felix hominum

hearts that won't fully heal...yet

Yesterday morning, bright and early, Sarah Joy & I made one of our semi-regular visits to cardiology at the U of A.  After the usual variety of tests and cool machinery and colourful lights which entertained her immensely, we looked over the results of the last round of information.  Most things looked pretty good, the major repairs from surgery have healed well.  Her heart is not what it was.  One small exception  is a "trivial to mild" leak in the tricuspid and mitral valves. 

It will require a few precautions at certain times, but she should be able to run and jump and dance as much as she likes.  And so we give thanks to God for healing.  While the remainder of her heart has healed well, this particular aspect will, most likely, be with her for life.  It is simply part of the way her heart was formed, and while repairs have been made, this is simply a "part of her particular condition".  It will be with her for the rest of (this) life.

In last night's group in SUB we talked about the frustration of wanting and waiting.  Of desiring to be loving and holy, but so often falling short.  Why, since we are supposed to be "new creations", do we still fall into sin?   Why, since the Spirit of God is given to us, do we still at times struggle?  We wait for the fullness of new hearts, but in the meantime we can still run and jump and dance.

two great commandments

The reason the two great commandments go together is simple.  I can easily pretend to love God - after all, how would you really know?  But I cannot so easily pretend to love my neighbour.  Sooner or later I will be found out, usually by the neighbour I'm failing to love.

Sleepers Awake!!!

How many people look this happy when waking up from a nap?  I think he must get it from his mother's side of the family...

signs & wonders & speaking in tongues

Recently at one of our L'arche  worship gatherings, we came to the point in the service when we extended an invitation to all those present to offer their prayers silently or aloud.  Many of us who are Christian are familiar with the various styles of prayer that make there way around.  Those of us who are of the evangelical/charismatic bent have a certain vocabulary.  There is what a friend of mine calls the prayers of the just.  “We just pray, Lord, that you just bless us, and just help us to just come before you and just be your people…”  Then for those of us of a more liturgical bent there are the obligatory phrases and responses and forms of address.  “The Lord be with you.  Let us pray.  Almighty God our Heavenly Father, we give thanks and praise unto Your name for the inestimable benefits and mercies bestowed upon us…”  There are many ways that Christians pray – we each have a particular kind of speech and vocabulary that make up our conversation with God.  I know for myself I am so often conscious of how others “hear me” when I am praying, particularly if I am “leading” prayer.  Can they hear me clearly?  Do the words of my prayer effectively communicate what is intended?  Do the listeners have ample opportunity to enter into my prayer and so give their ‘amen’ when I am finished? Is it a “good” prayer?

When the core members of the L’arche community began to offer their prayers, there were some who offered simple and child like prayers.  Then I heard kinds of prayer I do not often hear in church.  Some spoke not at all, but moved their bodies, or simply breathed in a different way.  Others made gestures.  There were a few bits of sign language that I picked up.  Still others spoke in broken, halting phrases that were impossible for me to understand or decipher.  Some would make a soft sound, others would utter what must have been cries from deep within.  Sometimes I would catch a word or a name, but mostly it was incomprehensible to me.  It was prayer that I did not understand.  I did not understand the “words”, I did not understand what was being “said”.  But at the same time I did.  The wonder of deep calling to deep, in a language understood only by God.  Deep within the soul of the humble and broken and un-clever people is a cry to God.  Incomprehensible to many (if not all) around them. But heard and understood and answered by the One who loves them. 

I do not think there is anything sentimental or romantic in all of this.  I believe these pray-ers struggle to communicate – as we do.  I have watched the frustration of Sarah Joy as she tries in vain to tell us something that we don’t understand.  It can be painful.  I believe we all share the frustration of our human way of communication that limits what we can say and how we can say it;  no less for ‘them’ than for ‘us’.  We all need the Holy Spirit to help us to pray.  I’m not sure what I learned from these prayers, or how I was changed by them, or how they moved me,  but when our time of prayer came to a close,  I said Amen. 

Signs and wonders and speaking in tongues…

L'arche worships together on the 1st &3rd Monday of the month

to answer a question

“The joys of Heaven are, for most of us in our present condition, ‘an acquired taste’.”

OK, so someone asked “What exactly does that mean?” I’m not sure this will be exact, but in a nutshell, it means that we do not naturally enjoy the same things God enjoys.  First and foremost, God enjoys his own company.  How much do we enjoy God’s company?  I mean really enjoy God’s company.  Simply being in the Presence, not because of what God does for me, or how God helps me,  but because God is God?  Sounds strange to say that we do not enjoy God, but I at least find myself enjoying what God does for me, rather than simply delighting in who God is.  There is a difference.

