Sacred Reading

Sunday, I presided at St. James, Parkhill and St. John’s Strathroy. The subject of my homily was, The Road to Belief.  In my homily I led the congregations in the practice of Lectio Divina as a way of engaging scripture which can help people to experience how it speaks to them as a living word.  Here are the steps in the Lectio Divina method.  As I noted in my homily, don’t be put off by the official name of the practice, Lectio Divina.  It simply means sacred or holy reading.

There are four steps in Holy Reading.  The first is to read the passage – the Lectio.  During the reading the intention is to be non-judgemental – just be open to what the passage is speaking to you.  Is there something especially in the passage that catches you attention – a phrase or a word?  Make a mental note of this.  You can use any passage from scripture or an inspirational work that is meaningful for you. 

The second step is meditation – meditatio.  Here we reflect and ponder on what we have read or heard.  Remember that Mary pondered these things in her heart.  Ponder and see how Jesus is speaking to you in the passage of phrase or word that resonates with you.  Ask yourself what does this mean for my life today?  Direct it to God at work in your life. 

The third step is Responding – Oratatio.  This is a prayer – a prayer which is unique and personal to you and comes from the heart.  This may lead to response in your outer life but it is an inner response initially.  It may be surrendering your will to God – not something we do easily but something which is important if we are to follow where Jesus leads us. 

Finally there is Rest – Contemplatio.  This is resting in the presence of God.  It is a knowing that God is with you and that you are in God’s hand.  As it says in the Isaiah passage:

For I, the Lord your God,
   hold your right hand;

it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear,
   I will help you.’

Sermon, Dream Workshop

1 Corinthians 12: 1-11

Which Spiritual Gift have you been given?  We are told in the Epistle today that there are diversities of Spiritual gifts which are given to every man—and I would add every woman in today’s inclusive language. 

We are also told the form in which these gifts can take:  the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues.  That is quite a list.  Do any of them resonate with you?  Surly you have one of them.  After all the scripture does say the Spirit is given to everyone.  You may be saying to yourself, well I certainly don’t think I have received any of those gifts despite what the scripture says. 

Here is what I believe.  I believe that each of us is given the gifts of the Spirit.  However, we have not been taught how to recognize them.  Let me tell you a secret.  I believe that we are given gifts of the Spirit every night.  We are given the gifts in our dreams.  You might say that I don’t dream.  Well, what if I told you that science has confirmed that we all dream every night and if we don’t dream, due to disruption of sleep patterns, for a while we will become mentally disturbed.   You could reply, well I don’t dream very often and anyway when I do, I they don’t seem to be about anything that makes sense.

That is true for many people but the problem is that our culture have for a long time not believed that dreams are important or meaningful and we have believed what our culture has taught us.  Here’s the thing, we often do not remember our dream because we do not believe they are important.  When we start to pay attention to them you will be surprized that you will remember many more of them.  And when we ever work with them by writing them down and considering them we remember even more. 

I believe that dreams are God’s forgotten language.  We have consequently never learned the language of dreams.  Friday night and Saturday some of us have been exploring how to begin to understand the language of dreams.  Dreams will usually occur in the native language of the dreamer—English for us.  Not always as in the case of King Nebuchadnezzar.  You may remember the story in the bible where he had a dream of a hand writing a message on the wall in the plaster; mene, mene, tekel, parsin.  Daniel was able to interpret the meaning for him—he translated the language of the dream:

Mene^[e]: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

²⁷ Tekel^[f]: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

²⁸ Peres^[g]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

With a few exceptions, dreams are usually in the language of the dreamer. However, that doesn’t mean that we will naturally understand them any more than King Nebuchadnezzar.  We need to learn how to interpret and understand what the message is in the dream.  Dreams speak to us in the language of symbols and we need to learn how to discern the meaning of symbols which is often not easy. 

Dreams can tell us if our lives are on the path that God intends for us or if we have gone astray.  In the same way I believe that God speaks to us in many different ways.  In addition to my work with dreams and in dream groups, I work as a Spiritual Director primarily with theological students at Huron University College in London.  My goal with my Directees is to help them identify how God is working in their lives—how God is speaking to them. 

In addition to dreams, here are a few other examples of how God speaks to us.   One way is through what we are naturally drawn to, for instance are there ways in which you feel connected to something bigger than yourself?  It may be when you are in nature, I must admit that is not a big one with me but I know many people that feel that connection.

