Liberty

Jeremiah 35:17 “Therefore thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence and to famine, declares the Lord. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.” 

I have been reading Jeremiah for a while now. It’s a lot to take. Mostly the book is tough on Jeremiah. He is castigated, thrown in jail, thrown in a pit, and warned that he is a terror to the people. The language of a verse like the one above is tough to take. It’s one of those, “God of the Old Testament” sounding verses that people can struggle with.  We need to remember that Jesus is the full revelation of God. Any time you come across a verse like this in the Old Testament, remember that God’s judgment is fully exercised on the cross. Jesus said that we are to love our enemies. The verse doesn’t disappear, however. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. We can see, in this verse, and throughout the prophetic writings that one of the things that is anathema to God is when the freedom of people is taken by other people. We are witnessing, in the United States, protest that may lead to societal change. The country of the United States was built largely on the backs of slaves. People were denied their God given liberty. It is 401 years since the first slaves were brought to America and we can see that liberty is different still for a person of colour than it is for a someone who is white. It is tough to consider that the history of slavery in the United States is intertwined with the history of Christianity in the United States. Slavetraders and slaveholders were largely people who declared Christian faith and often spoke as if they were superior, counting their faith as part of that superiority.  

As you see the news, the marches, the protests, remember that those fighting for the liberty of others are fighting for a cause that God told us was right. 

Getting Political

For years now we have witnessed something happening in the United States that ought to lead us to consider the truth of our faith, salvation in Jesus, and His life and teaching. A man who in word and deed has stood against virtually everything that Christ stands for has occupied the White House enabled by a group of religious nationalists who in their idolatry of power have invited division, hatred towards others and ultimately a parasitic co-opting of actual Christian understanding and love. 

Yesterday Trump sought to further divide the nation during a press briefing that took place while police cleared peaceful protestors with tear gas and rubber bullets so that when he was done his hateful, weak talk, Trump could walk across the park for a photo-op in front of a church while grasping a Bible in the air. If you are a student of history you will know that such parodies of faith portend actual faithlessness. They have been used by weak people before who have hijacked Christian faith (and other faiths) for their own weak ego, their own political, even racist ends. 

I stand against such obvious displays of division, protection of power and of status quo. I stand against such betrayal of Christian teaching and calling precisely because I count myself a Christian and have been blessed to know the love and life that are in Jesus Christ. This love is for ALL PEOPLE. Our faith has been used before to hate and to divide. We ought to be able to see when it is being used in such ways now. 

Trump will be done as President. He is flailing now. His leadership has been worse than absent. My prayer is that the distortion of Christian faith that has presented itself as the guardian of the nation and the world will be done with him. It was an arrogant lie before Trump came along and its willingness to ally itself with Trump merely displayed the vacuous nature that it always had. 

Know that you have been called to love. The love of Jesus is for ALL PEOPLE. He is the light of the world and the love of God will not ever be at threat, even by those who co-opt faith for their own selfish, hateful ends. Bless you today. May you be a blessing to those around you. We don’t have to hate anyone, even people who take up such obvious political theatrics. However, we also don’t have to say that it is okay or that it is Christian because the angriest, most fearful voices (Franklin Graham, Jerry Fallwell Jr, James Dobson and their ilk) have wrested away Christian identity in the United States from its better, more hopeful, more loving manifestation. The words of such “leaders” often present Christian faith as something that is under threat, that if you don’t follow their programme or believe as they believe, then the very work of God is in danger. That should be the give-away to their con. The God I believe in, the God given full incarnation in Jesus Christ, is not in any way, under threat from anyone in the world, particularly not from small and angry men, no matter how large their following. 

They have allied themselves, these religious nationalists, with the current President in the United States to advance their political agenda. It is a political agenda that has to do with power, not a religious calling that has to do with love. They may holler and scream, but they will not prevail. Do not lose heart. Wherever you go today, however you interact with others in this time of pandemic and upheaval, you can witness to the love of Jesus that is for all people.  You can bear witness to the love that overcomes all hate. Amen. 

On Eagles Wings

The Book of Lamentations teaches a people a song of lament and sorrow. All that had been taken for granted was gone and uncertainty and confusion and despair remained. Lamentations is a poem, structured to be committed to memory, structured to be order amidst disorder. When we face pain our scattered cries can eventually bring an order of their own. They may be the first step to a future we could not imagine possible.  The very first verse of the first chapter of Lamentations is a cry over the city. It is a remark of astonishment. The writer, thought to be Jeremiah, looks out at the city, once so full of people and says this; 

“How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!” 

Jeremiah’s exclamation is, if on a much grander scale, the same that you may have made in these last weeks. Who could have imagined no traffic at 5pm on a weekday? I went for a morning bike ride yesterday and wound up riding through the streets of the city, in the middle of the road, in the middle Robson Street. “How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!”  Biblical imagination means that we can take verses or images that we remember from scripture and have them come to mind in the landscape of our lives. No one ever thought that Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s time would be deserted as it was. You did not envision a Spring Day in 2020 to mean an apparently deserted Vancouver. When the images or verses are brought to mind, then we can pray. 
Dear God, open my eyes. Show me what matters. Forgive me for thinking too much of myself. Show me what it means to trust in you and to love others. 

The ride home brought me across the Lions Gate Bridge. As I crested the hill of the bridge and began the fast downhill ride into North Vancouver, this astonishing thing happened; I glanced to my right, towards Burrard inlet and not far away from me at all, soaring alongside the bridge, keeping time with me as I rode, there was an eagle. I was caught up. This eagle was so close to me, close enough that I could see detail of it, even while it was so high up, even while it was in flight, gliding and using the creases of the wind to bank one way and the other. The slightest movement of a wing could dramatically alter the flight, but the eagle appeared to make these movements only playfully. The movement displayed a kind of showing off, like he was making fun of riding that I thought was quite fast. Then the eagle broke away and soared higher and quickly towards the inlet. 

