Talk of Love and Hate

A couple of weeks ago I quoted from one of my favourite Leonard Cohen songs, Passing Through.  I want to start by doing that again:

Let's talk of love not hate, things to do: it’s getting late, there’s so little time and we’re only passing through.  

That line, “talk of love not hate,” has been on my mind a lot in the last two weeks.   I have struggled with my response to the Trucker Convoys that have taken over our national capital and other significant places in Canada.  I have found myself responding in an unusually strong reaction to the events that are taking place.  These thoughts and feelings are not how I am called to as a Christian; they are ones of hate.  I am called to love my neighbours and even my enemies and the people involved – at least some of them - are feeling more and more like my enemies and the enemies of this land which has always striven (though sometimes not succeeded) for peace, order and good government. 

As a Christian, I know I am called to strive to love and not hate as Leonard Cohen says so beautifully in that poignant song.  However, at times I find that hate is winning – and I do not like that or myself when that happens.  I am coming to the conclusion that I cannot love if I do not acknowledge the hate within myself.  Carl Jung identified the aspect in ourselves that is the unacknowledged or undiscovered part of our self which he called the shadow.  I know from sad experience that when I do not acknowledge the shadow and its content it comes up and bits me on the backside when I can’t see it coming.  Therefore, what I need to acknowledge today is to talk of love and hate. 

To hate is an aspect of human nature and is something which the world has had too much of, and is having too much of right now, not just in Canada but in the world in so many different places.  I am reminded that the opposite of love is not hate but is indifference.  When we hate we are in relationship with the person or thing that we hate.  It is not a good or healthy relationship but it is a relationship and one which can easily take control of us just as love can when we are in its thrall.  If we are to move beyond hate to love we must first acknowledge it and accept that it is a part of us and recognize that it is not what Jesus Christ lived and promises us.  We need to know in our hearts and minds and souls that Jesus did talk of love and not hate.  Coincidentally (if you believe in coincidences), the word today from SSJE is love:

Love is of God’s very essence. And love does not exist unless it is given away. God needs you, because God is love, and love can only be realized and expressed in relationship: the give and take of love.  -Br. Curtis Almquist, Society of Saint John the Evangelist

I will close with a prayer that I wrote a few weeks ago for our parish sessions on prayer.

Collect for Coming together, for healing, and for leaving in love.

Heavenly source of all healing, we have gathered as your faithful people who are in great need of healing.  The challenges that we face form the COVID pandemic have left us ill, in body, mind and spirit.

We ask that you open our hearts to those who approach the pandemic with differ attitudes from ours.  We know that many are fearful of the restrictions imposed by governments and institutions.  We are also fearful of those dangers which loom over us.  We ask that you calm our fears and let us know that you are always with us and you are our support and defend us.

We ask that you bind the wounds that have been inflicted on all during these dark days.  Let your light shine forth in the dark places of our souls.  Help us to see you in everyone that we encounter as we go forth from this gathering.  May the glory of your holy name ring forth in the world to bring love, peace, hope, and joy to all who hear it.  All this we ask in the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Blessings on your journey this week.  

 

Talk of Love Not Hate

 

I saw Jesus on the cross on a hill called Calvary
"Do you hate mankind for what they done to you?"
He said, "Talk of love not hate, things to do - it's getting late.
I've so little time and I'm only passing through."
Passing through, passing through.
Sometimes happy, sometimes blue,
glad that I ran into you.
Tell the people that you saw me passing through.

These lyrics by Leonard Cohen came to mind as I was reading an article in our Diocesan newspaper, The Huron Church News.  The article, A brighter Spiritual awareness, by Rev. Jim Innis, noted a signboard he had seen in London which read, “May Love Always Be Stronger Than Hate.”   This is a value and understanding that is deeply needed in these times, and possibly every time since people began to walk on this earth.

However, as St, Leonard (the saint of song as I fondly think of him) states in his song Passing Through, it seems to be getting late and the need to speak of love seems all the more urgent that we not only speak of love but live out love as we pass though this time we have on earth. 

When I think about loving versus hating it can seem that hating seems to be easier to do than loving.  Can it be that it is more natural to hate others than to love them?  It is natural to find scapegoats for the things that are wrong in this world.  Rene Girard developed a scapegoat theory of how this mechanism has been at work in the world for time immemorial.  We unconsciously can collectively find an innocent victim or victims to carry the guilt for the sins of the world.  Individually, we can find ourselves consumer with hatred for someone who’s only crime is to be different than us – different in behaviour or appearance or even their attitudes and beliefs.  We can think of the strong negative emotions - okay let’s just call it hate – for people who may refuse to be vaccinated against COVID or against officials who are setting rules that appear to force people to be vaccinated against their will. 

