Category Archives: Spiritual Musings

Gratitude Takes Nothing for Granted

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As we move towards thanksgiving (at least on Canadian soil!) we are encouraged to be ‘mindful’, ‘aware’, ‘attentive’ to the gifts that come our way each day—to stop rolling around in the past or in the future—and simply receive the gift of the present moment! What gifts await us if we simply open our eyes to the beauty of the ‘now’? Thomas Merton reminds us of these themes in his exquisite book ‘Thoughts In Solitude’:

“To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us—and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference…”

So when Thanksgiving Day arises on the calender please take time for some thoughtful reflection and be grateful for your many ‘small ‘s’ sacraments (all the ways the Holy breaks into your life):

e.e. cummings leads the way: “i thank you God for most this amazing day; for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes”.

The Jesus Revolution

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Peter Van Breeman calls us to a new way of living, he writes:

“Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘I don’t like that man: I must get to know him.’ When we do not like a person, we have not gone to the depth of that person. This is Christian: to believe in the good of every person. This is the revolution which Christ taught.”

Charles de Foucauld phrased it this way:”We must dare to be love in a world that does not know how to love”. The Jesus revolution calls us to love others out of the place of knowing that we are deeply loved by God. Abba pours his love into us and then we pour this same love into the lives of those around us.

One by one the Jesus revolution spreads and ultimately the world emanates his agape love and shalom for all.

The Dream of a Serving Church

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In my last blog entry I referenced John Stott’s dream for his church ‘All Souls’ in London. Here is another section from his prayer which also caught my eye and which remains exceedingly relevant for the church today:

“I have a dream of a church in Weston which is a serving church-
which has seen Christ as the Servant and heard His call to be a servant too
which is delivered from self-interest, turned inside out, and giving itself selfishly to the service of others
whose members obey Christ’s command to live in the world, to permeate secular society,
to be the salt of the earth and light of the world
whose people share the good news of Jesus simply, naturally and enthusiastically with
their friends
which diligently serves its own parish, residents and workers, families and single people,
national and immigrants, old folk and little children
which is alert to the changing needs of society, sensitive and flexible enough to keep adapting
its programme to serve more usefully
which has a global vision and is constantly challenging its young people to give their lives in
sevice, and constantly sending its people out to serve
I have a dream of a serving church.”

May we see the importance of moving beyond ego and embracing our world in a serving manner. It is this movement from ‘living to loving’ which will ultimately set us free from attachments and liberate us to flow in an unencumbered, healing manner amongst the darkness and light of humanity.

The Dream of A Caring Church

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When I was 22 I travelled out west and did some studies at Regent College. One of the first professors I studied with was an Englishman named John Stott who had come over from London to teach some summer courses. Years later I led some worship times with him at McMaster Divinity School. I was saddened this past summer when I was in Oxford and learned that he was quite ill struggling with Alziemer’s disease. Ironic to think that this brilliant man who has written so many wonderful books has now lost substantial mental capacity (a reminder of our own diminishment that will eventually take place).

The following excerpt is taken from a prayer he wrote for his own church of All Soul’s in central London which I adapted for my own church in Weston,Toronto:

I have a dream of a church in Weston which is a caring church—
whose congregation is drawn from many races, nations, ages and social backgrounds,
and exhibits the unity and diversity of the family of God
whose fellowship is warm and welcoming, and never marred by anger, selfishness, jealousy or pride
whose members love one another with a pure heart fervently, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, and bearing one another’s burdens
which offers friendship to the lonely, support to the weak, and acceptance to those who are despised and rejected by society
whose love spills over to the world outside, attractive, infectious, irresistible, the love of God Himself. I have a dream of a caring church.

When I saw this piece I was impressed with his spirit and desire to see an embracing, vibrant, healing faith community. Such a church would be a lovely place and I do pray that my own faith community will more and more radiate such qualities.

So a big thank you to Rev. John Stott and a shared desire that his dream for the church of Christ may become a reality in faith communities around the world!

Extreme Wild West of Vancouver Island

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If you drive from Nanaimo and head over the mountains of Vancouver Island you will eventually reach the surfer town of Tofino. Once there go to Long Beach and dip your toe in the extreme western coast of this massive country of Cananda. These are not gentle waters—the waves pour in all the way from Japan—huge thundering waves delighting surfers hearts and meditative souls who love to tread the sand in sync with the crashing waters!

The Psalmist invites us to praise God for His beauty in creation:

“Let the sea roar and all that fills it;

the world and those who live in it.” (Ps.98:7)

“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord…” (Ps. 96: 11-12)

May we rejoice in Abba wherever we find ourselves in this great world even to the extreme western coast of Vancouver Island!

The Valley of Vision

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During a recent visit to Nanaimo my cousin Allison put me on to this beautiful prayer written in the style of the Puritans—enjoy!

