Jesus’ Song Lives OnLast week we had a 4 month old puppy stay with us overnight. He had been surrendered to Bright Eyes Dog Rescue a month earlier and had been living on a farm a few hours away. He was now at our house waiting for his new family and for his new life to begin.
Peanut was a huge puppy – a 40 lb Bernese Cross. He was a bright spirit, filled with energy. I got up around 6:00 am and we went outside. The sun was rising and it was cold- about 10 below. I sat on the step snuggled in my parka and he lay on the frozen ground chewing on a stick. I heard the sound of a song bird- a single note – and wondered how the creature had made it through the frigid night. The bird kept on with its single note and gradually the notes grew stronger, longer and more melodic. Then other birds joined in. Soon there was an early morning chorus of bird song. I looked up and saw a squirrel in the tree. Peanut also saw the squirrel and watched intently as it jumped from limb to limb, and then from one tree to another. He raced over to the foot of the tree, sure that he could jump up to catch the critter. He tried several times and then gave up. He had been outsmarted. As I watched the scene I thought about the Easter gospel stories set at the tomb at dawn. Why did the women come at dawn? What were the writers trying to tell us? Historians say that this was the earliest that they could come to properly prepare Jesus body for burial. If we look at the story symbolically - then dawn takes on another layer of meaning. The dawn is a time, of stillness and possibility. Just as the robin’s song began as a single, quiet note and then grew stronger – so does the song of Life in the midst of death. In the Easter story one quiet voice brought the news that death’s powers had not had the final say. Jesus song of Love would not be silenced by the powers of death and oppression. The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus song of love for the world began as the awareness of one person, then a few people, and grew stronger and stronger. That song of love for the world is alive today. Listen for its call. It is calling you and me into acts of care and compassion in this time of fear and loss. It is in these acts of care- acts as simple as a phone call to a friend or family member; a call to a senior who is in lock down in a seniors care home; messages of support to front line workers; support where ever people are struggling ; or in just simply saying “I love you” to family and friends- that we continue to share his song of love. As we sing his song this day let us also pay attention to the birds, and to the pulse of life in all living things. Like Peanut and the squirrel- lets play as much as we can. Hallelujah! A Prayer for Holy Week 2020A Prayer for Holy Week" 2020
by Jamie Lynn Haskins, co-editor, Acting on Faith adapted by L Sundberg Friend Jesus , we have walked this Holy Week road before, but never quite like this. As always, palms are behind us, shouts of “hosanna” ringing in our ears. As always, we look toward your death with grief, your resurrection with great hope. As always, you are here with us through it all. Yes, we have walked this Holy Week road before, but never quite like this. We hear the gospel story - nails will pierce the cross, and we will mourn in our homes rather than in our pews. This year your body will be placed in the tomb, and we will await word from those faithful women as we shelter in place. This year, resurrection will come (it always comes) and we will shout “hallelujah,” rejoicing in our living rooms, across computer screens, over conference lines, because this year, as in every year, you are still with us. Yes, we have walked this Holy Week road before, but never quite like this. May we remember, Holy One, that in every familiar and unfamiliar step, every “hosanna,” every “hallelujah,” every Zoom call and every text, you are with us. As we walk this Holy Week road remind us-- in death, in resurrection, in joy and grief, in the unknown and the liminal space between, we are not alone we are still a beloved people. Resurrection will indeed come. Amen. Jamie Lynn Haskins is Chaplain for Spiritual Life at the University of Richmond, Virginia, and is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is the co-editor with Diane Faires Beadle of the new book, Acting on Faith: Stories of Courage, Activism, and Hope Across Religions. Two Wings of AwarenessThe reflection that you are about to read came to me in a group email. It is a beautiful reflection for our
time. Two wings of awareness, from John Philip Newell From John Philip Newell’s blog on the Heartbeat website: 24th March, 2020: Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century Christian mystic, said that we need to fly with two wings of awareness. The one wing is an awareness of life’s glory and beauty. The other is an awareness of life’s pain and suffering. If we try to fly with only one of these, she said, we will be like an eagle trying to fly with only one wing. In other words, we will not truly see. We are living through a moment in time that invites a new strength of awareness. We are hearing stories from around the world today of terrible suffering and loss. And, at the same time, we are hearing accounts of great beauty of spirit and love. I pray for all of us these days that we may be strong in our seeing and in our loving of another. As one of the prayers in Sounds of the Eternal puts it: Let us serve love with our strength this day, let us serve love with our strength. In heart and mind and body this day let us serve love. Heartbeat John Philip Newell is a former Warden of Iona Abbey, a teacher and an author. Fear NotThese are bible words often delivered by angels. Fear not.
