Author: admin

Prescription: Wonder

It’s a wonder. Astronomers have discovered a black hole that has no business being as big as it is, being the type formed by the collapse of a star. There are much larger, supermassive black holes, but they are formed differently.

Scientusts are excited. It even sounds like they delight in the challenge of reassessing models of how things work.

Meanwhile, there are those of us who are supposed to be specialists in awe and wonder as people of faith. What people encounter too often in the faith community, however, is anxiety, and, tragically, turfism and control issues. Church is rightly concerned about management issues and organizational trends of demise. B&B, Blame and Battles, often ensue. Familiar approaches seem only to accelerate the negative trend.

There is hope  however, and lots of it. Where is the wonder, shared awe and wonder, at what it is all about? It is ever present.

Start with the wonder of God and Creation, including you and me. Other things (and yes they warrant careful attention) will find their rightful and appropriate place.

Some would find it deliciously ironic that people of God might well re-learn wonder from the realm if science.

1 Corinthians 2:9

Controlling the Narrative

The public impeachment hearings that have been held in Wahington over the past two weeks should be important to take in But are they? The drama going on may simply be between, on the one hand, establishing truth to act on (or not), and, on the other hand, simply engaging in a nasty battle over who controls the narrative. In other words, it’s all about what it’s all about.

It could be argued you’re not missing anything if you haven’t seen any of it. After all, you live it every day.

Do you live your own truth? Decide what that is? Do your best to live it? Or accept the most appealing narrative of the most compelling influencers–personal, political, or commercial?

It is almost Advent in the Christian calendar. You will find (still, at least in some churches) Scrioture employed that focuses on ultimate things, with Jesus talking about his Advent to come (e.g. Mark 13).

Advent celebrates that we have the opportunity to know, now, the one who is yet to come.

There is truth. Truth will win out. Truth matters. That should be obvious, but apparently it is not obvious.

And oh yes, there is an accompanying major Scriptural theme in Advent, drawing on scenes with John the Baptist (e.g. Luke 3). He anticipates Jesus’ own warnings against leaders who are obsessed with their power and status, and with controlling the narrative of their people and their time.

It will not end well for such people in any age.

The Use and Abuse of Names

I resist blaming aging for losing any facility for remembering names. It is a matter of basic respect and “you matter” importance. Just please don’t talk to me about ‘networking’ or whatever term is in vogue. Let’s credit people with the radar to detect, over time at least, when we have simply developed a skill that is for the purpose of developing connections in the interest of personal advancement. I know, that has its place in ‘the real world’ but let’s not assume it takes care of true personal engagement.

There is another aspect of the use of names that ought especially and enthusuasticaly to be eradicated.

I, for one, am wary of that person who begins everything said to you within a conversation with your name, sometimes spoken in what sounds like a sentence by itself.

I find it difficult not to suspect this kind of deployment of one’s  name as being anything other than a dominance device. Either blatantly deliberate and calculated, or habitually thoughtless, it will do the opposite of that which simply remembers and speaks names with honouring of personhood. It is, if calculated, objectifying and therefore abusive.

Names, like the persons to whom they belong, are precious. Name calling, on social media, at school lockers, or settings of work or worship (yes, i said worship), is a real and present scourge.

May we take great care with names.

Genesis 32:27-28.  Matthew 16:18

Berlin and More

This year’s Remembrance  Day (Nov. 11) coincides with the weekend’s thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. There were huge forces at work in both times. What we want to remember and honour most, however, are the individual stories of heartbreak, heroism and sacrifice lived out for the greater good.

There are, of course, great forces at work today. Their impact is felt just in weariness over the news. But the contributions we acknowledge now should prod us to recognize we are not powerless. What we do each day can and does make a difference, from how we speak to the drive-through person to the attitude we bring home from what we”ve been through for the day.

Big forces have their day. What we do in love has eternal significance.

Romans 12:17-18

Ready for Alien Visitors?

Apparently when Edward Snowden was snooping into top secret government computer files he decided to check out some things we wonder about and argue about over morning coffee or evening other-stuff. Like, Is the U.S. government hiding evidence of alien  life visiting earth? The answer, you may be disappointed to know, is no. The moon landing, by the way, did happen. Meanwhile, Google is touting the successful test run of a quantum computer that can solve in a couple of minutes what a conventional computer would take, they say, years to get through.

These bits of other-than’Trump news maybe appeal to us because they hint at the possibility of something other than our own problems and ways of dealing–or not–with them, especially if it’s as if the people you have to live and work with have materialized from some parallel reality. Or maybe people who show up in the context of whatever you are trying to accomplish in this world seem like some new species if hominid. You want a break.

So it’s somewhat understandable if we can entertain thoughts of other-worldly or wonder-computer ways of making everyday life different. But everyday life is exactly where we–in this current dimension and in our present hominid form–can make a difference. We could start, as prodded by the sign n the photo, with how we dispose of batteries 

And, if and when the aliens do come, maybe they’ll be impressed with what we’ve undone with the place.

Genesis 1:31

Having Issues

A certain world leader recently referred to his own “great and unmatched wisdom.” You and I might speak of ourselves in such terms–in a tone of light self deprecation. He wasn’t joking.

Most of us would find his claim laughable or just plain pathetic. If we are ruthlessly honest, however, we might harbour self perception that is not dissimilar.

Maybe you have avoided obviously disruptive or destructive living. You figure you have it pretty much all together. So you don’t condescend, manipulate,dominate, move any or all conversation to your own person, bestow your ‘help’ and advice unbidden on others? You have, that is, no issues at all?

