Beautiful Teenager

I had an amazing afternoon with a former parishioner.  She has moved to our city because of her husband's job.  We were able to spend a couple hours catching up on people from my former community -- deaths, births, divorces, illnesses, events. 

When you spend seven-and-a-half years in one church, you develop a lot of close relationships.  When you arrive, children are toddlers.  When you leave, they're in elementary school.    The changes are pretty incredible and it's so exciting to be along for the ride.

As we were sitting in the kitchen, the oldest girl arrived home off the school bus.  She's in grade eight this year, moving up to high school next year.  Although I'd seen her briefly on Thanksgiving Sunday, today I was able to see a tall, gorgeous 14-year-old who is still shy, like she was when she was four, but whose blue eyes shine like her brunette hair. 

For sojourners like me, who float in and out of people's lives, I see glimpses of beauty in all kinds of people at many different stages of life.  Every stage is important.  Teenage-hood, however, is very special and should never be discounted as just "something we need to get through."  It's beauty speaks to all the bristling potential that is ready to arise and find it's voice.  And that's precious, oh so precious.

Advent Unfinished

For my art journal, I found an old crappy binder and transformed it.  I painted the binder, and then used spackle to cover up some problems and then stenciled advent on the front so that there is a 3D effect.  This is still unfinished.

 This is my opening page.  I have to make the writing a bit clearer. 

 When I think of advent I think of the cosmos, the "advent" of all creation.  I am trying to reflect that in these two pages.

 This is a good example of an unfinished page.  I put a layer of paint on the bottom and then wrote the word "wait" repeatedly.  I am going to add more layers.

These two pages are on watercolour paper and they are only the base layer of paint.  I wanted to show a lot of unfinished pages so that I can show you the progression. 

Advent Art Journal

How did I get from May to December without posting?  I'm as surprised as you BUT I'll tell you what's been happening.  My son was married on May 17.  He and his wife graduated on June 21.  They moved to Toronto on August 2, with help from my husband and I.  My twins sons moved out of our house on August 1, with our help.  On Sept. 4, we had a second celebration of Nathan and Melissa's wedding.  On Sept. 5, we had a 25th wedding anniversary, double 50th birthday party.  On Oct. 9, my niece was married in Ottawa, with all my family coming again.  On Nov. 13, my mother had an 80th birthday party.  And now...I'm looking forward to a family gathering on Dec. 31, to celebrate my mom and dad's 60th wedding anniversary.

Okay, enough personal stuff...you get the drift.

During advent, I've been working on an art journal.  It includes a lot of playing with colour, texture and shape.  It's really my first thoughts about what advent means.  When I'm closer to being finished, I'll post some photographs.  I love art journalling because it's about making art for myself. It's not for sale, and I'm not trying to please anyone.  In art journalling, I get to experiment with paint, stencilling, and all kinds of techniques.  If I make a mistake or I don't like it -- so what!  In how many aspects of our lives can we say the same? 

I'm really working on what I feel and think about advent.  I know on one level that I just love it.  It helps me to get ready for thinking about God-with-us.  What does that mean?  Yet, the whole idea of God's presence feels me with such peace, awe, wonder, excitement.  Moderns ask, "Is it really real?"  Post-moderns ask, "What is real?"  I think I'm caught somewhere between the two. 

I love the story of a baby being born in a manger -- outside the norm but a survivor...tough and determined parents.  With all the Christmas fripperies, we need to get ready for the deep meaning, to really have a moment of gratefulness and thankfulness.  That's what I seek and I know it's hard to have a genuine experience and not just a feeling of nostalgia for what was.

So I'd like to share my journal with you.  It will be coming soon.

50years of ordination -- oh my!

I'm coming up to 14 years of ordination and I'm starting to feel like that's a loooong time.  Yet, last Sunday, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Rev. George Clifford's ordination.  George is my colleage in ministry.  He works about six hours as our minister of visitation, which works out to be about two afternoons per week. 

George was ordained in 1960  -- what a time to be a minister!  The churches across Canada were growing and going gangbusters.  What amazes me is that George has lots of energy for ministry and doesn't seem to be too cynical!


