Stompin’ Tom

The death of Canadian icon Stompin’ Tom Connors has left me thinking. Stompin Tom’s death yesterday, at age 77, has triggered an outpouring of affection for the musician who made musical poetry out anything from picking tobacco in Tillsonburg to hauling potatoes from Prince Edward Island. Even the Prime Minister weighed in when he tweeted, “We have lost a true Canadian original.” As I have listened to the accolades and heard strains of his music throughout the day I have been surprised at how many of the songs I know and how many of the lyrics immediately conjure up in my imagination a Canadian scene.

Stompin’ Tom is credited with writing more than 300 songs. He has released four dozen albums with total sales of nearly 4 million copies. At age 15 Tom Connors left home to hitchhike across Canada, a journey that consumed the next 13 years of his life as he travelled between various part-time jobs while writing songs on is guitar. His travels, rich in experience, became the basis of his profound patriotism and the source of images for his songs.

We Canadians are not known to be particularily patriotic. In fact, I think many of us shy away from it because we feel a bit jaded by the strong patriotism that floats over the border from our American neighbours. But Stompin’ Tom, through his music, encouraged Canadians to be proud of our country and our particular perspective on the world. He was a different kind of musician with his cowboy hat and growly voice but he was fiercly Canadian and encouraged his listeners to appreciate all our country offers. For that we can be grateful.

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Pi-Eyed

As the 2013 Acadamy Awards fade into memory I made my way this week, like many others, to the theatre to see the movie, “The Life of Pi”. It is a brilliant movie based on the novel of the same name written by Yann Martel. We are told at the beginning of the movie that “This is a story that will make you believe in God.” It is the story of a young man who survives not only a shipwreck but days on end of floating on the Pacific Ocean in a lifeboat with the only other survivor – a tiger named Richard Parker. At first consideration it is a fantastical story and one would wonder how a two hour movie could come from it. At second glance one would ask, “How could this make me a believer?”!

Pi is a deeply spiritual young man. As a young child he was raised on the stories of Krishna todl to him by his mother. Then as a boy he learns about Jesus and accepts Christianity. When, as a young teenager he is exposed to Islam becomes a Muslim, all without ever abandoning his first, and then second, faith. He see no contradition in holding to the truth of each faith.

the story of Pi’s survival is ponderous and beautiful. The movie ends with the posing of two stories and a question, “Which story do you beleive?” Implicit in this is the challenge that we can believe whatever story holds truth for us. I think the Life of Pi is a profound exploration of where we are as a global community and the coming together of faith groups. Do our various traditions and teachings have to be mutually exclusive or can we learn from each tradition and then be moved into a spiritual awareness that opens us to God’s love in a profound and deeply changing experience? The acceptance of truth (truth we often can’t prove by fact) is what it means to live by faith.

I’m Pi-eyed!

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Pink Shirt Day

Our BUC Youth Worker Joanna arrived at work today wearing a pink shirt. The kids had reminded her that today is ‘Pink shirt Day” and she should dress accordingly!

Pink Shirt Day was started by two incredible high school students in Nova Scotia. They saw a Grade nine boy being bullied by other kids because one day he wore a pink shirt. Instead of joining the bullies or watching from the sidelines these two guys went out and bought 50 pink tank tops and handed them out to other students. They said that when the grade nine boy walked into the school and saw all these other students in pink shirts the look on his face said it all. “It was like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The bullies were never heard from again.”

That was in 2007 and six years later their simple action has turned into a day of awareness, education and fund-raising for anti-bullying programs for children, youth and adults. Pink Shirt Day is a day to say it is not okay to pick on, threaten, socially isolate or otherwise purposely harm another person. Bullying is still a major problem in schools and in the workplace. Statistics prove that bullying happens to a child on the playground in Canada every seven minutes. When peers step in to intervene the bullying is likely to stop within ten seconds. Several of the youth in our church tell of being bullied at school.

Sometimes it can be hard to take a stand but what a difference it can make in the lives of someone feeling vulnerable. In the Christian faith there is a teaching, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We call it the Golden Rule and it appears in various forms in all the world religions. Pink Shirt day is putting the golden rule into a practical application and saying to all around bullying is not okay.

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Emergence Christianity

Oh wow! What a great conversation I have just come from.