Secondly, we do not naturally love doing the things God loves to do.  We do not naturally love giving of ourselves.  We do not take sheer delight in serving the needs of others.  We do not find ourselves itching to sacrifice ourselves for the good of an other.  We do not delight in being “other-centred”.   God does.  It is a taste we must acquire if we are to be joyful in heaven.  When we “get there” we might discover that perhaps the most joyful thing we are expected to do is to put others ahead of ourselves, to forgive our enemies, and to delight in mercy upon those who have offended us – to imitate Jesus.

thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...

a plug for someone else...

As we wind up week of Christian unity here at the U of A, let me do one small thing for a fellow Christian in that spirit. 

Pentecostal Campus Ministry has a new chaplain, officially now part of the University of Alberta Chaplains' Association.  I've never met him, but his name is Kevin Fricker and he is part of a ministry that worships in Lister Hall, called City Centre Church.  Kevin, I'd like to welcome you to the U of A, and look forward to meeting you, and I wish you every blessing as you bring your gifts and ministry to be a part of this place.

Drop by their discussion forum and say hi.

ouch

The joys of Heaven are, for most of us in our present condition, ‘an acquired taste’.

CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain.

St Faith's: being there

There are good things that happen in this place.  There's an inner city church which has ramshackle, nearly condemned, pretty-much-on-the-chopping-block facilities.  The name of the place is St. Faith's.  I've been to that church.  And I've seen kids getting meals who would otherwise have been hungry that day. And there is a project underway to build a new facility.   It is to be an effort of  the whole local Anglican diocese. 

So much of contemporary  "church building" and "church planting" is based on the demographics of the middle class suburb - where we can be certain that people have a level of income and education, and thus of a relative measure of "success" in terms of weekly numbers.   Then we have programs where we can sometimes look at the needs of the poor areas and we end up going there to perhpas drop off donations or help out in soup kitchens every once in a while.  I'm guilty of that myself.

There is a difference between "going there" and "being there".   And a place like St Faith's is an example of "being there".  Raising up a place of worship and ministry not simply to the underprivileged, but with and among them.   And that makes all the difference.

revealing value

Back to the quote from Jean Vanier I made in an earlier post;  "Love is revealing to a person their value".  Jean made this remark at a retreat he gave here a few years ago.  Part of our business as human beings (let alone as Christians) is to reveal to one another that we are precious in the sight of God.  Jean spoke from his context of living with people with developmental disabilities - people who by worldly standards have little "value".  They contribute nothing to the economy (instead they are often a drain on it), they consume the time and energy of those around them, they are not "productive".  Even so much of our gov't programming is designed to "enable persons with disabilities to live productive lives", as one brochure I saw put it.

While the dignity of work and the satisfaction of contributing to community are worthwhile parts of life, do we not have a value which is not measured economically?  Can we not find a way of giving meaning and value to a life without tying it to "productivity".   And can I be careful to strive that all I do and all I say will reveal to each person I meet their value before God?

just a reminder

For all you local folks here at the U of A. Today, tomorrow and Thursday there are a variety of worship events/experiences happening around campus - go to SUB at noon to catch it all. And a big thanks to the able law & med students & others who pulled together so much prayer and logistics for our Alpha dinner last night. The conference center was packed - and a great time was had by all. Christian unity in action for kingdom work.

"Proclaim the Gospel. Make disciples. Further the Kingdom."

brand loyalty in church

I’m an Anglican. Is brand loyalty a good thing for Christians?  I still recall a statement made some 20 years ago by an Anglican priest:  “It’s not important that the Anglican Church of Canada survives, it’s important that the Anglican form of piety survives.”  As well, I might add now, that all authentic forms of Christian spirituality survive. We human beings are a diverse creation.

What do we think about our brand, and it’s rank in the marketplace?  Do we make the mistake of seeing other churches as marketplace competition? 

We are now officially underway in the annual “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity”.  Here at the University of Alberta, the various Christian groups and clubs have settled on the name “Week of Christian Perspectives.”  So what are we doing?  Well, since common prayer is a foundation for all other things we do, yes we are praying together.  More than once.  Apart from a few times during the day, there are also prayer meetings on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7 am.  Yes, you read that right.  Students are actually willing to get up, make their way to the campus, and pray at 7 in the morning.  That, friends, in the midst of an Edmonton winter, is what I call commitment.  And it is not just for this week – it has been happening almost every week during term for at least 3 years.

