Give Thanks to God in all things or for all Things

 

Ephesians 5:20,  giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

That passage from the letter of Paul to the church in Ephesus is very clear.  We should give thanks to God for all things.  Well, as hurricane Teddy was quite the anticlimactic event here on P.E.I., I can certainly agree that I can give thanks to God for what didn’t happen.    But would I have done the same if it had been as bad as forecast, with damage and devastation and power outages as it was for many people.  It would have been very hard to do that.  As with many events in my life, that certainly didn’t seem to be good things, I have found it difficult – actually impossible - to thank God.  Why should I give thanks for the bad things in life despite what the bible says or what is often preached?

I have resolved that quandary by deciding I can give thanks to God in all things rather than for all things.  Regardless of what happens, I can thank God for all God has given this world and all that I have been given in this life.  For, if I thank God for the good things that happen, I have to give God credit for the bad things as well so I arrive back where we started. 

Well, that seemed to settle the matter for me; but of course, it didn’t.  The important things in life don’t seem to be that simple.  I am currently rereading The Dark Night of the Soul, by Gerald May.  This is a very good commentary on the spiritual classic of the same name by John of the Cross.  In exploring that part of the spiritual journey, which was named the dark night of the soul, by John of the Cross, he, John, holds that we often cannot understand God’s purpose behind those deep, dark, spiritual experiences which can be transformative.  The purpose of these dark times is obscured and hidden from us because that is necessary if we are to travel them.  If we believe that we can see where we are going – what path to follow in spiritual matters we will probably be on the wrong path.  As May says:

sometimes the only way we can enter the deeper dimensions of the journey is by being unable to see where we are going…But in spiritual matters it is precisely when we do think we know where we are going that we are most likely to stumble. 

In my understanding, our egos will not allow us to enter these times if we can see what lies ahead.  The ego wants to be in control above all and will do all it can to not follow a path which it must give up that control.  As May states, “the night is dark for our protection.  We cannot liberate ourselves; our defenses and resistances will not permit it, and we hurt ourselves in the attempt.” 

In view of this, I must reassess my view of giving thanks to God.  There have been times and events in my life that seems to be bad or even disastrous.  In these times, there was no way I could bring myself to give thanks to God for what was happening.  However, upon reflection and given some space, I can see God’s hand at work and that it has been something to give thanks to God for.  That is not to say that bad things are always for the best, however, we can still give thanks to God in those things.

Blessings on your journey including those dark nights as well as the bright days.  

The Test for the Times

 Last week was a milestone in our trip to our cottage to PEI.  We arrived at the cottage on September 3^rd but in many ways the trip was not over.  We had to go into quarantine for fourteen day.  They take quarantining very seriously here and people in that state are phoned every day by an official from the PEI Health Department to confirm that you are still home.

We know of one couple who missed a call and were visited by the RCMP to check on them.  No harm done but their dog thought it would make a break for it and jumped unnoticed into the back seat of the cruiser and was taken for a ride to quarantine freedom.  However, the canine escapee was discovered and brought back to quarantine prison.   

To be honest being in quarantine has not seemed like being in prison for either Lorna or me.  We have enjoyed the days filled with few commitments and we were able to hunker down to the things which we enjoy doing; for me it is being in the bunkie playing guitar and spending time on the computer and doing my daily spiritual exercises as well as reading and having another kind of spirit at 4:00 in the afternoon.  Lorna on the other hand has thrown herself into her favourite activity-gardening.  I have said for many years that the people who devised house arrest as a punishment were definitely not introverts which is what Lorna and I definitely are.  Of course being in quarantine was possible due to help form friends particularly one who brought us our groceries during this time of isolation. 