God speaks to us in prayer.  I find it works better if it is a two-way conversation and not just talking to God; although that can also be effective. 

One way that I’m sure all of you are aware of is through scripture.  The regular reading of the bible is a way many people connect with how God is speaking to them.  There are ways in which it can be even more meaningful.  Reading a passage out loud is more effective that reading it silently.  Also, there are methods such as Lectio Divina (which is just a fancy of saying Holy Reading) which help us to find the meaning for us in our lives at the present moment.

I believe that we have generally forgotten how to understand the Language of God however, God speaks to us.  We need to learn and relearn how to listen to those many different ways and to learn how to understand them as we would a foreign language. 

I invite you to pay attention to where you find God connecting with you.  The most important first step is to be open to the possibility of God in any and all aspects of your life.  St. Paul tells us that the manifestations of the Spirit are given to all of us.  Try it out and see what happens.

I will close with the prayer that I use at the beginning of my dream groups. Let us pray:

Holy Dream Maker, Creator of All,

Be with us as we open our hearts and minds to the divine wisdom in our dreams.

We thank you and honour You.

As you guide us in the way to health and wholeness,

may we be open to the blessings of your message                      

Amen  

Sermon January 29, 2017

Reading the Bible 

Long-haired preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer with voices so sweet:

CHORUS:
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die.

That old folk song by the labour organizer Joe Hill could be a warning to all preachers.  It is very easy to put our own interpretation on a bible passage and preach by putting the spin a scripture passage that conforms to our personal bias.  It would be very easy to feed that line to the poor and say be satisfied with your lot because you will get your reward in heaven; you’ll eat pie in the sky when you die.  Indeed some ministers, long haired or otherwise do exactly that.  If you were poor that was the natural order of things.  After all didn’t our Lord and Saviour say that the poor would always be with us?  The song goes on to criticize different branches of Christianity; the Salvation Army which he called the Starvation Army,

the Holy Rollers and Jumper who sold faith healing.  He was an equal opportunity critic.

Jesus tells us at the end of today’s Gospel, “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. 

He also tells us that those persecuted for righteousness will receive the kingdom of heaven.  So it doesn’t look very good for this life: right. 

So how do we preachers try to delve into the Lectionary reading and understand it in a way that is true to the truth revealed in the passage?  That is true not just for preachers but for every one of us who answer the call to follow our baptismal duty to read the bible.    It is inevitable that sermons will be informed by the biases and perspectives and interests of the preacher.  When I first read todays Gospel I could easily have decided to talk about what it means to be blessed.  Or I could have looked at any of the different categories of those who Jesus says are blessed; the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek,

the ones that hunger for righteousness, the merciful, those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, those who are persecuted for Jesus’ sake.  It’s a treasure trove of possibilities for sermon topics.  

However, it could also be a trap.  It would be very easy to see which one fits your particular hobby horse that you like to preach on.  And don’t kid yourself. Most preachers have favourite topics and passages. 

Initially when I read the Gospel I had the inspiration about the song Pie in the Sky and the poor getting their reward in heaven.  I thought I could base my sermon as a critique of the Prosperity Gospel, which is one of my hobby horses with its misinterpretation that good Christians will receive their reward in this world.  However, as I considered it and reflected and prayed about it what decided that what God was inspiring me to preach about was how to read scripture.  There are many good ways of doing this. 

I decided to talk about Lectio Divina which means Holy Reading.  Lectio Divina is a simple way to read scripture and explore prayerfully the meaning of it for you.  It is a process which can be followed quite easily. 

There are four steps in Holy Reading; Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, and Contemplatio.    Don’t be put off by the Latin.  People such as theologians and academics like to use Latin to impress but the process is quite simple.  

The first is to read the passage – the Lectio.  During the reading the intention is to be non-judgemental – just be open to what the passage is speaking to you.  Is there something especially in the passage that catches you attention – a phrase or a word?  Make a mental note of this.  You can use any passage from scripture or an inspirational work that is meaningful for you. 

The second step is meditation – meditatio.  Here we reflect and ponder on what we have read or heard.  Remember that Mary pondered these things in her heart.  Ponder and see how Jesus is speaking to you in the passage of phrase or word that resonates with you.  Ask yourself what does this mean for my life today?  Direct it to God at work in your life. 

