Responding to Disaster part 1

After another deep dive into my files, I discovered this summary I wrote of an address from a few years ago.  It was given by Rev. Dr. Lizette Larson-Miller, Professor of Liturgy at Huron University College.  Larson -Miller was the keynote speaker at 2018 National Anglican and Lutheran Worship Conference.  As the “leader of the free world” has more than two years remaining in his term in the country directly south of us, a term which is defined by disasters, I believe that it is worthwhile offering this today.   I am dividing this into two parts because of its length.  I will share the second part next week. 

After a disaster, Christians fall back on their faith, which Larson-Miller said is the key to offering a response that aims not simply to comfort but to confront those fundamental questions about why disasters happen and how to deal with them. “Rather than beginning with a collection of created rituals,” she said, “we need to start with asking ourselves…what do we know of God?”

During the session, Larson-Miller offered several examples of prayers and litanies that demonstrated a theological depth, including a prayer for a hurricane from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) collection of prayers and a version of the Great Litany from the online Anglican Church of Canada resources (Book of Alternative Services).

“When creating worship rituals, it’s important to know who will be gathering,” said Larson-Miller.  “Not everybody prays with words, especially words printed on a page,” she said. “If you’ve got many languages, they’re not going to be able to read them. If you’ve got kids under the age of five, they’re not going to be able to read them. If you have people who can’t see well, they can’t read them. Not all prayer is verbal.”

In these instances, she suggested, the repetition of a litany may be a helpful tool.

Similarly, Larson-Miller asked attendees to consider the ways in which people outside an immediate church community can be incorporated into the church’s spaces and rituals.

“How is liminal space created so that those who do not ‘go to church’ can enter, to a certain degree?” she asked.  Larson-Miller cited as an example a church in a suburb of Los Angeles, Calif., that has the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia. Inside the church, an area with Armenian icons has been set up in the narthex. “The Armenians will come to the narthex and light candles and pray, but don’t always go all the way in,” said Larson-Miller. In addition to this, the church was gifted a statue of Jesus carrying the cross, which they have installed outside.

The church’s Armenian neighbours, Larson-Miller said, “come with a bucket of water, and they wash Jesus’ face…That image of the suffering Christ is, for them, where the kind of liturgical response to disasters begins. Often it never goes inside the church. It stays there, with the washing of Jesus’ face.”

In addition to considering who is gathering, it is important to consider the purpose of the gathering, she also said. “Is it to lament and to grieve together? Is it to comfort in solidarity? Is it to name what has happened and to who?”

 The purpose may also be to “repent and commit to transformation,” Larson-Miller added, noting that liturgy can lead to a political response. “Another way to ask this question: what is the purpose of the ritual liturgy? Where are we going with this—what is the desired ethical response?”

This is a good place to stop for this edition.  There is much here that is food for deep consideration and pondering. 

 

All this and More - So You Want to be a Parish Priest

I was going through some old files a while ago and came across a document; Ministry Description, Priest/Rector.  This was a job description of what is expected for a parish priest in the Anglican Church which was provided for me when I became a full-time parish priest some years ago. 

There is a very old joke about clergy only having to work an hour once a week i.e. Sundays.  This job description buried that canard.  Here is a summary which, I hope, will give you a general idea of all the things expected of someone who assumes the role of parish priest.  There are ten areas of responsibilities giving a summary of each one.

1.    Pastoral Ministry – pastoral care/visitation of the sick; marriage, baptism and confirmation preparation, pastoral counselling.

2.    Worship – preparation for worship services including sermons, hymn selection, children’s focus, maintain prayer lists, bulletin preparation; lead worship in long term care facilities.

3.    Parish Education – provide for families preparing for baptism, confirmation, funerals; provide seasonal education programs e.g. Lenten and Advent; lead bible study.

4.    Parish Administration – participate in preparation of parish budgets; manage parish office, lead council meetings; chair vestry meetings.

5.    Encourage Lay Leadership – identify, train, equip and commission lay leaders within the parish.

6.    Spiritual Guidance – provide spiritual counselling to individuals and groups,

7.    Ministry Beyond the Parish – involvement in Diocesan meeting and groups; attend Synod (annual Diocesan meeting).

8.    Community Involvement – attend community clergy meetings; lead/participate in ecumenical community services; serve as Legion Chaplain.

9.    Continuing Education – attend clergy conferences; participate in Diocesan clergy days; undertake continuing education.

10.   Spiritual Development – annual retreats; meet with Spiritual Director; maintain regular prayer life; regular study of scripture.