I was given one opportunity to break out of quarantine which I took.  We were asked by the PEI official if either of us would be willing to take a COVID-19 test.  I agreed as I thought it was my civic duty to help the officials to gain a better understanding of the scope of the pandemic.  I’m not sure if I would have agreed if I had known I would have to drive to Charlottetown by myself – Lorna wasn’t allowed to accompany me.  She is usually my navigator when travelling to uncharted territory, and sometimes even in charted ones.  I once had a dream where she was a back-seat driver but she was in the front seat.  I am actually grateful for her navigational skills and depend on them as I am directionally challenged which I put down to my type with my sensing function in the Myers Briggs scale being my weakest or inferior one (see last weeks edition for more on types).  We don’t have GPS in the car which I am beginning to wonder if we should reconsider.

In any case, last Monday I set off to the uncharted territory in deepest darkest Charlottetown.  All was well until I took a wrong turn or, rather, the highway too a wrong turn which I didn’t follow and I had to go to plan B which was to phone Lorna on our antiquated cell phone and she bailed me out and got me to my destination only a few minutes late which wasn’t a problem.  Once I arrived the process went very smoothly and the test itself was not a problem.  I phoned in for the results last Thursday and yes, I am COVID negative. 

So, we are now out of quarantine and free to fully enjoy the all that PEI has to offer this time of year which will include hurricane Teddy (a most inappropriate name for a hurricane in my view).  Teddy is scheduled to arrive early Wednesday and we can hunker down once more to ride it out if it arrives and the power goes out as predicted.  We were able to attend a church worship service at St. George’s Anglican in Montague on Sunday.  It was a joy to reconnect with some Island friends and to worship with other people.  I will be presiding at the service there next Sunday, Teddy permitting. 

My journey continues – blessings on yours.  

A COVID-19 Road Less Travelled

 

Last week, Lorna and I were travelling to our cottage in Price Edward Island.  I took the week off from this venue and focussed on preparing for the trip and leaving our home in Ontario.  

It was a journey which we had done many times before but it was also a new experience.  We have come to our cottage ever since I retire officially as a parish priest.  Until this year we have left at around the end of May and returned around Thanksgiving.  This year there was the road block on this journey because of the Corona Pandemic with prohibitions on travel.  It didn’t look as if we would be making the trip this year being in good company with everyone who had their summer plans disrupted and put on hold. 

We were resigned to staying put at home but as summer and the pandemic progressed, a window opened up and the possibility of making the trip seemed that it might be possible.  As plans developed, it was clear that it would not be a trip like ones we would normally make.  There were permissions to obtain, plans on how to handle meals and where to stay that would be safe.  Most of this planning was handled by Lorna - well okay, all of it was, except for the Air B&B reservation which is another story.  We managed it thanks to a friend who lent us a Koolatron, for our fresh food during the journey, a neighbour who is handling the mail and a friend who is grocery shopping for us during our 14 day quarantine at the cottage. 

With preparations made and many questions about how to handle washroom breaks and the need to sanitize at every stop, we made the trip without incident - passing all the border checks with flying colours, and are ensconced in the cottage and enjoying the peace and quiet of the quarantine.   

As many of you are aware, I consider life to be a journey which with God’s guidance will take us to a union with the divine when it is completed on this world.  It is a journey which is made up of many smaller journeys.  This was brought home to me as we made the journey to our cottage.  Travelling in a new way or to a new place is easy to understand as a journey.  However, staying where you are is also a journey.  They are all part of the journey of this life and all the journeys we have will bring us events which, however, much we plan for may bring us surprizes and the unexpected.  It is how we meet them that can tell us much about how we respond to the unplanned and unexpected and where God is in our lives.  I came across a short passage in a book I picked off the shelf at home which I obtained some time a go but had neglected read.  It is Christian Mythmakers by Rolland Hein. The book explores Christian writers who have added to the Christian Mythos.  The quote is about the mythmaker John Bunyan relating to his classic Pilgrims Progress:

The reader is seized with a compelling sense of life as a journey beset with perils and difficulties, trials and demanding earnest effort to overcome. To triumph over them brings the promise of a glorious afterlife.

My journey so far has been much more than that but perhaps Bunyan’s journey reflected that understanding.  I hope that the best is yet to come in this world and definitely in the next. There will undoubtedly be perils and challenges but there will be much more than that and above all that it will be a blessing.

Blessing on your journey.