Transitions ...

As I change from the life of parish ministry to a live in the supportive housing industry I am aware of how this transition is filled with so much, especially as it happens in the midst of the findings, across Canada, of the un-honoured remains of children who went to residential schools. 

The Spring and Summer this year have changed places ... Spring came along hot and heavy without the usual rains, and summer in turn has brought us so much rain that finding a dry day to even mow the lawn feels challenging. The pressing humidity also feels like the pressing heaviness of the transitions, the news, the becoming that seems to be underway. 

I don't know where the start point was. I don't know where the end point will be ... but this weekend I am making a commitment to myself that is two part:

- to backfill entries here as a means of reflecting on the journey that has brought me to this time of transition. 

- to keep writing and posting, as much as I can muster, as a means of reflecting on the new steps being taken, the new life being formed in, with and through me. 

Thanks be to God. 

I Can't Breathe

In the time of hearing and watching a black man, being knelt on by three police officers until his calls for help, his calls for "I can't breathe" and his calls for his mother finally were silenced, this reflection was shared and it includes a story in which Jesus denies his care (at first) to an outsider ....

Jesus got up and left there and went to the region of Tyre [and Sidon, the coastal area of Phoenicia]. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know about it; but it was impossible for Him to be hidden [from the public]. Instead, after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. Now the woman was a Gentile (Greek), a Syrophoenician by nationality. And she kept pleading with

Him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He was saying to her, “First let the children [of Israel] be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the pet dogs (non Jews).” But she replied, “Yes, Lord, but even the pet dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And He said to her, “Because of this answer [reflecting your humility and faith], go [knowing that your request is granted]; the demon has left your daughter[permanently].” And returning to her home, she found the child lying on the couch [relaxed and resting], the demon having gone. [The Amplified Bible, Mark 7: 24-30]

Before I begin, I want to issue a warning – this message will likely make you extremely uncomfortable. And I want to issue an invitation – when you are done reading or listening, sit with that discomfort quietly for as long as you can, and ask yourself:

- “What is Spirit speaking to you in this discomfort?”

- “What is God, Jesus and the Gospel saying to you in this discomfort?”

And reach out to me to talk with me, make a plan for us to sit together to follow up if you just cannot make any headway of meaning. Because together we will move forward in love – ALWAYS.

I have no difficulty seeing Jesus in the face of the poor, the hungry, the homeless or the addicted. But when someone’s ignorance and intentional blindness allows them to be unkind, violent or just plain stupid, I readily confess, I really have a hard time seeing Jesus in them. And when I am hurting or angry, when I am fearful or feeling vengeful, my incapacity to see Jesus in others also becomes somewhat limited. I become the victim of a peculiar kind of blindness in response to blindness which can be very unhelpful.

It is often in these moments that I pull this gospel reading into the forefront of my consciousness, and enter deeply into the scene – to try and realize Jesus is even in those who “just do not get it”. To see that Jesus is even in those who do not see or understand the reality of dis-privilege. And also to realize that, no matter what demon possesses me or those for whom I advocate, if I remain humble and faithful, and seek to keep speaking the truth calmly without throwing things, the work of love will prevail.

And so it is that I went completely off lectionary with the Gospel today, to use this story of the

beleaguered Syro-phoenecian woman, to enter the discussion on our response to racial disprivilege, the Black Lives Matter activity in the past 10 days or so, and the untimely death of

one George Floyd, under the knees of police officers, supposedly over a counterfeit $20 bill.

I wonder how many of you watched that video on the news or online? The video of George

Floyd’s death? The news story described the passing of a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience

store, and the store owners or workers called the police. When they arrived, they got Mr

Floyd, a very tall black man, out of his vehicle and first moved him to the sidewalk. Photos

show him sitting on the pavement, leaned up against the wall, cowering. Then they put him in

a police car against his protests, and he ended up coming out the other door with three police

officers supposedly restraining him (although he was not visibly struggling or fighting them)

on the street.

One had a knee to his neck,

the other a knee to his back

and the third a knee to his legs.

