(Ir)Reverend Ramblings

I am troubled by the news reports, well, troubled is an understatement. The suicide death of Nova Scotian teen Rehtaeh Parsons is a tragedy. She was apparently overwhelmed with months of humiliating bullying. When it seemed that nothing could, or would, be done to lessen the pain of her situation she took matters into her own hands by ending her life.

I find this situation impossible to comprehend. That four young men would get so caught up in the fever pitch of, what, drunkenness? Lust? Sexual desire? More likely bravado and power and a need to prove oneself, that they would justify the animal behaviour of sexual assault. It sickens me to think of teenagers carrying out this behaviour but even worse is that they recorded it all and then circulated it to friends. How could any one think that was okay? Hiding behind social media they got their kicks by showing their sexual prowess. It was a sexual assault. It disgusts me.

But I am equally troubled by the group calling themselves Anonymous who are now carrying out their own social media campaign by threatening a vigilante justice by outing the boys if the police don’t act immediately. While I think their motives are positive they are really just carrying out another form of bullying.

Wouldn’t it be staggering if instead of carrying forth bullying the public rose up with a commitment to teaching and living empathy, kindness and respect?

How can we turn this around? I don’t think that criminalizing such behaviour is the answer, even though there must be consequences for such wrong-headed action, but there has to be a way to address this at its root cause.

What do you think? Can you rise above the horror of such action to see a way to conquer the injustice and aggression?

Hi folks, sorry I have been off-line for a couple of weeks now. Apologies to anyone who has been checking in for my inspiring, motivating, humourious while thought-provoking posts! On April 1st I began a sabbatical from my work. I have been taking the notion of rest and renewal seriously for these first days of April.

The United Church of Canada began to encourage Sabbaticals for ministers a few years ago. When a minister has been in a pastoral charge for five years she is then eligible for a three-month sabbatical. In 33 years of ministry this is my first sabbatical, not counting the year that I took off ministry for travelling way back in 1992.

Sabbaticals replicate “sabbath time”. Sabbaticals recognize that there is something very sacred about time. After all, the first thing God created was not matter but time – the ‘evening’ and ‘morning’ of the first day. From that we are encouraged to see time as “holy”. But, unlike ancient religions that valued time, well, right up until the culture of the last century that recognized sabbath as a time of rest from labour, our culture has capitulated to the secular concept of time. We see “time as money”; we “spend” time and “waste” time. Even “time out” is associated more with punishment than renewal. I admit I buy into this approach to time. I make relentless lists of thinge to do, places to go, and people to see. I live with the notion that busyness connotes validation. Consequently, I have found it hard to slow down, to withdraw, and to disengage from the busy day-to-day and instead take the time to think and reflect.

Ministry is a funny life. Generally congregations want their minister to be busy, active, and involved in every aspect of congregational life while conducting meaningful services and leading insighful study groups. At the same time, they also hope that their minister will be a deep-thinker and able to reflect with faith-filled insight on the issues of life and faith. But some weeks it is hard to have time to think deeply and reflect with faith-filled insight when one is dashing about to meetings and events all the time. This is one reason sabbatical is such a gift.

There is also a practical side to sabbatical. There was a time that ministers moved with such frequency that we just kept the moving boxes in the basement. With the opportunity to have a time out to restore our souls we can return to the office after a few months ready for a fresh start in the same place. This has proven to be far less disruptive for both ministry personnel and congregations and, in the end, is of benefit to everyone.

Not every pastoral charge has the resources to support their minister in the taking of a sabbatical and so I feel particularly blessed by this congergation for this time away from pastoral duties to affirm the significance of sacred time.

From now until August 1 I will continue to write my blog and, along with reflecting on the day-to-day, will keep you posted on how things are going in my sabbatical.

Good Friday is the day we remember the death of Jesus. It is a sombre day, a dark day, a day of grief. This morning at our worship we read the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and as we did we ‘stripped the sanctuary’. Items of decoration like flowers and banners were removed from our worship space. The candles were extinguished and removed. At the end of the service we covered the brass cross that sits on the communion table with black cloth and we closed the Bible. All this to mark the ending of something. It was a way to strip bare the complexity of feelings that come to us as we hear of Jesus last day.