He loves to visit and he's very organized about it.  He has his "list" and he keeps track of when he has visited.  He has a great memory, too.  He's always reporting to me about the goings-on of our seniors and where they are moving and what they are doing.  I have to admit that I do miss visiting the seniors of our church because I enjoy them so much, but George does such a wonderful job that there's no sense in duplicating another person's great work.

We try hard to work as a team, although I probably fall short on that in many aspects.  With all of George's experience, he's a great sounding board.  He's also very open to taking services, presiding at communion.

Our celebration was very positive, which I think reflects on George's positive nature.  I feel so fortunate to be working with such an experienced minister.

50-25-50

Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated 25 years of marriage.  Even though it was cold and rainy here in Ottawa, it was a special time of awe and disbelief.  It's hard to believe that we've survived, and that we can still laugh and dream and enjoy each other's company.  Perhaps we're together because both us never really thought of divorce as an option.  That hasn't meant that everything's been smooth sailing.  In fact, at points our marriage has been downright rough around the edges. And yet I can't say how glad I am that we've come through all the tough times and are still together.

Many years ago a friend of mine told me that if you make it to 25 years, the time following will be like a re-birth.  I'm sensing that that is the opportunity ahead of us.  To be content is a great gift and with that contentment comes the freedom to be adventuresome.  There's nothing to prove and in terms of our relationship, nothing to fear.

The other big event is that my husband ALSO turned 50 yesterday.  For some reason, we decided to get married on his birthday.  He always gets teased about the fact that it must be easy to remember his anniversary.  This double celebration is a good and bad thing.  Sometimes it does feel that one gets shortchanged in relationship to the other marker.

With such a double marker coming on the same day, it doesn't quite feel that we've celebrated either.  However, we're working on remedying that.  For we are having a big smashing party on Sept. 5 AND our congregations (my husband is also a UC minister) is having a party for us on May 30.

The other milestone -- I turned 50 last Dec. 25 (yes, on Christmas Day) -- and so we've dubbed this year our 50-25-50 celebration.  It sort of sounds like a fertilizer, doesn't it?

What does this have to do with ministry?  After fourteen years of pastoral ministry, I feel more settled in my skin and in my relationship.  When these aspects of your life are going well, you can be strong and vibrant in your work.  For that I am extremely grateful, thanking God for the amazing gifts I have been given.  I pray that I can continue to do this work.  I was so afraid of turning 50, thinking that my life was half over.  Yet, I don't feel that way now.  I realize that every minute and day is a gift no matter your age.  And when you truly see that, age is irrelevant.

Reflections on last Sunday

The shape of last Sunday was typical but also intense.  I arrive at the church at about 8:50 a.m. and go to get settled in my office because I want to attend the bible study that starts at 9 a.m.  I get waylaid by a couple of people who have questions and concerns and as I walk into the sanctuary someone from the bible study comes looking for me.  It turns out that the normal leaders aren't there so I'm supposed to lead the discussion. I might have been asked to do this but I don't really remember being asked to do this so I'm a bit surprised.  I get up to the bible study and voila, I'm leading it. 

I usually prepare these kinds of things but the study is pretty informal and so soon we're talking about the reading from John, the one about doubting Thomas. 

When 10 o'clock rolls around, I leave to get ready for leading the service at 10:30 a.m.  I'm not sure if the choir is going to be up in the loft, and thus whether they'll be waiting for me in the downstairs rehearsal space, or whether they'll all be in the congregation.  So, I find out they will be in the downstairs hall and so I go there to get ready and say a prayer with them.

The service goes okay.  It's one of those Sundays when I don't get one comment about my sermon.  That's always a sign to me that something didn't quite go right.  Oh well, can't hit a home run every Sunday!

Then it's off to greet at the door.  This is an important time because this is when I meet new people.  There are a few this week but not as many as on Easter Sunday.

I walk out of the sanctuary and towards the reception hall.  I take off my stole and put it in my office.  Then I go to have some coffee and chat and catch up on what's happening in people's lives.

As soon as the after-church crowd has thinned out a bit, a group from the church who travelled to Nicaragua on a work project start setting up lunch.  Four women and myself gather to reflect on their travels and to talk about a possible presentation.  It was amazing to hear their experiences and to see the growth in their faith life.  We plan on a Sunday morning worship component with an after church presentation.  I leave the church about 2 p.m., driving one of the women home.

