HOw Time FLies

Six years ago today I arrived in town. SIngle. Childless. Freshly ordained and full of energy.

AMazing how things have changed. Married. 3 children. And the energy? NOt so much.

IT has been a good six years. Lots of good memories. Now the question is where do we go from here? WHat will the next 6 years hold?

Time to Reflect

Today was designated the NAtional Day of Action around Aboriginal issues.

Across the country various First Nations groups were organizing events to mark the day and to call upon the larger society to take seriously our obligations to First Nations people.

The reality is that in many ways larger society has failed First Nations. WE have communities that have substandard housing, and undrinkable water, and flood regularly, and are places most of us wouldn't be caught dead. THe list of outstanding land claims is longer than my arm, with little progress being made on settling them. There is a disproportionate number of people with First Nation ancestry living in poverty or incarcerated.

ANd then of course there is the history of germ warfare (English officers intentionally sent smallpox infested blankets to native communities), treaties that were never quite lived up to, and whole generations being shipped away from family and home to residential schools so they could be made "like whites" (which would then supposedly make them acceptable).

Little wonder there is anger in the land. In the end todays protests were largely peaceful and non-confrontational. But what if we don't make progress? How long does the anger build before it breaks?

Gifts and Talents -- Friday 5

With gifts and talents in mind here is todays Friday 5;

1. Personality tests; love them or hate them? I find them fascinating. ANd consider that they should, by a large, be taken with a grain of salt--or in some cases a whole share's worth.
2. Would you describe yourself as practical, creative, intellectual or a mixture? Something of a mixture I suppose. DIfferent parts more evident at different times.
3. It is said that everyone has their 15 minutes of fame; have you had yours yet? If so what was it, if not dream away what would you like it to be? Well I suppose I might have, having been on stage a couple times and helping to televise results from last fall's municipal election...
4. If you were given a 2 year sabatical ( oh the dream of it) to create something would it be music, literature, art.....something completely different...share your dream with us... Literature, well something in writing anyway. MAybe something dramatic...
5. Describe a talent you would like to develop, but that seems completely beyond you. Drawing, visual art, something requiring fine motor control. Even I can barely read my writing, and drawing something recognizable, well that just doesn't happen.

Bonus question: Back to the church- what does every member ministry mean to you? Is it truly possible to encourage/ implement? I think it means people finding their own ministry within the community, finding what they have to offer and being empowered to offer it. I hunch that it is really hard to implement. Possible in theory but really really difficult in practice.

Memories, all alone in the moonlight...

THis weekend is the 20 year reunion of my highschool class. Obviously I won't be there. BUt 20 years. WOW!

20 years ago I never would have believed where I would be now. Strange how life takes totally unexpected paths.

ANd sometimes I wonder if I am the same person I was then. I am and yet I am not.

Life over the last 20 years has not always been easy. There have been failures and successes. There have been good times and days I wondered why keep living.

But then life before then wasn't always easy either. ALthough there were some good friends and good times in school I wouldn't relive those years for any amount of money.

I hope my classmates enjoy their gathering this weekend. Wish I could be there. It would be worth it to see the looks as I introduce myself as Rev.

WEll this isn't fair

I was so happy. Life was nice and organized. July and August Bulletins are done (we use one order of service for each month rather than producing a new one each week). Sermon well started. Lots of time for other work this week.

What happens? I get sick. COld, cough, no voice. HOw am I supposed to visit people like that????

SOmedays you just can't win.

I Don't Get It

The Anglican Church of Canada held their general synod this weekend. On the agenda were 2 resolutions regarding blessing same-sex unions (note that this was not about officiating at marriages, just blessing the relationship).

One was to state that such blessings did not contravene Anglican core doctrine. This was passed by all 3 houses.

The other was to empower dioceses to move toward actually doing the blessings. THis was passed by clergy, passed by lay, but defeated in the House of Bishops (by 2 votes). Under the rules a resolution has to pass in all 3 houses or is defeated.

See the story here

So what is the message? We actually agree there is nothing wrong with these but we aren't going to do anything about it. OR "we don' t have a clue what we should do"?

Well they have confused many of us, and managed to annoy people on both extremes of the issue. All in the name of preserving the Anglican Communion.

I don't get it. Wasn't there something somewhere about let your yes be yes and your no be no? NOt yes but...

Summer Days Friday 5

1. Favorite summer food(s) and beverage(s) chocolate (oh sorry that is year round). Iced Tea (regular or Long Island variety), Ice Cream. BBQ
2. Song that "says" summer to you. (Need not be about summer explicitly.) any of a number of campfire songs
3. A childhood summer memory Using lawn chairs, blankets, pillows to build tents in the back yard
4. An adult summer memory First summer working at camp--end of the first week, MAJOR thunderstorm moves in. Trees falling, 80 frigthened children in the lodge, heavy rain, power outage. IT was fun.
5. Describe a wonderful summer day you'd like to have in the near future. (weather, location, activities) Around room temperature, light cloud, beach, good book.
Optional: Does your place of worship do anything differently in the summer? (Fewer services, casual dress, etc.) we move the communion table down off the chancel dais, I probably won't wear an alb again until September (unless this baptism we have tentatively scheduled happens), this year we will sing to recorded accompaniment instead of live music.

I Could Use This...

I am one of the (apparently few) people who has never really liked Jesus Loves Me. NOt so much the words but I always found the music incredibly cloying.

