I don’t know about you, but from time to time I experience swings of emotion, sometimes pretty strong ones, that surprise me, and on occasion, even frighten me. At the time, I wonder about myself, especially being a priest, and wonder whether I should be experiencing them. But then I come to the psalms and discover that there are some of those very same emotions expressed there, but expressed safely and privately, to God no less. In other words, not ‘out there’ where they could do untold harm, and not in any physical way either. And what I realize thereby, is that God wants us to share these feelings, whether seemingly good or bad in our eyes, so that He can help us deal with them and comfort us in our anguish and upset. It seems to me that this is needed even more these days!

It is sad to say, but unfortunately, there are often tensions within the Body of Christ, the Church. Indeed, this was the presenting problem with the ancient Christian church in Corinth. There were rivalries and factions, some claiming to be friends of Peter, some with Apollos, and with some of them--as a kind of one-upmanship, claiming to be friends of Christ. And then, some of them, especially those special knowledge or certain spiritual gifts, thought that they were superior to others--and acted like this. And, others believed them!

The apostle Paul tries to put all this bickering and comparisons to rest by asserting that in the Body of Christ, the Church, everyone has a place and everyone is important and needed. And, as I have suggested in my meditation, this isn’t a problem just for people back then, but also for our church of today as well.

Today’s psalm points an incredible and lovely picture, a dream perhaps, namely of people living in peace, unity and harmony. But is it ‘just’ a dream. It is certainly something that Jesus desired, and prayed for just before His death (see John 17:11). And so, it has to be more than just a pipe-dream, a futile but xx wish, but something that He actually believes is possible. And, hopefully, it isn’t just something that happens when He returns in glory, for He tells us that the ‘world’ will see our unity and come to believe through it (see John 17:21). So, how is it that this will happen? And, perhaps more importantly for us, how do we assist it in happening? I think that it is something that we will all have to wrestle with, seeing as I don’t have an answer for this.

Almost always, in his letters, the apostle Paul seems to yoke together two things, two things that we might well fall into the trap of separating. One of these two things relates to our relationship with God--and how we honour, obey, serve and love Him. The other has to do with our relationships with each other, with our fellow believers in the Body of Christ, the Church and how we treat them and show them honour and respect and love. Paul insists that they belong together and that, indeed, our love for God is reflected and portrayed in the ways that we treat each other. Indeed, Paul says that we should honour and respect them and put them first, ahead of our own desires and plans and agendas. This makes it rather difficult for us as there will inevitably be people within the Church that rub us the wrong way, that we have difficulty in treating quite so amicably and respectfully. But, then, whoever said that the Christian way of life is necessarily easy?

Images, especially if not taken too literally, can have a powerful and reassuring impact on our thoughts and emotions. For instance, one of my compelling images is of God the Father seated in a comfy easy chair with me lovely situated on His lap. It conveys thoughts of warmth and acceptance and whispered conversations, but certainly cannot be taken literally. Likewise, mountains are, to many people, strong images of strength and permanence, and worthy reminders that God has those characteristics. Of course, if you have a geological background like I do, you do know that mountains can and do move, like the Lewis and Clark Overthrust in Waterton National Park or like Yamniska on the drive into the mountains east of Banff. But, of course, any movement has taken thousands and thousands of years, and so, to our limited, time bound perspective they are worthy reminders of what God is like. But, of course, they only ‘scratch the surface’: there is so much more to Him than just that!

Happy Thanksgiving Day, everyone. This meditation comes a bit later than usual as Carol and I joined my family in Saskatoon for a thanksgiving dinner and just got back.

Today’s meditation touches on what ‘should’ be a ‘no-brainer’, namely that in the Christian church we should always looking out for each other and for each other’s welfare, rather than on our own interests, power, or agendas. The sad thing is that this doesn’t happen. Far too often we are interested more in our own ideas, our own autonomy, or our own goals, to properly think of how these things impact each other. Sadly, selfishness and a desire to run our own lives independently of how this effects others, runs deep with the human psyche, right back to Adam and Eve (‘you will be a gods...’). So, let us take this opportunity to ponder this and try to make sure that this doesn’t happen to the detriment of others.

I was a wee bit dismayed when I discovered what the passage selected for today’s meditation was, namely, the Ten Commandments. I thought, initially, that these were ‘old hat’ and, as such, unlikely to have anything to say to us than we had already heard on numerous prior occasions. But then, in reading them through again, I realized how radical they are--and so ‘unliveable’ as per most of our lives. I realized that we often don’t take their injunctions very seriously, and seldom take the time to really think about what they are saying to us. So, maybe my mediation for time will prompt all of us to do just that.

Today’s Scripture passage and meditation touch on what has to be one of theology’s trickiest questions, namely the interplay and relationship between human choice and free will, on the one hand, and the sovereignty of God, on the other. Those that would steer on the ‘side’ of the sovereignty of God would say that everything that happens is due to God actively planning and orchestrating it. But, then, on the other side, those that reject any such ‘absolute’ sense of this would say that there was no way that God wanted the Holocaust, or the ethnic cleansing that happened in Rwanda, or the present wars in Ukraine and Israel, or the devastating effects brought on by the residential schools. They would allege that it was human choice, human sin, that lay behind these, and that God allowed those individuals responsible to ‘make’ those choices.

However, the bottom line, the meeting place, if you would have it, of both viewpoints is that God is there, that God cares, and that God is working in and through all things for our ultimate good--whether we realize this at the present point, or not.

