Common Sense, Left Behind

I am a regular reader of movie reviews and I find Rotten Tomatoes to be handy as an aggregate rating for a film. I have to admit that I felt something akin to pleasure when I saw that the recent release, Left Behind, received a whopping 2% rating from critics. I'm trying to recall whether any film I've seen reviewed has fared so badly.

 Left Behind is an apocalyptic thriller loosely based on the fundy Christian Left Behind series of novels which are themselves loosely based on the Revelation of John, the final book of the New Testament. Does it get much sketchier than that?

I have blogged in the past on these poorly-written, scare-tactic novels which many Christian critics, including many evangelicals, have condemned in no uncertain terms. You may recall that I wrote about attempting to read one of these novels, but ended up stalling in the first chapters because I was so angry at the crappy theology and rampant falsehoods. I tried again with a concluding volume and with the same outcome. It infuriated me that these bestsellers were and are misleading readers about the content of Revelation and, more importantly, the message of God's grace in Christ. 

There was an earlier film of the same name starring teen TV star and rightwing Christian Kirk Cameron, while this one stars Nicholas Cage. What was Cage thinking to get involved in this project?  At least Cameron believes in this bizarre misrepresentation of Christianity. For Cage it has to be about the money, and that's what I figure motivates the novels. While they are presented in earnest Christian language about the return of Christ they are really about capitalizing --literally-- on fear and ignorance. There are so many fundamentalist Christian preachers and writers who thunder away about being prepared for Christ's judgemental second arrival while they live the high life in gated communities and let the royalties roll in. Sadly, this is not an exaggeration and the reputation of all of Christianity is besmirched because of the deception (I have always wanted to use the word "besmirched" and my time has finally come.)

I pray that Left Behind becomes a monumental, money-loosing turkey for those who created it, and if there is justice Cage's reputation will never recover. 

Left Behind is in theatres now, including here in Belleville. Are you tempted to see it, like slowing down for a look as you drive past an accident? Are you baffled by the desire of some Christians to read and view this stuff? Why do you think that this fascination for Christ's return exists when Jesus clearly encouraged his followers not to speculate about the hour or day? 

The Godly No

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy...Exodus 20

Many ministers retire after a career of working on the Christian sabbath only to work part-time on the  sabbbath. For some reason congregations want ministers to lead worship on Sunday, so retirees just keep on going, violating the Lord's Day. The goofy thing is that clergy are inclined to complain bitterly that Sunday's are now wide open for any activity and even churchy folk don't attend worship nearly as much anymore.

Sabbath-keeping isn't just a convention, it is a commandment according to scripture. Today we will hear the Ten Commandments and we will be reminded that this commandment is longer and more detailed than all the rest. You would think we would ask why, but we might be too busy doing other stuff to find out. 

Of course I'm preaching on another commandment --honour your parents-- but I did go on a book hunt earlier this week, ferreting out the volumes I have in my library on the sabbath. I thought I had six but I found a seventh, which nicely corresponds with the notion of a seven-day week but also proves I have a serious book addiction. 

The most recent acquisition is Walter Brueggeman's sabbath as resistance: Saying NO in the CULTURE OF NOW.  Supposedly being a naysayer is not good, but an exception can be made for a day of rest, recovery, re-ordering, recapitulation...the R's could keep on rolling!

Here are the other titles:

The Sabbath Abraham Heschel
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly Marva J. Dawn
Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight Norman Wirzba
24/6 --a prescription for a healthier, happier life Matthew Sleeth MD
Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest Wayne Muller
The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time Judith Shulevitz

The authors are male and female, Jews and Christians, theologians, an ecologist, and a physician.  They persuasively, eloquently, explore every possible reason for keeping the sabbath. If only we listened!

What are your thoughts on the "Godly no?"

The Legacy of St. Francis

Today people will gather at various parks and churches for a curious but lovely religious ceremony. It is the annual Blessing of the Animals, an event which coincides with the Feast of St. Francis. Our Bridge St. congregation will hold this simple ceremony tomorrow and I will have the pleasure of bestowing a blessing on the furry friends of our Christian family.

