Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Leaving a mark

Very few of the footprints that have ever been made on the earth are permanent. I travelled to a dinosaur museum once. There they displayed about 10 sets of different footprints that they had found, footprints that had been fossilised. They told us that thousands of dinosaurs had walked in that region long ago, and since then millions of creatures had walked the same path but only these few fossilised footprints have survived.  The other footprints from those countless of other creatures have disappeared.

Footprints.  Most of the time, they are very temporary.  I love walking on the beach and leaving my footprints in the sand. They never quite last though. The tide inevitably comes in and washes the footprints away. But for a while, people had a visible reminder that I was there. The same was true with snow. If the snow was just the right hardness, you could walk on the snow and leave your footprints. But again such footprints were temporary. The snow would melt, the wind would blow, more snow would fall and your footprints were gone. No one knew you were there.

Some people leave big footprints with their lives. I think the world was forever changed by the likes of people such as Florence Nightingale, Martin Luther King Junior, Leonardo da Vinci, to name a few. Because of their work, the world was forever changed. 

Other people's footprints, like my footprints in the sand and snow are temporary. Walking through a grave yard though, I quickly come to realise that almost all of the names listed on the headstones, are names that I don't recognise. Obviously these people were loved by others. These people had touched a few lives during their time. That is why people gave them a headstone to be remembered by. But for most people who walk by, the significance of these people's lives will be lost on us. I know nothing of Alice Smith other than what it says on the tombstone. Alice Smith and her contributions have been all but lost.

I am saddened by this. For I realise that all people have made a great contribution towards life on this planet. Some like the great dinosaurs who left fossilised foot prints will be remembered. Countless others though will be forgotten after a generation or two. Yet all of them lived, worked, produced, taught, loved, fought, challenged, and changed the world in some way. Everyone's life is significant, whether they be world famous or unknown. Let us take a moment not only to listen to the stories of the important but the unimportant as well. And let us each commit ourselves to living our lives in such a way that the footprints we leave will be for the good of all whether they last or not. Blessings.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Hope lives

My second placement in ministry in Canada was at Hope United Church in Hope, British Columbia, a small town at the edge of the Fraser Valley just 150kms east of Vancouver. It was a beautiful town. The town was surrounded by mountains, and three rivers met near the community. For Canada, we enjoyed mild weather. You had the best of small town life, with larger communities just half an hour a way.

There was one problem with living in that community. Brian tells the story of when we first met, he asked me where I lived, and I said I lived in Hope. He went on to ask me, "Well what does one do in Hope?" We still laugh about this to this day. What does one do when you live in Hope?

But don't we all really live in hope.  This past weekend we celebrated Easter, a day full of hope. Traditional theology has often held that with the death of Christ on the cross, we have been given the gift of eternal life. Each individual life has meaning. With Christ being risen from the dead, it meant that all of us are worthy of God's love- the wrongs of the past are forgiven- the world has been forever changed. Alleluia.

The world right now is in need of hope. We live in a world where we increasingly fear the other. We live in a world where some politicians  are stirring up feelings of hatred to those who are not quite like us. The threat of nuclear war is in the air as one bombastic president is threatening another bombastic president. We see the devastation of climate change slowly affecting our world. We watch helplessly as the number of refugees continues to climb, yet governments are unwilling to open doors to others for fear of appearing weak. And we know that so many people live in abject poverty while the few very rich get richer and richer. Our world is in desperate need of hope.

The church's role in all this is to share the good news of the gospel. God loves each one of us because of who we are. Everyone in the world is God's children. No one is outside the realm of God's love. The church needs to denounce the campaign of fear that many of our politicians are using as election ploys. Easter happened to show that all men and women of the world might know that they are welcomed, loved, valued, and respected. And if all people felt that valued, I am sure there would be fewer wars, less injustice, less fear. Hallelujah and blessings.


Tuesday, April 11, 2017

A $999,996,000 mistake

Like many of you, I watched in horror as a man who legally had a ticket and legally had been allowed to board a United Airlines plane was tasered, beat up, and dragged out of a plane in Chicago.  The reason given was that 4 United Airlines staff had to be in Louisville for a flight the next day. Compensation had been offered to anyone who was willing to give up their seat. When no one did, the airline checked through its records, found 4 people who had paid the lowest fares, and began removing them from the plane. The man who was beaten, was said to be belligerent when he was asked to leave the plane. It did not matter what inconvenience this being bumped caused the customers. In the airlines mind, the staff members took priority.

Right away, news reporters or detectives looked into the history of this man. He had been mixed up in a inappropriate conduct medical scheme at some point in his life. The airline took that as a sign. See we didn't harm an innocent person- this person has a past. He was a bad guy. So he didn't deserve to be treated with respect.

Now I have been bumped from a flight before. In fact my family was bumped. We voluntarily gave up our tickets and flew at a later time. We were duly compensated. It was our choice that we made. And that was fine. We used the compensation to fly out some relatives from England. It was a good choice to make.