Three armed police officers, three knees, restraining one man on the street. Bystanders began

videotaping and asking the officers to release him because at some point Mr Floyd stopped

moving. At some point he stopped saying he could not breathe. Finally, when the paramedics

arrive, they had to ask the police to remove themselves from off the now not moving body of

Mr Floyd. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

I resisted watching the video footage until last night, because I was already demon-possessed

… possessed by the deep anger and fear and vitriol of knowing what it is to be a person of

colour on this continent. I was already demon-possessed, and I did not want to feed the

demon any more. Yet, I made myself watch the video last night because I wanted to honestly

be able to ask you what you saw and what you felt if and when you watched it. Then I wanted

to tell you what I felt.

So what did you see? What did you feel?

If we were together at church this is the part where I would say “don’t all answer at once

now” And you would chuckle, and maybe the first response would float down from the choir

loft. And then a few would come from the pews … as it is, I will go with comments I saw on

facebook from acquaintances, friends and colleagues who are white.

These were some of the comments I saw online from my friends and colleagues online, many

of whom are white:

“It was horrible”

“It was un-imaginable”

“He called out so many times – I can’t breathe”

“He called for his mom”

“It made me so angry”

“It took so long, and the police just would not get off of him”

Here is how it made me feel:

- It made me feel like I was laying there in the road being choked to death.

- It made me feel like no place in this world is safe for someone who looks like me.

- It made me feel like I could not breathe.

It made me feel so angry that for some days I walked around feeling swatches of hatred for

people just because they are white. I felt demon possessed. Even as I write this I feel that

demon twitching awake. I’m trying to keep my knee on its neck. To cut off its life breathe. To

kill it dead. I am not proud of this feeling – but this is how I have felt at times.

The news and the video made me want to throw something, to scream, to shake someone and

ask (in a speaking moistly way):

- do you not see that this is systemic? This is not one man or one incident – this is the

life of a racially disprivileged person.

- Do you not understand that it does not matter whether I am your pastor or your friend

or your colleague, if you are white and I am a person of colour we occupy different

worlds because of the assumptions that will be made just because of the colour of our

skins?

This week, it was tiring to wear my natural pigmentation. It was exhausting to be a person of

colour. This week if I could have swapped my beautiful brown skin for yours, I would have

done it in a heartbeat, and I would have walked away leaving my brown skin behind, so that,

when this news cycle on racism is over, I too could enjoy the privilege of forgetting about it

and moving on to the next thing that will come up to horrify us in the news.

This week’s pain and exhaustion made COVID isolation seem like a walk in the park in

comparison. This has been my experience … this is my witness.

So I come to the Syro-Phoenecian woman story as both the woman and her daughter. I feel

like I am possessed by the demons of fear and anger and sometimes a vengeful hatred. I feel

like I am the mother, coming to plead with a dominant society and a recognized Messiah – I

come begging for healing, I come begging for care, I come begging for attention.

Jesus’ initial response comes from his privileged position in the society. He is a Jewish man (I

realize it might come as a surprise for some folks that Jesus was not a Christian!) and as a

Jewish man, and a Jewish leader, he identifies himself as one with a responsibility to first feed

the children of Israel, before the dogs are fed. Jesus identifies himself as one of the privileged

class of God’s chosen people – come to attend to God’s chosen people – not the dogs.

Racism was alive and well in Jesus’ time, and this was Jesus’ blind privilege speaking. We

know Jesus did not mean to be unkind, or snotty – as far as he was concerned he was just

speaking the truth to this non-Jewish woman. What he had – the safety and healing he could

offer were not for her kind of people, only his kind of people.

The woman identifies herself as a dog, and she says even the dogs are passed the scraps

from the table. The woman acknowledges the reality of systemic racism and disprivilege, and

appeals to the charity that would be extended even to a pet.

Perhaps most important is this: she persists. And she does not even ask for equal treatment

to the children of Israel, she asks only for the treatment or care a household pet (versus a

stray) might get. In one sense she asks for adoption, even as a lesser member, into the

family that eats from the table. She pleads because she does not want her daughter to be

possessed by this demon anymore.

I plead because I don’t want to be possessed by this demon anymore.

How do the disciples of Jesus respond?

Interestingly, in the Gospel of Matthew rendition of this same scripture, the disciples of Jesus

try to shut the woman up, because it seems she has been “shouting after” them for

sometime, asking for their attention.

How long has the Black Lives Matter movement been going now?

