Planted by the Water

Jeremiah 17:7-8 offers these words “Blessed is the one who trusts in God, and whose hope is in God. For they shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and even in years of drought it will stay green and bear fruit.”

I love this image…A tree planted by water, spreading roots out into the river. It has a sense of lushness. I want to be like that tree with roots growing deep but with everything going on in life and in the world, I’m not feeling like a tree planted by water with roots going deep and drinking up all the water. I’m not even feeling like the plant that continues to grow in the drought. I feel more like the drought itself. Dried up and worn out. I don’t know about you but I’m tired. So tired. I’ve lost my mojo, my get up and go. Some days I have my get up but not much go.

Today I just want to soak in the word of this passage: “Blessed is the one who trusts in God, and whose hope is in God. For they shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and even in years of drought it will stay green and bear fruit.”

I invite you to take a few moments to soak in the sounds, images, words of the river. I invite you to be refreshed in these moments.

It can be really challenging to feel the nourishing of God’s spirit in these challenging times, but we need reminders that our faith really does give us those roots that go deep into God’s love. We need reminders that even when we feel like the drought, we might be a bit like the dandelion growing through the cracks. If the dandelion is growing through the cracks, there has to be moisture somewhere, even just a bit, and that might be enough to sustain us. And that is a sign of hope. Jim Cotter offers a paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer which includes this line. “With the bread we need for today, feed us.” Maybe not just the bread we need but the water, the nourishment, the hope we need for today…sustain us.

There are lots of different ways to tap into the deep waters of God’s presence and put down roots. I know for myself that when life gets overwhelming and stressful, these are often the first things to go from my daily routines and yet, that is when I most need these nourishing practices. For me, Yoga and meditation are two of the things that allow me to feel the deep sense of God’s presence. We will each have our own practices. These could include baking or cooking, sewing, knitting, photography, any kind of artwork, hiking, skiing, canoeing, running, building something, quiet prayer, writing cards…so many options that allow us to be reminded of God’s presence. Almost anything can be a practice that connects us with the living water. One of the keys is to approach it with openness to God’s spirit being at work.

Our hope for the future, whatever that looks like, is in God. We can’t control or predict the future but in order to thrive in whatever comes, we need to have roots firmly planted by the river so that when the heat comes, we will not fear, we will thrive and bear fruit even when we feel like we are living in drought.

May we find our roots and send them deep into God’s spirit and be nourished like the trees planted by the river.

Darkness of Creation

A reflection on darkness based on Genesis 1:1-19.

Psalm 84 (The Joy of Worship)

I offer this video reflection on where we find God and how we offer praise.

Dry Bones on Pentecost

The imagery in Ezekiel 37:1-14 is powerful—a valley full of dead, dry bones as far as the eye can see. Ezekiel has the ability to prophesy and command the bones. That’s exactly what he does. The bones became bodies again. But Ezekiel, on his own, only gets so far. They look like human bodies, but it isn’t until God’s breath, God’s spirit enters the bodies that they come alive.

Over the last year, I have felt like these dead dry bones…like I’ve got nothing left. I have seen and heard exhaustion and frustration in others too. Some days it feels like our community of faith are these dead bones.

Some days I can see all sorts of possibilities for our community of faith, but there are roadblocks and the work feels overwhelming. Here’s the thing about this story…Ezekiel prophesied. He did his best, but those bones were never really going to be alive without God’s breath.

I need to remind myself regularly, that I don’t have the ability to bring myself back to life or to bring life to this community of faith. I can work to create the shape, the opportunity for life but life only comes through the work of the spirit and God’s breath. That is something I have no control over. But when the spirit does come and awaken and enliven us as individuals and as a community of faith it can be powerful and surprising. The disciples and their community experienced this in Pentecost.

Imagine that first Pentecost. The disciples have gathered, along with many others, to celebrate the Jewish festival of Shavuot. It was supposed to be the same celebration they have every year to celebrate the harvest and the giving of the law.

But something happened—something unexpected and surprising. The disciples had a profound experience of the Holy Spirit among them. It is described as a rushing wind and as tongues of flame—both of which have the ability to destroy life, transform surroundings and create life. This Pentecost moment changed the trajectory of the disciples lives and gave birth to the Christian church.

I imagine the disciples, up to this moment, thinking they would simply wander around the countryside, tell people about Jesus and few people would come to see him as the Messiah. Maybe they would even find it in them to heal a few people along the way. That’s not what the spirit had in mind.

The spirit opened them to a more possibilities than they could imagine. Suddenly they were able to speak fluently in languages they didn’t know. Their ministry was no longer confined to the people who could speak their language. Their ministry now had the ability to go anywhere and everywhere.