I get to relax for a couple of hours before I'm off to another meeting at a local restaurant.  That meeting is set for 6 p.m.  It's a Discernment Committee for an Inquirer thinking about becoming a UC minister.  It's a gathering to celebrate the signing of the "interim" report.  It's finished about 8 p.m. 

One of the arts of ministry is to be able to served in short, intense bursts of activity.  From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. I didn't have one break.  This is why ministers have to take care of themselves so well.  I don't think it's the quantity of hours so much as the energy which is needed to constantly switch gears -- from laughter to tears to ideas to contemplation.  I have to say that I'm glad that not every day is like Sunday.  I enjoy it immensely but it is wearing.  This week is a "reading" week for me, a time of non-church activities so that I have time to reflect and get recharged again.  I'm feeling that I really need it this week.  It's good to be able to get away and have time to see the bigger picture.

Crying for Chester

Yesterday, about 9:30 a.m. I took my dog Raffi out for his morning walk.  As we walked down the street, we met Barb and her 14-and-a-half year old dog.  Barb was sniffling and as Raffi ran over to Chester she said, "Say goodbye to Chester, Raffi, he's going to heaven at 10 o'clock."

I was shocked.  I knew the day would have to come when Chester "was put down."  He could hardly walk and he was in terrible pain.  When you watched him walk along the street, you would swear he was on a slant. He was a beautiful tawny colour and friendly.  He always let Raffi bark at him and there was never any retaliation.  He had a gentle soul and was interested in everything. 

I looked at Barb and her words sunk in.  My husband James had told me that Barb had told him that the vet was going to come to the house to give him the lethal injection. What I couldn't quite get my head around was that here was Chester out for his final walk, with his time of death set, and here I was petting him and saying goodbye.  I couldn't believe that in a bit over a half an hour he would be dead, gone, finished, no more.  But what was worse was we as humans could decide the time and place.

Barb was crying as she spoke to us but I was amazed at how strong she was.  There was another neighbour outside and she also had the chance to say goodbye to Chester.  He was truly the neighbourhood dog.  Everyone knew him.  Whenever Raffi saw him out walking around, he always wanted out to see him.

Not only did everyone know Chester, but everyone loved him.  The knowledge that his days were numbered was bad enough but to be present and have to face that death first hand was particularly painful.

I shed a few tears in the morning but it wasn't until later in the day when I was telling my husband about the experience that a flood of grief waved over me.  The tears poured out of me. Why?  Why do the creatures that we love have to die?  And why do we have to take their lives into our own hands?  I realize that it's a brave and merciful act, and I would have done the same, but I couldn't get over Barb's words.

"Chester is going to heaven at 10 o'clock."  As a person who's walked beside a lot of persons who have died, I'm not unfamiliar with death.  I've been privileged to stand beside the beds of two persons at the actual time of death.  It seemed a natural process and not scary....so why, why did this feel so painful and NOT RIGHT?

My heart still aches for a beautiful dog that could not live forever even though we wanted him to.  He was an angel dog, a dog that loved life and his owner, Barb, and it seemed, everyone.  One thing I know for absolutely sure -- I will never forget him. Never.

The Tale of Two Sermons

When I realized that I could choose the Lukan resurrection story, I new that I had a good sermon in the bag, one that I'd preached about six years ago. 

I read through it and thought that I could update it for 2010.  However, when I read through it, I didn't really see anything to change.  So, I really had second thoughts about using it. It's a sermon called "An Amazing Day," and is basically the Lukan resurrection story told in a new way. 

So, last Thursday I decided that I couldn't preach this sermon and sat down to write a new one.  I wrote a new one with the same title (because the title had already gotten into the bulletin) and talked about how we read scripture and what it means for us on Easter.

I thought it was pretty good but I was still undecided about which sermon to preach.  So, I asked my husband, who is also a United Church minister, if he'd read both and advise me in terms of which one he felt would be the better sermon to preach on Easter Sunday.  Hands down, he said the first sermon.  His perspective was "tell the story," don't explain the story.  If you'd like to read it, check out the web site at www.glebestjames.ca.

He told me that I could use the second sermon for the first Sunday after Easter.  Well, I'm not sure about that but we'll see as the days unfold toward next week. 

I have to admit that part of me felt guilty using an older sermon.  And yet, it's only every three years that you have a chance to use the Lukan resurrection story.  I guess when it comes down to it...a sermon has power as long as you believe in every word you say.  And that's absolutely true in this case. 