In a few hours we will have a kick off dinner for our campus Alpha course.  It is being hosted by a number of students from several local churches representing a variety of denominations.  That to me is one example of what Christian unity should be about.  Focusing on the mission work of the kingdom together.  The goal of Christian mission is to help people into the kingdom, rather than into my church mailing list.  One of the leaders at a conference I attended made the statement “Don’t be afraid to lose people to the kingdom.”

By the way, as I sit here in Dewey’s at 5:10 pm, having my end of day coffee, the table next to me is has four students talking about something called “god parents” and trying to figure out exactly what they are... maybe I'll lean over and ask if I can borrow their sugar...

seasonal colours

Had some friends who wondered if I knew anything about "liturgical colors for the Church year", so for them I present a selection of "Epiphany Green" on the site for a few weeks, until Lent...

is this seat taken?

I sometimes hear various opinions as to why people leave "church".  This article has a few interesting things to say on who is leaving and why...

Why do you stay, or why did you leave?

cliche quotes & the sol cafe

"I will take the ring, though I do not know the way."

So spoke Frodo at the council of Elrond, ending (for the moment) the questions of leadership and direction.  It seems no two at the council came to an agreement about anything until Frodo uttered those words.  Out of that statement came the fellowship - with a variety of characters providing "leadership" at different times.  Yet the direction of the ring was clear when Frodo made his declaration.

The time has come for the sol cafe to hold council.  A direction is needed (though hopefully not straight into the heart of Mordor).  I noticed today that there are no "up coming events" on the side menu of the website.  Is that an empty future or a clean slate?  I prefer to think of it as the second.   I have written a few times about the sol cafe, and it is an idea (more than an idea, it's people) that I believe God is using, and desires to use more. 

At some point, the ring must move on, or simply fall back into the Enemy's hands.

I hope a fellowship is formed.

community and revelation

I'm honored to have been invited by my good friends to be a guest preacher at Holy Trinity Anglican this coming Sunday.  We are in the midst of Epiphany season - that time after Christmas when we are reminded to let the baby Jesus grow up, so that we can too.  It is a time when we reflect on how we get to know who Jesus is - who he truly is.   Which raises the questions - how do I know who anyone is, and how do they know who I am?

I can learn something of God, and something of Jesus, and something of each human being I encounter simply by observation, and I can learn more by being around them, and even more by living with them on a daily basis.  But the core truth is this:  a person is only truly known as they choose to reveal themselves to others.   We can only know God as he chooses to reveal who he is.

As a community of believers, do we reveal ourselves to one another?  It seems to me that we are selective (and I suppose in some cases rightly so) about how and to what extent we reveal our true selves to those around us.  Is it fear?  Is it pragmatic?  Is it a lack of trust?  In part I think we fear what others will do - how will they respond? 

We are known fully and loved fully by God;  we are known partially, and loved partially, by others.

The church is a community built around revelation - the choice on God's part to show us what he really is.  How well do we imitate this aspect of God's character?  Perhaps our deepest, most satisfying relationships and friendships need to mirror this quality of God - the revelation of who one is.

For another topic, Jean Vanier  once said that love is "revealing to a person their value". 

thought for the day

"A dead thing can go with the stream, only a living thing can go against it."

G.K. Chesterton

odds & ends around campus

Next week (Jan 17) we're doing a few things around campus, as part of "Christian perspectives week".  I think in other circles it's called week of prayer for Christian unity, but we figured that we're not so much praying for Christian unity (which I'm sure we are at some point) so much as presenting a Christian perspective on life and issues here at the U of A.  By "we" I mean the assorted people from a variety of groups and clubs and wandering followers of Jesus who together make up the rag tag and yet glorious Church at the University of Alberta.

Prayer vigils; movie nights (I think Jesus of Montreal is first up), a variety of worship experiences - modern, pre modern and post modern - on Tues/Wed/Thu/, some hands on service projects, an Alpha dinner thingy on Monday, and who knows what else.  Hopefully I will get an email from Sheri later today, and then I'll link up stuff for you who hang around SUB.  I'm also hoping to get up the full schedule on the Campus ministry calendar but who knows when I'll get around to that...

Creation vs Nature

More incomplete thoughts...

Ever since I was a kid, I can remember the face of David Suzuki.  He was one of the first scientists to help us as a culture rethink our relationship to what has come to be called “the environment”.  He brought popular attention to such issues as pollution, use of natural resources, and survival of species under threat of extinction.  He has contributed a great deal to our awareness and action on many important issues.  Yet I have seen many of my peers elevate this refound respect for “the environment” into a statement about “Nature” – as if somehow Nature as we experience it and see it operating is in itself somehow perfect.