I recalled the words of God through another prophet, written to people who could not imagine a rebuilt city. These people had become aware of only loss and uncertainty, struggle, and a world of scarcity rather than abundance.  “Look at that eagle”, God seemed to say. And know; 

“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings, like eagles. They will run and not get weary. They will run and not grow faint.” AMEN 

Remember for What is Ahead

How long has the lockdown been? We’re around week ten now depending on how you count. For the people in the book of Deuteronomy it had been forty years. A desert journey that was supposed to take a few weeks took instead (due to their own failings) four decades.  The desert was a place of scarcity. The land that they were about to enter was a place of “vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey”.  

The book of Deuteronomy is basically the leader of the people, Moses, giving them some important instruction before they entered the land. The instruction could be summed up with one word, “Remember”. 

Remember that God provided for you in the desert. 
Remember that wealth and blessing does not come from your own hand. 
Remember other people who have less than you. 
Don’t hoard up for yourselves.  

It might be too early to tell if our count will be in weeks or months or years. How long will the pandemic time of 2019,2020 (2021, 2022?) be remembered to have lasted years from now? However long it will be, we can start the process of remembering now. 

We were worried; but we had enough. 
We were unsure about our health and many suffered loss, but we got through. 
We knew God’s goodness, even in the midst of uncertainty and sorrow. 
In many cases we saw people come together to face the time of difficulty. 

Will we count, after this is all done, that occasion was taken to make some things better? 
Did we learn to deal with some of the staggering inequality in our society? 
Did we change the way that we commute?
Did we change our health care system?  
Might we look back, after all of this, and count how we revamped long term health care? 

Remember. The people ready to cross the river into the land of promise were told to remember so that they might live lives of gratitude and blessing rather than lives of fear and hoarding. It is curious that we feel inspired and made alive by stories of gratitude and blessing, but we so often fall to fear and hoarding as the things that we think will keep us alive.  

Dear God; Thank you for your provision. Thank you for blessing us with one another. Make us determined to remember. We want to remember your goodness. We want to remember those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Remembering Things that Didn’t Happen

Today is Victoria Day. Is it different for you than it has been in previous years? Of course, it is. For many it is decidedly different. The May Long Weekend is one that is often taken up by travel. I can’t remember the last time my family was home on the May Long Weekend, but here we are. This pandemic has us, in a way, remembering things that did not happen, recalling events that will not take place. Have you done this yet? It goes something like this,  “Well, it’s May 18, this is where we were supposed to be today (in this other place).” 

Have you missed the things that have not happened? We can learn a lot in letting go. Granted for some it has been much more difficult or painful than for others. We may have missed a weekend away while some others have had a job offer rescinded or have had to dramatically alter plans for education. 

There are spiritual practices that come into our lives out of no choice of our own. The practice of fasting (from food or experiences or entertainment) is a spiritual practice intended in part to show us that we don’t need a lot of what we think we need. It can create the space to consider spiritual things rather than to be caught up in pursuit of appetite satisfaction. 

Remembering things that didn’t happen, then can be a gift. We are not there, where we are supposed to be right now; but we are okay. And God is good; here and now. 

Matthew chapter 6 (words of Jesus) 

“And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” 

James 4:13-15  

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 

Unprecedented

There was a great piece on CBS Sunday Morning today. Jim Gaffigan is a comedian who has been doing commentary bits for the show. It’s into week nine of the lockdown, and this morning Gaffigan’s bit was about the word, “unprecedented”.  It’s worth a watch (click here to watch it). 

Gaffigan’s faith is evident in such reflections. At least, if you know of his faith you can see it in these commentaries. I remember once Gaffigan was on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. There were multiple guests being interviewed together at the time and it wound up being quite a poignant consideration of faith and hope. 

This morning Gaffigan’s bit included a call for unprecedented gratitude. He recalled the many blessings in his life and turned what is a time of fear for many into a reminder of goodness. 

Matthew 7:24-27 (Words of Jesus) 

Build Your House on the Rock 

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” 

As Gaffigan shows, if you watch the news at all, it won’t take long to encounter the word, “unprecedented”. In many cases it is being used to describe how things have come apart in this time. Things that we took for granted have lost their certainty. 

We are called once again to consider what it means that our certainty is in Christ alone. It’s not trite to say that. Certainty in Christ does not mean that “everything will be okay” if “everything will be okay” means that we will never face hardship or loss or illness.  In Christ, “everything will be okay” is so much better than that. So ask it as a question in faith right now.  

Dear God,  What does it mean that “everything will be okay”? Dear Jesus, I turn to you amidst all of this uncertainty and thank you for your love. I want to know your love in the midst of unprecedented times. Show me what it means that you are all the certainty I need. 

Habbakuk 3:17-19 

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,    
nor fruit be on the vines, 
the produce of the olive fail    
and the fields yield no food, 
the flock be cut off from the fold    
and there be no herd in the stalls, 
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;    
I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;    
he makes my feet like the deer's;    
he makes me tread on my high places. 

A piece from The Atlantic (yesterday) called, “Surrendering to Uncertainty” 

God’s Goodness and Faithfulness

The Sports section of newsfeeds has been running dry lately. There is pretty much nothing. Apparently ESPN has been televising baseball games from South Korea. There are no fans in the stands. The teams include the Kia Tigers and the LG Twins.