Happy Easter everyone.  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

Working too Hard?

When does a minister's day ever end.  This was my schedule last week:

Monday -- I took most of the day off but had my Art Journalling class from 7-9 p.m.  with one hour of set-up and half an hour of clean-up.  Total: 3.5 hours.

Tuesday -- 10-12, worked at home. 12 - went to meet someone, they didn't show up.  Went to the office. I worked at planning etc. until 5 p.m.. Total: 7 hours.

Wednesday -- Met with Robert Palmai at 11 a.m. for one hour.  I worked on many items relating to our fund raiser By the Numbers until 6 p.m. Dinner.  Back at the church for 7 p.m. Study session on Process Theology with George Hermanson.  Departed about 9:30 p.m. Total: 9.5 hours.

Thursday -- Sermon, 11-2; By the Numbers, 2-4. Total: 5 hours.

Friday - Set up for By the Numbers - 10 - 6 p.m. Total: 8 hours.

Saturday - Began at 9 a.m. with errands for the event until I arrived at the church about 11 a.m. I did final touches on the set-up.  At 1 p.m. arranged the food.  At 3 p.m. I printed the programs.  I had a break from 4-5 and then I was at the church for the final set up.  Event started at 7 p.m.  I left the church about 10 p.m.  Total: 12 hours.

Sunday - At the church for 9 a.m.  Left the church about 1 p.m. Total: 4 hours.

Total for the week: 49 hours.   Now, in the scheme of things this is not a huge amount of hours over my regular week.  But....the hard part of this is that I worked EVERY day and will not have a complete day off until Saturday April 3. 

My last two consecutive days off were March 12 & 13.  My next complete day off will be April 3. That's 21 days with at least one work-related event per day.  So, it's not really about the number of hours that a minister works.  It's more about the relentless without a complete mind and body break from church-related duties.

This is an example of working too hard and one which I have to wrestle with.  I'm thinking and praying about it. Nevertheless, it gives you some insight into the life of a minister

Teaching Preaching

On Saturday, March 20, I spent the day with students from the Lay Worship Leaders program of Ottawa Presbytery.  I was teaching them about preaching. Whenever I do this, I realize that this is one of my favourite things to do.  I love teaching and I love preaching....so what's better than teaching about preaching?

At the table there were 12 eager students.  One of them is a member of our church.  Another student is a close friend.  I've taught a lot of lay preachers and it just never gets tired.  There is always something new to learn from students and there's always something new to teach.  For my part, I think that preaching is THE most important thing that pastors do.  The reason?  The sermon exposes both their beliefs and their dreams for the future.  Sermons are about the real stuff of life -- birth and death and everything in between. 

Sermons talk about God in a contemporary way even though we use ancient scripture as a way to get into the present.  Now, let's think for a moment.  What if we didn't have scripture?  We'd be able to talk about any of our own hobby horses.  With scripture, we have a grounding that leads us into universal stories that relate to us even today.  Scripture provides a template that helps us to be focused on the continual wrestling about our understanding of God.

I know that when I returned to the church after quite a long absence my favourite part of the worship service was the sermon.  It was the part of the service that uniquely reflected the person standing there.  I never in my wildest imagination thought that I'd be a preacher one day.  Sometimes I still can't believe it!! But one thing's for certain, I love it.

Shane Claiborne is awesome

I heard Shane Claiborne speak tonight.  He is a member of a community in Philadephia called "The Simple Way."  He's written a couple of books and appeared in documentaries about his ministry.  Basically, he calls Christian communities to be Christian, to live the rule of love in quite radical ways.

For example, he's part of a group that collectively pays medical costs.  The group started with about 400 persons who collectively pay for each other's medical costs.  Now the group is up to 20,000 and over the last 20 years they've spent $45,000,000. Simply, there's a monthly newsletter which describes the needs, and then the community of persons contributes what they can to help others.

Shane believes in a "relational tithe."  That means that people help out their neighbours. What a radical concept!! Isn't that what Christians have been doing for millenia?  Or have they?  I see a lot of Christians today who hoard and it disturbs me.  Very few Christians that I know seriously disturb their standard of living by giving to other people.  Yet, Shane pushes people to realize that most of the time we have enough of what we need. 

