Let Your Little Light Shine

 Following is my address at the Memorial Service held at Chartwell Long Term Care Facility in Parkhill, Ontario.  Due to COVID there had not been a memorial service for three years. 

The Gospel of John tells us that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.  We have gathered together today to remember those who we love whose life on this earth has run its course.  We have many to remember this day as it has been years since we were able to gather together in this way.  Each of those people were a light that shone in the darkness – like a candle burning bright.  Indeed, we all are people who reflect the light of God. 

As the hymn says, this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.  Sometimes that light shines bright and sometimes it is less bright but it continues to shine every day we are on this earth.  We have gathered here today to honour and remember those who we love and cherish, who are no longer with us on earth.  We can remember times when those loved ones shone brightly in your lives and how each or you brightened their lives. 

There is a movie which gives us what I believe is a perfect picture of how each of us can be a light for each other.  The movie is Young Tom Edison – it is an old movie from 1940 - some of you might be familiar with it in reruns.  It starred Mickey Rooney as the young Thomas Edison, the wonderful inventor.  Tom had an inventive and inquisitive mind and his mind would sometimes lead him into trouble in his youthful exuberance.  One day – or rather I should say, one night, it was his mother who was in trouble.  She required emergency surgery to save her life.  It would have to be done at home as in those says hospitals were not as available as they are today even in the post COVID era. 

There was only light provided by lanterns - this was before Tom invested the light bulb of course.  The doctor informed Tom’s father that this would not be sufficient light to perform the operation.  The family was devastated.  However, Tom – being the genius he was - found a solution.  He broke into the local hardware store and brought a large full length mirror home.  He set it up in the dining room and put all the lamps they had – which were quite a few that all homes had in those days - in front of the mirror.  The light from the lamps was magnified by the mirror and shone a spotlight on the dining room table. 

This allowed the doctor ample light to perform the operation right there in the dining room.  Tom’s mother’s life was saved and Tom was the hero of the hour. 

We each have the light of God shining within us as we have been created by God.  When we join with one or two or more people that light can become brighter.  When you visited our love ones in Chartwell, your light brightened the light of our loved ones even if it may not have shone as brightly as it once did.

We have the sure and certain hope that our loved ones are now in their heavenly home where their light is now joined with all those who have preceded us – with the heavenly choir - and become a light that is unimaginably bright than even the spot light that enabled the doctor to save the life of Tom’s mother.  That light was wonderfully bright – I can still see it in my minds’ eye.  The light in heaven which is the light of all the faithful departed shines in unimaginable glory.  Each of the loved ones we honour today have added their light to that heavenly light. 

When our life on this earth has run its course, our light will be added to theirs – to make the light shine even more brightly. Rest eternal grant them O God and let light perpetual shine upon them.

 

Keep Focused on What Grounds You

Technology can be wonderful but it can also be less than wonderful when it doesn’t work as you expect it to.  That probably doesn’t come as a surprize to anyone – especially people who are of a certain mature age shall we say.  I am in the category that can manage what I need to do on computers and some other basic technologies (Facebook anyone) as long as things go as they should but I am thrown into the slough of despond – to use that wonderfully apt phrase from Pilgrim’s Progress – when things don’t work.

There have been a few times recently where I have experienced these types of situations either personally or vicariously – I won’t give details about them because that is not my point.  The point is that these situations can be frustrating and highly annoying to say the least.  What I am wondering this morning is, is there anything positive about these times?

I was recently reminded about one of the first times I experienced a computer failure.  I had decided to try and use my laptop and projector to show a painting during a worship service at the church where I was rector.  It was a small congregation and it was not set up for screens and projectors.  However, I thought this would be a great opportunity to use the equipment that I was not that familiar with, and use it for a sermon illustration.  I had it all set up and ready to go – actually checking during the opening of the service and when I got to the point to show it – the projector shut down and I couldn’t get it working again – of course.

So, on reflection, where is the pony in this pile of manure?  Well, I was able to carry on regardless and got by with a verbal description.  Also, I had this as an illustration of how things don't always go as planned so don’t sweat the small stuff even if it feels like big stuff at the time.  It also gives me an opportunity to show you and discuss the painting I was going to show the congregation that Sunday.  Here is the painting - provided the internet will cooperate:

It is a painting by the Renaissance master Tintoretto which depicts Jesus washing the feet of a disciple.  It is, of course, a religious theme and quite appropriate for a sermon.  I particularly wanted to use it as a sermon illustration because of my experience seeing it – a one version of it – in the Art Gallery of Ontario.  It is quite a large canvas 75 × 175 in. according to the information on-line (computers can be wonderful when they work).  It is an impressive work of art, but wat really caught my attention and grabbed me was the visual effect it produced.  When I walked along the length of the canvas from right to left. I was amazed that the image of Jesus and the disciple moved from the side of the picture to the center of the picture.  Unfortunately, I can’t duplicate this experience here.  I was surprized by this – to say the least - and walked back and forth in front of the painting to be sure I hadn’t imagined it.  Sure enough, it happened every time.  It is a tribute to the genius of the artist.

The message in all this is that we can make something – Jesus in this case – the center of our life – and something which grounds us.  Sometimes that will move to the edge of our lives when we are focussing on other things – such as electronics not working as they should.  However, that central thing can be brought back into the centre of our lives when we focus on it.  It is important if that thing is something that truly grounds us.

May you be blessed to keep the thing which grounds you centered in your life on your journey.  

 

You’ve Gotta Serve Somebody

Lorna and I watched the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday.  It was pageantry, pomp and circumstance that was overflowing with symbols and myth and legend.  There was much you could take from what is probably a once in a lifetime event for most – I was around for the Coronation of Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, but I do not remember being aware that it was happening or much else – being four years old at the time.  My parents were not what you would call monarchists by any stretch of the imagination. 