This morning in my feed I was directed to “Relive the Calgary Flames Stanley Cup Run”. Really? Clearly my newsfeed does not discriminate geographically. What Vancouver Canucks fan would want to relive the Calgary Flames winning the Stanley Cup in 1989? Yesterday was also one year to the day since Kawhi Leonard hit the four bounce game ending, buzzer beater Game 7 basket that moved Toronto past the Philadelphia 76’ers en route to their first NBA Championship.

Relive, Remember, Recall. It’s what sports in the time of pandemic has become.
But reliving something is not only about the past. We recall in order to anticipate the future.

When we are living through times unlike those that we have lived before, one of the things that we can gain, even in the midst of trouble, is a new ear, new perspective, a deeper understanding of ourselves and those who have come before. It is easy to take situations, circumstances, events and activities for granted. There will be no CNE in Toronto this year. If I am getting it right, the PNE has already been cancelled as well. You don’t probably care about the CNE except when you hear that the last time it was not held was during WWII.

In the Psalms there are multiple refrains of “remember”. Much of the remembering is to recall the blessings of God in life even in the midst of difficulty or loss. “Why are you cast down, O my soul?”. It’s a good question, one that many of us have asked, perhaps recently. When the question is asked in the Psalms it is often followed by an injunction to remember God’s goodness and to count upon his faithfulness. You can try the exercise. First the question to your soul about its state. Then the direction to your soul to recall God’s goodness. The intent is not to lament nostalgically about things that have been lost. Rather, it is to know that God’s faithfulness and blessing will endure.

It is a practice that is for the community as well as for individuals. Remember.
Psalm 103 - “Bless the Lord and forget not his benefits”
The remembering might even reach beyond our lifetimes. Psalm 136 is such a prayer. There, the people remember and recall God’s faithfulness in years centuries past. We recall not out of sentiment. We recall in order to remind ourselves of the character of God. He is good, even now. His love endures forever.

PSALM 136 (NRSV)

God’s Work in Creation and in History

1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 O give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

4 who alone does great wonders,
   for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 who by understanding made the heavens,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 who spread out the earth on the waters,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 who made the great lights,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

10 who struck Egypt through their firstborn,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

13 who divided the Red Sea in two,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

16 who led his people through the wilderness,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

17 who struck down great kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed famous kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to his servant Israel,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 who gives food to all flesh,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

26 O give thanks to the God of heaven,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

Look! I Made Cookies

“Dad, what are you making?”
“Cookies”
“Can I help?”

This was a familiar refrain in our house, and anyone with children can probably relate. You also know that “help” was a generous descriptor of reality. With the ingredients already laid out, oven on, and most items measured, “help” meant pour in the chocolate chips, mix a little and then scoop out 3 or 4 oddly shaped cookies before declaring the suddenly urgent need to go to the washroom. The assistant cook would only re-emerge after clean-up was complete, dishes put away and the cookies had cooled sufficiently so that one could sample, for quality assurance purposes. Then, after dinner, when it was time for dessert, the now self-declared head baker would ask, “Would you like a cookie that I made?”.

Now that my children are older and more capable, they do venture into the kitchen and make a batch of cookies on their own now and then (clean-up still done by their now demoted assistant baker). However, the other day as I set out to make banana bread the familiar refrain was heard, “What are you making? Can I help?”. Then after a few minutes of watching the stand mixer do its thing, the child suddenly realized they had a more pressing matter to attend to. But when it came time for dessert though, it was the delicious banana bread that she “made” that was served.

As I considered this coup d’état of my baking, I began to think of the claims I make about my faith. “I made a decision. I came to faith. I have grown in my faith. I found Jesus, (he was after all the one who was lost, one only finds lost things)” and the like.

Yet when it comes to issues of faith, most all of it is the work of God and God alone. Salvation is entirely God’s work and his grace to us all. All we must do is awaken to it. Or as Jesus puts it, “the blind see and the deaf hear”. We are passive recipients of his work of salvation, his incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, love, and grace.

Sanctification too is God’s work and his grace in us. We must accept it. Though in this, like my toddler baking assistant, we are mildly active participants. That is, we can choose to work with God in it or, refuse and rebuff the gift of his work.

Or to put another way, salvation is like being born, it happens to us, we do nothing to help it or achieve it. Sanctification is like living, it happens with us. Yes, much of our living life happens outside of us and beyond our control, where we are born, too whom we are born and so on, but there is still a level, an important level, of participation and decisions we make which affect our living life.

But it is important to keep another point in mind with this metaphor. I did not actually need the help of my child to make the cookies. I chose to let them participate, but I could have handled the pouring in of the chocolate chips on my own. So too God. While not requiring our help to do anything he wishes to do concerning salvation, justification, or sanctification, chooses to invite us to participate in it. And, like a good Father, does not mind sharing the credit for the creation or even losing top billing at times. Even though he did all the prep work, 99 percent of the measuring and mixing and all the clean up. “Yes, Tommy, look what you did with your life and how you have grown in your faith. Well done thou good and faithful servant”.

It ought to be noted that there is an arrogance in my metaphor, claiming that I was actually the one to make the cookies. I may have mixed the ingredients together and scoped the dough on to the baking sheet, but I did nothing to produce the eggs I used, I did not churn the butter never mind produce the milk. I did not mill the flour; I did not plant the grain, and I certainly did not create the grain which was planted. And let’s be honest when it comes to cooking and baking, for the most part, the greatest amount of time and energy spent, is done by the oven or stove (which I also had no hand in making). So, when I declare, “look at the banana bread I made”, I am really no more than a child who poured in the chocolate chips then ran off before any of the hard work had to be done.

And so it is with our faith in God. Even that which we think we can lay claim to, we really cannot. We no more choose God or accept Christ than we actually “make cookies”. All the real work is far beyond our control or doing. It is the mysterious work of Christ, the wooing of the Holy Spirit, and the loving nature of the Father. At most we look at what is around us and cobble together something which by the very nature of the ingredients themselves, mixed with heat and time, all come together to form something wonderful beyond our imagination.