Also, he preaches One church, that works together for the good of all.  Church shouldn't be about beliefs, but about what we do, the way we live.  We should show we are Christians by our love.

This event was put on by the Open Table, which is organized by an ecumenical leadership.  They host a meal and gathering once a month.  There's was about 400 people for this event at Dominion Chalmers.  That's pretty amazing for a Friday night.  It really felt special -- it felt like the Spirit was there and enjoying it.  I was moved and felt that I truly worshiped God.  Inspiring!

Annual Meeting Stuff

Annual meetings are a requirement of our polity.  But they are so much more than that. They are a chance to tell our story and to set direction.

For me, annual meetings are a chance to tell the truth and to celebrate who we are.  Our annual meeting was spirited and we're going to look at our budget and our hiring plans a bit more.  A sober second thought is never remiss as long as we don't stall our ministries.

What astounds me in my current ministry is the quality of people that offer their gifts to the church.  As frustrated as I get with too much talk, this is the kind of talk that actually has a good purpose.  I hope we can keep going forward in the spirit of God's intentions.

After Sunday Service Blues

It's amazing how congregational members need to discuss church business with the minister after church.  I've asked Council members not to do this. I have asked people to refrain from this on a one-to-one basis.  I've written about it in the newsletter, and STILL it happens.

This is the issue.  I've just spent an intense hour plus leading worship.  Praying and preaching to God are a totally spiritual exercise.  Not only is it physical work, it's mental and spiritual.  Most worship leaders, immediately following Sunday morning, head to a couch somewhere for a well-deserved nap. This is one of the things that lay worship leaders always tell me: "I was so exhausted after leading worship!"

So, when congregation members want to discuss church business with me, it is not the best time.  My faculties are dull and my memory is non-existent.  I love to greet people and talk about pastoral issues or family issues or just about the gold medal hockey game, but not church business.

Sunday is a time of worship and even though I work on Sundays I always feel that Sundays are a day off from the worries and anxieties of life, that Sunday should be a day of celebration and thankfulness.

So as I was heading home from worship, I was definitely singing the after Sunday service blues.  I wish people would take a sabbath from church business and use other ways of connecting with me if there is work to be done.  I'll have to keep getting this message across somehow.

A Sunday with Family

The nature of ministry is such that I've missed a lot of family gatherings.  They are usually on Saturday nights --  I turn into a pumpkin on Saturday nights.  Also, I live some distance from my family, so if special events are on the weekends, it just doesn't work. 

At this stage in my ministry, I'm fortunate to have two wonderful colleagues on the Glebe-St. James ministry team.  Although my major responsibility is worship, I was able to arrange to go to a family wedding, and Anne and George were able to lead worship.

This meant that I was able to be with my family and see my niece married.  It's hard to describe how important family is to me.  I have five sisters and three brothers.  I was able to see all five sisters and one of my brothers.  Two brothers weren't able to attend. 

I think I spent the whole weekend talking and asking about my sisters' families. (My brother is a bachelor with no children.)  My Mom and Dad were also there and I just don't know what it is, but I always feel more myself when I'm with them.  It's like the "real" me has a chance to shine and I feel safe and secure. This weekend was a great way to recharge my batteries because it's not all about the church and plans for the future. Being with family is about the here and now, being present and accounted for. 

I didn't always love everyone in my family.  There were always lots of mixed emotions -- childhood fights, teenage misunderstandings, adult hurts.  At certain times, I didn't real care to be with them all that much.  But now, as I grow older and see all my nieces and nephews growing up, the depth of my love gets stronger all the time. 

This is the most amazing gift and one learns to appreciate it more and more.  I think it's good to be away from the parish sometimes so that one can get a perspective on these most important things in life.  It's not that faith and the church aren't important, it's just that it's also important to re-connect with the people in your life who have been with you from the earliest days of memory. 

There's always something happening in a big family.  My niece is on an agricultural exchange in Columbia.  My other niece is on the verge of having her second child.  My son is getting married in May and another niece is being married in October.  James and I both celebrate our 50th birthdays this year AND our 25th wedding anniversary.  One niece has just been accepted into a nursing program.  One nephew has decided to become a paramedic. And the list goes on and on....