“And His disciples came and asked Him [repeatedly], “Send her away, because she keeps

shouting out after us.”

Not only did his disciples want to send her away, Jesus himself was going to deny her …

He answered, “I was commissioned by God and sent only to the lost sheep of the house of

Israel.”

But the woman persists in faith. She believes in the Messiah, she believes in the Good News of

love he bears, and she persists. She believes that even the smallest attention, the slightest

crumb from Him will bring deliverance.

And I find myself holding to that. That pleading for the crumb of acknowledgment and action

from those Gospel-followers who are race-privileged to bring healing to the situation in which

we find ourselves.

Many, so many of my white friends have said to me this past week “Oh but I do not see your

colour” or “I just see you.” And I have to say these difficult to speak truths:

- if you do not see that you are privileged because you are not being singled out and

followed in a store (or not served in a store) because you are racially profiled,

- if you do not recognize your privilege when in a room filled to the overflowing, the seats

beside you are filled and the ones that flank me remain empty – people would rather

stand.

- if you do not recognize your privilege when I receive disparaging comments about

“those immigrants being a burden on socirty” and you do not hear such comments

made about you,

- if you do not recognize your privilege because you’ve never been singled out as a

potential terrorist simply because of the colour of your skin,

then you have failed to actually see me.

You have seen the me that fits comfortably for you, but not the system of injustice and

oppression within which I walk and breathe and exist. You need to see my colour, and

understand that what happens on account of my colour needs healing. You need to see it as

demonic. You need to see that this demon possesses me. You need to see that it hurts, and

not turn away deftly because I am your friend, your pastor or because you do not see colour.

But I am not going to allow your blindness, systemic blindness to go unchallenged. Like the

woman, I will persist. I will plead for the charity you would offer even to a pet – pay attention

to what is going on. Something is wrong here – give it even the crumbs of your attention to

make it heal.

I take hope in knowing that even Jesus, even Jesus made such oversights. Even Jesus was

open to correction. Even Jesus had to be brought up short, brought to attention from this

woman on the margins who reminded him of the system that considered her less than human.

And Jesus healed. 

Jesus heals.

The persistence of the woman with Jesus brings about healing.

So when you hear of protests and riots, when you hear of anger and reactive behaviours,

when you hear your pastor going on and on and perhaps making you have all kinds of

uncomfortable feelings that make you want her to stop talking – know that you are witnessing

the reality of systemic oppression which is demonic in its nature – it has claws and fangs and

teeth that cannot readily be removed. And those claws and fangs and teeth are not just

hurting some people in the USA: they hurt me, they hurt indigenous people in Canada, they

hurt visible minorities … they hurt and hurt and hurt.

I appeal to the Christ in you to listen beyond your defensiveness of how not racist you are.

I appeal to the Christ in you to listen beyond the terrible discomfort – whether defensive

response, guilt, shame, anger or helplessness – listen beyond the discomfort this makes you

feel.

I appeal to the Christ in you to remain present long enough for the protests of the oppressed

to be heard, so that the healing that heralds the Kingdom of God can happen.

And He said to her, “Because of this answer [reflecting your humility and faith], go [knowing

that your request is granted]; the demon has left your daughter[permanently].” And returning

to her home, she found the child lying on the couch [relaxed and resting], the demon having

gone.

I want to be free of this demonic possession of systemic racial oppression – permanently – not

just when this news cycle has past.

I want to be a child of God, just like you – lying on the couch, in my own skin – relaxed,

unafraid and at peace.

Sinner/Saint Intern.

Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 - Parable of the Wheat and Tares.

As a teenager in Jamaica I volunteered with a school outreach program that visited a government run home for the elderly.

We traveled to the golden age home piled into an archaic mustard-brown VW van. A very elderly nun went with us. With whatever few dollars she had we would stop en route to buy a few biscuits and bananas. Nothing fancy.

Then we visited. We went from room to room, from bed to bed, offering a biscuit or two, giving hugs, sometimes clipping finger nails or toenails or feeding those who needed help – we did little things like that to help out. We talked, prayed and sometimes we sang together. We built friendships. Residents got to know us, and would check up on us about exams and the things of our lives. That was our ministry.

