3-year-old recites poem, "Litany" by Billy Collins

Litany

Some of us from B.C. conference had the privilege of being at the Sowing Seeds Growing Promise Leadership program earlier this year. Peter Short Shared with us "Litany" by Billy Collins. This poem touched many of us. Reminding us of who we are. For me it reminded me that I have both gifts and limits and it is as I live and breathe into who God has created me to be it that I come to fullness. I wanted to share with you a UTube post that many of us have seen now. But for me it is a beautiful reminder of both that event and what I constantly need to learn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVu4Me_n91Y

and remember somehow... you are the wine!

Ubuntu and Love

If you attended Epiphany Explorations in Victoria, at First Met UC, a week ago, as I did, you may have heard Naomi Tutu, daughter of Desmond Tutu,  speaking about “ubuntu”.  Since hearing her I have been intrigued with how ubuntu enlightens Paul’s words about love in his first letter to the Corinthian church.  You know the text - love is patient, and kind, not envious, nor boastful, nor arrogant, nor rude... and love never ends.

Naomi began by reminding us that we are all Homosapiens, in this world, but we learn how to be human in the context of our culture, by watching the elders, and by being corrected when we are wrong.  This, she said, is the process of coming to ubuntu.  Ubuntu, as I understood her, acknowledges that a person is a person through other people.  She spoke of her childhood, and said that in her home and family the oldest child must remember that their personhood depends on their recognizing the personhood of those others who are younger... when all the children eat at the table sharing from one bowl of food.  If you demean someone else you demean your self.  She said this was evident in the home, but hard to see outside the family, in the real world in which she was growing up in South Africa.  Her parents would say, “You will come to see...”

This black South African girl, growing up under the oppression of Apartheid South Africa, came to realize that white South Africans were also oppressed - by their fear of losing their privilege.  

In Naomi’s culture, to say someone has ubuntu is the highest compliment, the highest estimation of a person.  Ubuntu is not about doing, it is more than that - ubuntu is about seeing and recognizing the humanity of others.  It is a way of being in relationships of mutual respect and acceptance.  She gave us an example of a program in US churches where homeless people are fed very well, but no one sits down with them to eat together, to share the meal.  The homeless who are fed do not feel seen, nor respected - in this offering of food, no one has ubuntu.

To have ubuntu means to be able to see the common humanity we share with all “others” - the ones who do not feel as we do, do not see the world as we do, don’t respect the same way we do, don’t care as we do.

When we look at another person or group of people who are evidently in some way different from us, and fail to really see them, fail to recognize that these others who we think are so different from us are actually basically like us, we let ourselves off the hook and fail to identify with them and we do not seek to know what their story really is - to hear their story from their own lips, in their words.  Ubuntu calls us to simply recognize that those whom we see as “other” and know are against us are actually as human as we are.

When Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment, he said “Love...”  Love God, with everything you have and are, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.  And when he was asked who was his neighbor, he identified the one least likely to be considered - the one who would never even be seen - the Samaritan.  Ubuntu and love.

Love is not easy.  We want it to be, and we sometimes pretend it could be, if only...  But the truth is that love is a challenge.  I’ve read Paul’s words about love at many weddings.  And when I do, I always speak about the fact that after the wedding these two people will not magically melt into each other and become one.  They will, in fact, continue to be two strong individuals, with unique perspectives, and opinions, and wisdom, and ideas that have been shaped and formed and learned in their families of origin... and because of this they are going to need to take the time to listen to one another, to check for understanding, to express themselves clearly, and share how they are thinking and feeling - in short - to communicate openly, and honestly, and with mutual respect and caring.  This is true for all of us, in all our relationships.

Those Christians in that little church (probably a house church) in Corinth were very enthusiastic, and diligent, and opinionated, and certain that they were on the right track in this new faith - and that was getting them into trouble with one another!  They went into great detail in outlining life as a person of faith - and there were differences among them.  Paul was reminding them that the way of Jesus was the way of loving relationship.  And Paul went into great detail about what that did and didn’t mean.  

I won’t post this text in the blog, but if you are inclined, I’d invite you to read Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 in The Message.  He concludes with “Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.  And the best of the three is love.”