 

It seems much easier to hate these people than love them, but is that actually the case?  Theologians and philosophers have proclaimed that love is the foundation on which the universe rests and is bound together.  Jesus Christ based his understanding of the Kingdom of God on love being the ruling principle.  He proclaimed that the commandment could be summed up in love, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

You might suppose that this was a commandment because it was not something which came naturally to people.  Therefore, we had to be commanded to do and be loving despite ourselves.  However, that is not the case.  When we consider all that love has inspired in the world – great art and poetry, love sonnets and romantic novels, and the accounts of the love between people, we know that love is a great force in this world.  IS love stronger than hate as the hope expressed in the billboard?  I have to believe it is despite some of the signs to the contrary.  Love can choose us and we can be swept off our feet and lose ourselves in the depths of love but we can also choose love.  This choice was addressed by -Br. David Vryhof of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, “Why would we choose to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us? Because that is the way of God. God never stops loving, never stops blessing. Only God’s love abiding in us can love in this way, only God’s strength at work in our weakness can make us God-like in our words and actions.”

So, let’s talk of love not hate as the song proposes and let us all choose love and not hate.  After all there are things to do and it is getting late on our journey. 

Blessings. 

Whom Are You Going to Serve?

 

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
Indeed you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody

Those lyrics by Bob Dylan capture what is on my mind this morning.  I have been listening to a program on CBC Ideas about the Divine Comedy of Dante.  This is a magnificent poem – probably the greatest ever written, is in three parts; Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.   I have also read the Comedy some time ago and have started the Paradiso again recently.  The theme which I have focussed on in this encounter with the poem is, as the lyrics sum up, deciding who or what you will serve. 

The Comedy is an account of Dante, the author and the protagonist of the poem, journeying through the three aspects of existence – hell, purgatory and heaven.  He does this, fortunately for his and for the multitude who have read the Comedy since, while he is alive.  It is a journey of discovery for Dante the protagonist, and possibly Dante the author, of whom he will serve. 

In the beginning Dante, in my reading, is serving himself.  He begins by using the work as a great revenge play in which he places those who are responsible for the great tragedy of his life – his exile from his beloved city of Florence.  For Dante this was a form of death – he was exiled from the ground of his being, from all forms of support, from friends and family, from finances, and perhaps even from God.  Consequently, he places those he holds responsible in hell most notably Pope Boniface VIII.  Although Pope Boniface was not dead when Dante wrote the poem, he places Boniface in the eighth circle of hell devoted to the simoniacs – those who use the church for personal financial gain. He doesn’t stop there but uses the work as an opportunity to wreak literary vengeance on a wide assortment of villains and even including a good friend in his zeal. 

This starting point on his spiritual journey was from a position where he was wanting to be in charge.  Dante’s ego believed it should be in charge and his creative genius should serve his ego.   In effect, he believes that God should serve him.  At the end of his journey of spiritual discovery, he learns that the proper place for the ego is in service to God.  This is the journey that we are all called to make. This was addressed in one of the recent offerings from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist  (SSJE). 

Conversion is about having more and more space in our mind and heart for the “other” people of this world, people whom God so loves. Jesus changed. If we are following him, we are going to need to change – it’s a life-long conversion – to not only serve Jesus but to see Jesus in the “other,” whoever is “other” to us, different from us, not “normal” to us. This is very challenging news. The good news is it’s possible, amazingly possible.  Br. Curtis Almquist.

Blessings on your journey.  

A Maundy Thursday Fool

 

Last Thursday was the Beginning of Easter – Maundy Thursday.  I had the joy of presiding at the Maundy Thursday worship service at St. James Anglican Church in Parkhill.  We are back in the Pandemic Shut Down – I am not sure what the colour is – you could say I am pandemic colour blind – I just know we are back to not having in-person worship and need to limit gatherings to our immediate family and above all keep wearing our masks and social distance when we need to go out for essentials – not the faux essentials but actual ones – o yes and wash those hand thoroughly and often.  We are gathering together on social media – Facebook in this case.  I have not been preaching very often recently so I thought I would share with you my sermon for the Maundy Thursday worship service.

Today we are celebrating Maundy Thursday in which our Saviour Jesus Christ put service ahead of being served by washing the feet of his disciples.  However, today is a double occasion – we are also marking a very important secular occasion – April Fools Day.  This is a very important day for many reasons but not the least because it is my birthday. 

As a result, I have a special place in my heart for fools.  There is a long tradition of fools having a special place in our world.  Sometimes this is a place of honour as in the fool in medieval times who was in the court of the king and whose job it was to remind the king that he should not get above himself – reminding the king that he is only human and is going to die – reminiscent of Ash Wednesday – you are dust and to dust you shall return.

