(Ir)Reverend Ramblings

Okay … confession … while I was at the Festival of Homiletics (that’s a fancy word for preaching a sermon) in Nashville I snuck out one night and went to the The Grand Ole Opry. I was in Nashville and a friend at the Festival had an extra FREEE ticket – how could I say no?!?! It was a great night and a wonderful evening of entertainment even though I don’t follow country music.

One of the entertainers of the evening was Collin Raye. Raye’s style would best be described as country pop ballads and he is known for addressing social issues. Several of his songs have religious themes. He closed his set that night (each entertainer got to do three songs) with a ballad that he wrote to honour his first-born grandchild, Haley. Haley began her life like any healthy infant but she developed a neurological disorder that the best doctors in the country could not diagnose. The family sought help every where as they watched their beautiful little girl suffer and struggle before their eyes. Raye spoke of this that evening before he sang the song “She’s With Me”. On watching his granddaughter he said, “She was totally alert and aware, but could do nothing. Her cerebellum was just basically being eaten away. It was just brutal, it just got worse and worse and worse. She she was so beautiful and courageous.”

His granddaughter’s courage and suffering inspired Raye to write this powerfully inspirational song. In an interview he said “I wrote that song on an airplane while she was alive, about a year before she passed away, as a tribute to her, just trying to describe the overwhelming joy-slash-sorrow that comes with having a child like that that you love so much that you cannot do anything for,” said Raye. “It was a celebration of her life.” Raye told us that it has become an anthem of sorts for parents of children with challenges.

In the last verse of “She’s With Me,” Raye, a Catholic convert, imagines himself in heaven standing before God, ready to be judged as an imperfect human being. “Lord, you have your ways, this I pray/On the day I stand before you, she’ll stand right by my side/When you look upon me, head hung down in shame/I’ll feel the blame, she’ll look at me/And then she’ll speak, in that precious voice/Don’t worry ‘bout him my Lord, ‘cause you see/He’s with me.”

The song is unabashedly autobiographical and it is a tear-jerker. Don’t listen to it in public unless you want to people to see you crying!

It also raises theological questions … what do you believe about the end of the this life and the beginning of the next? Do you believe in a next life? How about judgement? Renewing relationships with family? Do you hope for reunion in an after-life?

Do you know what an earworm is? It is a piece of music that gets stuck in one’s mind as if on an internal player and it just won’t stop! Two weeks ago I had an earworm. I was out with friends watching for birds as they migrated from South America to the northern forests of Canada for their summer vacation. Their first stop is Pelee Island and Point Pelee as they are the southern most points of Canada, so that is where we were.

My earworm was a children’s hymn, written in 1878, entitled “Birds are Singing”. It appeared in many hymn books in the last century but, sadly, it has not stood the test of time. It is not included in our current hymn book. The first verse reads:
Birds are singing, woods are ringing
with thy praises blessed King
Lake and mountain, field and fountain
To Thy throne their tributes bring.

The second verse is equally evocative of all things nature –
Waters dancing, sunbeams glancing
Sing thy glory cheerily
Blossoms breaking, nature waking
Chant Thy praises merrily.

Yes, the words and sentiment are dated but it has a rollicking tune and I can remember singing it with great enthusiasm when I was a little girl at Sunday School.

It seems to me the hymn writer Luella Cole captured the wonder of this spring time season when the earth bursts forth with beauty after the drabness of winter. Here in Bracebridge the lilac bushes and flowering crab trees have been loaded with blossom. The air is filled with bird song, as they flit about finding supplies first to build their nest, and then feed to feed their voracious chicks. It is a magical time as creation is renewed.

So while I scouted for the various kinds of warblers, spotted a red-headed woodpecker, saw a screech owl, had a close encounter with a scarlet tanager, watched flocks of blue jays and turkey vultures fly north, I hummed along with my earworm … “Birds are singing…”

Hi Folks:
Well, I haven’t actually been AWOL (Absent WithOut Leave) I had intended to continue blogging while I was away over the last couple of weeks but my technology let me down. As I always say, computers are great when they are working but verrrrrry frustrating when they aren’t.

Where have I been as my sabbatical unfolds? I spent a day at Stratford taking in two plays…fabulous, as always. I was a few days watching the birds making their migratory journey as they landed on Pelee Island and Point Pelee. Then I journeyed to Nashville, Tennessee for the annual “Festival of Homiletics”. I know, I know who but a preacher gets excited about listening to a week of sermons? But the week was a feast of preaching and was really quite wonderful. Over the next few blogs I will unpack some of these experiences from the last two weeks so stay tuned. I’m back!

Today is Music Monday and to celebrate it astronaut Chris Hadfield used video stream from the International Space Station to lead a singalong with musicians and students across Canada.From schools, science centres and concert halls singers joined together to perform ISS (Is Somebody Singing), the song Hadfield co-wrote with musician Ed Robertson of the Barenaked ladies.The song was co-commissioned by CBCMusic and the Coalition for Music Education.