Our language bogs down our thinking.  Christians often use the terms “creation” and “nature” as if they refer to the same thing.  They do not.  Some commentators in the media have referred to the recent tsunami as an “act of God.”  I suppose a case can be made that it was, but I believe a stronger case can be made that it was not. 

Creation was (and is) an act of God.  Creation itself was an act – God’s will was perfectly expressed in the creation – “it was very good”.  What God desired and what God allowed to happen were one and the same.  Is the “Nature” we speak of today the same thing as the “Creation” spoken of in Scripture?  Or is it not?

If we believe that Creation is simply Nature as we experience it, we are left with a god for whom any event in nature is an expression of what that god desires and what that god allows to happen. Such a god would have to be held completely responsible for any and every event in nature.  Not only on a large scale, but in every instance.  Such a god would be actively responsible for all of nature – as if every event in nature perfectly reflected the desire of such a god for our world.  I believe this is not the case.  Such a god would then want nature to revolt against humanity.

It is the underside of the slogan “God made me this way”.  It is an assumption that everything that appears in physical nature is exactly what God desires.  It is a mistaken phrase.  For it assumes that nature (including humanity) is exactly as God desired and intended it to be.  It is mistaken on two grounds.  It does not understand the difference between Creation and Nature; between what God desires, and what God allows.  It is a poor pastoral response to that part of humanity which suffers because of the difference between creation and nature. 

“God made me this way”.  If I have a genetic predisposition to cancer, can I say “God made me this way”? – as if this was God’s perfect and final desire for me?  If I have a birth defect of some kind, can I take comfort from the phrase “God made me this way”, or can I use that phrase to give comfort to grieving parents?  Here is your child – “God made him that way”.

How do I know the difference between that which God intended in “Creation”, and that which I now see and experience in “Nature”?  I know very little, but somehow I think I must at least start to figure out the difference.

the windsor report

A few of my Anglican friends have asked me about my opinion of the windsor report.  If you are not Anglican, this will make absolutely no sense.  If you are Anglican, this will make absolutely no sense. 

For a concise explanation, just go here  and scroll down.

going, going, gone...

Last week Rob announced officially that he is resigning from leadership at the Sol Cafe effective January 16. He and Deb are being led on to other things, and so his time in leadership with this group/project/community has come to an end.

While people who have journeyed with Rob from the outset and have seen this transformation of stuff at the Sol Cafe over the last few years are of course going to miss him, I'm just going to add to a few of the things I shared on Sunday evening.

First that I think few people understand how difficult and heart wrenching it is to "give over" a ministry. I think the decision Rob made shows a tremendous amount of courage. It takes courage because he loves the people there, and he wants to see them flourish as Christians.

Thank you Rob.

It will also take courage for those who are there to continue, and I have no idea what the future will look like.

"be of good courage"

infants & baptisms...

The usual disclaimers, & with all love and charity to my baptist friends.

It was about a year ago that our youngest (Adam) was baptized. I must say that it has been a surreal privilege to have presided at the baptisms of two of our children.  I think baptism is one of those things that is never really fully understood, explained, or exhausted in our teaching and living.  There is much we know and understand, and there is much that is simply mystery, and points us to a God whom we cannot fully comprehend.

Just a few random thoughts.

We don't baptize ourselves.  We are baptized by someone else.  We are dependent on someone else's action to be baptized.  This has always struck me as a sign of a great truth of the Christian life.  Just as we do not give ourselves physical birth, so we do not give ourselves spiritual birth - it is not my action, it is first and foremost the action of Another.  And this sign points as well to the truth that we need the other members of the Church.  I needed someone in the Church to baptize me, Adam needed someone in the Church to baptize him.  It is a sign that God has given us - at the very outset of our Christian journey - we need the fellowship of the rest of the believers to even begin.  We are not baptized in isolation.

Perhaps the most mysterious thing I have experienced in baptizing my own children is the sense of giving them over to be children under the Fatherhood of God.  My own fatherhood is at best a poor reflection of His eternal and perfectly loving Fatherhood.  (And yes, you can forgive what some might call the sexism of this imagery, but I have no expertise to speak of motherhood, so I'll stick to what I know!)

It is a humbling reminder of whose children they truly are, and how my own fatherhood is a kind of stewardship of lives, on behalf of their true Father.

whatsoever you do...

Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

The commemoration of the innocents comes a few days after Christmas.  It is a reminder that in the midst of the joy and wonder of the newborn Saviour, there is still much that is amiss.

Give to the relief agency of your choice, and pray for the recent victims.