If I had to choose a couple of patron saints the female would be Julian of Norwich and the male would be Francis of Asissi. I have written about Francis before, of how he left wealth and comfort to live a radically simple life. He was soon followed by hundreds and then thousands of young men who created a movement which was recognized by the Vatican in a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" concession to the Franciscans. Legends of Francis' care for the poor and ill quickly arose. He was said to literally embrace lepers and others who were shunned by society. He preached to birds and other creatures. He created the first Living Nativity, incorporating animals. Eventually the Poor Clares became the female companion order to the Franciscans. 

Why do I admire Francis? He was a revolutionary by example, and in a way that effected change without discarding a grounding in Christ and the church. He was a mystic, modelling the profound experiential aspects of faith. He took on a radical simplicity for his life that may be the only hope for the groaning creation of Planet Earth. He appreciated all living things as worthy of love and respect because God made them. 

Yes, some of the stories may be legends rather than fact -- did Francis really negotiate with the Wolf of Gubbio to stop terrorizing the locals? But those stories speak of a deep desire to see the world differently, through holy and Christ-washed eyes. 

Any thoughts about the Feast of St. Francis? Will your critters be blessed somewhere this weekend? Should be pay more attention to the legacy of Francis?

Atonement

Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur, by Maurycy Gottlieb (1878)

 

This evening marks the beginning of the Jewish Day of Atonement known as Yom Kippur. It is a solemn and holy day of repentance, which includes fasting and prayer. Atonement has a number of definitions, and is different in Judaism and Christianity.

 

Atonement

            reparation for a wrong or injury.(eg "

she wanted to make atonement for her husband's behaviour")

• (in religious contexts) reparation or expiation for sin.

  "an annual ceremony of confession and atonement for sin"
• Christian Theology

  the reconciliation of God and humankind through Jesus Christ.

From my understanding, atonement is an acknowledgement of wrongdoing, and a willingness to choose a new path. As a Christian I do this in the grace of Christ.

 

There is acknowledgement in some Jewish circles that the contrition of this day might include awareness of our human destructiveness of the world God has created. In the Tikkun workbook for the High Holidays the question is asked:

 

 

 

Which of our society’s political, economic, or social institutions have destructive consequences to the environment, social justice, or our capacity to be loving and compassionate human beings? Have you challenged any of them in the public arena?

 

This week I have been sorrowful about the news that in the past forty years half of the wild creatures of the planet have disappeared from the land, and sky, and sea. To put that differently, since I was about twenty years old, 50% of the wild things have faded out of the glorious mural of planetary life. This makes me heartsick. How can this be?

 

I know I can do better. I want to do better. Canadians have one of the largest ecological footprints amongst nations, so that includes me. I won't walk around in sackcloth and ashes, even though I do want to repent of my foolish ways. Instead, I will consider how to live more simply, to walk more lightly, and with a deeper commitment to caring for the Earth. My Christian faith teaches me that God loved humans and the whole wide and wild world so deeply that God chose to be a human, a groundling, in the person of Jesus.

 

If I am truly a Christ-person, I will repent and atone and do my best to create a hopeful world.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

Slouching Toward Mars

So Canadians, are you prepared to go to war? Canadian Christians, are you resigned to our military entering into another conflict? We're told that Prime Minister Harper will announce a combat mission to Iraq, and/or Syria, and/or...does anyone really know what we are up to? There will be no "boots on the ground," the phrase politicians and media adore. It means that there will be no soldiers deployed on the ground, although we have military advisors in Iraq already, and I'm assuming they are not suspended in the air. This engagement will include fighter jets and refueling aircraft to start, but we should all ask what "mission creep" might look like for Canada.

