St. Mark's United Church

The poppies are for sale again, everywhere you look there is another box, and there is also one here and one there and one wherever you turn around.  They don’t seem to stay on the coats or shirts very well.  I’ve already lost two.  I think the one I am wearing is actually the one I got last year.

I listen to CHUM FM on the radio.  I love it!  This morning, Roger, Darren & Blake (Marilyn is off this week) were talking about ways to keep your poppy on.  Try an earring backing, or some tape, or sew a few stitches in it (Darren wasn’t sure how he could change coats and Blake was sure she would harm herself with that idea), but I got thinking… isn’t it a good example of how precarious our peace is?  There have been 158 Canadian causalities since our mission in Afghanistan started, 5 added since Remembrance Day last year.  They said this morning that poppies raise between 7&8 million dollars per year, and that amount is increasing.  Although world wars feel distant, those that commit their lives for peace around the world are a present part of our day to day thinking.  There must have been 30 people on the Warden Ave.  / 401 bridge the other night, as the body of Master Corporal Byron Greff   from Alberta made his journey downtown, with their flags waving.  I’ve seen a lot of people on those bridges marking the path for the procession.  It’s pretty cool to witness.

This Sunday we take the service to remember.  Not many make time to go to the Cenotaph, so we take the time here.

Please join us.

Don’t forget to wear a poppy!

Paul

I have been at a “Ministry in Motion” conference this week, it started on Sunday night and went through till Tuesday night with the closing worship.  It was a great couple of days, the speakers were awesome, and it was really nice to catch up with some other ministry folks I know.  It was held at Wellington Square United Church in Burlington, and it’s big name speaker was Leonard Sweet (my favourite church guru), with Robin Mark, a musician from Belfast Ireland (robinmark.com) (one of my favourite church music guys).  So… all in all, an awesome couple of days, but it was also very challenging.

Sunday night, heading in to Burlington I was following a bright yellow VW Bug with the vanity plate RevdUp1.  My first reaction was “Oh No… I hope he isn’t going to the course I’m on”, but when I turned down the street towards the church, he was already ahead of me…. But… he lived 4 doors down from the church… I was so happy!  I know I couldn’t handle a handle like that on my back bumper.

Often when I go to courses, they are not from the United Church perspective, so there is always a lot of filtering of information.  Take it out of the USA context into Canada; take it from an evangelical or Pentecostal context into the united church; take it from a mega-church model into something usable in a smaller setting… it’s sometimes a lot of work, but I still glean good pieces.

This was a UCC event, they had a praise band for the worship, drums, keyboard, electric bass, acoustic guitar and university age folks and others playing.  They played well, but the music they did and the language in that music was really challenging for me.  It was all “King of Kings” and “Lord of Lords”, it was about “God the Father”, “Men of God”, “Sin”, “Evil” “Cleansing that one dark spot”.  I would sing what I could, be silent with other bits, but then eventually just sit down and hope the set would be over soon… all in a United Church.

Monday night, there was a university student singing, her voice was awesome as soprano lead, and she was fully into what she was singing, it was like she belonged.  Unfortunately, she was singing about needing to cleanse that one dark spot of the sin in her life and only Jesus could do it.  It tore at my heartstrings.  Is that really the song she needs to commit her life to in faith?  Isn’t there something more to what we believe in the United Church.  The instruments and rhythm and volume were all contemporary stuff, but the language and theology of what they were singing was right out of 1950 or maybe even 1900.  It made me sad.

Church for me isn’t about the sin of the world, it’s about the hope.  It isn’t about the death on a cross that redeemed us all our sins, it’s about the guy that taught us to be really with people of all walks of life, to give life and hope, bread and fish, or even a glass of water where there is a real need.  People say they experience God on the golf course, so they don’t go to church, and that’s fine with me.  You can believe in God and not go to church, but you can’t believe in the life of the one called Christ on your own.  His example calls us to community, to live with each other in a place where we really connect.

I may not be the ‘RevdUp1’, but I love what I do.  It fills me and gives me new life.  I’ve got some reflecting to do on my notes and learning from the event, but it was still worthwhile to be there, to connect with others and to experience glimpses of the holy in worship even around and through the parts I really struggled with.

I guess that’s my reflection on the week.  Experience stuff, live it, feel it, then glean what really has meaning in it all and give thanks.

Paul

Hey... Maybe I’m really just jealous of the shiny yellow car… but I don’t think so.

Retire?

A pastor named Ivan Downing explained his decision to retire to his congregation: "I wear two hearing aids, tri-focal glasses, have a partial plate, and I sometimes walk with a cane. It seems to me," he concluded, "that the Lord is telling me it's time to retire."

After the service, a white-haired lady told him, "Reverend, you have misinterpreted what the Lord has been saying to you about retirement. He's not telling you it's time to retire; he's telling you that if you keep going he'll keep you patched up!" AHA 2002

Well, this week, Moses comes to an end.  Some of you might be grateful of that, but I hope you have learned a bit about a huge piece of the biblical story.  Part of God is seen by Moses, as is the Promised Land he has been aiming to for 40 years, but… then he dies… he doesn’t quite make it to that place.

Have you ever experienced that? Working on a project for a long time, with many steps, with many people, with huge ups and downs, and not making it through? It can be a pretty horrible feeling, a pretty frustrating existence, an annoyance, but… the people kept going… the mantle was passed on and the people made it to that next place.

Moses didn't get to make the decision in this one. Somehow, it was made for him, and although he had spent so many years of his life leading the people of Israel, this final place, the final task, did not fall to him.

Sometimes it is like that, we plan to do something, we plan to go somewhere, we plan to connect with someone, and then, in the midst of our day to day living, things change, and it falls away. Sometimes it's our decision, sometimes that decision is made by others, and sometimes, no intentional decision is made and our plans simply disappear.

I love the story I found in my reading this week that I included above, it gives two very different interpretations from the same data points; two very different perspectives from the same data points; two equally correct statements from the same data points. So which one do you relate to most?

Often in life were given choices in the various ways of interpreting data, two ways of interpreting people, two ways of interpreting situations; which way are you more likely to choose? Is this the time to stop? Or, is this the time to keep going?

How often do you have to make that choice?

How many times do you have to make that same decision to keep going as you encounter roadblocks?

Keeping going isn’t easy, but we all have things to do that are important to us.

Keep at it!!

Paul

Sarah Churman was in the star on Wednesday with the youtube video of her getting her hearing device activated and hearing for the first time (she is 29).  The paper said that by Tuesday she had 5.5 million hits.  Today it’s at 6 million 360 thousand… not bad for a minute and a half clip.  She has over 25,000 comments from people.  It’s pretty awesome.

Click the link to give it a watch:      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsOo3jzkhYA

Churman put in her blog on the weekend “Times like this remind me that this world can be a beautiful place”

I thought that was a pretty good quote.

What do you think she is thankful for this weekend?  I realize that she is in Texas, so her thanksgiving weekend is still a distance away, but still… I thought it appropriate for this weekend of Canadian feasting and celebration.

So, after seeing that video, what do think about this thanksgiving weekend ‘thing’ coming up?  Turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberries and pie...  sounds pretty good doesn’t it.

What are you thankful for?

What do you miss?

What do you think you should work to get back?

Who do you still need to call or write or email or text?

What are you most thankful for about this community called St. Mark’s?

May we each find a way to give thanks; it is a sound that is music to our ears.

Paul