Faith teaches us that our families are important -- all the connections that bind us together help to form us.  God gave us these families and they teach us how to treat everyone as we would treat family.

Thankful for George

Greta Empey's funeral was today at 11 a.m.  George Clifford led the service with me helping out.  Greta had no children but was extremely close to her great-nephew.  As someone who comes from such a large family, it always astounds me when families can be so small.  It's not good or bad, it's just different. 

In this case, her role as an aunt transformed itself into the role of surrogate mother.  Without the presence of his biological mother, Kevin came to rely on the love of Greta.  What a gift for both of them -- a boy without a mother finds a great-aunt without a child.  Sometimes life calls on us to be special to others in ways we never expected.  This was obviously a special relationship and one to be celebrated.

George did a good job of expressing this reality and of leading a meaningful service.  As minister of visitation, he provides pastoral care to many of our parishioners.  I am so thankful for his ministry.  Officially retired, I appreciate all the years of experience that he's had.  In ministry, experience means a great deal.  He's a solid rock to lean on.

Chain of events and encounters

One thing that's always really amazing to me is how people come into your life and change it dramatically.  I met an amazing woman through a class I was helping to teach and she and I have developed a relationship which is very deep.  We have discussions about death and life and letting go and looking back over our lives.  Sometimes it's really hard to make sense of life at all.  Yet, by talking, and reflecting, it gets easier.  You never really reach your destination, but somehow your lens gets a little less foggy.  This is one of the great gifts of ministry.  You get a chance to see your own life in perspective because every time you talk with another person your own life is the measure by which you see the world.

It's not about being self-centered.  It's just that life experiences shape who we are.  We are all the events of the past and so you can't really separate yourself from them.

Later in the afternoon, I met with a young couple about their wedding service.  As Valentine's approaches, it makes one ponder about the meaning of love.  This couple seemed to be love personified and their wedding service is SO important to them.  It reminded me of my responsibility to ensure a meaningful ceremony.  Sometimes I get kind of grumpy when it comes to weddings -- at one time they were my least favourite thing to do.  I guess I always felt that I was extraneous to the whole enterprise and so felt like I was being "used."

In the past couple of years, however, I've experienced a change (either in myself or the couples I deal with.)  There's been a deepening desire for a wedding service that really reflects the couple and their hopes for the future.  This is the kind of thing that I love being a part of.  When I feel that a couple are not just going through the motions, but are sincerely seeking a wonderful day, I really enjoy it and want to be part of the celebration.  Our intentions make just a difference, don't they? When we seek a deep experience, we can often get want we seek.  If we don't seek a deep experience, it ends up being shallow and very unsatisfying.  The former is so powerful and I'd walk a mile for anyone who really wants to explore the depths of any kind of religious worship.

Sunday Night

It's amazing when someone initiates an idea and it just seems to be the right time.  After worship today, we watched a video about the Affirm process of the United Church of Canada.  It featured three congregations that had become "Affirming."  This means they have a policy of total acceptance, including gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered persons.  It also means looking hard at other issues like racism, ableism, classism and any other barriers that prevent people from being welcome in our church.

What touched me about our discussion was the openness with which members shared their experiences and viewpoints.  It was touching to hear personal stories even when it included a bit of pain.  I felt the spirit so strongly among us it was almost tangible.

These moments are few and far between in ministry and so when they happen you cherish them.  What I'm really proud of is the fact that this idea was not driven by me.  I've been able to watch and listen to leaders in the congregation who have been willing to stand up and speak out against injustice.  It's so much better when it grows organically from out of the community. 

Wednesday's Wisdom

I had the pleasure of a spontaneous lunch today.  Robert Palmai and I went to Flippers on Bank Street.  We sat at the window seat and looked down on Bank Street.  What a great neighbourhood!!

Lunch included lots of discussion about the church, families and some exciting ideas for the future.  It's great that, as colleagues, we're able to spark off of each other. 

In the afternoon, I had a pastoral visit, followed by work on the computer.  I can't imagine NOT having a computer and being able to communicate with a lot of people by e-mail.  E-mails, working on a brochure, working on a poster, pulling up an old file.

In the evening, I hosted our first learning event with George Hermanson.  He's a friend, mentor and colleague who has a depth of  knowledge about process theology.  We had 16 people attend and it was a great group.  Lot of good discussion...a few raised eyebrows at new and different terms...history of philosophy...metaphysics...science and religion....Alfred N. Whitehead...