The third step is Responding – Oratatio.  This is a prayer – a prayer which is unique and personal to you and comes from the heart.  This may lead to response in your outer life but it is an inner response initially.  It may be surrendering your will to God – not something we do easily but something which is important if we are to follow where Jesus leads us. 

Finally there is Rest – Contemplatio.  This is resting in the presence of God.  It is a knowing that God is with you and that you are in God’s hand.  As it says in the Isaiah passage:

For I, the Lord your God,
   hold your right hand;

it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear,
   I will help you.’

Let us go through the four steps using a passage from today’s Gospel.

Step One:  The reading: be open to what it is saying to you.

¹¹“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Step two:  Meditation.  Let us now take a few minutes to ponder the passage.

Step three:  Now let us respond; let us pray is silence and ask God to give us direction.

Step four: Finally let us take a few minutes to rest and contemplate what God is speaking to us about the passage.  

Amen.  

Sermon Easter Sunday 2016

Hallelujah, the Lord is risen. 

I have preached on Easter Sunday every year since I was ordained in 2004.  When I started to consider my sermon for this morning I wondered what I could say about the Resurrection that I hadn’t said before and what you have probably heard many times before.  Well, I asked Lorna what she would like to hear in an Easter Sunday sermon.  Her response was, “why not do a Lectio Divina on the Gospel and then preach about that process”.  Those aren’t her exact words but that is the gist of it.

I thought that this was an excellent idea as are many of Lorna’s ideas.  So I decided that I would do just that as the approach to my sermon.   To remind you, there are four steps to Lectio Divina; read, contemplate, respond and rest. 

I read the Gospel that we have just heard proclaimed—the first step.  I read it out loud to myself twice.  The phrase that resonated with me was, “⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture”.  

I then contemplated the phrase considering why it resonated with me—the second step.  I wondered what it was that they did not understand. 

Reading on I discovered that they did not understand that “he must rise from the dead”; that Jesus must rise from the dead.  How was it that these disciples did not know what had been foretold by Jesus himself. 

We are told in Matthew 16:21, “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised”.   They had not yet understood.

How could they not have understood when Jesus had told them what was to happen?  Everything that had happened up to this point had happened the way Jesus had told them it would.  And yet they still did not understand.  How did they respond?  “Then the disciples returned to their homes”.  It might have ended there.  But it did not.  Mary did not return with them.  She stayed at the empty tomb.  She wanted to discover where the body had been taken.  In effect, she did not understand either—not until she saw the person she took to be the gardener.  Jesus spoke to her and her eyes were open and she recognized him, “She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”.  She responded to this by rushing off to tell the others, “Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her”. 

Part of my contemplation of the phrase was to realize that we can understand what Mary has done as Lectio Divina.  Now she didn’t read scripture per say but you could say she lived it.  Mary arrived at the tomb and read what had happened—the Tomb was empty.  Then she did not act like the other disciples. 

She stayed and contemplated what she had “read” in the scene.  She certainly realized what resonated with her—Jesus appeared to her and opened her eyes to the meaning of the scripture. 

She then responded by going and telling the other disciples the Good News the Gospel; their teacher, their rabbi, their friend and their Lord had indeed risen as he had foretold. 

Now the Gospel does not tell us that she rested.  However, I can well imagine that after all that had happened she would have rested peacefully and joyfully in the knowledge that he had risen.

Let us turn to the third step in my Lectio—my response.  Well, my response was to compose this sermon and to preach it this morning.  However, I think that is a bit of a cop out.  It is doing what I would expect to do.  But surely as a Christian I need to respond in more ways than that.  I need to consider why that phrase resonated with me, “for as yet they did not understand the scripture”.   What is it about scripture that I need to respond to in my life?  If I am to understand that Jesus Christ is actually risen from the tomb how am I to respond to that fact in my life?  How am I to live my life in a way that is true to that fact?

That is truly the difficult part for me and I think it is for many Christians.  What does it mean to have Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the only begotten son of God the Father?  For me it means that I must truly believe and know in my heart and mind and body and soul that Jesus has lived the life that was so in- tune with his relationship with God that he was able to do what God intended him to do and be the person that God intended him to be.  He was fully human and he was fully divine—of one substance with the Father as it says in the creed.  I must make an effort every day to live the life that God intends me to live and become more fully the person that God intended me to be when God created me.  Will I succeed?  No, without a doubt I will fail—I will fall into sin.  However, through Jesus Christ I have the assurance that my sins will be forgiven and I will live to make the effort tomorrow and tomorrow after that and every tomorrow that I am privileged to be on this earth.