Truly impoverished are those if us who consider that only others “have issues.” We are then missing the true wonder of the humanity within us and of which we each are part. Such awareness and self discovery leads any of us with any consciousness to seek growth in our understanding and manner of relating to others and the world at large.

Consider: “We are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed” (1John 3:2).

Feeling inadequate, failed? God knows what fulfillment you are yet to know.

Feeling smug? You are missing something.

The Harvest Factor

Yes, there are backyard and community vegetable gardens. There are still family farms. But fewer of us all the time are connected to the land and the seasons, apart from, say, hiking and skiing, or what sport we take a short break from watching to have meaningful communication with Grubhub.

It is Harvest Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. That evokes the sensory feast of food, family and friends, along with, we would more than just wish, practical acknowledgement of those who are lacking those things.

If we consider even more deeply what harvest thankfulness has always been about, it is at least as much about process as result. There is bounty in the experience of community. It’s about people having pitched in when a farmer took ill or was injured, conversations around the farm kitchen table. Think about other things we might well be thankful for. There is abundance of life in the experience and love that has led to the things we enjoy.

I appreciate the mindfulness that lives in (not for) the moment. But each moment is a seed. What are we cultivating?

Genesis 1:12

The Forever Link

Among the mysteries of the universe is the age of said universe. The tool used by science to calculate the universe’s age is called the gravitational constant. This refers to the rate at which everything is expanding. A seemingly small difference in estimates of that can translate to several billion years’ difference in estimated age. Then there’s the question of what it’s all heading to. There is even less certainty concerning what lies at the other, future end of things, a topic in physical cosmology.

Meanwhile, there are those who present challenges to what we take for granted in our everyday experience, such as the perception of colours and the passing of time, which are said to be constructs of our minds.

A reliable source points out that the path toward reality — ultimate and everyday — starts with what we do rather than with that which we (presume to) know.

Action, then content: That was the order of things for Jesus when he sent out 70 followers. Heal, then announce the Kingdom, a new reality, a taste of the transformation in store for the whole cosmos. The followers’ own link to this universal transformation was signalled, in the language and symbolism of the time, through  assurance of their names being “written in heaven” (References here are from Luke 10: 1-24).

The fundamental activity of humans is to be a coming together. That necessitates healing in this fractured world. The demonically characteristic affliction of our time is disconnectedness and, along with it, polarization, or tribalism, often intentionally engineered.

The claim of Scripture is that the goal of humanity with the divine is a unity, both celebrating and simultaneously unifying our wonderful diversity. See, for example, Revelation 7:9.

But something spectacular is to happen. The observations about our brains and perception of the present world are not that different from the insistence of the Apostle Paul that we must exchange present, limited perceptions for a new being in order to be part of ultimate reality (1 Corinthians 15:53).

The richness and wonder if it all is ours now. How? Whenever we seek healing for humanity, or simply care for one another, we are tapping into what it’s all and forever about.

Hungry?

German shepherd and kitten nuzzling. Deer fawn and golden lab cavorting in a forest-bordering backyard. Cat and parakeet poking playfully at each other. Cute, but I can’t help but wonder how many such encounters end tragically, with most (?) having been set up to see what will happen, with YouTube glory in mind from the get-go.

My interest here, however, is the great maw of an appetite we humans have for this genre. One possibility: boredom reaches deep and wide in our culture. Another, kinder thought: Our appetite for this material points to a hunger, a hope, for happy homey relations among fearful, suspicious, wounded and angry humans.

If such is our hunger, we nay be well prepped for the plea from a wise man who is actually more than a wise man, who said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “You will wind up being fulfilled and satisfied if you have a deep, relentless hunger and thirst for the putting right of human relations” (Matthew 5:6).

If you look it up (my paraphrase being bait for you to check the real thing), you will find, in most versions, the word righteousness, which you might find preachy-sounding and off-putting. My understanding of the term puts it very close to justice, which basically has to do with the putting right of human relations. I would like to see more written tiday about a correlation between social polarization and economic disparity.

Would we at least have the same appetite, even hunger, for human reconciliation as we do for animal togetherness (at least when they are well fed)?

The Right Questions

I was asked to write something for the annual report of the congregation for which I currently am preaching. Here is what they got

You have power — more than you know. Well, okay, it’s not your own power, but it is yours to use. You need to know this because too many churches are anxious and afraid. And we are urged, commanded, actually, not to be. Afraid, that is.
“What are we going to do to attract and keep people?”
“How do we get people to give?”
“What happened to the young people” (assuming we don’t just redefine “young people” as anyone under seventy)?
These are understandable questions, but they are symptomatic of a church on the defensive. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, how can we be on the defensive?

Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b). If we believe this, empowered by the Spirit, we find ourselves asking questions concerning our purpose and articulating our vision for fulfilling that purpose. Or if we have stated this, how much is it our focus?

Here are three essential parts of joining with our Lord in overcoming the world:

Accept God’s ethical mandate.
Jesus acted on suffering and injustice in front of him. He clearly expected his disciples to do the same.

Believe in the power with the mandate.
Jesus expressed frustration with the disciples when their fear and hesitancy prevented them exercising his power to free others from the powers that bound them (e.g. Luke 9:4041).

Challenge the status quo.
Christ is removing the veil from our faces (2 Corinthians 4:3-6) to free us and others from “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), experienced in obscene wealth, power and control, with attendant personal ills for those up against powers both external and internal, of anxiety, addiction, and destructive anger.

There is power over all these things, so let us be sure to ask the right questions.