However, fools have not had very good press historically or in our culture today.  Perhaps you are old enough to remember that forgettable TV show from the 1980’s – The A Team.  The unforgettable character Mr. T had the catch phrase “pity the fool” – not very complementary.  Then there is the saying there is no fool like an old fool – and as I am 72 years old today that is applicable to me on both counts.  Another note of interest is that being 72, I was born on April 1, 1949.  A Canadian Heritage moment associated with that date is that this was the day that Newfoundland was originally going to join Confederation and become the 10^th province.  However, the premier of the day – the redoubtable Joey Smallwood – no fool he - decided he didn’t want Newfoundland to become a perpetual April Fools joke so he moved the day to March 31^st.  Canada would certainly not be the same if NFLD and Labrador had not become part of our Confederation. 

Being an April Fool all my life - in a good way of course – I have been assured by St. Paul that this is a good thing.  He makes a bold statement in 1 Corinthians, "We are fools for Christ's sake.”  Indeed, my blog is named after this passage – it is called Another Fool for Christ.  So, if we believe Paul, I am in good company - we Christians are all fools – fools for Christ.

Now you might be asking what this has to do with Maundy Thursday - the reason we have gathered today -albeit by social media.  Jesus is modelling for us exactly what it means to be a fool in St. Paul’s sense.  In Jesus’s act of washing the disciples’ feet he was making a fool of himself.  This after all was doing something which in some circles would have been unthinkable.  Washing the feet of a guest was the job of a slave or servant.  Peter showed how outrageous this act was. 

He blurts out in his usual way of saying what he is feeling, “You will never wash my feet.”  Jesus’s response says it all, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 

That is the reality for us.  If we are to follow Jesus we will be viewed as fools in the eyes of the world.  St. Paul sums this reality for us:

We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honour, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.

This is not an attractive picture, to be what no one in their right minds would choose to be and do.  But then again to be fools for Christ has rewards that are beyond the imagination of this world.  We are called to serve and not be served.  We are called to love and not hate; we are called to love one another and Jesus loves us.  I will close with yesterday’s word of the day from Br. James Koester of the Society of St. John the Evangelist an Anglican monastic community in the United States:  The word is Way

The way we are invited to walk is not an easy one. It involves towel, basin, and water. It requires us to bend, to stoop, and to kneel. It involves cross and nails, thorns and spear. It requires us to die.

It involves tomb, and grave clothes. It requires us to lay everything aside, even our own lives. But for those who follow, it is life, and peace, and joy.

As Jesus said to the lawyer who asks, "who is my neighbour."  In response, Jesus shares with him the parable of the Good Samaritan and asks him which person was a neighbour to the man who was robbed and beaten.  The lawyer answered “the Samaritan”, Jesus says to him and to you and to me – “go and do likewise”.  Let us do just that - let us go and do likewise.  Blessings on your journey of service.

Homecoming

One of my Lenten observances is following the Signs of Life from the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE) https://www.ssje.org/.  They are, “a community of men giving our whole selves over to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”  The have a special ministry which shares that life through social media. One aspect of the Signs of Life during Lent is a weekly video which focus on different parts of those signs, Light, Water, Food, Shelter and Community.  On Sunday I engaged with the video on Shelter which explored the concept of home and being at home.

In the course of the video a number of things resonated with me.  There was the idea of coming home when you arrive at a place you haven’t been before and discover you have come home.  I had this experience when I first worshiped at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in London, Ontario.  I was not an Anglican and had limited experience or exposure to Anglican worship up to that point.  There was, for me, and experience of coming home and being in the place where I belonged.  I don’t believe I had ever had that experience previously.  I have had it at different times since then but that first experience of homecoming has stayed with me and I know that I have found my religious home in the Anglican Church. 

Another aspect of the video which resonated with me was the idea of seeking and finding your home on the journey in life.  Home, in this sense, is not a place but a state of being.  It seems somewhat contradictory to say that you can be at home wherever you are on your journey in life.  However, if you have found your home in and with God or your higher power, it does not matter where you are on that journey you are home.  There are numerous concepts for this such as sheltering under the wings of God or being in the palm of God’s hand or being carried by Jesus in times of trouble.  The relationship that you establish and seek to maintain and deepen with your higher power is what can sustain you in times of challenge and trouble.

Finally, during my participation in the video I was blessed to hear in my inner ear that wonderful spiritual Going Home in which combined wonderful lyrics by William Arms Fisher with beautiful music by Anton Dvorak.  It is one of those times when music and lyrics are a natural fit and were perhaps inspired by a higher power.  There are many wonderful versions of this spiritual performed by great singers.  However, my favourite is the performance by Paul Robson which moves me to tears whenever I hear it  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9smSP1dq-A.

I believe that we naturally have a longing to find our home.  This can take many forms and happen at different times in our lives.   One of the best expressions of that journey is by T. S. Eliot:

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Blessings on your journey