BUt here is a version I would love to use (JEsus Loves ME is second, after a nice lively version of Joyful, Joyful). We heard it following the close of business at the Conference Annual Meeting. Mind you I don't theink the congregation is ready for a shoop-shoop version of this "classic".

Offering Prayer and Words of Sending Forth

This Sunday we read one of my favourite passages, the "sound of sheer silence" story-- I may well sing part of Simon and Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence in the sermon. We are also worshipping out at the lake. Given those things, here are our offering dedication and our words of commissioning:

OFFERING PRAYER
God of lakes and trees, rocks and sky, God who has given us life and that in abundance. Here and now we return part of what we have and all of what we are to You. May our many gifts be used such that Your love is spread around the world and Your hope lifts every sagging heart. Amen.

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
As our worship ends we go out into a noisy world
In our busy-ness help us to listen for the sound of silence.
We carry with us the memory of the voice we hear when no-one else is speaking.
We remember that the words of the prophets are whispered in the sound of silence
May the God of rushing wind, roaring water, and calm stillness go with us each and every day.
Amen.

8 Random Bits

I have been tagged by cpclergymama for the random eight. Mind you I have lost track of what I have revealed already so some of these may well be repeated random facts.

1.I have to post these rules before I give you the facts:
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5.Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they are tagged and to visit your blog.

Here I go

1. I first read Lord of the Rings when I was in Grade 4. ANd to think some high school students struggle with studying Teh Hobbit (as it hapens our Grade 4 teacher was reading us Hobbot and I got intrigued)
2. In my late 20's I worked with a couple who were married less than a year after they met. I swore I would never do that. In September I will have known Patty for 6 years, within 21 months of meeting we were married and had a daughter.
3. In Grade 8 I was on the school quiz team and appeared on TV. I didn't make the team in Grade 9.
4. I have appeared in public in pink long underwear and bright pink hair (yes I was sober. I was in a show at the Edmonton Fringe at the time)
5. I can sing along with many of the songs in Grease, and also with many of the ones in Grease 2.
6. At a mock wedding at camp once I used the wedding speech from THe Princess Bride as my starting point.
7. FOr some unknown reason I have agreed to take on teh Chair of Presbytery next year.
8. I am one of those terribly strange people who finds tivia quizzes fun, exciting,and relaxing. I loved it when Trivial Pursuit came out.

I Tag: Whoever hsn't done this yet (I hate tagging people)

Risktaking and Forgiveness

Next Sunday's sermon title is Indecent Risk -- Amazing Forgiveness. I think it will be a chance to talk about the need to risk more (and fail more) even if it seems inappropriate to do so. It will be a bit of a tangent from the Luke passage. I am struck with the courage it must have taken for this unnamed woman to do this. ANyway, here is a prayer of confession to go with the sermon.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Empowering God, you call us to embrace life in all its fullness,
but often we only see a small part of that fullness.
You call us to take risks, to try out new things,
and we hold back out of fear of failing, of being a disappointment.
You challenge us to do things that seem inappropriate or abnormal,
and we remain convinced that we need to do what others say is decent and orderly.
You challenge us to accept those who are willing to take risks, to be different.
but we automatically assume that those who deviate from the norm are somehow not acceptable.
For our reticence and our condemnation forgive us.
…time of silent reflection…
God takes the biggest risk of all. God forgives us unconditionally, God encourages us in our risks, our successes, and our failures.

Thanks and praise to God. Amen.

Read This!

Kim Fabricius at Connexions has a great sermon on Sodom and sin. Read it here.

Really I Suspected as much

You Are Not Destined to Rule the World

You are destined for something else... Like inventing a new type of cupcake. You just don't have the stomach for brutality. But watch out - because many people do!

Are You Destined For World Domination?

Hat Tip to Locusts and Honey

Gotta Remember This

Went down earlier to move laundry into the dryer. Saw something clinging to the side of the washer drum that looked like soap suds so I leaned in to check.

It seems that a pull-up had gotten mixed into the laundry. My word but those things have a LOT of gel in them. After tossing the clothes into the sink and shaking them out and rewashing them they were fine. BUt there must have been a couple cups of gel that I scooped out of the sink after shaking the clothes off.

Note to self, make sure girls pyjama pants don't have pull-ups still inside when washing...

Random Bits of Miscellenea

1. So I have almost recovered from the weekend. Actually the weekend wasn't bad -- it was the 14 hour bus ride starting at 5 in the morning on Thursday followed by the 12 hour return trip ending at 2 in the morning SUnday/Monday that did the wearing out. You can see a summary statement of the meeting here.
2. WHat is it about suggesting that one year in three we dont have a COnference Meetig that people find so offensive??????
3. Found a neat new blog this morning. IT's called Church Redone. CHeck out the post about 10 Ways to Keep Me from Discovering Your Church
4. The church's More Voices CDs have arrived!!! WE have listened to selected cuts and the girls loved it.
5. the grass is growing WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY too fast
6. In the mail yesterday I got the letter about the 20 year reunion of my high school class. We won't be going, seeing as it is half way across the country and in like 4 weeks (the letter had to be forwarded to me from my parents--it was actually mailed mid April {which still seems a little late for a first mailing}) It hardly seems like 10 years since we had our last "reunion" (that one was really only a night out at the bar). But it gave an excuse to look at the old yearbook and do some remembering.