In her book ‘Kneeling in Jerusalem” Ann Weems includes this poem
Friday
The sky peels back to purple
and thunder slaps the thighs of heaven,
and all the tears of those who grieve
fly up to clouds and are released
and drench the earth.
The ones who see and hear
know
that all is lost.
The only One named Saviour
died
upon a cross.
The ones who believed and loved
huddle together
stunned.
All night long
the angels weep.

Tomorrow the world will shift as dark turns to light and then the tomb will burst open and we will celebrate new life. But for now we must sit in darkness and grieve the death of one we love.

While our Jewish brothers and sisters mark Passover we Christians are walking with Jesus through this week we call Holy Week. It is a sacred time of drawing deeply into our spiritual journey and connecting to Jesus, the one we see as mentor and guide.

Tonight we will hold a service to remember Jesus’ last meal with his followers. It was at this time that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet to show the importance of humility and service. I have never felt comfortable enough to do a foot washing in the service. I know it is part of the liturgical experience in many churches. The closest I ever came was to ask people to remove their shoes and sit sock-footed for the service. One year I invited a reflexologist to come after the service and then those that were willing went into the church hall to learn more about reflexology and were able to give a foot massage to their partner.

Maundy Thursday and the readings for the night are really about servanthood. Being a servant is not something most of us in this day and age are comfortable with. I think we are educated to think that servanthood is lowly and most of us feel it is beneath us to be a servant. The truth is we are all reliant on people who offer us service – from the person who pours our coffee at the coffee shop to the medical staff who care for us when we are sick to the people who makes sure the power and water keep flowing so we can be comfortable in our homes. These are all forms of service even though people are paid for providing it. I guess that is the key. Jesus taught about service that went unrewarded. Service that was done for the love of God and the call to be of service to others.

How does being a servant feel to you? When you offer service is it because you follow the modelling of Jesus?

Last night was our third and final Chat Room for this year. This is our fifth BUC Chat Room series. It is a three-night speaker series on things ranging from theological to practical. It varies every year. It is an opportunity for adults to gather and learn and reflect on issues that matter.

This year our series focused on issues many of us would like to avoid but know are inevitable. Our first speaker, a psycologist and counselor from our town, talked about handling the stress of aging. Our second speaker, a local lawyer, talked about estate planning and making a will. Last night we had one of the funeral directors from the funeral home speak on “What I need to know to plan my funeral”. Each of the speakers has been excellent and the evenings have been informative, educational and because we always begin with dessert and coffee, delicious!

Last night when I got home I had the niggling feeling that I had missed an opportunity. You know that unsettled, there’s something in the back of my mind but I can’t quite put my finger on it kind of feeling. It felt like I had something to say that I didn’t get said. And then it dawned on me. The one thing I wanted to say when we were talking about funerals was how important they are. Oh, the discussion was wonderful with plenty of details and while we covered a lot of territory we drifted into lengthy conversation about prices and what is necessary and how it all unfolds but we didn’t talk at all about the actual funeral service. I am sorry about that. More and more I see people trying to economize (it is not cheap to die!)and I hear people say they don’t want a fuss made or they don’t want to put people through the pain. I contend that a person’s life should be marked by ritual. Big or small – it doesn’t matter. Scripture reading or poetry – it doesn’t matter (well, I want scritpure at mine!) Laughter or tears – it doesn’t matter (okay, I regularly tell people they better cry when I die!) At the beginning of his presentation, Darren, our speaker did address the importance of the funeral service and encouraged thought around it but people seemed curious to know about the practical issues – which are of course very important. And the evening flew by and before we knew it our time was up but I wish I had said how valuable the funeral ritual is to honour the life lived and to say “Thank you God for blessing us with this amazing person.” Because that is what I believe. Gratitude and grief need to be expressed.

Today is the first day of Spring, so the calendar says. Looking out my window snow drifts gently down and we have had enough of an accumulation over the last two days that our driveway was plowed out again. If the weather gurus are correct and the prediction is accurate it will need to be plowed again tomorrow. But I am not grumpy … well not too grumpy. Today I am looking for miracles.

I have a small quote that I clipped from who knows where and I keep it close at hand. I extend this wish to you on this mid-week, never-ending wintry kind of day…

Today I wish you a day of ordinary miracles…
~ a fresh pot of coffee you didn’t make yourself …
~ an unexpected phone call from an old friend…
~ green stoplights on your way to work …
~ the fastest lane at the grocery store …
~ a good sing-along on the radio …
~ your keys found right where you left them.

Have a miracle filled day!

