Wednesday, April 29, 2020
“But principled people hold tight, keep a firm grip on life, sure that their clean, pure hands will get stronger and stronger!” (Job 17:9, The Message Bible)


                Wash your hands, Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo
                Wash your hands, Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo 

                If you are a parent of young children or grandparents of young grandchildren, you, more than likely, know the children’s song “Baby Shark”. If not, google it and I promise you that it will stick in your head for the rest of the day and pop up uninvited during the rest of the week. Just ask my daughter-in-law, Krista who is two-year old Declan’s Mommy. Declan loves Baby Shark and insists on it being played frequently, regularly and often - in that order! Can one socially distance from a two-year-old?

But the song has been adapted for our Covid19 times to remind children to wash their hands, use soap, dry their hands and so on. I hope I put enough “Doo Doos” in; I can never remember. And I wasn’t going to look is up; it’s still an ear-worm.

We are all being constantly reminded to wash our hands these days. When I go to the grocery store there is someone who meets me and has cleaned the handle of my grocery cart with sanitizer and then sprays some on my hands before he or she lets me into the store. When I come out and have loaded the bags into the car, before I drive off, I use a bottle of sanitizer which I keep in the car and then also use a sani-wipe after that on my hands and I then I wipe down the steering wheel with it. When I get home and after I bring the groceries in, I go into the bathroom and thoroughly wash my hands again with soap and hot water.

There hasn’t been this much fuss over hand-washing since the Pharisees chastised Jesus and his disciples for not washing up before dinner. (cf. Mark 7:2) I wonder how many of you still shout out before dinner, “Wash up! Supper’s ready!”

Mind you, Jesus was critical of the Pharisee’s fetish over their hypocritical cleanliness in fear that they had touched something unclean or contacted someone who they deemed to be dirty in some way, especially gentiles. They certainly practiced their own version of social distancing. They seemed to care more about that than their attitudes towards others. But the Pharisees would be right in their element in these modern times, “See, I told you so!”

There is the old saying that cleanliness is next to Godliness. Although it perhaps sounds like something from the book of Proverbs, it isn’t. My quick research showed that Sir Francis Bacon first used the idea in 1605: “Cleanness of body was ever esteemed to proceed from a due reverence to God, to society, and to ourselves.”

Then there was Pilate who washed his hands of the whole debacle of Jesus’ conviction and ensuing punishment. He reminds me of a few modern-day politicians who can’t seem to take responsibility for applying appropriate safeguards and want to get on with “normal” living, ignoring the reality.

But I digress.

Physical cleanliness is very important right now. Keeping our hands literally clean is critical in our defence against the virus. But the metaphorical meaning is also important. 

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

And who shall stand in his holy place?

Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,

    who do not lift up their souls to what is false,

    and do not swear deceitfully. (Psalm 24:4, New Revised Standard Version)

             Clean hands and a pure heart – a heart that loves; a heart which is free from evil and sin; a heart which is compassionate and caring; a heart not diseased or stained by hatred, prejudice, intolerance, judgment and ignorance.

                Wash up! It is important! 

Dale

Wednesday, April 22, 2020
“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.” (Matthew 13:41, New Livi8ng Translation.) 

                We could use the talents of a few good angels these days, don’t you think?

                Although I get the impression that some people hope these rescuing angels bring toilet paper and beauty aids but I think it is more serious than that. If the pandemic wasn’t bad enough, Evil finds an empty void in a man’s chaotic soul in Nova Scotia and it explodes into horrific violence and death.

Calling all angels! Help!

I am grateful, more than I can say, that we are safe and sound, tucked in our little cocoon world here in Peterborough, but if these are the end times please, God, don’t leave us behind. It’s nasty out there!

Yet there are glimmers of sunshine, beauty and grace that are prototype angels perhaps. The courage and resolve of frontline health workers, the success of fund raising to equip those workers and others, even the various levels of governments stepping up and helping in significant ways, some businesses and manufacturers setting aside profits to help out, are  all signs of our ability to endure and withstand the evil we are facing. There are some great stories of communities coming together to help support and assist each other even while social distancing. It fascinates me that world pollution has decreased significantly throughout part of the world.

You take angels where you can find them.

Then again, perhaps you can be an angel to someone. You can erase some of the fear, sadness and worry from someone’s life. It doesn’t always take heroic acts.

Our friend, Tish, passed on a wonderful video yesterday. It was a rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. As the choir sang this strong, joyous music, video clips had been edited together showing people, at home, lifting up signs with the words printed on them in sync with the music as it was sung. People in masks. Children and adults.   Sitting out on their front verandas. Hanging out in their back yards. In their living rooms. Hanging out of bedroom windows. I don’t know how they arranged it all but it was an uplifting and joyful song of resistance against these troubling times.  Just what we needed.  “And He shall reign forever.”

