she care one whit.

                She is not singing for me anyway.

                                How typically presumptuous of humankind to think everything is about us.

                                Even birdsong.

                She is whistling a happy tune because all is right with her world at the moment.

                                Life is good.

                                She has food and water.

                                The sun is warm.

                                There is a comfortable breeze.

                She has no words but simply expresses herself in song.

                For it is we, humans, who need long-winded reasons and explanations

 to sing and play and worship.

This small red-breasted maestro simply sings

 because that is what she was created to do by the Creator.

She is very good at it!    

                She has no need to be an ego-centred existentialist         

                        who needs to dissect, analyze, parse, explain, examine

and demand rational answers to figure out this world.

                This robin is of the world and about in the world.

                It is enough!

Today, it fills her with a joyful, singing embrace of what she is experiencing.

                She has found her place and it is good.

It overflows with sacred blessing and the Creator’s charm.

She puts her day into trills and melody.

The robin sings because this is uniquely her song,

her Psalm for a Sunday morning,

rising up above the world so sweet.

Dale