Dear Jesus,

What are you making in me? Can I help? Just tell me what to do and when to stop. I promise I will listen this time and not run off before the work is done.

Thanks

May It’s a Bit Too Hot

Psalm 145:8,9

“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all and his mercy is over all that he has made.”

Things are supposed to change today. We are going to feel the difference, apparently, this afternoon and tomorrow and on Sunday.

Summer temperatures.

“The Lord is good to all and his mercy is over all the he has made.” I am going to say that in the warm sunshine.

Here is the thing, though; I am so finicky sometimes about the temperature that I am already wondering if I will think that it is too hot when it hits 26 degrees. Can you be like this? Maybe not at 26 degrees, but certainly at 30. This weekend, what if you wear the wrong shirt? What if you go for a walk and you haven’t adjusted yet to the reality of the heat and you put on too many layers and then you complain a bit that it is too hot?

Even when things move in a positive directions, when the change is significant it can send us for a loop. I remember speaking to a friend once who had gone through months and months of terribly difficult treatment for breast cancer. She had not been sure that she would survive. We prayed for her and family and friends rallied round. Not long after she was declared cancer free I spoke with her about how she was feeling. Of course she said that she was overwhelmingly grateful, but she mentioned something else as well. She said that since the declaration of physical health, she had struggled with mental health. It is not always easy to come out of the desert. We get used to the times of difficulty or struggle. We find ways to cope. We adopt defense mechanisms. We find emotional guards against the threats. Sometimes we find ways to gear down mentally and emotionally.

And then the sun comes out. And it can take our eyes a while to adjust.
And we don’t know just what to wear in the seemingly sudden summerish heat.

Dear God;

Thank you for your goodness. I know that you are good, even now. Show me, by way of these next few days both joy at the blessing of such great weather and insight at the struggle it can be to emerge from the deserts in our lives. I pray that we, anticipating some kind of re-start and renewal in the months ahead would know that you call us out to live fully in your goodness. We have been focused on threats and dangers for many days now. Show us that there will be a time when, even if it’s not like it was, we are being led to awareness of blessing and life and sunlight and warmth.

In Jesus’ Name

Amen.

Faith Amidst the Ruins

Psalm 49:1-12

The Folly of Trust in Riches
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.

1 Hear this, all you peoples;
    give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
    rich and poor together.
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
    I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.

5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life,
    there is no price one can give to God for it.
8 For the ransom of life is costly,
    and can never suffice,
9 that one should live on forever
    and never see the grave.

10 When we look at the wise, they die;
    fool and dolt perish together
    and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
    their dwelling places to all generations,
    though they named lands their own.
12 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
    they are like the animals that perish.

In 1946 and 1947, after the Second World War, Karl Barth presented some lectures in the ruins of the University of Bonn in Germany. Barth had been fired from his position as a Professor at the University and kicked out of Germany before the war for dissenting against Hitler and the Nazis. Barth had actually preached a sermon that did not mention Hitler by name, but spoke of God’s love for all and the reminder of such love for the Jewish people in particular. Barth sent a copy of the sermon to Hitler. He was fired soon after that.

After the war, he returned to the University and over a series of early mornings presented an outline of Christian faith and belief and theology. The sessions started at 7 am each morning because construction (the roof was missing, etc.) started by 8:30 am.

Currently, in our time of pandemic, two of my favourite speakers and writers (one much easier to understand than the other) are offering an online series of talks in which they discuss the short book that came out of those lectures after the war. Will Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas are discussing, in these sessions, why the book called “Dogmatics in Outline” might be one of the most important books for consideration of Christian theology.

In their conversation, a note came out that mirrors some of the 49th Psalm, the Psalm for today.

So we have Willimon and Hauerwas talking by Zoom in the midst of a pandemic. We have Barth speaking to people in the ruins of a war. We have the Psalmist saying, no one “should live on forever and never see the grave. When we look at the wise, they die; fool and dolt they perish together and leave their wealth to others.”

The note was this; Willimon asked Hauerwas about theology amidst the ruins. What can we hear in such times that we might be deaf to otherwise? Here is Hauerwas’ response;

“Theology is training and learning to die.”

Willimon then noted something Hauwerwas said to him previously, that Hauerwas feels sorry for pastors because they are called to minister to people who don’t know that they have to die.

Here we are, in a time which reminds us of our frailty, our mortality, the brevity of our lives. This ought not be somber news, however. It ought to be news that leads us to greater trust and love and gratitude for a God who has defeated death in Christ.

Faith amidst the ruins.

In Him, we live and move and have our being.

Spiritual Practice: Activism

Anthony Ashley Cooper was 14 when he witnessed an event that would shape the rest of his life. Early one morning, while out for a walk, he heard and then saw, a group or rowdy drunken men stumbling through the streets carrying a flimsy wooden crate on their shoulders. At one point they stumbled, and half a corpse fell out of the crate before they stuffed it back in again and continued their journey toward the pauper’s cemetery. Ashely grew up in a physically abusive, emotionally distant, and spiritual vacant home, but as he watched this scene, he knew that is was not how it was supposed to be, no one should be carried to their grave like that.