Here at BUC we are offering a six-session conversation on Friday mornings, we started last week. We use as the basis of our conversation a DVD series by Phyllis Tickle on her study of how Christianity is changing and why. She calls it ‘The Great Emergence’ referring to the new Christianity that is emerging. It is fascinating as she gives explanation to what is going on in the church in North America. Her thesis is that every 500 years it is as if the church has a “giant rummage sale”. She points to the Reformation, 500 years ago, which was preceeded 500 years before by the great schism, which was preceeded 500 years before that by the great transformation and so on. Every 500 years there is a huge shake-up as the church re-invents itself.

We are in about the second decade of a 100 year period when everything is up for grabs as we search to understand what will hold authroity for us. As Phyllis Tickle says, “At a rummage sale you get rid of a lot of stuff but you also uncover the treasures you want to keep.”

The conversation this morning was stimulating as people shared what has meaning for them in the church’s teaching. We are also discovering that what is of most value to one might be of little value to another.

Today the conversation focused in particular on the role and authority of scripture. How important is what the Bible says to what one believes? How do we live out our faith when the Bible is filled with contradictions? What do we do with the instructions that are no longer relevent in our society? At the same time, how do we hold as treasure the truth of the scripture that instructs and empowers?

Can you tell I am excited about the conversation? And there are still four weeks to go!

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In Life, In Death, In life Beyond Death

We had a family funeral this week. My uncle died. He was my father’s youngest brother and the second youngest of the eight siblings. His younger sister is the only remaining member of that family. He was 87 and had been married to my aunt for 62 years. I hadn’t really thought about his age. He never seemed old to me he was just my uncle whom I loved and always enjoyed spending time with.

We gathered as family and community at the little rural church where I grew up and where my uncle attended for over 60 years. The church was packed and when the pews were full the basement filled with the overflow of people. It was a wonderful service befitting a man of my uncle’s devotion and community mindedness.He was lauded and God was thanked for the blessing he was to so many of us. It was a great day.

Many people are shying away from fuerals these days. Often out of humility – people don’t want a fuss made. Others say they don’t want to cause pain to their family. But I think it is a mistake. At the time of a death what the family needs is to be surrounded by their friends and loved ones who care, who can offer support and healing and sometimes just sit and cry with them. To not have a funeral is to deny ourselves of that opportunity. It is also a time to exercise our faith and to be reminded of the bigger vision we have of life. To speak the words of confidence that tell of God’s love and care and the promise and hope of life in and with God.

Our United Church creed begins and ends with the words “We are not alone”. It begins by reminding us “We are not alone” because “we live in God’s world.” It ends by stating that “In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.” It is good to be reminded at the time of death that even in that veil of grief God’s love wraps around us.

I will miss my uncle.

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Fall From Grace

“A Fall from Grace”, that was the line that the reporter used to begin the radio news report describing the situation of Oscar Pistorius the South African athlete now accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius is a double amputee who runs wearing carbon fiber prosthetic blades. He has been a much admired athelete in South Africa for years and he gained global recognition last year when he earned the right to run in The Olympics and the Paralympics. He ran in 11 races during the 2012 Games and the Paralympics. His carbon fiber prosthetic blades earned him the nickname ‘Blade Runner’.

What could have gone wrong that fateful night? He was a 26 year old young man who, to outward appearances, had it all. He was handsome (People Magazine named him one of the “sexiest men alive”). He lived in a prestigious gated community. He was accomplished at his sport and had world fame. Reeva Steenkamp was a beautiful model, a law school graduate, and a entrepreneur commited to empowering women. She was a outspoken advoacate for women and often spoke against violence towards women. How did she end up dead? Was it a case of pure violence by a man against the woman he lived with? Or, was it, as a news report today speculated, that he was prone to violence due to the steroids he was taking?

Regardless, where do you think grace fits into the scenario? Steenkamp’s family have taken the high road saying that they will wait for justice to be served by the court. Justice will unfold and the story will be unravelled but at the end of it Reeva Steenkamp is dead at the hands of her lover. He will need grace, amazing grace.

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The Gift of Silence

Today is Ash Wednesday – one of my favourite days of the church year. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent – the season of preparation for the Easter celebrations. Ash Wednesday is a quiet day, a day of drawing in, deepening our spirituality and looking inward; it is a day of doing soul work.

Today, here at BUC, we will offer two one-hour-periods of time when people can drop into the sanctuary to sit quietly and meditate and then receive the Imposition of Ashes (the smudge of ashes on forehead or hand. The ashes are the burned remains of last years Palm Sunday branches now dried and brittle. The mark of the Ash reminds us that though our best intentions may fail, God invites us to begin again and to use the ashes of our lives to bring us new opportunity and hope.) and Communion. We also have the labyrinth laid down in the auditorium so that a person can meditate while walking that circular path to the centre.