Through these friendships we learnt about the things the residents experienced. Through these friendships I learnt that cockroaches could bite hard enough to draw blood, that mice and rats would bite living people. From these visits we learnt first-hand about people who would break in, stealing from,  assaulting and abusing the helpless people who lived there.

I never ever felt like what we did was enough. we could not fix things. I asked:

- what kind of a God allows this kind of pitiful existence?

- What kind of a loving God allowed their lives to be like this?

- What was the point of us going if we could not fix things and make things better?

I was reminded that we go to share companionship and love. We did not go to “fix” – we went to walk alongside, we went to be in relationship with each other.

It was disturbing to keep visiting, but we did.

With our biscuits in our old VW van, we kept at it.

Injustice continued.

Friendships deepened.

Love grew.

Today’s gospel reading reminded me of this experience in my life. Jesus tells a parable about good seed and weeds. An enemy sows the seed of weeds in amongst the good seed. They grow up together. The slaves of the master who owns the lands offer to go and “fix” the problem, to “uproot” the weeds. But the master says “let both of them grow together until the harvest.”

Jesus explains the parable saying the good seed are the children of the kingdom – sown in the world. The weeds are the children of the evil one sown by the devil. The harvest is the end of the age. The good seed and the weeds are to grow together until the harvest time when the angels will do a grand sorting out by fire.

This is a very juicy parable:

-      it identifies the children of the kingdom

-      It includes the devil, and talks about evil.

-      it instructs us to accept that we grow together: good and evil until harvest time – until the end of the age.

-      It talks about hellfire; of weeping and gnashing of teeth

-      It instructs us to accept that we grow together until harvest time – until the end of the age.

In other places in the gospels Jesus gives the disciples gifts of healing and instructs them to go out and fix, heal, repair. But today’s gospel instructs us:

-      to accept,

-      to grow together;

-      evil and righteousness … growing together until the end of the age.

Within ourselves, certainly within my own self, reside both weeds and wheat.

Martin Luther identified that we are, at the same time, sinners and saints.

Simul iustus et peccator.

At the same time that we are justified into righteousness by Jesus,

we are also sinners.

If you think of us as coins: one side is wheat, one side is weed. Good and bad is in each of us.

Likewise in the world:

good and bad,

righteousness and evil abide together.

We are invited and called to work towards righteousness in the world – and wherever we can we do well to try.

But we cannot always fix. We are not always supposed to fix.

When we are unable to fix,

perhaps especially when we are not sure of whether to fix,                or how to fix,

we are in today’s gospel also invited to accept that we grow together in one field: weed and wheat together.

In one body, in one person: sinner and saint together.

In a way it is the ultimate mark of relationship – to accept the good and the bad together and grow alongside. To accept this about our relationship to and with ourselves, to accept this about our relationship with others is the stamp of God’s own grace upon us.

Which of us can find everything in ourselves good?

Which of us can find everything in the other good?

Which of us can find everything in ourselves bad?

Which of us can find everything in the other bad?

Accepting the sinner/saint reality of being human can make us feel like there is no point in trying to make things better. But on the other hand, it frees us completely to enter with courage and faith into accepting and loving relationships without being all caught up in the outcomes. What a freeing gift of love.

And this is how Jesus loved us:

he entered completely into our human reality and frailty

he entered with courage and faith,

he came to us, accepting us and loving us

he joined us without depending on us for a good outcome.

In fact knowing the outcome would be the cross.

Today I am six Sundays away from the end of my internship. When I started internship I had some ideas that I would be some kind of pilot project in how to fix the Lutheran relationship with First Nations neighbours.

I knew that our indigenous brothers and sisters had experienced a cruel history at the hands of Christianity. And I had hoped to be a person who could come along and make it better – pull out the weeds of bad theology, destroy the bad seed of prejudice, stamp out the seedlings of judgment and cultural differences. I came hoping to fix. I had hoped to be a bridge builder and a way-maker. No messiah complex here J I’m just being honest with you. I thought this internship was going to be about fixing things that had gone wrong.

The Holy Spirit has been a wonderful companion, a wise counselor and an advocate indeed over these months of internship. With the Holy Spirit, I encounter time and time again my own bad theology, my own prejudices, my own judgment and my own palette of cultural differences. I encounter my own desire or need to fix, when Jesus has told me to grow alongside – to trust in God to do the fixing.