The only happy experience he had as a child was through one of the servants, a woman named Maria. She told him about the gospel and the love of Jesus. It was through her love for him that he came to love the Jesus she loved. In 1826 he was elected to the British Parliament where he worked diligently for the poor and the outcast. Most of what he attempted should have failed. It was unpopular and he lacked the requisite political skills, but over the course of 50 years of public service he changed the lunacy laws, reformed asylums, transformed child labour practices, defended the rights of women, chimney sweeps, merchant sailors, factory, brick and textile workers, protected coal miners especially child miners. He fought for education reform, established sanitation, health and medical standards in London’s slums, he believed England as a Christian nation ought to be the standard bearer for the world and so continued to fight against slavery after Wilberforce died, he opposed British imperialism. He did not care whose toes he was stepping on, he felt a call to always fight for justice and righteousness, to live out his life in Christ. In 1851, at the death of his father, he moved to the upper house and was given the title the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury. 

October 1 1885: his daughter finished reading to him the 23 Psalm, he whispered “thank you” to nobody in particular, closed his eyes and went to be with his Master whom he had served his whole life. The government insisted his service be held at Westminster Abbey. Never before had there been such a gathering as on this day. While the inside of the church was filled with dignitaries and the well to do, the streets outside the Abbey were packed with the poor and the destitute, paupers and labourers, all those he served and loved, weeping and crying out, “Our Earl is dead”.

Prophets see and cry out, “This is not the way it is supposed to be!”. Activists see what the prophet sees and declares, “And it does not need to be this way”, and then they do something about it. Lord Shaftesbury stands with the likes of William Wilberforce, Florence Nightingale, Catherine and William Booth, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, and Jesus as people who saw wrong and injustice and then worked to do something about it.

Some people grow in faith and are formed through learning from and being with other people, others through the intellect or by serving, some come to grow and see by sitting and waiting with Jesus to see what he sees. Some though feel closest to Jesus by being his hands and feet. They are formed by feeling Jesus’ hand upon theirs as they wash feet, march against injustice, open soup kitchens or create organization to speak up for those society casts aside and refuses to listen to. 

In these days of COVID we need not think about something that will change the world. Shaftsbury just took on one thing at a time saying, “It does not need to be like this”. Consider perhaps your elderly neighbour who is a bit worried about going to the store or who has not had a visitor for two months. Offer to shop, or just stand outside, each with a cup of tea and talk, or offer to do some yard work. Ask the Lord to help you see where things are not as they ought to be and then ask the Holy Spirit to tell you what you can do, what God is already doing, and to say and it does not need to be this way!

Amen.

“Oh, Jerusalem”

I spent over an hour yesterday just listening to and watching some legendary live performances from legendary musicians and bands.
It was quite an emotional experience.
It was a bit of an epiphany.

You might think that these performances are about the band or the artist. Freddy Mercury singing “We are the Champions” at Live Aid in 1985 is astounding. No special effects, no lights or video show, no background dancers’ just Freddy, the band Queen and the massive crowd. Freddy Mercury masterfully felt and used and gave back the energy of the crowd. It doesn’t always have to be to that scale. In a different live performance in a smaller arena, Leonard Cohen recites his poem/song “If it Be Thy Will” as a prayer with eyes closed and then hands it over to the Webb Sisters who sing the lyric. Cohen isn’t even looking at the crowd. What he knows however is that he is in their company. He is bearing witness.

I remember Eugene Peterson once said that you can’t trust a crowd. Peterson was warning against falling into the big church, consumer religion experience. He said that the three ways of false transcendence are substances, sex driven simply by appetite, and crowds. He warned most strongly against crowds.
I still like and believe what Peterson said. I have been at a Vancouver Canucks hockey game during the Stanley Cup Final in 2011 when the crowd was so ecstatically loud that I was caught up in it, adding my screaming voice while at the same time observing this phenomenon of mass hysteria.

There can be more to it as well.
It can be a multitude of humanity. There can be something beautiful about a crowd. We know it now when we are not allowed to gather.

Yesterday I watched footage of Paul McCartney leading hundreds of thousands of people in singing “Hey Jude”, the “Na na na NA NA NA NA, na na na na, hey Jude”, part.

I saw that the crowd is no mere recipient. The crowd is the energy and the art itself. If you have been at a concert anything like that you know the feeling. It is astounding to sing together with so many people. You feel a camaraderie, a coming together in agreement.

Yesterday as I watched my mind went to Jesus weeping over the city on the day of the so called, “Triumphal Entry”. It was his only address to the crowds that day and it was without their knowing, after the noise and the jubilation. “Oh, Jerusalem, if only you had known what brings peace.” Jesus loved the crowds. Jesus loved each person in the crowd.

When I see the huge crowds in these concert scenes I think, “Oh, Wembley Stadium”, “or “Oh, Central Park” or wherever the assembled are gathered.

If only we could know what brings peace. If only we knew, when we gathered in those crowds that one day we would not. It would be banned. Or we would be unable to gather. Or we would each face our own diminishment or death.

When you watch the Live Aid performance of Freddy Mercury I don’t think that you can help but see that he loved the people. He is so small in tight jeans and a tank top, but he is immersed in the energy of the crowd. He is giving them a gift and accepting a gift from them.

As I watched I recalled that Freddy Mercury died from complications of another contemporary plague, that of AIDS. The knowledge of his earthly end gives a sorrowful nostalgia to the scene and yet makes it more powerful.
One day we may gather again.

And in Revelation at the end of all things, we don’t retire to a cottage in the country. The heavenly dwelling to complete and fulfill all of time is a city. And there are multitudes before the throne. And no one has to wear a mask.
AMEN.

Spiritual Practice: The Contemplative Way

Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. Luke 6: 12

Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “
Who do the crowds say that I am?” Luke 9:18

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. Matthew 14:23

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Matthew 26:36

We are told repeatedly in the Gospels that Jesus went off to pray, went off to be with God, just the two of them. Sometimes it was before a major decision as when he was choosing his disciples, at other times it was just to pray as was his custom.