Well, what about the last step—to rest.  I can say without a doubt that this afternoon I will rest and recharge my batteries after all these services of Holy Week.   But beyond that I know I need to rest to be able to reflect on what God’s will is for me.  And so it goes; read, contemplate, respond and rest. 

Hallelujah, the Lord is risen. 

Sermon March 13, 2016 Lent 5

¹⁹I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. ²⁰The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, ²¹the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.

During Lent we have been exploring our journey with Jesus as we travel to the Easter celebration by exploring ways of Spiritual Renewal.  Spiritual Renewal is a way which can help us navigate through those times in life in which we feel as if we are tottering on the edge of the pit.  It can also help us to more closely follow our Saviour each day – in the good times as well as the bad times.  

Today Isaiah declares that God will give water to God’s chosen people in the wilderness.  Spiritual Renewal calls us to different ways of drawing  on the water of salvation.  This is an echo of what Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well:  “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus tells us to draw of the water which he provides— that water of eternal life.  This is the goal of Spiritual Renewal.  The first way we explored was a method of reading scripture - Lectio Divina, Holy Reading .  This is not bible study in the traditional sense.  Rather it is a form of prayer using scripture.

We next explored walking the Labyrinth - the moving prayer in which we follow the twists and turns of our spiritual life to the centre and back.  Sometimes it seems we are getting close to the centre and then there is a sharp turn in our lives and we seem to be moving away from our goal.  However, if we follow the path that our savour prepares for us we will reach it.  Last Sunday we explored a way that God speaks to us which has been lost for many centuries—dreams which can be called God’s Forgotten Language.  Today I invite you to experience a form of prayer which also helps us draw the water of eternal life from the well; Centering Prayer.   Centering Prayer is a form of silent prayer in which you make space for you to be more aware of God’s presence in your life.  God is always there but we often have difficulty perceiving that presence.  The process is quite simple with just a few steps. 

Choose a word or phrase that resonates with you as an expression of your intent and desire - It use the word ‘return’.  Sit comfortably and upright, eyes closed, breathing naturally, and begin to repeat this sacred word silently. As your attention is focused on the desire behind the word, gradually let the word slip away; Rest in silence.  You will find that thoughts and images and feeling may come into your mind.  We are not used to quiet in our culture – our brains want to fill silence.  This has been called our monkey brains - which is very descriptive.  When these thoughts, images or sensations arise, gently return to the sacred word as a symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within you. 

The recommended period for prayer is twenty minutes each day.  However, we will begin today with five minutes to give you a taste of the experience.  When the time is up I will close with a prayer.

The Prodigal People of God

During our Lenten journey I have been introducing to our congregations various ways in which we can be more open to God’s presence in our lives. We have now explored three different methods.  The first two were the Lectio Divina and the Labyrinth.  Yesterday we explored dreams as a way in which God speaks to us.  I have attached my sermon for your consideration.

 There are positive and negative images or archetypes in dreams in Carl Jung’s theory of dream work.  This is true of most, if not all things, in life.  This is also true for doing a sermon series such as we are doing during Lent.  The positive is that we can explore one subject in more depth than is often possible following the lectionary of appointed scripture in preaching.  This is true of our theme of Spiritual renewal which we are exploring during Lent.  The negative aspect of this is that we can miss opportunities to explore the scripture passages which are provided in the lectionary.  This is particularly true of the Gospel yesterday which is the parable of the prodigal son.  This parable is one that provides many possibilities of exploration in sermons and in bible study.

I want to take this opportunity to explore briefly this parable in my reflection today.  One of the best explorations of the prodigal son teaching of Jesus is by Henri Nouwen.  His book, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, is a wonderful resource for this.  He uses the painting of this event by exploring the classic painting by Rembrandt.  Here are two quotes from the book which I hope will give you a sense of where Nouwen is going with his exploration.

“For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life—pray always, work for others, read the Scriptures—and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair.

Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not “How am I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by him?” The question is not “How am I to know God?” but “How am I to let myself be known by God?” And, finally, the question is not “How am I to love God?” but “How am I to let myself be loved by God?” God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming

Nouwen’s genius, in my view, is to get to move beyond the obvious understanding of the parable which is coming home to God the Father who is waiting to welcome us to the banquet.  He asks how are we to let God into our lives?  God is there waiting for us to return.  Can I put aside my egocentric position and allow myself to be loved by God.  This is not easy by any stretch of the imagination.  We will fail many times as Nouwen confesses he has but we can forgive ourselves as God forgives us and try and try again seventy times seven times.  God will still be waiting no matter how long it takes.   