If nothing else, I have certainly learnt about myself as sinner and saint. I am weed. I am wheat. We are weeds. We are wheat. We are sinner and saint together, called not always to fix, but invited always to grow together in love, mercy and right relationship under the graceful watch of the author of it all.

Let us grow together in love. Amen.

The Used-Car Salesman Approach to Grace

A few days ago I read the parable of the unforgiving servant, in which a master forgives the debt of the servant; the servant however does not forgive one who is indebted to him, but instead had his debtor imprisoned (from Matthew 18). Last night I was reading in 2 Kings 5 and 6, where the healing of Naaman and the Aramean attack stories are told. In both these stories, Elisha acting as God's representative extends full, free and complete grace: in healing to Naaman, and in salvation to the Aramean warriors who he could have had killed when they were vulnerable, but did not. This is how God is with us - forgiving of debt, extending full, free and complete healing and delivery ... how often do we in turn extend this to others? It is a nice challenge to turn over in my soul because I know I like to nurse grudges sometimes like they are pets, gathering offences around me as food for conversation and complaints and commiseration! So, Master who forgives all debt, who directs us in simplicity towards healing (eg dipping in a river versus some complex pharmaceutical concoction btw Naaman was like "imagine I came all the way here to get healed and I expected some bells and whistles and dude just says go wash in the river"), and Master who protects us from attack by preventing harm from getting to us and delivering us from evil - Master help me to be like you in, with and amongst all humanity - in with and amongst all my own human brokenness. I pray for this in the name of the most perfect broken one, Jesus, who showed us that success is not defined by authority and power, but by submission, broken-ness and humility. Amen.

Peter asks Jesus "how often should I forgive?" 
(this is kind of like saying - they keep repeating the same fool offences, Jesus when does the warranty on stupidity expire so I can stop being obliged to forgive ... Jesus answers first with a mathematical oriented answer requiring a calculator! then, in true Jesus-illustrative fashion, he provides an example): 


The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’ 

(from Matthew 18 NRSV as you know I won't tell you where, you really can read the whole chapter!!)

Forgiveness is not an easy thing to do. it provides us with no scab and no protection! Peter was probably looking for Jesus to say "twice is enough, after that they're on their own"!

Back in the day, Elisha understood a lot about grace freely given too ... here it is from 2 
Kings 5 & 6:

The Healing of Naaman

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favour with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’ So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, ‘Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.’

He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’

But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, ‘I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’ He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!’ He urged him to accept, but he refused. Then Naaman said, ‘If not, please let two mule-loads of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will no longer offer burnt-offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord. But may the Lord pardon your servant on one count: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant on this one count.’ He said to him, ‘Go in peace.’

Gehazi’s Greed

But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, ‘My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not accepting from him what he offered. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something out of him.’ So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said, ‘Is everything all right?’ He replied, ‘Yes, but my master has sent me to say, “Two members of a company of prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.” ’ Naaman said, ‘Please accept two talents.’ He urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them in front of Gehazi. When he came to the citadel, he took the bags from them, and stored them inside; he dismissed the men, and they left.
He went in and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him, ‘Where have you been, Gehazi?’ He answered, ‘Your servant has not gone anywhere at all.’ But he said to him, ‘Did I not go with you in spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept money and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to your descendants for ever.’ So he left his presence leprous, as white as snow. 


The moral of the story might be when God gives something freely, let us not treat that which God gives freely like a used car and try to re-sell it!! We got it for free (i.e. we did not pay for it someone else did, so where do we get off collecting for it? That is a very colonial approach!!)

Then the people of Israel come under attack but God helps them out (again freely, so no need to appropriate the salvation and charge someone else for their salvation - just sayin') - here it is in 2 Kings 6:

The Aramean Attack Is Thwarted

Once when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he took counsel with his officers. He said, ‘At such and such a place shall be my camp.’ But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, ‘Take care not to pass this place, because the Arameans are going down there.’ The king of Israel sent word to the place of which the man of God spoke. More than once or twice he warned such a place so that it was on the alert.