The Desert Fathers, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, and many other influential Christian thinkers, writers, and activists were contemplatives. Jesus has been called a contemplative in action. These are all people who prioritized the spiritual pathway of quiet, extend times alone with God to be with him, contemplate, meditate and pray.

Of all the spiritual formation practices I think this one can be the most intimidating for people. We think that meditation and contemplation is just for the spiritual elite (I mean just look at the list above), or that it is just a bit too mystical, or “Eastern”, too foreign, maybe not even entirely Christian a practice.

To the first point I would say that anyone who can spend one on one time with another person, just listening or not saying anything, just being with the other, can do this practice. And perhaps it is not that these folks could be contemplatives because they were “super spiritual”. Maybe they were “super spiritual” because they practiced contemplation.

As to the second point, yes, quiet contemplation and silent listening is a bit foreign to our Western way of being and interacting. But just because it is foreign does not make it wrong. If that were so no Westerner would eat raw fish and think it delicious. Besides, much of what we think as normal in the church is a bit strange or foreign to others: praying to someone you cannot see, singing songs in a large group, the eucharist, reading a really old book over and over again.

If you are already “wired” this way and already practice contemplation, silent prayer, and meditation, well this Covid thing certainly has not hindered your practice (except if you have children about you might need to have changed time or location). For those of you who do not regularly practice formation this way I invite you to give it a try. Being in forced isolation you are part way there already.

There are many different ways to practice this type of formation and I don’t have time to go into great detail on any of them, but you can certainly look them up on line or reach out to me.

Contemplation: Prayer as being. Quiet, silence in the presence of God, filling yourself with him (5 minutes is a good way to start and slowly build to 20). If you get distracted in your mind with what you are going to make for dinner, no problem, acknowledge the thought and get back to Jesus. Some people refer to this as silent or centering prayer.

Meditation: Prayer as pondering. At its root this is really thinking deeply about God. Some people use icons, candles, images, the cross, a single bible passage as the way in pondering or deeply thinking about God.

Lectio Divina: Divine or Spiritual reading of Scripture. This is reading a short verse of story over several times, first time to hear it. Second time to be attentive, what word, picture or phrase catches your attention. Third time to ask God why are you drawing this to my attention, what are you inviting me to, how are you trying to disrupt me with this word? And a fourth time as a way of offering the passage and its word back to God.

There are many other ways to practice contemplative spiritual formation: walking alone listening, the Welcoming Prayer, and imaginative prayer are a few other examples. At the heart of it spiritual formation through contemplation is about getting closer to God by spending long periods of time with the Trinity with no other agenda than just to be with the one who is with you, to love the one who loved you first.

We Ought Not Feel Sorry for Ourselves

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV)

My favourite text today came from a friend who is staying at a hotel in the city for a couple of nights.
Hotels are not busy, as you can imagine, and my friend lives in a very small space. Some of you might have closets bigger than the space in which my friend lives. My friend also has a roommate in that small space.
It’s been quite a month.
So, when it the opportunity came up (all social distanced and responsibly done) to stay in a hotel suite for a couple of nights, she took it.
This is what occasioned my favourite text of the day. I actually cried a bit when I got the text; tears of joy and gratitude.

I should let you know as well that my friend does not have what many of us would consider stability when it comes to work. She has two or three jobs and they have all ended due to COVID. Her favourite job is seasonal, and it looks like that might be wiped out entirely this year. The other jobs from which she has been laid off don’t present a ton of certainty in regards to re-hiring.
We have all lost something in this time. It is easy to feel sorry for oneself; easy, but not helpful.  You should do what you can to resist the temptation.
I imagine that my friend has times when she feels sorry for herself.  However, she is also a pro at getting back up, determining to be positive and deciding to be grateful.

So, my favourite text.
It came on the morning after her first of two nights at the hotel.
It was pretty simple.
Actually, it had more emoticons than words.
It simply said, ‘The maid brought me extra coffee!”(followed by 8 heart emoticons)

I could stand to learn from my friend in things like this. Maybe you have felt something similar, overwhelming gratitude at a small pleasure in life.

“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether in plenty or in want.”

AMEN

COVID Days

From John Chapter 8

Jesus said to those who believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

How formative will this time be? How much will we be impacted in terms of mental and spiritual and emotional health?

If you go for walks outside, or when you need to go grocery shopping, take some time to notice all of the signs. There are reminders everywhere of the time that we are in. “Stay 6 feet apart”, “Lane closed for physical distancing”. That’s to say nothing of the signs on the shop windows and restaurant windows.

Many of us have never been told so much what is allowed and what is not allowed. So many other people in the world have been controlled constantly by government authority or social authority or religious authority or due to economic constraint. Some people live a great deal of their lives with relative lack of freedom. As we face constraints we can prayerfully imagine what this would be like.

We can also prayerfully imagine freedom.

Today, to consider what it means that in Christ I am free. I will consider the constraints of clock and calendar and COVID. I will ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me about what it means that in Christ, we are free.

Dear Heavenly Father;

Grant that I could consider and know freedom in my Lord Jesus Christ. I too often have the wrong idea of what freedom is. Help me to know a freedom that is so much better and so much more than simply being able to do what I want, when I want. Help me to know the freedom to pray and to hope and to love. I pray for those who face economic or political or social constraint in ways that I have not known. Bless us to know your love for all people.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

Spiritual Practice: Serving Others

“Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

Usually when this story is preached, Mary is praised because she chose to take advantage of Jesus being in her presence and just to sit and listen and learn. At the same time Martha is often chided, “don’t be like Martha being so busy you miss Jesus”. I get that. It is the obvious lesson to be taken and certainly we can get too busy doing things for Jesus that we miss just being with Jesus. But some people feel most alive, closest to God, when they are serving other people. Not doing busy work for the sake of being noticed or looking busy, but because serving others in the name of their Lord is how they worship and pray and express their love for Jesus.