May your Lenten journey be blessed. 

Sermon March 6, 2016 Lent 4

During Lent we have been exploring Spiritual Renewal in our Lenten Journey and exploring different ways we can be open to how God is speaking to us and guiding us on our journey.  As we are each unique children of God we are each going to experience different ways in which we can connect with the divine so it is important that we experience different ways in which people have found helpful.

Two Sundays ago we explored Lectio Divina— Holy Reading and for those who would like to experience that more fully we have a Lectio Divina Group that meets at 9:30 before the service on Sundays.  Last Sunday I introduced you to the Labyrinth which is a moving prayer.  When you experience the Labyrinth it is important to take your time and not rush through the journey.  As in life it is also the journey and not just the destination which is important.  Today I want to explore another way which has a long tradition of being a way in which God speaks to us but one like the labyrinth was lost to our culture for many centuries.  This is listening to God through our dreams.

The Old Testament lesson from Genesis recounts Jacob’s dream of a ladder between heaven and earth.  In biblical times people generally understood dreams to be a way in which God communicated with people.   Many of the prophets of old received dreams and visions from God and shared those experiences with their people. 

Dreams as a way of God speaking to the people of God occur many times in the bible.  Can anyone give me an example of God speaking to people in dreams……..

I especially like the story of Jacob’s dream of a ladder between heaven and earth. 

I particularly like this passage because it is about a dream and it describes the way dreams work.  We have angels – messengers from God going between heaven and earth.  It is interesting that the angels are ascending first and then descending.  My understanding of this is that Jacob was initially ready to receive a message.  He was therefore prepared for receive the messages that came to his from heaven.

Although dreams were recognized in biblical times and in the early church as a way God communicated with people it became discounted and lost to us in modern times.  This happened for many reasons.  The church hierarchy did not like the idea of people having direct communication with God.   This bypassed the authority of the church and the clergy wanted to maintain control over people’s understanding of God’s message.  In addition, the enlightenment began to discount anything that could not be measured and weighed and had a material foundation.  Dreams became what can be called God’s forgotten language. 

In the modern era there began to be a recovered understanding of dreams as a way of receiving messages about ourselves.  Beginning with the founders of depth psychology—Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung—a new understanding of dreams and a rediscovery of the meaning of dreams has occurred which I want to explore with you briefly. 

How many of you dream?.....  I should probably have asked how many remember their dreams.    Everyone dreams but not everyone remembers them.  However, everyone can with the right conditions.   It is also important to understand how God speaks to us through dreams.  God can speak to us as God did in the bible—with direct messages—these might be called big dreams.  God also speaks to us through dreams giving us information about what we need to know about ourselves.  Dreams can help us become more fully the people that God intends us to be.  Dreams provide information when our lives are out of balance.  They can point to how we can develop more fully the part of ourselves—aspect of ourselves that we have not acknowledged even though they are part of who God creates us to be as unique individuals.

In understanding dreams a good way to begin is to be aware that all the aspects of the dream— from individuals you know and individuals you don’t know to inanimate objects such as cars or houses are usually aspects of the dreamer.  It is important to know where the energy is in the dream and where the movement is.    In remembering your dreams the most important aspect is having the intention of remembering and paying attention.  Have a pen and paper available to record your dream.   That is the next step – write it down and consider the images in the dream.  What is your associating with them?  Write down any associating with the people or the other images. 

One figure that is the easiest to recognize in dreams—and one of the most important—is the shadow.  This figure, which is usually the same sex as the dreamer will be dark and probably not someone you know in waking life, will have characteristics that represent aspects of yourself that you do not want to recognize.  They will be rejected parts of yourself that are presented to you in dreams.  The purpose is to acknowledge those aspects of yourself and relate to them consciously. These are often characteristics that you consider to be negative but also can be positive.  These are aspects of who God made you to be—a unique child of God. 

Of course there is much more to say on the approach but I will stop there.  If you would like to find out more I would be most interested to talking to you at another time.  Finally it is important to understand that all dreams come in the assistance of health and wholeness of the dreamer – even ones that don’t seem that way.  I have graduated from a program as a facilitator of dream groups and would be most willing to talk to people who might be interested in having a group at St. Anne’s and St. John’s.  I will close with the prayer we use in dream groups.