All of the passengers on the plane were given a chance to voluntarily give up their tickets in order that the four crew members could fly to Louisville. They were given an offer of $400 and a hotel room.  When no one jumped at this chance, they were given an offer of $800 and a hotel room.  Still no one jumped at this chance.  So all in all the airline offered about $4000 in compensation (the money and hotel room costs) for the four precious seats.

Thus the airline made the decision to remove 4 passengers who were already on the plane to make room for the crew members. Now like most people, when I get on the plane, and as long as I am not causing a disturbance, I expect that I will get from point A to point B.  The beaten man probably felt the same way. But instead the police and airport security dragged him from the plane. As a paying customer the man had a right to be upset. His past history was of no importance in this case. He had on that night done nothing wrong. He had paid for his seat and had been given permission to board, only to have that  right snatched away from him by the airline.

With the cost of the compensation, surely the airline could have found 4 other seats on another airline between Louisville and Chicago to get the crew members to their next assignment. Or maybe they could have adjusted the schedule so that these crew members could work a different flight and found replacement crew members to work the next day's flight. The airline could have found many other ways around this situation. Instead though, they chose to drag this man from his seat after beating him and it was all on video for the world to watch.

The videos yesterday circulated around the globe. United Airlines stock plummeted by a billion dollars yesterday. Undoubtedly this man will sue for damages costing the airline more money. The damages to the airline's reputation of being the "Friendly Skies" will be astronomical. The airline could have chosen to take a small loss because of their scheduling policies, but instead made a huge mistake which will affect them for years. It was not a wise move.  Blessings.

My Lenten blessings this week

On Friday April 7th, I gave thanks for the wisdom of the Synod staff who dealt with a very touchy situation with great care and concern.
On Saturday April 8th I gave thanks for the ability to reconnect with friends from the past.
On Sunday April 9th, I gave thanks for the energy of Palm Sunday
On Monday April 10th, I gave thanks to folks generosity as we drove over about 200 kilograms of food to the Newtown Asylum Seekers Centre
On Tuesday April 11th, I gave thanks for those who entertain others.
On Wednesday April 12th, I gave thanks for a few minutes of quietness in a busy week.


Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Ignoring the sign posts

When we are young, time seems to go ever so slowly. I remember as a child, the nine week break we got from school seemed to last forever. The end of June till the end of August seemed to take forever. Often times those days were filled with busyness. Our family would go on vacation for a couple of weeks. My birthday was right in the middle of this time. The end of July and early August meant that the local fairs and exhibitions were on. Mid August meant that it was time to go shopping for new clothes and school supplies. But those 9 weeks seemed to last forever.

Now nine weeks moves much more quickly. How many people have said to me, "I can't believe it is Easter already." Easter is a bit later than normal this year- yet people still seem surprised that it is here already.  Time seemingly has moved too fast. How did time get so speedy?

Maybe this might explain. When I was growing up, each year, maybe twice in a year, we would make the 760 kilometre trip from our house to my grandmother's house. When we were little, we would look at each sign post and proclaim the distance- its now 426 kilometres, now its 388 kilometres, and so on. The signposts indicated that our journey's end was getting closer.  However, in a way, it made the journey seem ever so long. We became aware of how many small bits it took to get to the final destination.

When we got older as children. we stopped looking at the sign posts between our house and grandma's house. The post at kilometer 426 was still there, but we knew that it was just one of many. We became used to what 8 to 12 hours (depending on traffic, length of gas stops, food stops, bathroom breaks) in the car felt like. The journey was still just as long but we had adjusted

I think all of us adapt to time just as we children did in the car. Even though Easter is a moveable feast, it is always between 3 and 3 and a half months after Christmas. When we are children we mark all the special days of the year as big events. In Canada, as a child, I knew that the following special days would occur: New Years Day, going back to school, Epiphany, Valentine's Day, Family Day, Shrove Tuesday, the first of March (where we wondered if spring would come in like a lion or a lamb), St. Patrick's Day and the first day of spring.  We marked each sign post between New Year's and spring, and so Easter was never a surprise. As we get older though, we those little celebrations seem less significant. We have eaten many Shrove Tuesday suppers. We have gone through many St. Patrick's Day celebrations. And so because we ignore these signposts, Easter can catch us unaware. Blessings


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Lenten blessings
Friday March 31st- I give thanks for ministerial colleagues
Saturday April 1st- I give thanks for April Fool's humour which brightens our news pages
Sunday April 2nd- I give thanks for the time change, which helps us to remember to be aware of our time
Monday April 3rd- I give thanks for the ability to get to know my congregation better through our pub ministtry
Tuesday April 4th- I give thanks for the work of other congregations in this area of Sydney
Wednesday April 5th- I give thanks for the seagulls and the laughter that they caused as people tried to shoo them away from their food
Thursday April 6th- I give thanks that I have been blessed to be in ministry now for one half of my life. It has been an honour and a privilege.