Many of us have calendars where we post significant dates such as upcoming appointments or activities, or birthdays or anniversaries of people important to us. But what if we also posted the dates of important events in our lives, things not just like weddings or such things, but also of when God especially intervened in our lives? A woman I knew from back in my time in Innisfail did this with her Bible. Beside Scripture verses that were especially meaningful to her, she wrote the date and the reason it was significant. It was a great source of remembrance for her, especially seeing as she started to lose her memory as time went on. But not only that: when it came time for arranging her funeral, it became a precious resource for tracing and telling her faith journey, which was nothing less than incredible. This kind of thing is exactly what our psalmist suggests.

(If you want more on this, you might try Canadian author, Ann Voskamp’s wonderful book, One Thousand Gifts. As the inside cover of the book says, “A beautifully practical guide to living a life of joy, One Thousand Gifts invites you to wake up to God’s everyday gifts. As Voskamp discovered, in giving thanks for the life she already had, she found the life she’d always wanted”).

Many of us have calendars where we post significant dates such as upcoming appointments or activities, or birthdays or anniversaries of people important to us. But what if we also posted the dates of important events in our lives, things not just like weddings or such things, but also of when God especially intervened in our lives? A woman I knew from back in my time in Innisfail did this with her Bible. Beside Scripture verses that were especially meaningful to her, she wrote the date and the reason it was significant. It was a great source of remembrance for her, especially seeing as she started to lose her memory as time went on. But not only that: when it came time for arranging her funeral, it became a precious resource for tracing and telling her faith journey, which was nothing less than incredible. This kind of thing is exactly what our psalmist suggests.

(If you want more on this, you might try Canadian author, Ann Voskamp’s wonderful book, One Thousand Gifts. As the inside cover of the book says, “A beautifully practical guide to living a life of joy, One Thousand Gifts invites you to wake up to God’s everyday gifts. As Voskamp discovered, in giving thanks for the life she already had, she found the life she’d always wanted”).

Today’s Scripture passage and meditation deal with yet another dicy subject, namely of how we treat other people. From numerous Scriptures we are most definitely advised not to just ‘let everything go’ but to actually set and enforce standards for belief and conduct among believers. So, obviously, there is a need to make decisions and pass judgment, to decide ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Indeed, we are told that ‘by their fruits [their behaviours] you shall know them.’ But then, there is ‘the trick’ of knowing how to do this. Here, in today’s passage, Jesus gives us some ideas, but it is up to us to prayerfully and sensitively decide how and when to apply them.

Someone once said, “Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you anywhere.” I suspect that we all know that, deep down inside, and yet we still do it. Go figure. Anyway, as a help in breaking this bad and less than helpful habit, Jesus weighs in heavily on it in today’s passage. I hope that it, and the meditation on it, will be of help.

Years ago, July 20, 1969 in fact, the American astronaut Buzz Aldrin uttered these memorable words, ‘The eagle has landed’, as his spacecraft landed on the Moon’s surface, the first such landing in human history.

Sad to say, a similar phrase, ‘the ego has landed’, might be said today about many people, especially in public office and higher levels of responsibility. And yes, this happens even within the church. I have often said--on account of my observations--‘the higher it gets, the worse it gets’. And this is not just with bishops, archdeacons, canons and such like, but even with people ‘a bit lower’ on the ecclesiastical ‘pecking order’ (as if there really should be any ‘pecking order’ at all). The problem is--and here I can speak personally--is that when you get into positions of responsibility, no matter what they might be, then you are inclined to try to put your agenda up front, or front and centre. In other words, the ‘ego’, our ego, is likely to have landed.

Here, then, is where the example of Jesus is very helpful. He totally surrendered His own ego, His own desire for glory and praise, and His own ambitions as well. He did this in two ways: Firstly, He was content to simply do whatever God wanted no matter what that was. And secondly, He put everything aside, simply to be like us and serve us and save us and love us. Nothing else mattered other than these two things. And so, my prayer is that it might be likewise with us.

Today’s Scripture passage and mediation touch on that age-old question, namely whether our ‘things’ own us, or we own them. Some Christians have taken this to mean that they should renounce everything, or live with the least of possessions, and others have thought these choices to be rather extreme and unwarranted in the Scriptures. So, today I’m giving you some ideas to ponder as you deal with this issue. I hope that they are helpful.

And, of course, it all comes down to how we choose to live our lives here on earth, whether trying to be faithful to God above all else, or not.

I think that I can safely say that most of us have not been largely influenced by means of dreams. But, even so, I do believe in ‘a God that speaks’, to quote a theologian from a previous age. Given that conviction, however, it does pose a question: just how does God speak, and how does He speak to each one of us today? Obviously, we can suggest the Scriptures and prayer, the teachings and traditions of the church, our fellow Christians and experience as ways that God might speak to us. And what about our ‘thoughts’? I, for one, have had thoughts, totally out of the blue, that seemed completely unrelated to anything that I gone before, and that seemed completely ‘out of sync’, completely unrelated to anything that I normally thought. Often, at such a time, I wondered whether this was from God, and in retrospect, I do believe this to be true, especially given that it seemed to line up with what we know of God from other means.

So, in light of this and in light of what Jacob encountered of God, just how does God speak to us today? And given this as a possibility, do we listen? And do we obey? Just something to think about.

In today’s reading Jesus tackled a question that has long vexed and worried me, namely whether it is ever all right to accept praise or recognition for a ‘job well done.’ In some ways, not to do so has seemed to lack a certain sense of courteousness. But then, Jesus raises a very good question, namely that of motive. Have we done such and such simply to earn recognition and praise, or did the recognition and praise come as something of a by-product? For myself, as much as I do appreciate praise or recognition, generally they come simply because I was ‘doing my job’ as I understood it. And that, from what I can understand from Jesus’ remarks is perfectly okay.