What Time is it Anyway?

Yesterday, I commented to Lorna that it seemed we have been at the cottage for a lot longer than the three weeks we have been here.  She agreed with me which is nice because that doesn’t always happen.  In some ways, our time here has been timeless.  It always does to some extent but it seems more so this year perhaps because most of this time has been in quarantine and focussed around getting tested for COVID and getting our second shot which happened last week.  There has been a sense that one day flows into the next without too much to differentiate one day from the other.  In any case, I want to be clear that it has been a very pleasant time as it always is here at our Island home.

That experience of timeless time does raise a question for me about time and our focus on time in our culture today.  Our culture is very much ruled by time and time is to a greater or lesser extent our master.  We are used to measuring our days by what we have scheduled which, of course, is governed by time to a great extent.  This is less so when we are retired – our schedules are more flexible but there are still the surprizing number of activities which we participate in – numerous Zoom events which are scheduled to begin at a particular time – meeting and lectures and workshops and classes.  Zoom seems to have become pervasive in our lives along with the occasional Skype meeting. 

Another aspect of time is its flexible nature.  I’m sure that you are aware of how time can seem to slow down or speed up.  Sometimes a few minutes seem an eternity and sometimes an hour or more can seem to go by in the flash of an eye.  I have said before and will say it again that the longest two minutes in my life has been the two minutes of silence in a Remembrance Day Service.  This, of course, has nothing to do with it not being significant – just the opposite.  Every second of that silence holds deep significance. 

Exploring the issue of timelessness further, when we move from time to timelessness, we are entering the area of God’s time versus our time.  In timelessness we can speak of eternity.  Eternity does not mean a long time.  Eternity is beyond time – it is a state in which time does not exist.  This is something which is difficult for most of us to grasp.  We are like fish swimming in the water of linear time.  Our lives are measured by time which passes – things begin and end.  We wake up in the morning and check what time it is if we are fortunate enough not to be woken up by an alarm clock.  We begin an activity at a particular time and end it after the passage of time.  Time flows on and there seems to be no stopping it.  As the Joni Mitchell song says, “it won't be long now, till you drag your feet to slow the circles down.”  

When we move into timelessness and eternity we are moving from our time to God’s time.  I have been listening to recordings of Northrop Frye’s lectures on the Bible and Literature https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Swyk_ZRy8.  He notes that the creation story in Genesis did not happen in linear time, it happens in God's time.  In effect it is a timeless event which is happening all the time. 

As Frye notes, the Bible speaks of time in two different ways; time is either Kairos or Chronos.  Simply put, Chronos is measurable time which has a beginning and an end.  Kairos, on the other hand, means an opportune time, a moment or a season such as harvest time.  Paul uses Kairos in the passage from Ephesians 5:15-16, “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”  

If you have ever been caught in a moment when time seemed to stop or disappear, you have moved from Chronos to Kairos.  We need to be aware of when we want things to happen on our schedule, in Chronos and become aware that they sometimes happen in Kairos.  It is a reminder that as much as we like to believe it, we don’t often set the agenda.  That can be frustrating but it can also be liberating.

May you be blessed on your journey to experience it In Kairos and well as Chronos.            

Whither Leadership

 On the weekend, I watched a documentary on CBC, #BLESSED, which explored the C3 church movement which has now been expanded to Toronto from its beginnings in Australia.  The C3, which stands for Christian, City, Church, is an international evangelical church which has had great success attracting millennials.

The documentary, which rightly has been criticized for not being an in-depth critical look at the church, presented a church which seems to have many things I am in agreement theologically.  However, I was left feeling uneasy about what was not explored in the documentary.  It presented C3 as what could be described as not untypical evangelical church with praise leaders, a charismatic pastor who connected with his flock, and little in the way of liturgy.  There can be no arguing with its success, if success is measured by growth in the number of people who attend services and in the number of congregations and the ability to plant new church congregations. 

As was noted in one critical article, the documentary did not explore what the church does to make the church so attractive to the millennial aged people they are apparently so successful in attracting.  It also doesn’t explore the potential danger that a charismatic leader, who almost becomes an object of worship, can cause for those who follow his or her – especially if there are few, if any, constraints in place in the organization itself.

We have currently many examples of what can happen when leaders do not live up to the expectations which are placed on them.  We have all the politicians and civil servants who have demanded that citizens do not travel in this time of the COVID shut down and have turned around and done just that because “they deserve it” implying that they are special and, therefore, the rules - which they impose - do not apply to them.  We have the much more serious example of bad leadership in the United States which has incited insurrection to attempt to over turn a legitimate election. 

The question that is being begged to explore (but not begging the question) is what makes a good leader?  As I have mentioned, at the end of 2020 (that seems a long time ago), I took a course on Benedictine Spirituality.  I have continued to read one of the books recommended for the course, The Rule of Benedict by Joan Chittister.   The Rule of Benedict includes much information of what is required of leadership and leaders.  Over the next few week, I will explore aspects of leadership which are outlined in the Rule.  I find it particularly interesting that the Rule of Benedict was written over fourteen hundred years ago but it has stood the test of time and is just as applicable in today’s circumstances as it was when it was written despite the times being very different.