Angels and Hallelujahs – that’s what we need right now.

Angels and  Hallelujahs and you – that’s what the world needs right now!

Let’s not surrender ourselves or our world to the evils that try to rip apart hope, love, joy and peace. Let us not sacrifice compassion, kindness, goodness in the ashes of pain and suffering. Let us not lose sight of our common humanity. Let us not lose faith in that which makes us stronger and bolder. Let us not lose faith, period – in God or his angels.

And having done everything we can do, let us stand and face the evil.

“Staying with it—that’s what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry, and you’ll be saved.”  (Matthew 24:13, The Message Bible)

Dale

Wednesday, April 15, 2020
“So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:10, New Living Translation) 

                So, our whole family got together over Easter after all; at least the seven adults.

                And no, we didn’t break the rules of social distancing. In fact, none of us left our couches in our respective homes. Of course, I am writing about participating in a video chat that brought us together for an hour of conversation and catch-up. Outside of a transporter of a Star Trek episode, it is the only way to “travel”. Easy on gas and we avoided the busy and annoying highway 401.  

                Ain’t technology grand?  And the miracle was that it only took me, a techno-wimp, a few minutes to work out the technology on our end with a minimum of cuss words and  restarts. There were a few anxious moments but soon we were connected to Whitby, Mississauga, Waterloo and Goderich. Maggie’s Newfie dog and our Aussie, Kramer, made cameos. It isn’t the same, of course, as actually getting together; the silences are a bit more awkward when the conversation lags, but I must say, as our first-time experience with it, it was pretty cool. Can’t wait to try it with the grandkids – if only I can remember and duplicate how I connected this time. Not a given!

                Most of us are missing family, friends and community through the Covid19 pandemic. The virus has shut us away from each other in so many ways. Social distancing may sound like a benefit until it drags on and on.

I fear for churches who are currently closed, and whether some of the small, struggling ones will survive so many weeks shuttered up and financially deprived. If and when they can open, many senior’s may well choose to remain home for an extended period since this disease may linger out there for some time. Who can blame them?               

I just heard a radio commercial which was reflecting that this is a time for reflecting on our love for our loved ones. How true!  I worry about our Maggie who is a nurse in Goderich and one of the thousands of health care workers who are on the front lines. So many families have been affected by this scourge, not the least, those families who have lost loved ones.

There are so many challenges for families during this crisis: homeschooling, working at home for adults, 24-7 co-habiting, buying adequate groceries and supplies, simply keeping one’s sanity under the stress. I have noticed that if you are up for it, there are a lot of ideas and suggestions on-line on how to cope at home during this time. There are help-lines and the like, too. There is no shame in reaching out if or when you need it.

Our video-chat with our adult children was reassuring for Susan and myself. They’re relatively safe and coping well. Some of it is even normal family living e.g. William lost a front baby tooth. Our infant grand-daughters still dressed up in their Easter finery. Pictures were posted. Aaah…

So, please encourage one another. Pray for one another. Support each other, even if you are separated from one another.  Cheer each other up. Reassure each other. Comfort one another. Avoid unnecessary conflicts and arguments. Keep your sense of humour. Be patient with each other. Remember that this virus will eventually pass but your closest relationships need and should last forever.

Whenever we have the opportunity let us work for the good of all. Spread your love around when the occasion arises but begin with your own family. 

Dale

Wednesday, April 8, 2020
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” (Romans 8:11, New Living Translation) 

                If we ever needed a Resurrection Story, these are the times.

                As we live out our personal and communal fears, despair and anxiety throughout these crucifying Good Friday days and weeks we need some Good News. As we sequester ourselves in the solitary and lonely “tombs” of our homes and avoid contact with each other we need some message of hope and possibility. As we grieve the immense loss of lives, we need to experience that there is Life. As we lose our sense of confidence in progress and science and as we need fresh reassurances about the future we need a story that offers re-assurance that we are not really alone or abandoned or forgotten or even God-forsaken, even though it may feel, for the moment, exactly the opposite.

                The Resurrection Story of Jesus is not facile or easy grace at work. We are taught that this incredible hope is born out of suffering and dying. It is a serious confrontation with death and sin and evil. It is a confrontation with brokenness, loss and grief. It is a huge victory against all that which perverts and destroys life and offers so much more: “the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22, NLT)

                Resurrection is the new dawning of God’s gift of Hope, Joy, Love and Life. Jesus embodies the new creation, both in our immediate now and for what is the New Reality after death. Jesus brings into focus the creative and innovative work of God to bless, heal, forgive, love and raise us up with Christ.