Through all the pomp, circumstance, ceremony and liturgy – Anglican worship at its highest and perhaps best – depending on your view of liturgy, what came through loud and clear for me was the theme of service – of serving and not being served.  If the Coronation had taken a popular turn the theme song might have been, Gotta Serve Somebody by Bob Dylan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC10VWDTzmU – no, I’m not really serious. 

The theme of service was there right from the beginning, when a boy chorister welcomed the King.  The King responds with the declaration he has come not to be served but to serve:

Young Person (Chapel Royal chorister): Your Majesty, as children of the Kingdom of God we welcome you in the name of the King of Kings.

The King: In his name, and after his example, I come not to be served but to serve.

This was followed by the Greeting by the Archbishop of Canterbury:

Dearly beloved, we are gathered to offer worship and praise to Almighty God; to celebrate the life of our nations; to pray for Charles, our King; to recognise and to give thanks for his life of service to this nation, to the realms, and to the Commonwealth; and to witness with joy his crowning and anointing, as he is set apart and consecrated for the service of his people. Let us dedicate ourselves alike, in body, mind, and spirit, to a renewed faith, a joyful hope, and a commitment to serve one another in love.

Then followed the Recognition:

Archbishop of Canterbury: I here present unto you King Charles, your undoubted King: Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service: are you willing to do the same?

The King’s Prayer continued with this theme:

God of compassion and mercy whose Son was sent not to be served but to serve, give grace that I may find in thy service perfect freedom and in that freedom knowledge of thy truth.

 The sermon, preached by the Archbishop of Canterbury, was Surprizingly brief - even for an Anglican sermon continued the theme of service, “Each of us is called by God to serve. Whatever that looks like in our own lives, each of us can choose God’s way today.”

The Presentation of Regalia by the Archbishop of Canterbury again stressed service:

Receive this kingly Sword. May it be to you, and to all who witness these things, a sign and symbol not of judgement, but of justice; not of might, but of mercy. Trust always in the word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, and so faithfully serve our Lord Jesus Christ in this life, that you may reign for ever with him in the life which is to come. Amen.

Service was also part of the Eucharistic Prayer:

Jesus Christ thine only Son our Lord; he may be the Defender of thy Faith and the Protector of thy people; that, with him, we may learn the ways of service, compassion, and love,

The final Blessing by the Archbishop of Canterbury ended with a blessing for all whom each of us serve:

Our help is in the Name of the Lord; Who hath made heaven and earth. Blessed be the Name of the Lord; Now and henceforth, world without end. Christ our King, make you faithful and strong to do his will, that you may reign with him in glory; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, rest upon you, and all whom you serve, this day, and all your days. Amen.

The King is called to a life a service as we are all called to serve and not to be served.  If we could live out this calling, this world would be an even more wonderful place.   

May you be blessed to serve on you journey. 

Apatheia and Apathy

 I encountered a word last week that I was not familiar with.  Now this is not unusual as I am often challenged by the limits of my vocabulary.  This word is, apatheia.  It surprized me because it is very similar to a common word which most people are familiar with - apathy.  So my initial reaction was  - it must just be a variation on apathy.  However, the context in which it was used made it quite clear that it definitely had a very different meaning from apathy.  Let’s explore together how these two words that seem very similar are actually very different.

Apathy is generally understood to mean having a general interest in something or perhaps not caring.  The dictionary definition (Wikipedia) is, “a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something.” Apatheia, as I noted, means something quite different.  It is defined in the same source as, “a state of mind in which one is not disturbed by the passions.”  This confirmed that the way in which it was used is correct.  They do mean different things but there is a connection between the two meanings.

The distinction between the two words is similar to the difference between uninterested and disinterested.  These two words are sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably but, again, they are very different.  Uninterested means simply, not interested in or concerned about something or someone. However, disinterested means, not influenced by considerations of personal advantage. 

So, if you are uninterested or have apathy, you are not concerned about the person or thing.  If you have apatheia or are disinterested, you are not influenced by your emotions or feelings about a person or thing but are involved or engaged in some way. 

Richard Rohr used this distinction in exploring a saying of Jesus which I find not that easy to get my head around – being poor in spirit:

We have to learn to be spiritually empty, or, as Jesus says in his first beatitude, “How blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). If we are filled with ourselves, there is no room for another, and certainly not for God. We need contemplative prayer, in which we simply let go of our constantly changing ego needs, so Something Eternal can take over.  

This may sound simple, but it’s not easy! Because we’ve lost the art of detachment, we’ve become almost fully identified with our stream of consciousness and our feelings. Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not saying we should repress or deny our feelings. I’m challenging us to name them and observe them, but not to directly fight them, identify with them, or attach to them. Unless we learn to let go of our feelings, we don’t have our feelings; our feelings have us.  

This does not mean that we should not care.  We can and should care deeply about people and things – about the world that God has created and given to us to be stewards of.  But, in caring we should not be ruled or possessed by our feelings and emotions.  We can be very conscious of them but not be ruled by them. 

May you be blessed with apatheia on your journey.

I acknowledge that we are on the original homelands of the many Indigenous Nations who have lived since time  immemorial in Canada or as many First and other Indigenous Nations  note; Turtle Island.  All of the lands in Canada are the subject of up  to one hundred Treaties signed by the Crown in the right of Canada
with these Nations. I will only mention a few of the Nations: the  Cree, Ojibway, Blackfoot, Blood, Dakota, Mig M'ag, Huron, Inuit and  these lands are also home to the Metis people.