The call to priesthood is sometimes summarized under the categories of priest, pastor and prophet.  However, as you can see for this it involves a lot more than fits into those three categories.  The challenge, as I see it, is that the parish priest is called to be all things for his/her parish.  This is particularly true in small and medium sized parishes where there is only one priest.  It would be an executional person who could do all these things well, or perhaps, even adequately.   

If there are larger parishes which have a clergy team there can be clergy that have strengths in certain areas and other areas can be undertaken by other members of the team.  Most Anglican parishes are small to medium sized in Canada.  This puts the responsibility of all these areas on one person. 

Even Jesus had a group of twelve and more to undertake his ministry.  Perhaps there needs to be a recognition and acknowledgement that one person cannot do all these things well.  As a result, some areas are going to suffer.

The next time you are tempted to criticize your priest/minister, bear in mind he or she is only human and can’t perform miracles.  Praying for them is always a good idea as is seeing where you can assist in the life of a parish/congregation. 

Songs from the Tower

Recently, I have been singing and playing many of the Leonard Cohen songs that are in my repertoire.  This has brought home to me how many of the lines/phrases are truly wonderful and memorable.  Unlike many lyrics by other composers, many of Leonard’s are poetry which stand on their own, and which resonate with me, as I know it does with so many other people.  I thought I would share some of my favourite lyrics with you.

I have just been starting to learn to play Tower of Song.  There are a couple of the lyrics which are on my list:

Well, my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day in the Tower of Song

This may not be the best known of Leonard’s lyrics, but it came to mind recently as I was contemplating my stage of life.  Many friends are no longer in my life and my hair is gray – what’s left of it, and I certainly ache in places that I no longer play.  I’m not sure I’m crazy for love thank God and perhaps my rent is overdue in the Tower of Song – where I have spent countless hours of the life.

Another verse for this Tower may surprize those who don’t think a lot of Leonard’s vocal abilities:

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond
They tied me to this table right here in the Tower of Song

Yes, Leonard’s singing is an acquired taste – it does grow on you.  On the live performance on his last tour, this verse was met with thunderous approval.  For me his voice is exactly what it should be for his songs.  They go together – hand in glove – a cliché but I don’t know a better description.

Turning to something in a different vein, there is the song Passing Through, which opens with someone watching Jesus on a cross on Calvary:

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 passin' through."

Leonard was not, as far as I know, a Christian being Jewish and studying Buddhism for many years.  However, he was able to draw on Christianity as a source for his lyrics as he did for so many sources of inspiration.  For me, this sums up the message of Jesus Christ and the meaning of the cross.  We should talk of love and not hate.  It is what the world needs now – love sweet love, to borrow from a song by a different composer.  We are all only passing through and it is getting late.

The next song, Coming Back to You, says a great deal about the challenges of relationships which many people have experienced:

Maybe I'm still hurting
I can't turn the other cheek
But you know that I still love you
It's just that I can't speak
I looked for you in everyone
And they called me on that too
I lived alone but I was only
Coming back to you

The last song I want to reflect on today, has, undoubtedly the most poignant and wise line of all; Leonard’s song, Anthem:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

I suspect, without checking with AI, that this is probably the lyric from Leonard that is most quoted.  It says so much about the human condition and the struggle and challenges that people have in becoming more fully human.  These four lines sums it up perfectly.

I could go on delving into the depths of that deep well that Lenord has shared with the world.  I invite you to drink from that well as often as you are willing and able.

Thank you, Leonard, for all your songs from that Tower you inhabited so well.  As he predicted, we are hearing from him long after he has gone to take his place with Hank Wiliams in that Tower of Song. I will give Leonard the last word, as he deserves:

Now I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be back
They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone
I'll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song.

 

Out of the Mouths of Babes

This edition might have been a review of the movie Babe, which Lorna and I watched recently.  However, I have been thinking about what children – especially young ones - can give to the world.  This came to mind when I recalled what I have determined was a wise thing I said a long time ago when I was five or six years ago.  I was with my mother in the family car, and we stopped at a store where, I guess she had to pick up a few things – I’m not sure what.  As she left, she said to me, “I will only be a minute.”  I replied without thinking, “is that one of your minutes or one of my minutes?”  I don’t remember what she replied but it did sum up my perspective on what time meant for each of us.  I don’t remember but I think it was closer to one of my minutes than hers – at least that time.

Children – especially little one – see the world in ways that adults have forgotten.  They see aspects of their world with fresh eyes.  One way is that they have a strong sense of fairness.  They know instinctively when things are not fair – or at least don’t seem to be fair from their perspective.  They may not see the larger perspective, but they still have an innate sense that the world should be fair. 

Jesus knew that children can have a way of seeing the world which has been lost by people when they ‘grow up’.  First, they represent how we should reflect the values of the Kingdom of God, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3). 