Holy Dream Maker, Creator of All,

Be with us as we open our hearts and minds

to the divine wisdom in our dreams.

We thank you and honour You.

As you guide us in the way to health and wholeness,

 may we be open to the blessings of your message    

                                                                             Amen        

Sermon February 28, 2016 – Lent 3

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. ²Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. ³Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. Isaiah 55: 1-3

It can feel at times in our journey in this world that we are in danger eating food that does not feel our souls as the prophet Isaiah says.  Last Sunday I introduced you to an exploration into the journey which has is its goal Spiritual Renewal—bread and wine for the soul.  That is the type of renewal in our culture which is a special calling of the church.  Spiritual Renewal is a way which can help us navigate through those times in life in which we feel as if we are tottering on the edge of the pit.  It can also help us to more closely follow our Saviour each day – in the good times as well as the bad times.

Last Sunday we looked at one form of prayer – Lectio Divina or Holy Reading as a way of listening to how God is speaking to us and where God is leading us through scripture.  If you would like to explore that there will be a Lectio Divinoa Group that will meet at 9:30 before worship service starting next Sunday.  This will be led by Joe Wooden.  For more information please talk to Joe or me.  Today I want to offer you another way which can help you navigate on that journey in life.  Today we are going to explore the Sacred Path of the Labyrinth.  The first thing that is important to know about the labyrinth is that it is not the same as a maze. 

You may be more familiar with the maze which is a network of paths that are a puzzle which has to be solved to find your way out of.  In a maze you can take wrong turns and run into dead ends.  It is something that you might not actually solve. 

However, the labyrinth is different.  As I noted last week there are many different ways of spiritual practice.  As we are all unique children of God it is important to find the way that is best for you.  Lorna finds the labyrinth to be a particularly meaningful Spiritual practice.  Lorna has even constructed a seven course labyrinth at our cottage in P.E.I.  I, on the other hand, don’t find it as meaningful.  However, I do use a labyrinth when I have the opportunity. 

The labyrinth It is a path that if followed will lead to you on the inward journey to the centre and out again on the return journey.  There are many twists and turns but the path will never lead you astray.  The labyrinth is an ancient form which has—as far as we know—always been used as a spiritual practice.  The oldest surviving labyrinth is found in a rock carving at Luzzanas in Sardinia which dates from about 2500 B.C.E. The remains of a labyrinth can be found in Mount Knossos on the Island of Crete.  Labyrinths have been known to people for over four thousand years and have been found in almost every religious tradition around the world. 

Although it is an ancient spiritual and religious tradition it fell out of use in modern culture and was only rediscovered and moved into popular culture in the 1990’s with the work of different people including clergy and laypeople at Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco. 

Since then it seems to have taken the western world by storm and labyrinths have become almost common place in different cities. 

There is a beautiful outdoor labyrinth at the Kanuga Conference Centre of the Episcopal Church in North Carolina where my wife Lorna and I attend dream Conferences’ and an indoor one at the Mount Carmel Retreat Centre in Niagara Fall which hosts the spiritual direction program we completed.

Walking the labyrinth can represent different things to different people.  It can represent the journey into wholeness which is undertaken as we seek to become the people God intends us to be.  It can be a form of walking meditation or prayer.  It can represent the twists and turns our spiritual life takes which never seems to be a straight line.  But if we follow the path which God intends for us and listen to where God is leading us it can represent the journey that God will guide us on throughout our lives until we reach our final goal—union with God when our life on this earth have run its course. 

We can’t experience a full-fledged walking of the labyrinth this morning of course but we can walk it with our fingers.  You should have received with the bulletin a diagram of the 11 course labyrinth.  Using a finger I invite you to follow the path of the labyrinth to the center and back again – as time allows.  As you follow the path notice and experience how at times you will seem to be approaching the destination on the inward journey—the centre and then there will be a sharp turn which will take you away from the centre. 

There are many ways to approach the labyrinth walk.  I am drawing the work of Rev. Lauren Artress who is a canon of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.    One beneficial way is to simply quiet you mind letting go of all thoughts and cares.  As thoughts enter your mind just note them and release them.  The goal is to let a gracious sense of attention flow through you. 