It's great to always be learning and challenging ourselves.  His presentation reminded me of how our worldviews really affect the way we are and the decisions that we make.  I even see this with my children -- how their worldviews are different from mine.  Yet, my worldview shapes them and their worldview shapes me.  As George says, we live in a relational world and are constantly being changed by the events of our lives.  Yet, some worldviews can be very negative especially when one person believes that they are the centre of the universe and that everyone revolves around them.  Another negative worldview is that humans are the centre of the earth and that everything was made to be used and consumed by humans.  This is very destructive, as we've seen around the globe.

Ahhhh, life is so complicated sometimes...and yet, it's great to be able to ponder on these things.

Tuesday that's not a Wednesday

All day I kept thinking that today was Wednesday.  Why did I keep making that leap in my head?  All I can say is I had a BUSY day. 

Meeting at 11 a.m.  Meeting at noon.  Meeting at 2:30 p.m.  Meeting at 5:30 p.m. 

One of my calls this morning was from Linda Hamon, the church administrator from my former church, Roxboro United Church.  It was so great to hear her voice.  She moved from Montreal to near Perth, but I haven't seen all that much of her recently.  She was a fantastic administrator and committed Christian.

One of my jobs on Tuesdays is preparation of the Glebe-St. James Update.  It really helps me to get a sense of what's happening every week in our church and who's doing what.  It takes a lot of people to do all the work around this building.

At about 5:30 p.m. a group of young girls were running around the halls screaming and laughing. They had just gotten out of their Mixed Media Art Class.  So much energy!!  So much excitement!! It's one of the bonuses of working around children.  You hope and pray that some of that energy rubs off.   

Monday -- In Memoriam

The first thing I do on Mondays is TIDY my office.  I don't know how so much JUNK gets into my space.  But, it's also papers that I haven't had time to file, or projects that I'm working on. 

Today's been sad for me.  The fellow who shoveled our walkways, Chris Bowles, died on Jan. 20.  I can't quite believe that quiet, intelligent, white-haired Chris is gone.  He has a bit of history with GSJ, most of which I don't know, but he was always proud that his family were some of the first parishioners at Dominion United Church, now part of Dominion-Chalmers United Church.

Last fall, he needed a particular kind of shovel and so he arranged with Don Yeomans to go to Canadian Tire and get the shovel.  He was very diligent and was concerned about our accessible walkway because it was often covered with ice. 

I would see Chris walking down the street.  He was usually alone.  He knew quite a bit about the history of Ottawa and I think he had a lot to offer.  I didn't find out that he had died until Jan. 30 and I feel distressed about that.  I wish that we could have been there for him in his final days.  Perhaps it's because he has a small family and they didn't realize the connection to the church.  Rest in peace, Chris.  We'll miss your gentle presence around the church.

Beginning the week

As soon as Sunday morning is over, it's on to the next week. I use textweek.com to review the readings for the next Sunday and to try to get the brain and heart cells working on the coming week's service.

Luke 5: 1-11 - In this reading, Jesus commandeers a boat and preaches out of it. It must have been pretty calm because if I were to preach sitting in a boat I'm pretty sure I'd get seasick. When Jesus is done preaching, he tells Simon to put the boat into deep water. At first, Simon balks and tells Jesus that they've already done this and no fish! Simon acquiesces and voila, so many fish that the net almost breaks.

Simon realizes he's in the presence of the holy, and like Adam and Eve caught naked in the garden, confesses to Jesus that he is a sinful man. Excuses, excuses...

This confession of sin doesn't stop Jesus from welcoming Simon as a disciple, along with all his brother fishers. From now on, they will fish for people.

They left everything and followed him. What a story!

Last week, Jeremiah was called to be a prophet. I wonder what I am called to do in my own ministry. What is the call that continues to call? We are never called just once and that's it lickety-split. I'm always asking myself this question. Each day, every moment, we are making decisions.

This is what epiphany is about -- a showing, a revelation of ministry on earth, in the realm of time and space.

At the beginning of each week, I begin the task of getting a glimpse, an inspiration about what God is calling me to do this week. Ministry is definitely an art of looking and seeing and creating an open space for people to be together. This is what makes it exciting.