                If we ever needed such a Resurrection Story, it is now.

                “But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.” (Acts 2:24, NLT)

                Jesus’ Resurrection is a core piece of the Christian narrative. It can be for some a hard story to accept or have faith in or some deem it deem too fantastic to be true. Even some of his own disciples were skeptics. But I would argue that this challenge to take this “impossible” Story to heart becomes part of the process to awaken to its true reality and power.  

Rather than pick it apart, parse it, explain it, argue its historicity, ignore it, dismiss it, I would like you to simply read the Story again and let it grab you. Let it take over your imagination. Let it seep into your soul and spirit. Let it tease your mind and mess with your definition of what is real and what is deeply sacred. (e.g. Luke 24: 1 – 12)

Who would tell such a tale? But it is a Story which is told and re-told. It invites us to worship, adore and love a God who has experienced the loss of his Beloved One but celebrates that death is not the final word. God has given us advanced tidings that as Jesus experienced New Life so may we.

If we ever have needed a Resurrection Story, this is the One we should grab onto and hold onto for dear life.

Many are looking for God in the midst of this pandemic. Dare I suggest that God is not there? But rather, God is once again rejecting the message and means of death and dying, illness and disease and is using his Loving Power to forge New Life, to strike a New Reality, outside and beyond these old decaying norms. As the Easter angel asked the women who first experienced the empty tomb: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24:5, New Revised Standard Version).

May the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, live in you.

Have a safe and healthy Easter. Blessings! 

Dale

Wednesday, April 1, 2020
“This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.” (Psalm 91:2, New Living Translation) 

                I’m free at last; thank God almighty, I am free at last.

                Two weeks ago, we arrived home from Florida. We have spent those two weeks in self-isolation and self-quarantine.  Today is our first day of freedom from this self-imposed exile from the rest of the world.  I have already been out to get some groceries and dog food. I have wiped and spritzed my hands and surfaces several times as I went along, doing my few chores. It was a bit of relief to get back home where I washed my hands all over again with soap and water.

                Actually, this two-week isolation period wasn’t really all that bad. It’s kind of how I mostly live day to day regularly anyway, somewhat reclusive.  I enjoy my privacy and solitude. A retired pastor, the Rev. Stuart Ivison, once told me when I asked him if he was lonely after his wife had passed away that no, he wasn’t lonely, “When I am by myself, I am in pretty good company.” It may sound a tad arrogant but I get it. I have always managed to amuse myself, ever since I can remember.

                I have enjoyed having Susan around and I look forward to be able to visit our adult children and grandchildren again, but solitude doesn’t affect or bother me like it may others. At least it seems easier when one is retired.  Those families with young and active children at home must be going stir crazy about now.  Extroverts and highly active adults must be climbing the walls. Workaholics are fidgety and restless. Can you imagine being stuck at home if you are in a troubled relationship? It is must be very tough on older seniors who are living by themselves or those folk with mental health issues and struggling already with social issues.  Loneliness is a by-product of Covid19.

                Nevertheless, we are fast learning that “social distancing” is becoming the new norm – “six feet” is the recommended distance. Our homes are now blessed havens and sanctuaries from the real world. People are becoming very creative and innovative as how to spend their independent “me-time”.  Thankfully, telephones are coming back in style, instead of just always text messaging. (So, pick up the phone and call someone. Remember the old Bell telephone slogan: “Reach out and touch someone.” It is virus free!)

We have so valued our many distractions, our busy schedules, our multi-tasking and the fast and furious pace of life that it is very strange and uncomfortable to slam the breaks on like this.

I am reminded that Jesus liked his alone times. He used them to reconnect spiritually to his God, his Father. To calm his mind. He prayed. He thought. He renewed his energy. “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:2-3, RSV)

Community is important. But it is also healthy to be in touch with one’s own inner self, to take personal inventory, to evaluate the life-course one is pursuing, to stock up on self-care and holistic well-being. It is an ideal time to re-explore one’s roots in faith, belief, convictions, and prayer.  “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6, NLT) Your reward might just be realising that you have a lot to be thankful for and find the ability to enjoy being who you are and knowing that God loves you, unconditionally, no matter what.  

These are tough times, even scary times. But these times are not without their possibilities and opportunities. Self-care is not a sin, not selfish, not ego-centric per se. Jesus has told us that we are to love others as we love ourselves. It seems obvious then that we need to affirm and endorse that which makes us of strong character and having a healthy attitude about our individual selves so that we can also love and affirm others in the same way.

You in your small corner and I in mine.

Dale