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

hemmed in by the mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

that the way down is the way up,

that to be low is to be high,

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

 that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive, 

that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

thy life in my death,

thy joy in my sorrow,

thy grace in my sin,

thy riches in my poverty,

thy glory in my valley. 

(A prayer by Arthur Bennett Canon of St. Albans Cathedral, England).

Diving British Columbia

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Jacques Cousteau said that the cold waters of British Columbia contain the best cold water diving in the world! Over the last 10 years or so I have dove sites from Nanaimo to Cambell River to Port Hardy and I can say a mighty ‘Amen!’ to the words of Cousteau! The waters are full of colorful life nurtured by the fast moving currents sweeping in between the islands of the Georgia Strait. Seals, sea lions, wolf eels, abundant fish, and even orcas and humpback whales are present in the emerald waters.

Here are some photos of the enticing topside action:

A waterworld created by Abba for our enjoyment! A beautiful synergy of water, land, air, sky and people all giving praise to the Creator of life! My encouragement? Get out there and explore this abundant planet which is all gift and while you do give thanks to the Giver of the gifts.

Simple Facilities But Keen Hearts

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Bolivia is characterized by simplicity. Transportation is simple (BOA has no first class seats!)—buses are the preferred method of getting around. Farming has been organic forever because no one has access to insecticides! Books are copied with abandon because no one can afford the price of new books—the idea of copyright is considered unjust! Cocoa is grown and chewed freely because it helps reduce the effects of altitude sickness—the drug problem exists in other countries after the cocoa is greatly altered and processed. Building facilities are generally simple, barebones, with little thought for frivolous details.

Let me give you some examples of this simplicity with some pictures from my recent teaching in Oruro:

Simple facilities! No fancy classrooms or technology–a definite absence of personal computers! Just desks, chalkboards, paper, and pens! But also keen hearts with a desire to learn! In this case simplicity wins out over complexity!

Good reminders from the heart of South America. Keeping it simple is often the best route. What is most essential is the quality of the heart or one’s desire. ‘To will one thing,’ the philosopher wrote. Another wrote, ‘It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.’ Stuff can’t replace that which is central–a passion to grow, understand, expand one’s mind!

Oruro—Church of the Miners

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I have visited a lot of churches in my day—but never one with its own mine! However, this summer in Oruro I found this unique church. High in the altiplano miners still work for silver, tin, and zinc, and this church is a place of refuge for the miners and their families before they engage in the dangerous work of going underground.

The church is brightly colored and in excellent condition. Everything shines and is full of joy! In the corner is the entrance to the mine where one can descend hundreds of feet into an old mine shaft (which has now been set up as a monument/museum in honour of the miners).

The photos give a sense of the place but do not capture the stale air and the danger that that these miners faced every day—darkness, collapses, poisonous air, to name a few! No wonder that the miners had their own god set up in the cave to call out to in their moment of need (see the last photo).

For me the church has a wonderful reverence! It speaks of celebration, festivity and drinking the moment—because this moment may be the last one. It is a reminder to not get too far ahead of ourselves, for the present moment is the only one we ever really have.

Meetings Bolivia Style

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I was in La Paz this past weekend to participate in a series of meetings with a group of pastors who have churches in the city centre. My own church (Weston Park Baptist) has entered into a 3 year agreement with these churches to help support them in a variety of causes. The purposes of the meeting were to meet the players and to iron out some of the details of the agreement.

What was fun was how the meeting proceeded! We met in a restaurant on the Prado during the world cup final between Spain and Holland. The pastors were all keen football fans so this event added to the excitement of the meeting. Before the meeting started we ate trout (trucha) which was caught in Lake Titikaka—quite tasty by the way! After several courses including salad, soup, trout, desert and coffee—2 hours in all we finally started the meeting!

We talked about the specifics of the project focusing on the desire for a ‘social needs’ aspect of the effort. The pastors were in agreement for this new directive but needed more time to decide what the project would encompass. This discussion lasted for 2 more hours—total 4 hours!

A few things impressed me about this gathering: 1. A bit distracting but a great idea to hold it during the world cup final (hooray for Espana due to my Bolivian sympathies)! 2. Holding a meeting over supper made for a casual and informal discussion (no wine but the expressos were reasonable). 3. The meeting was considerably longer than the North American equivalents but the results were significant. It struck me that our commitment to efficiency, short meetings, and a utilitarian approach (which seeks clear strategies) does not always create the best scenario for the softer side of design/project management to occur.

So let’s hear it for human connection! Meetings over meals! Less rush! Effective listening!—and of course the sound of gooooooal in the background (which only the Spanish announcers do properly!) reminding us that our projects happen in the real world where real people live. In other words let’s stay grounded, make a difference and do it in a manner which supports each other’s God given humanity!