The mind of the king of Aram was greatly perturbed because of this; he called his officers and said to them, ‘Now tell me who among us sides with the king of Israel?’ Then one of his officers said, ‘No one, my lord king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.’ He said, ‘Go and find where he is; I will send and seize him.’ He was told, ‘He is in Dothan.’ So he sent horses and chariots there and a great army; they came by night, and surrounded the city.

When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, ‘Alas, master! What shall we do?’ He replied, ‘Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed: ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. When the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Strike this people, please, with blindness.’ So he struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked. Elisha said to them, ‘This is not the way, and this is not the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.’ And he led them to Samaria.

As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, ‘O Lord, open the eyes of these men so that they may see.’ The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria. When the king of Israel saw them he said to Elisha, ‘Father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?’ He answered, ‘No! Did you capture with your sword and your bow those whom you want to kill? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink; and let them go to their master.’ So he prepared for them a great feast; after they ate and drank, he sent them on their way, and they went to their master. And the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.

(taken from 2 Kings 6, NRSV, again you want to read the whole chapter because there is a cool miracle in there about Elisha making an iron axehead float in the water!)

I like this line ... "the mind of the King of Aram was greatly perturbed" ... I can relate to it ... often the mind of Janaki is greatly perturbed over silly things too 

This other line also is resonant for me: ‘Father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?’ because I'm kinda like that when I feel like I have been offended in some way, I get all het up and figure I have a right to get some revenge and furthermore I believe so much in God that I like to try and co-opt God into my revenge plan so I put on my favourite scrappy doo voice and I say "Father shall I, shall I?" Nothing like a good head of righteous indignation to make me feel like doing or saying mean things about others is A-ok! Well Elisha told him ... and look at what he says? in effect he says: "serve them, take care of them" - indeed the enemies are feasted. This believing in God's grace business really turns all kind of scrappy-doo-esque ideas upside down!

Prayer on a Day of Rest

Today is my day of rest and thanksgiving.
Lord I am thankful that you have given me life so abundantly full of good things and wonderful, loving people.
I am thankful that I am able to take a day of rest and meditation with you, and I am thankful for the epic music maelstrom which I will enjoy tonight.
I am thankful for the coffee I will now go get at a great local (non-franchised) coffee shop, whose owner has shared with me the full history of his establishment's coffee process - from fair trade organic farm to my hot little hand :)
Thankful for the park in which I will walk with said coffee in a thanksgiving-offering-up-and-gratitudinal mannar :)
I am thankful for pools to swim in and hot tubs to get sore muscle knots out.
I am thankful for my magic bullet breakfast and the wonderful little mother who insisted on getting me a magic bullet in the summer of 2011, and whose generous care makes my music maelstrom possible tonight.
I am thankful for the medical consult I had with my sister and please help get her car back on the road soon God, so she can resume being the little housecall making doctor whom her patients so love.
I am thankful for warm, safe shelter, a bed smothered in blankets and comforters, hot food, and on-demand running hot and cold water.
I am thankful for the snow that will soon come and make this place new over and over again, and for the leaves flying around, collecting in corners, history pages of the season passed.
I am thankful for the best placement ever, with kind loving pastors who encourage, uplift and smile, and with loving members who bring pickles and deviled eggs and three kinds of mustard to go with ham and scalloped potatoes to students on a cold, stressful, end of term night - love so caringly expressed in food so thoughtfully prepared.
I am thankful to live in a city which provides out of the cold sites, and recognizes, at least at the grassroots levels, the realities of mental health issues and addictions do not mean people should be left to die. Let these grassroots grow God, to become strong trees that uphold the weak and the vulnerable in our region.
I am thankful for the House of Friendship.
I am thankful for having choices and encountering challenges which help me to feel the Holy Spirit close at hand.
I am thankful for my colleagues from school and even for Wilson! I am thankful for my teachers who are patient with my enthusiasm and my frustration.
I am thankful for pomegranates, bright red inside, and chocolate, and coffee, and love and thai food.
I am thankful for mountains and oceans and rivers and trees and rocks and sweat lodges and elders and small children and hope in all things.
I am thankful that I have so many things to be thankful for :) and that I know I will spend the rest of today thinking about some of those thanksgivingable things.
Thanks be to you God, for your love and grace and womb-like mercy in Christ have made me who I am and brought me into this day.
Amen.

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