A friend said the other day that he felt that our culture was caught between hyper-fear and denial. I heard that and something in me relaxed. The media has been certainly playing on the exaggerated worse case scenario on some stations. Is this helpful? Will that make those of us tanning on the shores of the de-Nile River change our ways? Last week I woke up in the night or first thing in the morning filled with anxiety. It is easing now. It was not about “what is” in my present existence - it was about all the “what could be happening” outside of my family. These are things that I can’t control. It gives me pause to reflect on the times and places in our world where others have not and do not have control too. Those who lived in concentration camps during the Holocaust/Shoah. Those who live in areas of war today. Those in Palestine and Gaza. I just read an article that talked about public health in Jesus day. Catching an infection could kill you - if the Romans didn’t. The gospels remind us of a way of living and a way of being that acknowledges our fear, or worries, but invites us into a reality beyond what we can see. What is an antidote for this virus of fear and denial? Breathe deeply of the love in your life. Breathe deeply of gratitude for the beauty in life. Breathe in love, breathe out fear. Breathe in peace, breathe out worry – if only for a breath at a time. We are all connected by the Great Mystery that we experience and name in different ways. Within us, among us is, beyond us there is a power and presence greater than ourselves moving and inviting is into Life in its Fullness. You may name this presence and power God -a God that you best connect to as an intelligent being. You may connect with God as a verb- found in human life-giving action; there is Spirit, Life, Something More. Different religions have different names. In the classic Book “Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People” Rabbi Harold Kushner says there are times when we don’t have control over what happens to us – but we do have control over how we respond. One way to combat fear is to look for the helpers. There are many. In Regina the Salvation Army has bag lunch drop off locations. The Sikh community is feeding people. Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church is bagging food as part of their church food bank program and handing it out. Breathe deeply. Look for the helpers. Be a helper. Reach out. Fear not. Prayer of Renewal God of many names, known in different ways; We pause and reflect this day. Our world is filled with both chaos and blessing. In these times it is easy to get buried in the fear and chaos, and forget that your power calls us into the light of blessing. Whether we are in tears or in a time of wonder We are Beloved of God. Empower us to be a force for life in its fullness in our time. Sing From Your BalconyI am inspired by news reports of people singing on their balconies. First reports were from Italy. People living in close quarters but who can’t go out are connecting via both music and talking to others from their balconies.
What is inspiring to me is that someone came up with the idea and did it. Then it caught on. I have a friend who is singing a song each day using her Karaoke program and send it to friends on Messenger. This is the sacred power of creativity in our world. Divine creating and recreating power, loving and transforming power, being expressed in our giftedness. Use your gifts in the service of others in this time. Go back to the simple things. Let your gifts sing out to others that we are not alone. Let your God Song reverberate in the hearts of others. Amen What I like about this application breaking into my life – well – breaking into my computer - is the clock. For some reason 8:04 am has less of an impact on me located down in the corner of my screen than the same time on an analog (you’ll need to Google this for accuracy). I tend to lose track of time when I write, so that second hand is great as a symbolic reminder that life is going by.
I’m getting a bit mixed up on the hands of the clock because our most prominent analog clock at home has a knife and fork for hands. As Pam learns to tell time, we get things like “the knife is at 6 and the fork is on the 4”. It’s getting like Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales for me. It always a guess at what the temperature in Celsius really feels like and who knows what freezing is in Fahrenheit anymore! Well, the application was easy enough to figure out how to change the weather to Regina, dump the US news sources, and delete the sports news! “For everything there is a time, a matter for every season under heaven” – so don’t let it slip away. Life is a gift, and at times there is unexpected blessing that come our way – like my new gadget. Let us pray this Pentecost “spirit of life, come unto me.” * Enjoy life! May Pentecostal surprises come your way. Saturday the date predicted for the end of the world came and went.