Astronaut Chris Hadfield became Commander of the International Space Station on March 13th. That orbiting outpost involves the work and contributions of 15 nations and Hadfield is the first Canadian to achieve this distinction. This honour is doubly significant in this year which marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Alouette, Canada’s first satellite in space.

This week I heard Hadfield interviewed on the radio. He has been in the Space Station for over 100 days now. For his distinction as Commander he received greetings from the Prime Minsiter and the Queen to mention only two. In the interview he said that the hardest part for him was the need to sleep! He said it is so beautiful to look through the darknes of the universe to see the blue orb of earth floating in the black sky that he hated to waste any time sleeping when he could be taking in all the beauty of the sights out the window of the space craft.

One of the most significant shifts in our perspective as citizens of Earth has happened with the development of the exploration of space. To get a view of the Earth from that distant vantage point has shaped our understanding differently. With photographs from space we see Earth as a speck in the universe. I think it has also raised faith questions. Gone is our simple Sunday School understanding of ‘God up in the clouds’. Now when we look to the heavens we know we are being looked down upon by aircarft, satellites and a space station.

Has the development of the space program over the last 50 years impacted your faith and personal beliefs in anyway?

Poor Pope Francis … yes, I am going to talk about him again. So much is being laid on his 76 year old shoulders. Will he save the church? Is he different enough? Is he too conservative or his he open-minded enough? Will he finally address the sexual abuse problems? As if saving the church is his responsibility.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago the study we are doing on the Fridays during Lent about the unfolding faith called Emergence Christianity. Phyllis Tickle says we are passing through a “hinge of history” and everything is changing and with it the church and indeed the Christian Faith. In our group we have been thinking a lot about what has changed in the last few decades in terms of our apporach, not only to church but to the living of life. Today we were reminded of some of the changes in medical science and reserach alone. The use of drugs, bio-engineering, end of life issues are but a few of the many ethical and spiritual topics that we are confronted with both in our culture and in our religion.

In her lecture Tickle quotes the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. He says, “We are not here to serve or to save a church or an institution, but to serve the Kingdom of God in this strange and pivotal time of ours in which, behold, “God is doing a new thing among us.”

It is a pivotal time in so many ways. It is no one’s job to ‘save the church’. It is everyone’s job to live into the amazing new thing that God is doing in our midst.

What did you think of the white smoke? Or, as someone called it the “Holy Smoke”? I must admit I found the overwhelming media coverage of the last few days just too much. As you know from an inference in a previous blog, I am cynical when it comes to an institution that only allows a cavalcade of old men make such a major decision. The secrecy, the ritual, the costumes, and only men involved, all seem so out of date for 2013!!!!!

Now that I have that little rant out of my system, I, like everyone else, shall wait and watch to see how this Jesuit priest makes his mark in what seems like an impossible job. It would appear that he comes with a background that grounds him well for the ministry. He lived simply. He stood up against the political system. He served the poor. He rode his bike and took public transit. He shunned the palatial housing for a Cardinal and lived instead in a simple apartment. Pope Francis, when Cardinal, worked in a Soup Kitchen and visited the poor. But he is also a conservative Catholic. He stands against same sex marriage as well as contraception. This is, of course the position of the Catholic Church nontheless it is hard to connect these attitudes with the world in which we live.

The trait most often referred to when Pope Francis is referred to is his humility. Humility is a virtue that is not espoused in our culture where advertising promotes the best, the biggest, and the brightest – values most of us buy into. How will this humble man from Argentina maintain an attitude of humility living in Vatican City? Surrounded by the opulence of The Vatican will he be able to hold onto the value of the simple life? Time will tell.

Here’s to all the women who persevered even when it was very hard.
Here’s to all the women who tried even when they were told there was no point.
Here’s to all the women who followed when it wasn’t popular.
Here’s to all the women who led when no one else would.
Here’s to all the women who dreamed, and still dream, of a better day.
Here’s to all the women who work to make that dream come true.
Here’s to all the women who have wept at injustice and danced at equality.
Here’s to all the women who spend their days making meals, doing laundry, answering questions, wiping noses, zipping up coats, tying shoes, picking up and cleaning up so that others can achieve.
Here’s to all the women who were my mentors and examples.
Here’s to all the women who carved a path so I could stand on the shoulders of their achievement.
Here’s to all the women who make this International Women’s Day a day to celebrate.