Moving Mountains

It would seem the massively tragic 7.8 earthquake that rocked Nepal in April actually moved Mount Everest 3 cm. Now, the mountain is moving a bit all the time anyway, but the earthquake moved it in the opposite direction!

We are told we are to have faith such as to move mountains. I think it is probably just as well if we do not take that up literally; we would never agree on what mountain should be moved where! And it’s probably just fine, and majestic and beautiful, and maybe even useful, right where it is. Nevertheless, we do have such power in our midst.

All the power of God resides in Christ, says John (read John 1:1-14), and, through acceptance, Christ resides in us. Some people are deluded to think they have great power of their own strength, and lord it over others, maybe even thinking they are doing a favour to those persons and the world at large. Nothing truly good can come of such ego-driven power, no matter how it is rationalized. But there is such power as to move mountains in the love Christ shares in and through  us.  We are not to think we should or can not make a difference.

Re-Birth Certificate

The Province of Ontario has a new form of birth certificate. It is made of polymer, has some other security enhancements, and is larger than the wallet-sized certificate most Ontarians have, to discourage us from carrying it around.

Some of us have such a thing as a baptismal certificate, but there is a much more authentic and meaningful sign and affirmation of our rebirth, as a new creation in Christ. When we come into union with Christ, Paul says, “God “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 1:22).

Through the Holy Spirit, we have both assurenace that we already part of a new reality in Christ, with a guarantee of wonders yet to be fulfilled in us. Who needs polymer?

Person of the Year

CBC Radio had its weekly Cross Country Checkup phone-in show today, asking people their candidate for Person of the Year. There were lots of worthy (and predictable) suggestions.

I have a slightly different nomination, for person of the coming year: You. Whatever has gone down or failed to happen for you in the past, what’s coming can be a time of promise and hope. In spite of how we may feel, you and I have the capacity to make a difference, with one catch: we have to be willing to be changed and filled by and with the love and power beyond ourselves.

The Apostle Paul put it radically: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

White Christmas

It looks like it’s going to be a foggy, soggy Christmas here in southern Ontario–certainly disappointing for those hoping for a White Christmas, with softly falling sinow flakes having just the right consistency for snow persons.

A White Christmas is one of the ways we want everything to be ‘just right’ at Christmas time, even while we know it is a time that accentuates everything, good or bad. It makes me wonder if it is the mere turning of the year that follows that leads us to make new year resolutions. Maybe this urge comes also out of a time of wanting everything to be ‘just right’–or as close to it as possible. So we resolve to make life better in some way.

That’s a good thing. Let’s go for it. Ultimately, though, we will want to remember that our true peace does not depend on circumstances, saying, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11).

Taste of the Danforth 2014

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It’s late Sunday afternoon and I’m taking in the tail end of the Taste of the Danforth, an annual weekend street festival in Toronto, with an emphasis on Greek food. There’s other stuff too, exhibits from Toronto pro sports teams, feats to try, even rock climbing in the middle of the street (centre of above photo). I just take it in. We do this enough now it doesn’t seem particularly novel to be wandering down an otherwise busy main city artery. But it does occur to me that there are many streets closed down for much less happy reasons–in Aleppo, in Gaza, or Baghdad. So I don’t really have to do anything. It’s just nice to be able to do it.

Civic Holiday

This first Monday in August is a holiday across Canada. It has different names in different provinces and territories, reflecting something of that region’s history and character, but it tends to be known, generically, as Civic Holiday, at least here in Ontario.
This time also marks the 100th anniversary of the First World War. Before there was another world war it was known simply as The Great War, and also “the war to end all wars.”

It didn’t end all wars, but instead of “great” or “world” war (although any war is “great” in its magnitude for those affected) there seem to be multiple conflicts that are sectarian in nature. Meanwhile, here in my area, there are multiple cultures representing those regions of the world where such strife and its accompanying devastation is going on, and on, and on.

A regional holiday, therefore, takes on international significance, coming as it does marking the start of “The Great War,” and drawing together people of different backgrounds for concerts and street festivals. May we show the way to something better.

Forced Pause

In music a pause is not just a break, but a significant part of the whole, helping to highlight and give significance to what is around it. Recovering from heart attack earlier this month, reflecting on illness and injury in this way – not something we would choose, but …

Who’s Calling the Shots?

There is a common and disturbing dynamic that permeates various areas and levels of our organizational life. Even in the church. Let’s face it. It happens–not in all settings but it certainly happens–that the life of a faith community can be guided more by political “reality” than the way we outwardly agree it should be run, usually with an agreed upon system of governance, based on Biblical principles and authority. Too often it boils down to things being done according to the predilictions of some power broker or brokers, and people fall into line, often unconsciously. The principled leader ends up frustrated, and often demonized as defensive, unresponsive, and/or simply incompetent.

The point here is that so pervasive in society is the power talks and might is right mindset that not even the church is immune from being run this way. And it’s too easy, and inexcusable, to just throw up our hands and say, well that’s just the reality. That’s the problem (see above re the church). Part of this mindset by those who most practise it is an end-justifies-the-means mentality. If you are convinced you know what’s best for everyone, any means is justified, even deemed right.

My current reflection on this is prompted by the news that Canadian government agencies have been requesting, successfully, roughtly a thousand requests per day from telecoms for information on Canadians. This is justified under the umbrella of “national security.” Really? For that many requests? And is really just the government itself behind this. Or are there powerful forces in our world that see themselves as the rightful rulers (just like the power person in the church), and therefore see any action or tactic as justified.

Is government just a willing player in this dynamic?

Who is really calling the shots?

It’s Not About Us

Praise God that we are offered rescue from sin and death through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Many Easter messages will miss just how big this news is. They will miss that our personal salvation is part of an even larger picture. God is bringing about a whole new creation, His new creation, populated with His new creatures. The resurrected Christ is the first born of this new creation, and in him we are part of it, even now (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our present world is not merely a waiting room; we are to live it now.

Limitless Life

I admire people who push boundaries, mostly. Athletes, artists, entrepreneurs–they all thrive on pushing the limits of what they can accomplish. And we all benefit somehow.

But there is a mindset that all there is to life is what we can accomplish in the here and now. The Easter miracle is seen as nothing more than a metaphor for going beyond ourselves, or something like that. What is missed is that at the end of what we can now see and hear and experience, there is a limit.

The Resurrection of Christ brings a new reality to this realm, breaking in from beyond and making a path toward it. In this we find life that is limitless, expressed in the here and now with limitless compassion,, limitless forgiveness, limitless love.

It is pride, the unhealthy kind, that says I will push the boundaries only of what I can do of my own strength and will, even if opening ourselves to something, someone, beyond ourselves means we experience what truly is limitless. But that would means accepting that pushing beyond boundaries as a gift. And some of us would rather stick to what we can do ourselves, thank you, even if it means we are ultimately limiting ourselves. Something to ponder seriously as we anticipate celebrating the defeat of what ultimately limits earthbound life.