He realized that children were among those who were often excluded.  People did not realize that we are mistaken when that happens, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, and Luke 18:16).  Rather than excluding them, they should be welcomed and received as we would receive Jesus,” "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." (Matthew 18:5). 

Finally, Jesus warns against the mistreatment of children.  It is our duty as individuals and society to protect them, "If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea ( Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2). 

As is often the case, Jesus reminds us that all are welcome in the Kingdom.  Those excluded by society – those on the margins, as well as children, can reflect more of the Kingdom than those of us who have received their reward in this world.  Remember that Jesus chose to be in this world first as a child – a helpless baby in fact.  That says it all.

Perhaps we should all attempt to reawake our inner child from time to time.  It could get us closer to God’s intention for us.

If You Got it – a Truck Brought It

We have successfully made our annual trek to our cottage in Prince Edward Island.  Travelling by car the 1800 km brought home the paradox of dealing with transport trucks on today's highways.  There were, at various stages of the journey, many trucks which somewhat reluctantly shared the road with us.  The paradox comes in that dealing with trucks while driving a smaller vehicle – that is most vehicles, is not generally a positive experience.  However, trucks and the cargo they carry are essential to the modern economy. 

Reflecting on our experience of sharing the roads with trucks, I mounted the way-back- machine and to my former life when I worked in truckin8 policy for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.  A part of the job was to help educate the public on the value of trucking to our economy.  One of the slogans that was developed by the Ontario Trucking Association to help promote the importance of trucking was, ‘IF You Got it, a Truck Brought it.’  In effect, this statement summarized the reality that the things we use in today’s economy, at some point in its life, are moved by truck.  There may be some very minor variations to this but for the vast majority of things this is the truth.  This was true more than thirty years ago and it is even more so today.

The number of transport trucks that we encountered on our journey east gave a lie to the moribund picture of the Canadian economy which is apparently in ‘a technical recession’.  The number of trucks moving on hwy 401 and the TransCanada hwy was a sign of economic activity.  The goods that they carry could not practically get to their destination any other way.  Most manufacturers and other businesses no longer have rail connection as they once did.  That’s the positive.  However, looking at it from the side of motorists sharing the road with large trucks is not that positive.  Large trucks are not as mobile and maneuverable as cars and similar sized vehicles.   That means they take longer to accelerate and longer to stop – so it is wise to give them some space.  In addition, it can be annoying if a truck attempts to pass another truck which is going slightly slower, it may take a long time to do that manoeuvre while other vehicles are lining up behind the passing truck.  Trucks can also block road signs from the view of motorists – again annoying and requires planning if you are looking for a particular exit on a highway.  If you are really lucky -or rather unlucky – you might get caught in a situation where you are surrounded by large trucks with no way to escape – trucks in front of you; trucks behind you and, yes, trucks beside you in the passing lane. 

There are things that any motorist can do to adjust their driving to accommodate trucks.  The most important thing is to not let your emotions run you when you encounter a truck doing something to get in your way.  They are much larger and will win in any encounter with a car.  Of course, the government needs to do its part to ensure the trucking industry is operating properly within the laws, rules such as hours of service, and other regulations.  There was the recent account in the media about truck driver training schools scamming the system and not training students properly.  We all need to do our part in trying to ensure roads are as safe as possible.

So, the next time you are frustrated by the inconvenience or challenge of sharing the road with a truck, remember the part they play in our economy – if you got it a truck brought it.  Safe travels on your journey.

 

Tongues of Fire

 Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday in our church year.  This is the event when a great sound and light show came upon the early followers of Jesus Christ who had gathered from the known corners of the world.  The Holy Spirit invaded the gathering of those people in Jerusalem and there was a great wind, tongues of fire over their heads, and the local people were speaking in the languages of everyone who had gathered there

When I was trying to discern my call to be ordained, I was in some ways hoping for something as distinct from the Holy Spirit as all the action on the Day of Pentecost.  I was hoping to get a Road to Damascus experience – like the original one in which Paul was knocked off his horse when he received a voice from Jesus asking him why he was persecuting Jesus?  A voice that would have given me a clear message that the road to ordination I was embarking on was the correct one.  Well on reflection, and considering what happened to Paul, I decided that I would prefer a more subtle message after all. 

I received that some time later.  I was in the process of deciding to begin the path to ordination with the diocese and went for an interview with the Dean of Theology, at Huron College, John Chapman as part of that process. 

Well, I had a very positive interview with the Dean, and the indication seemed to be that I was beginning the journey that God intended for me. 