We do not know what Martha’s motives were in this case, maybe she was an exacting perfectionist, maybe she felt she had no worth unless she could prove her worth by demonstrating her abilities, maybe she was afraid if she stopped she would never getting going again, maybe it was instilled in her to work hard because that is what people expect. Or maybe, just maybe, she genuinely loved to serve other people.

We are all part of the body of Christ. Some have a mind to develop new ideas, others the eyes to see how those ideas could actually work and others are the hands and the feet getting the thing done. In the same way God has made us all different in how we relate to him and grow in our love for and of the Trinity. Some do this by studying and creating new ways of comprehending, others grow by sharing ideas and prayers with others, and still others by getting their hands and feet dirty. They serve. Serving is saying, “Jesus I love you”. When washing other’s feet, they feel Jesus hands alongside theirs and he whispers, “let me show you and help you”.

In the church we all love having the “serving doer” types around, but they can be a bit much at times too, making you feel bad for just sitting there and sometimes doing things that did not actually need to be done. But when they are in their element and the Spirit is moving through them, there is beauty to behold. I think Mother Teresa was such a person, Dorothy Day too. They worship and love by serving those Jesus loves.

If you are this type of person, if singing hymns or sitting in silence or studying theology or going to a prayer group does not draw you closer to God, but serving others does, then may the Lord bless you and keep you. In these COVID days you might feel a little out of sorts because as much as you want to get out there and serve you have been told to sit down and stay put. I invite you to think of things you could do to serve people and God. Making phone calls and writing notes can work. Offering to go shopping or pickup prescriptions for people at greater risk with COVID is a beautiful thing. Cooking meals or having food delivered to a single parent who is trying to work a little and teach two grades is another foot washing activity.

Whatever you think of “doing” to serve know that you are needed by the rest of us, that you are loved and that we learn so much by watching you love Jesus with your hands and feet.

This is the Day?

This is the day that the Lord has made?

Intonation is everything.
Some people seem to speak every question as if it were a sentence. Have you ever heard that?
Think of the most basic kind of sentence. Something like “That is a cat.” The “question sentence” people either due to insecurity or just speaking style, a lack of confidence or maybe they don’t know what a cat looks like, they say “That is a cat?” See the difference? Hear the difference?

If you’ve been around a Christian Church for any amount of time you have heard a particular verse of scripture multiple times; the 24th verse of the 118th Psalm. Here it is;

“This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

I’ve been around church a lot in my life and I’ve heard the verse a lot. I actually try to pray it on many mornings. It is a blessing to get to live this particular day at this particular time.
It can be easier to feel on a sunny day or on a day in which positive appointments and plans are anticipated.
It might be a little harder to pray and recite on a cold and rainy dark day, or on a day which contains unwanted obligation, or on a pandemic day.
On not so obviously great days I have prayed the verse as well, but sometimes as a kind of playful prayerful turn, I change the intonation; so it’s like this;

“THIS is the day that the Lord has made? We will rejoice and be glad in it?”

It can actually help, it makes me laugh a little at the day and not take myself so seriously. The death knell of true spirituality is when we take ourselves seriously, after all.

In the Psalm there is actually not a description of the day much at all. You’d think that the Psalm was a kind of vacation brochure. “Wake up to sunny mornings with the sound of ocean waves. Enjoy the evening breeze on your own private deck” – “This is the day …”

It’s not that at all. Here are some excerpts from the Psalm;
“I was pushed hard so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.”
“Out of my distress I called on the Lord.”
“Save us, we pray, O Lord.”

The Psalm is a reminder. There is also a lot in there about God’s faithful love and about God’s rescue and redemption.
“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”

The declaration of the day bringing about rejoicing, as it turns out, is not about how great or beautiful the day is. It is not, “the day is great so I will rejoice”.
Rather, the rejoicing comes about because we know and declare God’s sovereignty over everything, even THIS day.

The emphasis is not on the day. The emphasis is on “the Lord has made”.

One of the questions in the Heidelberg Catechism is, “What is my only comfort in life and in death?”

The answer starts, “That I belong, body and soul to Jesus Christ.”

In life and in death, on a perfect spring day or on a COVID spring day.

Dear God;

I know that all good things come from you. I know that you are sovereign. I know that one day disease and sickness and death will be no more.

Help me to see today, even now, even before things are as they should be, that you are sovereign over even this day. The pain and death and sorrow and loneliness and anxiety that are around right not are not of you, but you are still sovereign. You know this day. You know me. You know every single person. Bless those who are sick. Strengthen those who are working to help and to heal.

“This is the day that the Lord has made. I WILL rejoice and be glad in it.”

Amen.

Spritual Practices: Intellect

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Some people grow in faith by being surrounded by others. Some grow through worship and others by being in solitude. For people like St. Paul, Thomas Aquinas, Karl Barth and many others, one main pathway for spiritual growth came through the intellect. Some people may not get much out of 30-minute worship set, but give them a five volume set on theology and watch their face and soul light up.

While almost all creatures can ‘think’ and some can even plan, like animals hunting in packs,and a few like whales and chimpanzees have memories, humanity was made with a mind for reason, remembering, creating, comprehending, analyzing and with the gift of curiosity for the sake of exploring things in new ways. Moses was praised for being a great judge, Joshua for being a military strategist, David for having a mind for God, Solomon for wisdom, and Paul for having a theological mind. They were not only blessed with intellect, but it was through their intellect, at least in part, that they grew in their knowledge of and faith in God.