I will begin by looking at one aspect which is a good foundation for good leadership.  It states in the Prologue to the Rule that the leaders of the monastic community, “are to lead the community by a two- fold teaching: they must point out to the monastics all that is good and holy more by example than by words.”  Chittister’s commentary on this expands on its relevance today:

Autocrats and militarists and spiritual charlatans and abusive parents and corporate moguls want the people under them to obey laws from which their exalted positions hold them exempt.  Benedict says that the only authentic call for obedience comes from those who themselves demonstrate the value of the law.

This is a good application of the Golden Rule which Jesus and others taught, ‘do unto other what you would have them do unto you’.  If leaders do not have this as a guiding principle, he or she will be in danger of leading themselves down a wrong and potentially dangerous path.

Blessings on your journey and may you have God as your guide. 

The Supreme Sacrifice

Today we will mark Remembrance Day which will honour those who gave their lives so that we might live in freedom and peace.  This will be a different Remembrance Day as we will not have the usual assembly in the local North Middlesex District High school in Parkhill or, I am sure, in other schools due to the COVID pandemic restrictions.  We also will not likely have as many people at the cenotaph at 11:00 as the students form the public schools will likely not be in attendance.  This is unfortunate as having children in attendance is an important part of the remembrance.  The students at the High School have always done an excellent job in the Remembrance Day assembly in the years I have been attending.   However, all this is part of the new normal these days.

There can be something of a dissonance or discomfort with Remembrance Day as it can be seen by some people as a glorification of war.  However, this is mistaken as it is entirely intended as a service to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their country.  I should add that it is, for me, also a time to honour those who have served and serve in the armed forces in time of peace as well as war and who are ready and willing to put themselves in harms way for our country.  The purpose of Remembrance Day is stated very well in the call to worship for the service from the Royal Canadian Legion Chaplain’s Manual.

Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, time stands still for a moment; and we remember those who died, not for war, but for a world that would be free and at peace.

As I write this, I am aware that this language needs to be updated to be inclusive of religions other than Christianity. Certainly, many, if not most of those who fought in past wars and conflicts were Christians; however, it was not exclusively so.  There were soldiers of many faiths who fought and made the supreme sacrifice and will do so in the future should the need unfortunately arise.  This is addressed in the introduction to the manual:

The Chaplain’s Manual has been compiled to provide suggestions and assistance to anyone tasked with organizing the religious aspect of a ceremony. One of the challenges in assembling the material for the manual is the issue of inclusiveness. Choice, no matter what the subject, is by its very nature discriminatory. The moment a decision is made, it becomes exclusive of other options. In this manual the Legion, in an effort to accommodate the vast majority of its members, has chosen to follow widely accepted religious traditions as much as possible. This is by no means an indication that other religious beliefs that are not specifically identified are discouraged.

It is good that the diversity of those who served is acknowledge.  However, I believe that this must be addressed with more than lip service.  The reality of those outside of the mainstream in our society has rightly come into the general consciousness of our society.  I hope that his will be addressed in not too distant future.

I will close with the prayer of Remembrance from the Manual (with an edit for a small step towards inclusion):

Almighty God, as You have gathered Your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give You thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of Your presence. Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last, being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life. Amen

Blessing on your journey and remember to pause for two minutes of silence at 11:00 a.m. today. 

Let Go and Let God

 I receive a daily word – “Brother Give us a Word” - from the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE)  https://www.ssje.org/  This is a short-focused comment, by one of the brothers, on a word to reflect upon for the day.  I find it quite a good way to start the day.  One of the words this week was “Let Go”; Okay for those who are that way inclined - it’s not ‘a’ word but it is a thought for you to ponder:

Each season of fall reminds us again of Jesus’ invitation to us to an autumnal experience of letting go and of dying – if we want to truly live, and be filled with the fullness of God.  - Br. Geoffrey Tristram

 

Rereading that this morning, what came to mind was the phrase ‘let go and let God’ which was so very popular a few years ago.  This seemed to me to be a good follow up to my reflection on Centering Prayer last week.  In Centering Prayer, we have, in my experience, the challenge of giving up the control that our ego wants to maintain.  We have the message that this type of activity should have a goal – we should make progress in the activity and should progress i.e. getting better and better with practice.  Otherwise what is the point of doing it?  You might even want to give each session of Centering Prayer a mark out of 10. 

Is there any point in just letting go and making space for God in our goal-driven lives?    I did not have much luck in Googling or origins of the phrase ‘let go and let God’ but I imagine it has some connotation that you put everything in God’s hands and all will be well.  I think that, as with any simple idea it can become simplistic so there not any need for us to be active in bringing about God\s Kingdom or following the commandment to love your neighbour through action such as feeding the poor and the orphans. 

To my way of thinking, the goal of letting go and letting God is to be silent and make room to listen to God - listen not with our ears but with our hearts and minds and bodies – our whole selves.  That is more and more difficult in these times when our lives – even in this time of the COVID pandemic.  There is so much we can fill our time with – so much that is accessible to us to fill up and minute where silence manages to break through the cacophony of social media. 

I will close for a quote by Cynthia Bourgeault, one of evangelists for Centering Prayer, “Silence is not absence, but presence. It is a “something,” not a nothing. It has substantiality, heft, force. You can lean into it, and it leans back. It meets you; it holds you up.”

Give time to let go and let God on your journey.