Another way is to ask a question before beginning you walk and focus on it was you walk.  Keep the question in your conscious mind and you proceed and see what response you receive. 

Take your time – it is important to proceed at a slow steady pace.  We will have five minutes or so and I encourage you to continue your journey later at your leisure and experience it.  If you have a chance to walk a full sized labyrinth I encourage you to experience it—a number of times. 

Of Mazes and Labyrinths

During Lent I am introducing the congregations to various spiritual practices in my sermons.  Two weeks ago I introduced Lectio Divina—Holy Reading and last Sunday I introduced a form of walking prayer—the Labyrinth.  My sermon, which is attached, noted the difference between a labyrinth and a maze.  The labyrinth has a path that, if followed, will lead to the centre albeit by a rather circuitous route.  However the maze has options, some of which are dead ends.  You have to turn around and go back. 

The labyrinth is now a well-established method of spiritual practice in our modern western culture.  It is a good representation of the non-linear nature of the spiritual journey.  Sometimes it seems that you are getting near the centre and making progress on your spiritual journey but you will be guided away from you destination.  However, if you continue to follow the path that God has prepared for you, you will reach the ultimate goal. 

Unlike the labyrinth the maze is not a spiritual practice. However, I believe that the maze is also a good representation of the spiritual journey.  In some ways it is more realistic of the journey that many, if not most people follow in the spiritual, religious and psychological lives.  We often take the wrong path when given a choice and find ourselves in what seems to be a dead end.  We make choices that separate us from God and have to turn around and go another way which will hopefully be on the path that God intends for us.  This is the best definition I know of sin and repentance—to turn around and go another way when we miss the mark.

As I note in my sermon I hope that if you have a chance to walk a labyrinth or a maze you will take the opportunity.  I have attached a diagram of a classic 11 course labyrinth for those who are not familiar with the labyrinths.  Blessings  

Sermon February 21, 2016 Lent 2

In my sermon last Sunday I spoke of the special calling of the church – that is a calling for a kind of renewal that is not based on action and activity in the outer world.  Our culture is very good at that and the church also sees the need in our society and responds by doing things to meet the needs which are there.  However, there is another kind of renewal which is unique to the church and is something that our society is very much in need of – it is Spiritual Renewal. 

I finished a program in Spiritual Direction in 2014 at the Mount Carmel Centre for Spirituality in Niagara Falls.  In that program I studied how to help people discern where God is in their lives and how to be more aware and open to where the Holy Spirit is calling them.  The ministry of Spiritual Direction is actual not the best name for what we are learning to do.  What the Spiritual Director does with the directee does not actually direct them.  Rather a Spiritual Director is a companion on their spiritual journey.  There are actually three persons in Spiritual Direction – the Director, the Directee and the Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit who does the direction and shows both the Director and Directee the way in which God is working in their life.

During the Sunday’s in Lent, I will be a Spiritual Companion for St. Anne’s and St. John’s.  Each Sunday in Lent we are exploring a different way in which we can learn to pay closer attention to how God is working in our lives and where The Holy Spirit is calling us to travel in this Lenten journey which lies ahead of us.  It is also my hope that you will find some of these ways to be meaningful for you and that you will chose to incorporate into your lives on an ongoing basis.

As I mentioned Spiritual Direction involves listening and recognizing how God is working in your life.  A significant part of that is developing an active prayer life.  Of course God has made us as unique beings—each one of us is unique and different.  Not every form of pray will be something which resonates with each of us and a way which we will find meaningful.  Often it is a matter of finding one or two that is right for us. There are many ways of prayer and I want to begin our journey by exploring one particular way.  The one I would like to explore with you today is Lectio Divina.  Don’t be put off by the Latin name – it actually means Holy Reading. 

There are four steps in Holy Reading.  The first is to read the passage—the Lectio.  During the reading the intention is to be non-judgmental—just be open to what the passage is speaking to you.  Is there something especially in the passage that catches you attention – a phrase or a word?  Make a mental note of this.  You can use any passage from scripture or an inspirational work that is meaningful for you.  I will be using the scripture passage that we head from Philippians.

The second step is meditation—meditatio.  Here we reflect and ponder on what we have read or heard.  Remember that Mary, at the nativity pondered what she had seen and heard in her heart.  Ponder and see how Jesus is speaking to you in the passage of phrase or word that resonates with you.  Ask yourself what does this mean for my life today?  Direct it to God at work in your life. 