I’ve always believed that, as a church and a congregation, the most important thing we can do for our children is to let them know that the church is a place where they are loved unconditionally, where they can come for assurance that they are special and awesome and wanted and welcome.  That means we must be a safe place.  I think Naomi Tutu’s description of ubuntu is a wonderful description of what that looks like... a place where everyone’s worthiness is recognized - everyone’s humanity is celebrated.  This is what Paul’s letter calls us to.  This is the love that is in the heart of God, and spreads among us, and fills us, and gives us the courage to share loving relationships.  Thanks be to God.

Sharon Copeman

When we are mindful....

"When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love." Thich Nhat Hanh

When I was ordained, one of the gifts given to me by the Conference UCW women (I believe) was a small egg timer. The note with it invited me to set it on my desk and throughout the day, in the midst of my busyness, to turn it over and take a moment to breath and re-present myself in the day. I loved the idea of this and dutifully placed the timer on my desk, as suggested. The problem, of course, was that I was usually so busy that I didn't have time to even think about the egg timer, never mind turn it over and watch the sand drift through to the other side. In reality, it probably would have done me more good in my kitchen, keeping my eggs from getting too hard! But I still like the idea of taking moments in my day to stop, breath, reconnect myself to God and ground my work in the Spirit's guiding. So for those of you who think this sounds like a wonderful idea but don't have the time to remember to flip an egg timer, I invite you to go to http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/ where, near the bottom of the home page you will find an invitation to "Download a FREE mindful clock for your PC". Once downloaded this Tibetan chime can be set to ring hourly, every 15 minutes or randomly throughout the day. So as you go about your work the chime automatically rings to remind you to take some centering time. For me, it has been like a little burst of joy every time it rings. And as an added bonus, the mindfulness clock can also be set to ring at what ever interval you want to draw you back from a meditative sit.

May this gift from the Buddhist community fill us all "with acceptance, joy, peace and love."

Shalom
Ivy

Letting Go

(short reflection on Matthew 4:12-22)

                       

The Canadian Press told a most surprising story a few weeks back. It was the story of former Culture Club singer Boy George meeting Cyprus’ Orthodox Christian Church… go figure. Such an unlikely meeting. Something like the improbable meeting of a recently baptized preacher with some seaside fisherfolk.

It was the headline that caught my attention: In my wildest imaginings I could never dream that these words could ever make sense in one sentence.

“Cyprus Church thanks Boy George for returning stolen icon of Christ”

And so it was that Boy George, listed as one of Time’s Top 10 Badly Behaved Celebrities, returned a missing 300-year old relic. The 18th century icon of Christ was stolen during the Turkish invasion of 1974. It somehow made its way to London where, in 1985, the famed singer song-writer purchased it from an art dealer for "several thousand pounds."  Miraculously, officials at the church spotted it on Boy George's wall while watching an interview filmed in his home for Dutch TV.

"Before this, I had no idea who Boy George was," the Bishop, who led efforts for the icon's recovery, told The Associated Press. "He was positive about returning the icon."

Boy George, who said he was unaware of the icon's history when he bought it, personally handed the icon over to the bishop in London. In return, the bishop gave him a modern icon of Christ as a token of gratitude and "with the wish that others soon follow his example."

Who could ever have imagined that there would be such meeting of these minds and hearts; such letting go of preconceived notions and of a valued possession. Both the church and Boy George had to let go of something. The church gave thanks to the unexpected generosity of a notorious celebrity and Boy George willing gave something back to the rightful owner. Hmm… that’s reminds me of the best definition of justice I ever heard. Theologian Walter Bruggeman once wrote justice is determining what belongs to whom and returning it.

Church grateful to justice seeker Boy George.

An unbelievable headline or a great sermon title!

I wonder if the Sea of Galilee Tribune had a headline the day following Jesus’ visit:   

“Brothers let go of long time Business “Gone Fishing Incorporated”.

Family and friends baffled by their sudden disappearance. Reports indicate a stranger came to town and made an offer they couldn’t seem to refuse. Investigation continues.

This is no logical call that Jesus extends. To be sure, Jesus made no guarantees except … I suppose a sense of returning something, some one, some fisher folk to whom they belong. But mainly, the gospels and other writings of the New Testament have plenty to say about the losses and leave-takings involved in pursuing Jesus, the letting go that he asks of us, the dying to all that is not of Spirit. As Simon, soon to become Peter, and his fellow fisherfolk would learn, taking up with Jesus would not place them on a logical path with a predictable end. But the promise remains: it is for wholeness that we have been called.

Sally Harris