Music is an amazing way to connect. I gather every month with a group of women to talk about spirituality. One month we each brought in a piece of music that moved us spiritually. What a rich and wonderful evening it was listening to the various selections. At the end of the night we all agreed it was very difficult to pick just one piece of music because there are so many songs that touch the soul. So I am all for having a day to celebrate music and having it on a Monday is the perfect way to kick off the week.

Meister Eckhart was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic. He said, “He who sings prays twice.” I am not quite sure what he meant but I think it means that singing moves us to a place of openness with God and the words and the song double the intent of spiritual longing and spiritual connection.

I can only imagine the thoughts that were going through Chris Hadfield’s mind as he bobbed about in space while singing with youth down here on earth. The very concept boggles my mind!

Did you know it was Music Monday? If you were to pick a song that moved your soul what would it be?

Saturday morning was a beautiful, sunshining day. It was also our fifth Annual Women’s Breakfast at BUC. We were all a bit stunned when we realized we have been doing this for five years. It has been mostly the same crew of women who prepare the meal and arrange for the speaker, well the women and Peter who comes in to do the dishes after we have enjoyed our meal!

The breakfast is a fund raising activity for the Mission and Service Fund. But the side benefit is that it is a great gathering of women from the whole community to come together to share a morning meal and listen to a speaker. Every year we have asked a woman to come and share something with us. Every year the speaker has been wonderful. This year our speaker was just that – wonderful. Donna Sinclair is a journalist and author and yesterday read from her latest book, “The Long View – An Elderwoman’s Book of Wisdom”.

One of her comments that resonated with me is how important it is for women in particular, but I would generalize and say for all of us, to be purposeful – to have a purpose – to make a difference. She spoke to us of ways that youngers and elders can influence public opinion and work for the justice in our community and our country. She was inspiring and encouraging. She is also a great story-teller!

So it has left me thinking – what does it mean to be purposeful and productive and how am I serving my community and the world? What about you? Do you offer service in the community? Do you know why you do it?

On Sunday I had a little farm therapy. It had been a very busy weekend – all good and fun activities but tiring just the same. On our way home we stopped at the farm where I grew up. My brother and my niece, her husband and daughters live there now. We always enjoy a visit to the farm and a chance to catch up. When the weather is good – as it was on Sunday – we always feel drawn to a walk in the pasture. There is a path that meanders beside the creek that flows the length of the farm. In the summer time the creek is a slow trickle of water over stones but at this time of year it flows quickly and the sound carries through the valley.

We particularly enjoy walking along the creek in the springtime as the Rainbow Trout are spawning. What an entrancing mystery of creation that those fish find their way from Lake Ontario up through miles of wandering waterways to spawn where they were hatched. This was the first time this spring our two nieces aged 3 and 6 saw the fish in their creek. It takes a while to spot the aquatic creatures; their green-brown backs blend perfectly with the shades and shadows of the creek-bed. You have to train your eyes to pick out the undulating bodies just below the surface.Once the fish feels the presence of a threat (like a large human standing on shore)they make a magnificent splash and dash up over the rocks and small water falls to find a new deep water-hole to hide in.

On one occasion, as the Trout flipped over the rock exposing the pink slash of colour on its side my six-year-old niece shouted, “Look, look there it goes … this is WAY COOL.”!! Way cool indeed.

During my sabbatical I am talking to people about spiritual nurture and asking how their soul is fed outside of ‘church settings’. Almost without exception people say in nature. Not surprising. Much of scripture, when speaking of the wonder and majesty of God points to the mystery and magnificence of nature, the creation. Psalm 23, perhaps the best known piece of scripture, talks about God leading “Beside still waters”. That is how it feels to me whenever I walk along the creek – where I have been walking for more decades than I care to admit. It feels like walking with God beside still waters, it feels holy. I so loved walking there on Sunday with those two little girls and hearing their delight in the wonders of that creation. It’s true, as Isabella said, and as the ones who wrote scripture thousands of years ago wrote, God’s creation is “Way cool.”

How about you? When and where does God speak to you in nature?

I was dismayed and saddened to hear of the disaster in Bangladesh yesterday. At last count at least 238 people had been killed and many more injured, in the building collapse that housed garment factories. Calling them garment factories seems almost a compliment, sweat shops is a better name. This tragedy highlights the dangers that workers face. Bangladesh has about 4,000 garment factories and exports clothes to many Western retailers. It’s garment industry has grown rapidly due mostly to the cheap rate at which retailers can purchse the product. This is directly due to the ridiculously low labor costs. The minimum wage in Bangeldesh is about $38 a month…that’s right a month! That’s so people like me can get go shopping and find cothing at such crazy low prices so that I can wear them for a few times and then easily dispose of them to buy something else at a ridiculously low price.