After the interview, I got in my car to drive home and turned on the radio.  A CBC program was on air in which three people were being interviewed about their becoming clergy later in life – second or third careers like me.  I took that as the work of the Holy Spirit - my road to Damascus or road to ordination experience.  Now this could be dismissed as a mere coincidence.  However, Carl Jung has called these experiences of meaningful coincidences, synchronicity.  It certainly was a meaningful coincidence for me I was certain that this was a sign for me as the work of the Holy Spirit and one that has helped sustain on my road to ordination and as a priest since.

So, can we conclude that the Holy Spirit does not always work in such dramatic ways as it did on the Day of Pentecost which we celebrate today?  Let’s look at some other accounts of the Holy Spirit in the bible.  Jesus promises his disciples in John 16:13 that the Spirit will be a guide and “the Spirit would guide them into all the truth.”  In Acts 8: 29, the Holy Spirit instructed Philip to go to the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch, leading to the eunuch's conversion. The Holy Spirit is a teacher - Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Advocate who will teach His followers all things and bring to their remembrance all that He had said to them.  The Holy Spirit also has the role of sanctifier.  Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians that God chose the believers to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 

The Holy Spirit was there in the beginning when God created the world – a wind from God – the Holy Spirit swept over the face of the water before God said, “Let there be light.”   The Holy Spirit the creative power of God – the empowerer, guide, teacher, and sanctifier. 

As I discovered in my road to ordination experience, the Holy Spirit is not always as easy to discern as on that Day of Pentecost.  However, be assured that it is still at work in us and in the world.  We must play our part in working with God by identifying how the Holy Spirit is at work and responding to that knowledge.  It can be in the still small voice we hear; it can be in our dreams if we pay attention to them; it can be in meaningful coincidences; it can be in the inspiration that gives you the answer that you have been struggling to find for a long time.  It can be in the inspiration we receive from an unexpected encounter in reading the bible as you come to gather in bible study or on our own.  It can be when we come together in the name of Jesus Christ to worship and partake in the body and blood of our Saviour.  Be assured that it is there at work in and for each of us. 

May we be blessed to recognize the Holy Spirit guiding us on our journeys. 

Count Yourself In

Tomorrow, May 12^th, is Census Day in Canada and like other households in Canada we received a census form in the mail a while ago.  It wasn’t a form to fill out, rather it was information about filling out the census form on-line – a first I believe for the census.  The census is done every five years and if memory serves me, we received the census form in the mail which we completed. 

We completed the on-line form which took about 40 minutes.  I’m not sure if we were fortunate enough to receive the long form which goes to about a quarter of households but it included questions on a range of subjects such as income, employment status, education, sexual orientation, homelessness, religion, amount paid for utilities and property taxes, marital status, and other areas that I may have forgotten being a retiree and born in 1949. 

Listening to an interview with a rep from StatsCan this morning on CBC radio, he noted that the completion rate was 98% for past censuses, which makes Canada the envy of other countries.  There are a few people who object to the census as an invasion of privacy.  However, these have been relatively few in past years.  I have a suspicion that this may be larger in these times when conspiracy fears are growing and separation movements with them in Alberta and Quebec.

Having worked with StatsCan data in a past life and worked with staff at StatsCan, I am able to affirm how important the data that is collected in the census and other surveys conducted by StatsCan.  The staff that I worked with were dedicated and hard-working and wanted to produce the best results for the people who utilized the data.  Census information is a valuable resource for academics and planners in many fields and is an invaluable resource for the country.  I would encourage everyone who has not yet filled out their census form to do so.  If you aren’t willing or able to do it on-line, it can be done the old-fashioned way. 

Censuses are not something new and have been around for a very long time.  Indeed, there is mention of censuses in the bible.  The book of numbers recounts a census taken by the Israelites in the exodus from slavery in Egypt.  God commands Moses to take a census of the Israelite community in the wilderness of Sinai. "Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one."  This information was valuable in planning by Moses and other leaders for battles with tribes they encountered before and after entry into the Promised Land.  

King David also undertook a census of his kingdom.  It was a census of the troops available to him.  However, as was often the case with David, his actions often did not please God as, unlike in the Exodus, God had not commanded the census to be undertaken.  God saw this as an act of pride by David. 

Finally, we have the census that most Christians are aware of, being part of the Christmas story.  This was the first census to take place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  This census is significant as it fulfilled the prophecy of the Messiah's birth in Bethlehem according to the Gospel of Luke.  This has been problematic for the accuracy of the birth narrative, as there is no historic record of a census at that time.  But that is an issue for another time.

There was a saying when I was involved in planning and utilizing data, you can’t make good decisions without good data.   That may not always be true, but it certainly helps.  Fortunately, the census data has been a good and valuable resource for Canada to use.  If you haven’t yet completed it, please do your part and complete the census and count yourself in as a household in Canada.