The third step is Responding – Oratatio.  This is a prayer—a prayer which is unique and personal to you and comes from the heart.  This may lead to response in your outer life but it is an inner response initially.  It may be surrendering your will to God – not something we do easily but something which is important if we are to follow where Jesus leads us. 

Finally there is Rest – Contemplatio.  This is resting in the presence of God.  It is a knowing that God is with you and that you are in God’s hand.  As it says in the passage from Philippians:

Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you.

Now let us have a few minutes of silence to centre ourselves and I will begin by reading the passage.  You don’t need to remember the steps – I will guide you at the beginning of each step.  

Sermon March 30, 2014 Lent 4

During Lent we have been exploring Spiritual Renewal in our Lenten Journey and exploring different ways we can be open to how God is speaking to us and guiding us on our journey.  As we are each unique children of God we are each going to experience different ways in which we can connect with the divine so it is important that we experience different ways in which people have found helpful.

In the first three Sundays we explored Lectio Divino- Holy Reading, the Labyrinth which is a moving prayer, and Centering Prayer with is silent prayer.  Today I want to explore another way which has an long tradition of being a way in which God speaks to us - but one like the labyrinth was lost to our culture for many centuries.  This is listening to God through our dreams.

In the Old Testament lesson Isaiah gives us a vision of God’s kingdom.  This is not specifically a dream but visions can be considered a waking dream.  Many of the prophets of old received dreams and visions from God and shared those experiences with their people. 

Dreams as a way of God  speaking to the people of God  occur many times in the bible.  Can anyone give me an example of God speaking to people in dreams……..

One example that I especially like is Jacob’s dream of a ladder between heaven and earth.  Let me read it to make it fresh in your mind.  

10Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.11He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.12And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.13And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring;14and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.15Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”17And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”18So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.19He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

I particularly like this passage because it is about a dream and it describes the way dreams work.  We have angels – messengers from God going between heaven and earth.  It is interesting that the angels are ascending first and then descending.  My understanding of this is that Jacob was initially ready to receive a message.  He was therefore prepared for receive the messages that came to his from heaven.

Although dreams were recognized in biblical times and in the early church as a way God communicated with people it became discounted and lost to us in modern times.  This happened for many reasons.  The church hierarchy did not like the idea of people having direct communication with God.   This bypassed the authority of the church and the clergy wanted to maintain control over people’s understanding of God’s message.  In addition the enlightenment began to discount anything that could not be measured and weighed and had a material foundation.  Dreams became what can be called God’s forgotten language.  

In the modern era there began to be a recovered understanding of dreams as a way of receiving messages about ourselves.  Beginning with the founders of depth psychology – Freud and Jung - a new understanding of dreams and a rediscovery of the meaning of dreams has occurred which I want to explore with you briefly.

How many of you dream?.....  I should probably have asked how many remember their dreams.    Everyone dreams but not everyone remembers them.  Everyone can with the right conditions.   It is also important to understand how God speaks to us through dreams.  God can speak to us as God did in the bible – with direct messages – these might be called big dreams.  God also speaks to us through dreams giving us information about what we need to know about ourselves.  Dreams can help us become the people that God intends us to be.  Dreams provide information when our lives are out of balance.  They can point to how we can develop more fully the part of ourselves aspect of ourselves that we have not acknowledged even though they are part of who God creates us to be as unique individuals.

In understanding dreams a good way to begin is to be aware that all the aspects of the dream – from individuals you know and individuals you don’t know to inanimate objects such as cars or houses are usually aspects of the dreamer.  It is important to know where the energy is in the dream and where the movement is.    In remembering your dreams the most important aspect is having the intention of remembering and paying attention.  Have a pen and paper available to record your dream.   That is the next step – write it down and consider the images in the dream.  What is your associating with them?  Write down any associating with the people or the other images.  

Of course there is much more to say on the approach but I will stop there.  If you would like to find out more I would be most interested to talking to you at another time.  Finally it is important to understand that all dreams come in the assistance of health and wholeness of the dreamer – even ones that don’t seem that way.  I will close with the prayer we use in dream groups.

Holy Dream Maker, creator of all,

Be with us as we open our hearts and minds

To the divine wisdom of dreams

you have blessed us with.

We thank you and honour you

who nurture, tend, and guide us,

You show us the way to health and wholeness

not only in our waking hours

but even as we sleep. Amen