I feel like covid is giving us another Pentecost moment…Maybe covid is functioning as the wind and fire functioned at that first Pentecost. Covid has upset the ways in which we have traditionally been church. Covid has given us an opportunity to be church in new and different ways through technology and new practices. Covid is creating opportunities for us to build new partnerships, think differently about what it means to be church and how we connect. Covid is creating an opportunity for new life in our communities. I invite you to consider where you continue to see the Holy spirit at work in your life and in this community of faith.

Over the last year, our ministries within this community of faith have been taken back to their bare bones—exposing what’s really important—worship, prayer, connection. That’s been the basis of what we have been about over the last year. These don’t look like they did pre-covid and we have some lament about our ability to worship in ways that are familiar, to be in the same space, to sing and eat together. We’ve still been doing worshipping, praying and connecting—just in different ways.

Now that we can see what’s important, how do we create space for the holy spirit to use who we are and our core values to offer ministry that reaches beyond just the core group who have gathered and will gather in this physical space? How might the spirit enliven us to spread the gospel of God’s love for the world in ways that transform lives and communities? What gifts has the spirit given you that might enliven this community of faith for future ministries that we can’t even imagine yet?

It isn’t what we can do on our own or what our community of faith can do. The Pentecost experience is about what the Holy Spirit can do within us. Sometimes we have experiences where everything feels heavy and exhausting. Maybe these are the moments when the spirit is telling us to let go of something. Other times we have experiences where things just fall into place. This might be the spirit nudging us in new directions.

Happy Mother’s Day

Psalm 23

A video reflection on Psalm 23.

Letting go of Busyness

In Mark’s version of the transfiguration, the disciples have been following Jesus around for a period of time. I imagine them being excited and energized by Jesus’ teachings and the momentum that’s building around his ministry. I also imagine them perplexed and uncertain sometimes—maybe even afraid. Jesus is asking them to step outside of what they know.

This story we heard today, is one of mystery. I can’t explain what happened on that mountain, but Peter and the other disciples experienced something they didn’t know how to respond to. Their first response was to keep busy. They offered to build tents for Elijah, Moses and Jesus. Whether the activity was useful or not wasn’t important. The needed to feel like they were doing something. It took away their sense of helplessness and gave them a sense of control over the situation.

When I talked to people almost a year ago when our first restrictions for covid were coming into place, people were cleaning closets, washing walls and stress baking became a real thing. There was a sense that it was important to keep busy and do something while we waited at home for this to pass.

A year later, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m feeling tired and drained. Those initial things we did to keep busy are complete or have lost their attraction. And covid drags on, there’s still uncertainty, the challenges have compounded over time….Now what?

We sometimes imagine the transfiguration as a moment of awe and wonder. There might have been a component of awe but more likely, the disciples were just freaked out. What the heck is going on? How can this be happening? In that fear and uncertainty, they could recognize Jesus as God’s son. Jesus came into a place, a moment where the disciples felt overwhelmed and helpless.

That is also the place where we can find Jesus and feel God’s presence. We have to get the busyness out of the way first. My role in ministry has changed a lot over the last year. The way in which I work, the expectations, the tasks are quite different. The essence is the same but how it happens looks and feels different. There has been and continues to be a learning curve, the way in which I interact with people is different, the challenges and concerns are different, the programming is different. In many ways it has been a busy year and I have kept myself busy as a way of coping.

I was sharing all the “I should be doing…..this and this and this” with someone and noting that I’m tired and that it is hard to feel motivated—either at home or at work. I don’t really feel like doing anything more than sitting in a chair reading a fluffy novel, watching Netflix or playing games on my phone. I was reminded that I, like many others, have been experiencing trauma over the last year and it isn’t done yet.

I was challenged to let go of all the busyness and do nothing. If the house doesn’t get cleaned this week, it’s ok. If I’m not able to manage the learning curve of social media this week, it’s ok. When we experience trauma, our bodies and spirits need rest. The disciples couldn’t recognize Jesus until they got the busyness out of their systems.

We also need to let go of keeping busy just because. Once the busyness is out of the way, we might see God more clearly. The voice that spoke to the disciples, told them to listen to Jesus. Can we listen for God in our lives? Perhaps God is calling us to take a step back from everything that we do so we experience God more fully. That can be challenging. I find it hard to let go of the expectations to do this or that, to take on more, to fill my time in some useful way. I was reminded that rest is useful. Meditation and prayer are useful. These might feel like unproductive times, but they are actually allowing us to care for ourselves and be more open to God in our lives.