I did a graveside service Saturday morning and a young woman there was talking about the buzz on the internet that the world still was here. At the same time, she said that in the words of my message at the graveside, words about endings and beginnings, that all she heard was “rapture” with every line. Now it could be that the man who predicted this was right, and we are all left behind. Or, he was a day late and it was Sunday and those people killed in Missouri were the chosen ones. This is not to make light of the suffering and damage that the tornado caused. I believe that we have our “raptures” and our “ end of the worlds” every day. We all do . We all have our endings and beginnings. The people of Slave Lake know this, the people flooded out in Manitoba know this. If you have every been part of a tragedy, if something has happened to you that was out of control and unexpected hit you.. you know that there are endings and beginnings. In the midst of it we have the words of Isaiah 43 ( selected verses with lots of proof texting!) …Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you… 4Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, At the graveside on Saturday, I said that life is like a rose. It has beauty and it has thorns. Life has beauty and it has pain. Sometimes it feels like life is a thorn bush with some flowers. The challenge is to acknowledge the thorns but to focus on the beauty of the flowers, the gift of life itself. In the midst of whatever comes our way, whatever life brings to us, we are held in the steadfast love of God. IT’s hard to feel it, but this is the promise. The love of God comes to us in the caring presence of a loved one, in a telephone call asking how we are, in the simply beauty of the morning, in birdsong (even at 4:00 am!), in the beauty of flowers and the pulsing beat of life itself. I’d rather be left behind. What about you? I mourne the loss of thousands of precious lives but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that" - Martin Luther King Jr Received in an e-mail from a member of St. James United Church after the death of Osama bin Laden 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5: 43 – 48 , New Revised Standard Version Bible (© 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America). Osama bin Laden is dead – really dead. Al-Qaeda has confirmed it. All I felt was sadness at the news. I felt sad for the loss of life of all who have died and continue to die in the conflict between the West and al-Qaeda. I also find it remarkable that when governments send out assassins to kill people that somehow it is not seen as murder but justifiable revenge. Not that Bin Laden had any qualms about killing people for his cause – nor does any powerful government have any qualms when people get in the way of important policies. There is a fine line between protecting one’s citizens or innocent people and violence as a means to an end. Retribution as a form of payback and justice is an ancient, even primal response when someone hurts us or someone we love. You hit them back twice as hard and hopefully they learn a lesson and stop what they are doing. It is an “An eye for an eye” kind of solution. Payback can feel really good. Barak Obama said in an interview recently that I saw on TV that the murder of Bin Laden was one of the most satisfying moments of his time in office. It is a time of mixed feelings in the USA and for Canadians who lost family members at The World Trade Centre. Some are rejoicing, much like the rejoicing and celebrating that we see on TV when anti – American or anti-Western sentiments bubble up after an attack of some kind. I felt that the US government marked his death in an emotionally and politically sensitive way. It was at the site of 9/11 with a tribute to those who had lost their lives in the attack and given their lives in service as first responders . Here are a few responses from families from the New York area from an article “Families of 9/11 fallen still seeking closure. U.S. military's killing of al-Qaeda founder stirs up complex emotions for those connected to attacks” By Connor Adams Sheets, Thursday, May 5, 2011 11:40 AM EDT. The full article is at http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2011/05/11/flushing_times/news/ft_911_families_20110505.txt ”Talat Hamdani, mother of Bayside NYPD cadet and paramedic Mohammad Salman Hamdani, also experienced a distressing series of events in the aftermath of his death. Her son, who was a Muslim, disappeared after 9/11 and rumors surfaced that he had colluded with the terrorists, according to U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). In the end, it became clear that he had been smeared as a result of Islamophobia, Ellison said, and that when his remains were found in the rubble he was vindicated as a selfless man dedicated to helping the victims of the attacks. She is still fighting to have her son listed as a first responder, and signs suggest he will be soon. Hamdani said she was initially “offended” at the celebrations of bin Laden’s death, but she eventually came to see it as an affirmation of the end of a destructive era. “Then it was more of a celebration as an American that we are going to hold our enemies accountable,” she said. “I don’t think it would bring anybody closure, but a sense of relief. At least the guy who attacked us and jeered about it was brought to justice.” Al Santora, of Long Island City, lost his son Christopher only two months after the young man became a member of Engine 54/Ladder 4 in Manhattan. Al Santora, who operates the Firefighter Christopher Santora Educational Scholarship Fund with his wife Maureen, focused more on the impacts eliminating the terrorist will have in the war against al-Qaeda. “We’re elated about the death of Osama bin Laden. It’s a bittersweet victory,” he said. “You can’t be complacent and think that this is over ... hopefully, they’ll [al-Qaeda] be affected for a long time.” Whitestone resident Dina Marie Amatuccio lost her father Joseph, who worked for the Port Authority as manager of maintenance at the World Trade Center, in the attacks. She said a friend called her when she was in bed shortly after the announcement Sunday night to tell her bin Laden had been killed. She thought it was a dream and went to sleep, not registering it was reality until the next morning when she received a text message from her husband confirming the news. “I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel as happy as I thought I would. I’m really happy that a person like him is gone and killed, but it took so long that