Twelve or so years ago, when I was in a previous pastoral charge, we offered an educational event about the clothing industry. We did our research and then we had some of our teens wear clothes from name-brand lines and we explained where those clothes were produced, the conditions under which they would have been made, how much the workers were paid and how much the industry profited from that item. It was shocking. Things have not improved. This morning retailers were publishing disclaimers but we all know that their motivation is bottom line and making money. Their concern is to keep the costs low and they do that at the expense of people who are desperate for income – as paltry as it is. Not to mention the environmental degradation caused by the shipping of those clothes half way around the globe.

Recently I was shopping in a local store and was delighted to find a shirt with the label, “Made in Canada” – imagine that! I happily bought it. While I paid a little more, I know in the end we are all winners because of it. I feel guilt and culpability around the death of those garment workers in Bangladesh. They are dead because of my life-style. Do you feel any global connection about what you wear? Do you think it’s okay to buy cheap clothing no matter where it came from?

Bracebridge has been in the news – a lot! Everytime I have turned on the radio over the last few days I have heard news reports about the water level. And it is newsworthy. The river is raging and the Bracebridge Falls are a turbulent, high powered force of water the likes of which the town hasn’t seen in decades. Three people I spoke to yesterday spent the weekend putting sandbags around their house.The common question on the street is, “Are you flooded?” We are not flooded nor is our street. I admit I have taken the long way home a couple of times to get a look at the river and see how the water is pushing its way through town.

Water is an important symbol in all religions. In Christianity the power of water is isgnificant in many of the Hebrew scriptures (think Noah, Moses, Jonah) and in the Greek scriptures Jesus began his ministry by being plunged into the River Jordan by his cousin John. Much of Jesus actually ministry happened around the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee. Water is seen as a reminder of God’s love, a source of purification, a refreshment, and a sign of new life.

Most often, in our town water is a the centre of attraction. People come to cottage country to enjoy the river and lakes through swimming, boating, canoeing & kayaking. The Falls are the centre of our town and the place that people walk to in order to relax and enjoy their beauty. This week water, in our little town, water has become a threat and something to be feared. Showing, I think that everything in this marvelous, created world has the power both for destruction and restoration. Thankfully, for most of our experience it is restorative.

The reports of the tragedy from Boston have served as a powerful reminder that in one quick moment life can be changed. On Monday as reports of the bombing hit the news we immediately had a phone call from one grandaughter wondering if we had heard from another grandaughter who was in Boston for the race. Thankfully, after a few phone calls, we learned that she was safe. She was back in her hotel before the explosion happened. Then a cousin reported on Facebook that he had crossed the line about ten minutes before the blast. He was safe as well. But for many people death, injury and trauma have marked them and life, in that one moment, changed and will never be the same again.

There is a precious quality to life that in the day-to-day routine we do not always appreciate. In those times of aggravation, in the flashes of anger and frustration, it is hard to realize that this moment, this very moment, no matter what else is going on is rich and wonderful. Life is a gift and it is often only when illness, injury or calamity threaten that we fully appreciate the wonder of it.

The events of Boston have shown that the hunman spirit is resilient. They also proved that people will help one another even in the face of threat and danger. Monday gave me a moment to stop and remind myself of how amazing and precious each moment of life really is; a moment to say, “thank you God”.

One of the great pleasures that a time of sabbatical offers is the space and freedom to read. I love to spend time in book stores and can seldom leave the store without a purchase. The trouble comes in trying to find time to read them. I keep a space on my Book Shelf specifically for the books I intend to read when I get to them. I moved that pile of books home with me when I started my sabbatical (and since then have bought a few more!). I could hardly wait to get started on the pile.

On these sabbatical days it is such a gift to move from the table to the couch to pick up that book I am in the middle of and to know that I can have some uninterupted time. So I thought I would tell you about the books I have my nose in right now. My sabbatical reading is “A New Kind of Christian” by Brian McLaren. Written in 2001 it is about the spiritual journey of a minister exploring his Christian faith in the context of post-modern thought. One of his comments that I noted is: “I felt that we were potentially on the verge of a genuine spiritual awakening and that God was every bit as active as any darker forces. I saw the collapse of modernity as opening the door for fresh spiritual explorations. True, I said, the spiritual resurgence that I see brewing is unconventional and even irreverent at times, largely developing outside the boundaries of our institutional religion. But that to me says more about the rigidity of our institutions that the darkness of the current spiritual resurgence;” Interesting thought for my sabbatical reflections.

I am also keen to continue reading Michael Moss’s book, “Salt – Sugar -Fat”. I started it on the weekend. It is a book telling how the food giants efforts to maximize sales and profits do so by deliberatly enticing customers by stuffing products with salt, sugar and fat. It is both fascinating and disturbing.

Then, when by brain starts to hurt, I move to fiction and for that I am enjoying “The Headmaster’s Wager” by Vincent Lam. It is a great read and, like all good fiction, takes me far away from the cool gray days of a Muskoka spring day!

I would tell you more but I have to get back to my reading!