While I do not consider myself a scholar, it has often been through reading books that I have taken some of the biggest steps in my theological understanding of God. For example: The Crucifixion by Fleming Rutledge or Robert Capon’s Kingdom, Grace, Judgement commentaries on the parables are excellent. It has also been through books that I have moved deeply in my soul by authors like Brennan Manning, David Benner and Richard Foster. Of course, to grow through the intellect you are not limited to reading books, you can take courses or listen to lectures online (or in person when that is again allowed).

It should go without saying, but hey who am I not to state the obvious, studying the Bible, “the word about the Word”, is an essential way of growing in knowledge, love and faith. You can study verse by verse, or book by book, with a commentary or multiple translations. The options are many.

If the intellect is one of the main pathways you use to grow in faith, then these COVID days are not much of a hurdle to you. There are plenty of great books and resources available online, some very excellent Podcasts too, I hear, and if you are really desperate you can always ask Todd or myself for specific suggestions.

How Long, O Lord?

As repeated scriptural refrains go, it is far from favourite for most people;
“How long, O Lord?”
It might not be anyone’s favourite, but it is cried repeatedly in scripture and consistently in history.
Maybe you are beginning to cry it now.

It’s been a month, or slightly more of lockdown. It has been long enough now that you can think back to a month ago and experience things that happened then as memories. And yet. Here we are. Everyday people ask our Prime Minister and anyone who seems to have authority, “How long will this be?”

Of course the answer is, “How am I supposed to know?”, but that would not be a politically astute thing to say. Instead the answers range from, “We must stay the course. We have done well and can’t give up now”, to “It will be weeks yet, but we will be able to get through this.”

Maybe Prime Ministers and Public Health Officials cannot give straight answers. Probably they really don’t know. We just wish that they would. If they could tell us how long we could handle it better. If we just knew what we were facing.

Through all of history people who believe in God and many who don’t have been asking God, “How long, O Lord?”
In the 89th Psalm it is, “How long O Lord, will you hide your face from me forever?” That’s rough.
In the 13th Psalm it is, “How long, O Lord will you forget me forever?”
That’s David. David was one who God said had a heart after God, and David cried out – “Why are you absent? How long do I have to endure this?”

One of my favourite people is a friend named Jean who has had not the easiest life, if you want to know the truth. Her husband had a stroke a number of years ago and he was confined to a care home after that and then he died too young. One of her children battled addiction and all that addiction can entail.
For years I cried out for Jean, “How long, O Lord?”

I saw Jean this morning. She helps support various causes and in the past has helped her son by collecting bottles in the neighbourhood. On recycling day we put aside our collectables for her and sometimes I see her those mornings and we chat.

Her son, the one who battled addiction, has been clean for years now. He did some work for us in our yard not too long ago. He has his own company now and he is an amazing worker. He is one of the sweetest people you could ever know.

Jean talked to me about her son today, about how happy she was for him, about how great he was doing, about how thankful she is.

“How long, O Lord?” If you are not crying it, someone in the neighbourhood is.
One of the things that you can do to help in this time is to cry it out on behalf of others.
I cried for Jean for so long that I felt weary, and I could only imagine how she felt. And Jean was thankful then, even as she cried out. Jean is thankful now, even as she prays in gratitude.

Every day, all over the world, people are crying out , “How long, O Lord?”

If I am feeling it now, if you are, then maybe we ought to be asking God to humble us that we might identify with the pain and sorrow and anguish that people have felt so often, even while we never faced uncertainty like they had. Maybe we face uncertainty now. Maybe that can help us to reach out in love to others who have and are crying, “How long, O Lord?”

Amen

Spiritual Practice: With Others

For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
Matthew 18:20

I remember on so many different occasions leaders telling me about the importance of having a personal prayer life and that to really grow in faith you had to do daily personal devotions. They were not wrong; it is just that I did not always (or almost ever), find those times helpful. We are not supposed to say that. At least I felt I was not supposed to say that because it just meant that I must have a weak faith, or poor prayer life, or that I was not trying hard enough. It meant that there was something wrong with me. It meant that I was not going to grow in faith.

Except that was not true either. I was growing in faith, in devotion, in love with God and with his Word. I just did not get much out of trying to do it on my own. What I noticed though is that I could pray and read scripture deeply when I was with others. When we took time to share what we thought, what we were learning, when we prayed together, that is when I felt I was connecting with Jesus, others and myself.

Yes, Jesus often went off by himself to pray, but he also spent a lot of time reading the scriptures with other people (I can’t think of anytime that Jesus read the scriptures by himself). He spent hours praying with his disciples and others, and many hours talking about God with other people. The passage from Matthew are the words of Jesus, “when two or three are gathered in my name I am there”. This does not mean that Jesus is not with you when you are alone or when you are in a mass gathering, it just means that when just a few gather to talk, think, study or pray concerning God and faith Jesus is there too.

We are all made unique and we are all shaped differently by our upbringing and community. Some people can go for a walk in the woods and feel incredibly close to God and have a great conversation there on the path. Others only feel incredibly close to mosquitoes and other bugs as they walk through the woods. And that is ok. For many people healthy spiritual growth happens when they are together with others. I still find these times a great source of rich growth, though now after years of practice, I can also grow in solitude and personal study.

So, if you are the type of person who learns and grows a lot by praying and studying with others, what are you to do in these COVID Days? What does spiritual formation look like for you when we cannot gather?

Perhaps find one or two others like you and get together on Zoom (or another platform), once or twice a week and study scripture together, or agree on a devotional or book to read and then talk about it. You could take turns leading a lectio or imaginative reading together. To slightly twist a scripture verse, “Do not forsake the gathering of the saints, just because we are in pandemic isolation”, just find a different way to gather, and when you do, Jesus will be there with you.