now that it happened it hasn’t changed anything. My father still passed away and it doesn’t fix that,” she said. “When something bad happens, you always think of revenge, but as time passes it kind of goes away. And it just brought back so many emotional things for me.”The challenge with violent retribution and revenge is that when we repay violence with violence, this may just escalate the violence. Jesus knew that. He lived in a very violent time. He also lived under Roman occupation so that large acts of armed resistance would be violently quashed and lives would be lost. He offered his followers and he offers us a way to respond that takes the violence done to us very seriously, with acts of justice based in agape to try and turn things around. Love your enemies. Gulp! Say what Jesus?? In the Greek the word love is agape. Agape is a form of the love of God and Jesus that always desires the best for another person. It is connected to unconditional love and grace. Acts of agape are acts of “love” where we call others on their harmful actions – always desiring the best for the other person. They also are creative acts of loving justice that make the oppressor/aggressor think about their actions. They are part of process by which we seek healing for them and healing for ourselves. I mourne the loss of thousands of precious lives but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that" - Martin Luther King Jr “They met him in the breaking of the bread”
The Resurrection appearances of Jesus always make me chuckle. This is not to be disrespectful of Jesus, but the gospel writers have him popping up here and there, when you least expect him. The women meet him on the road as they leave the tomb in Matthew’s gospel; Mary meets him in the garden in John, he appears to the disciples while they huddle in fear behind locked doors; some of the followers have an encounter with him on the Road to Emmaus and he appears to others while they are out fishing. One thing is clear. They had to leave the tomb to meet the Risen One. He was not among the grave cloths, or the debris of the boulders, or with the angels or fainting soldiers. And in a couple of situations they did not know him until after the fact. I met the Risen One on Sunday evening. I didn’t know it at the time either. It’s a feeling that I am still left with several days later. It was at a First Birthday blessing party for Athena, a little girl who emigrated from the Philippines last year with her parents. It was an honour to be invited to the party, to be asked to say a prayer and give a blessing as part of a larger ritual. AT that supper I reconnected with a couple that I married a number of years ago, had a good visit with friends, and met a community of families and friends new to Canada from the Philippines. It was a great party – lots of laughter, food and conversation. Athena, and another baby cousin, fell asleep before the opening of the presents. We talked and waited for them to wake up. Athena slept on the floor of the living room on a blanket, and her cousin on the couch. Everyone had a chance to see the sleeping birthday girl and she continued to be the center of attention even when sleeping. Finally she woke up, and we had the gift “opening” – most of the gifts opened by young cousins and friends who just couldn’t wait for her to rip open the waiting gift bags. AS I think about that night – it was an encounter with the Body of Christ – the living church at worship beyond church walls. Jesus was there amongst us; in the singing of hymns, in the sharing of traditional Filipino foods, in the cutting and sharing of the birthday cake, in the conversations about concerns about children, and work and life. As with the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, I met him “in the breaking of the bread”. Darwin, Pam and I got to be there as part of the chosen church family that Athena’s mom and dad have picked at this time in their lives. He was also there in the bonds of family, friendship and faith; and in the gift of love present for this little girl, who is love incarnate even with her name –Athena – the goddess of love. This is an excerpt from the Blessing Service compiled by Roel and Arlene. I invite you think of a child or children that you know and their parents and pray this prayer with them in mind. All: Almighty God, Divine Parent, we ask for your Blessing here today. Protect our family and community and surround us with your infinite unconditional live. Keep us mindful that the miracle of incarniation is both a gift and a path back to you. Parents: For a year we have watched you shine. An angel we can call mine sent from Heaven, just for us. Filled with hope and dignity, a blessing now and always. You brighten all our days, precious child. We love you so, more than anyone could know. All: I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. May God’s blessing rest upon you, may His peace abide with you, and may Her presence illuminate you heats now and forever more. The other day I found a few bulbs that were left over from the children’s bulb planting project in early Lent. I had soaked the bulbs for a day or so several weeks ago to make sure that they had enough moisture to properly sprout, but they had not been touched since. To my great surprise and wonder, they had sprouted.
The bulb is a symbol of Easter. What appears dry and lifeless holds the potential for growth. Those bulbs sprouting without being watered and without soil said to me that the force of life will not be stopped by what we think is necessary for life to emerge. The bulbs had sat in the meeting room that housed AA and Ala-Non Meetings, Sunday School, The 49’ers Choir rehersals – just to name a few of the groups that gathered in that time period. AA and Al-Anon are groups that help each other to come out of the tombs of additction and co-dependence and find new life. The 49’ers bring life with their energy, exuberance and the gifts of friendship and song. Our Sunday School children are filled with life as they grow in faith and experience a loving God. God’s creating and re-creating power is all around us. This is the Life-force of Easter, the force that “broke the bonds of death” as the early church described it; and that brings us from our dying places into times of rising again. Alleluia! |
AuthorRev. Laura Sundberg has
been in ministry at St James for the past 12 years. This is my first blog. Let
me know if you find this remotely interesting or inspiring, it is a two way
conversation as we meet the Holy. Archives
April 2020
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