Peace in the Far Country
Here are some parting thoughts on the way I see things in the church - which is, very hopeful. So, often we forget that there is something that runs deeper than the construct which is Christianity, something eternal, powerful, the base from which Christianity springs, the base from which all religions, all true art, literature, all creativity, all life springs - and this is the divine source, the ground of being, we have called God, though others have named it differently.
Christianity grew out of a particular place and time, around a particular person, Jesus the Christ as we call him, and as such has a particular history. It is not our job to try and direct or redirect that history. Because our faith is one based on co creation. We work in concert with the divine spirit, embracing the richness of the human life, and leaving God to divine matters which are beyond our purview.
But we not only work with God, we work with one another, we gather together in our spiritual endeavours, and this, really, is the heart of the church – the journey that we take together – you and I and every other person who comes to walk with us, not in perfect union with our thinking perhaps, but in their desire to be part of the journey of learning how to live in a loving way with others, to practice compassion, to understand the depths of grace, the endlessness of mercy – all those who wish to understand these things we welcome as sojourners.
To quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday we honour this week, "We cannot walk alone." Nor do we want to.
Service
Opening Music
Sermon
one — Marvel
“I was born of human desire and God’s amazing grace. My grandmother marveled at each blade of grass and knelt each morning to pray. I loved my grandmother, so I knelt too.”
two — justice
“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by experience of sight. I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice.”
Three — Love
“Darkness can not drive out light. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. ”
Four — Freedom
“Angel wings and devil tails often appear simultaneously in history’s unfolding. Sing, children, whatever the caliber or timbre of your voice. For God is more taken with the agony of the Earth than with the ecstasy of Heaven.”
Five — together
“Act on and walk into what you know to be true. Start local.
Reach out beyond your comfort zone.
Commit to nonviolence.
Always protect the dignity of others.
Walk together.
In this the stone of hope is hewn.”
Call to Action
Here are two reflections, both well worth exploring. The first comes to us from Krista Tippett and wonderful folks at The Pause, and an outreach from The On Being Project. As way of introduction, Krista writes:
Given the events of recent days, we asked our friend and teacher John Paul Lederach to offer a reflection for this week’s Pause. He’s spent his life walking with people in many cultures through violent conflict towards transformative change. I’m so grateful for the perspective he opens here, and the fierce/gentle way he invites us into the truth of our time and ourselves.
— Krista Tippett
Of all the things I have read over the last few days concerning the American election disruption, this beautifully articulated reflection is the one that makes the most sense to me.
The Pause
Read the full email on On Being.
The second item you may be interested in concerns a sculpture entitled Angels Unawares. Created by Canadian artist Timothy P. Schmalz, from the Kitchener area.
The sculpture depicts a crush of refugees, with Mary, Joseph, and the baby embedded within people from around the world, sharing the same experience about having no place at the inn. The title comes from Hebrews 13:2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
“Some 140 people are depicted on the raft, including a Jewish person fleeing Nazi Germany, a Syrian person escaping that country’s civil war, a Polish woman running from the former communist regime, a Cherokee person on the Trail of Tears, an Irish boy escaping the potato famine of the 1840s and the Holy Family of Nazareth.”
Angels Unawares
Created by Canadian artist Timothy P. Schmalz, from the Kitchener area.