Both these opportunities, meditating in the sanctuary and walking the labyrinth, are done in silence. Our culture doesn’t offer a lot of silence. We tend to think if there isn’t sound or noise then nothing is happening or there is something wrong! Ash Wednesday offers the gift of silence. Enjoy your day … quietly!

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Freedom 85

Well, I had a few different ideas for today’s blog but the news of the Pope’s resignation tops everything else. Pope Benedict XVI announced this morning that he will be resigning on February 28th. The timing is important as it means a new pope will be elected in time for Easter. This is the first time a Pope has resigned since 1415! The Pope at age 85 says his deteriorating health and age are the reasons for his resignation.

Last week the Netherlands’ Queen Beatrix announced that she, at age 75, is handing over the throne to her 45-year-old son Willem-Alexander. She said she is abdicating “out of conviction that the responsibility for our nation should now rest in the hands of a new generation”.

In Canada, Old Age Security Benefits begin at age 65 but there is no forced retirement, it is the individual’s choice. Years ago an insurance company started a popular slogan when they developed their product that offered “Freedom 55”. They built the dream and promise that one could be ‘free’ from work and responsibilities as early as the age of 55 if you saved and planned well. I have mixed feelings about retirement. I think a person should be able to work as long as they are able and are productive in their workplace. I also think we have built up an unrealistic notion of retirement seeing it as freedom and therefore that work is something we must ‘escape’. I love my work and so the notion of escaping from it (okay, I will be honest – there is the odd day that I want to escape it!) seems illogical to me. That said, I know a lot of people see their years after age 55 or 65 as years to relax, travel and enjoy life. Also, a lot of organizations rely on the volunteer and service work of many folk who retired early and are still filled with enthusiasm and vitality and just want to give back to their community; given that retirement can offer benefits all the way around.

I haven’t really followed this Pope’s leadership. When he was elected it seemed to me he was just another ‘old white guy’ who would represent the old and regressive views of the church rather than move it into the future. That it is pretty much what he delivered. Although unusual and unexpected I applaud his decision and I hope he enjoys his retirement. Let’s hope the next Pope is a bit more progressive – especially when it comes to the role of women in the Catholic church.

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Just Do It

“Seize the Moment” “Get it Done” “Just do it!” These are comments that I sometimes resort to just to keep myself motivated. Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with the inertia of procrastination? Yesterday I chatted with someone who has been in the middle of a project for over a month. She got stalled and just couldn’t get started again. I told her that I keep a slogan on my bulletin board above my desk. It says, “If you don’t do it today – you won’t do it tomorrow!” Sometimes I need to remind myself to, as Nike puts it, “just do it”.

One of my favourite verses in scripture is found in Deuteronomy “You have circled this mountain long enough. Turn north.” Moses had led the people out of Egypt and they were bound for the Promised Land but they got stalled, stuck, locked into a pattern. The story says they went round and round until God said, “Enough!Do something different – head north”. Life can sometimes catch us into patterns that can be paralyzing and we need to get that word that tells us to move on. It can be as simple as getting stalled in a project or a deep as living with feelings of self-pity or negativity.

So my suggestion for you, dear reader, is take at look at your life – where do you need to do a reassessment, take a new direction, try an new method? And while you look at your life, I will look at mine. Uh-oh I’m getting out the map – seems I have to head north!

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It has been a rich weekend. Friday night I took in a very good movie (Silver Linings Playbook – you must see it) with my beloved. Saturday held a long-anticipated lunch out with my life-long “girl-friends”. Sunday morning worship – I wasn’t preaching, Kevin was so I actually got to relax and enjoy the first service and then at the second service I was able to go out and have fun with the kids where we talked a lot about ‘God’s love”. The weekend ended with a great superbowl party. Okay, I admit, I am less about the superbowl and more about the party and it was fun. We left the party and walked out into a winter wonderland – it had snowed inches of fresh white brillance. It was a stellar weekend from start to finish.

The quote, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you it will be enough.”, attributed to Meister Echkart, says it all. I have decided to make 2013 all about gratitude. It is too easy to take the slippery slope to being critical and grumpy when in fact my life is filled with miracles and wonders. In one of the Christmas letters that came in December my friends ended their letter with this quote from Melodie Beattie, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” I have decided to make gratitude my credo for this year and when I stop and assess each day, each moment- I have much to be grateful for.

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