It is the middle of winter and that last few weeks have been so bitterly cold. Imagine a seed, in the ground under the snow. It does nothing. It’s task for this time is to rest and be. There is nothing else for it to do. Perhaps, for this time, we could be the seed and do nothing. In a few weeks, when the snow melts and the ground warms, that seed will sprout and grow and something miraculous will come out of it. Without this resting time, nothing miraculous will come from the seed. We also need a resting time. I invite all of us to be gentle with ourselves and others in this challenging and uncertain time. Rest, renew so something miraculous can grow in you.

Jonah is Not the Centre of his Universe…and Neither are We.

We don’t always hear the whole story of Jonah. The part we hear most often is about Jonah refusing to go to Nineveh and then getting swallowed by the fish and surviving. It is pretty dramatic but there’s more to the story. I made this video that tells the story.

After Jonah prays to God, recommits himself to a life of faithfulness and gets spit out on the beach God still sends him to Nineveh. One of the struggles Jonah has throughout the story is that his wants and his view of the world do not fit with God’s view.

Jonah avoids Nineveh because it is filled with his enemies. Maybe he’s afraid. Maybe he doesn’t think they are worthy of God’s compassion. He tries to escape from God’s call. But it didn’t work.

When he finally gets to Nineveh, he preaches God’s word. Guess what? It works. His message is heard. The people pray to God and change their ways. You would think Jonah should be happy about this. A job well done. Success.

But instead, Jonah is angry that God didn’t destroy the city. Jonah goes off by himself to sulk. God is still looking out for Jonah—even when he’s angry. But there’s a point to be made.

The story tells us that a tree grew up overnight and gave Jonah shade. Jonah was content in the shade of that tree. Then the tree is destroyed and again Jonah’s anger rises. God’s point to Jonah is that he is not the centre of the universe.

The world does not revolve around him, his desires, his wants, his way of seeing the world. Jonah is a part of God’s universe. Being part of God’s universe means that God cares about Jonah’s enemies.

Being part of God’s universe means that God calls Jonah to do difficult things. Being part of God’s universe means that Jonah will not always get his way. Being part of God’s universe means that Jonah needs to care about the people and situations that God cares about.

As I’m reflecting on what’s happening in the world right now, I see lots of Jonah behavior. I see some people resisting caring for their community by avoiding masks, sanitizer and ignoring physical distancing. There is sometimes a sense of not wanting to be inconvenienced by caring for others.

When we become focused only on ourselves, we lose sight of God’s view for the world. Covid has highlighted the differences in access to medical care, technology, and other supports. There might be an inclination, to see people with less access as “not like us.” They might be seen as different or less valuable because of poverty, racism or age.

They aren’t the enemy (as in Jonah’s case) but we might be challenged to wonder why we should be inconvenienced to care about those other people. The end of the Jonah story might give us some insight.

I get the sense that Jonah doesn’t want to be inconvenienced and he wants everything in the world to be about him. He feels the world exists to serve him, not the other way round.
Yet, going back to the creation story we heard a few weeks ago, God created humans to tend the earth…In other words, to serve.

Serving is part of the call God places on us as God’s people. I mean serve in the broadest sense of the word…to care, to look out for, encourage, to challenge injustices. Jonah struggled with this call and didn’t want to do it.

We all have Jonah days when it is hard to care, to love, to serve. I think that’s part of being human. But God doesn’t say to us “oh. You’re having a bad day and you get to be selfish every day.”

God says to us, “You’re having a bad day, and I’ll look out for you today” And then God calls us again. God’s call to us never ends, no matter how bad a day we are having or how much we would like to just be left alone to do our own thing….the thing that is easiest or most convenient for us.

There are many ways we might try to escape from God’s call: maybe TV, Netflix, Facebook, a good novel or an online game. Maybe our escape is a drug or alcohol addiction. Maybe we just stay too busy to have time to really care. There are lots of ways we try to escape from God.

Most of us want to be faithful and we try really hard but sometimes serving God’s world is difficult. There are days when we feel angry, frustrated, or tired. God didn’t give up on Jonah when he ran away. God didn’t give up on Jonah when he got swallowed by a fish (and should have died). God didn’t give up on Jonah even when Jonah was sulking.

God didn’t give up on Jonah and God doesn’t give up on us. God continues to re-orient us so that God and God’s world is the centre of our universe. Jonah needed the drama of being swallowed by a fish and having a tree grow up quickly and die to be re-oriented.

Our re-orienting might not be quite so dramatic. It might come from a conversation or interaction with another person. It might come from something we see, read, or hear. God only lets us be the centre of our own universe for a short period of time before trying to call us back to our true selves as servants of God and God’s world.

• How do you try to escape from God’s call?
• How is God trying to re-orient you?