Yesterday it occurred to me that our current prime minister was enthusiastic about getting involved in Iraq in 2003, but then PM Jean Chretien resisted the pressure to enter into that tragic boondoggle. Here we are on the brink of engagement and I sure hope there is a meaningful and honest debate in parliament before we wander into war. I do believe that we must respond to the humanitarian crisis in the region and to the plight of persecuted minorities, including Christians. But who says this must include are military involvement?

Brian Zahnd, an American pastor and writer has dared to challenge the culture of war in his country. He exhorts his readers to follow Jesus as the Prince of Peace rather than Mars, the god of war. He admits that he wanted to wait until later in life to write A Farewell to Mars because he has a lot to lose in a nation that is seduced by its perceived role as the world's policeman. But his love for three grandchildren would not let him delay the prophetic message.

Are we prepared to meekly stand by while this decision is made on our behalf? Are wil willing to slouch toward Mars? What do you feel about military involvement --again-- in the Middle East?

Two Gifts

I have received two lovely gifts in the past couple of days and I'm sure that the folk that offered them had no idea how meaningful they were despite my thanks. On Sunday morning one of the men who was at worship approached me. He observed that in the year or so I have been at Bridge St. UC I have nudged the congregation toward the 21st century in terms of visual display, music, bulletin covers and even format for the sermon. He felt that we were headed in the right direction and wanted me to know. Yesterday a woman asked to meet with me and at the end of our time together she told me why she found my sermons accessible, and offered that as a visual learner the use of images help her comprehend the message.

I appreciate that telling you this might seem self-serving, but I'm sharing because I found the feedback so valuable. These were clearly expressed observations out of their experience in worship. Often clergy are trying to figure whether what they are saying and doing makes a lick of sense to those who are sitting before them. We are trying to be faithful to scripture while speaking a word of life and truth into this rather tumultuous and uncertain moment in the church. We hope that the worship experience as a whole will open those gathered to God's holy and life-changing presence. It's a tall order, and we often feel less than adequate for the task, even after years in leadership. Maybe because of years in leadership. We don't want to get stale with the passage of time.

As I say, these two individuals couldn't possibly know how encouraging their gifts were, but I'm grateful. Neither were gushy, just honest. Now if they had been equally honest and critical, I might have dismissed them, but I'll take the positives! Bye the way, I tried for gender balance in the cartoons but it appears that only male worship leaders get lampooned.

Prayers for Hong Kong

For several years I worked on the same ministry team with the Rev. Cathy Russell who is a colleague now in Belleville. Cathy's mother, a retired United Church minister, was originally from Hong Kong. The family is watching the massive and growing protests in Hong Kong with great interest.

You might recall that the tiny but wealthy island was relinquished by the British to the Chinese government in 1997 after 150 years of colonial rule and association. While in some ways Hong Kong went from faded empire to rising empire there was also the shift from democracy and autonomy to life under a communist regime. The compromise was a "one country, two systems" agreement which would ensure certain freedoms for fifty years, until 2047.

Elections are on the horizon and the residents of Hong Kong are determined that this agreement is not compromised and that they will be able to vote fairly, not in sham elections with limited choices. The Chinese government has already demonstrated an ominous level of force which leads some to wonder whether this will escalate to a crackdown on the level of Tiananmen Square in the late 1980's.

As Christians we are called to be people of justice and we need to pray that the people of Hong Kong will not be subsumed by a system that limits freedom and has a terrible human rights record. There are so many other important hotspots around our world which require our diligence, yet Hong Kong shouldn't be pushed into the background.

Did you know about this agreement? Have you been aware of the unrest in Hong Kong? One more situation to add to our prayer list?

Ebola: The World Must Respond

During worship yesterday I encouraged folk to respond to the latest United Church appeal, this time  to the plague of Ebola. The word plague is loaded, but what else would we call it? The number of those infected is growing exponentially and the infrastructure of the healthcare systems in the poor African countries where it is spreading simply aren't capable of keeping up. The international response has been slow, exasperating those who are most involved. Is it because this is considered an African illness? Would Western nations have responded with greater effectiveness and speed if this had erupted in Europe or South America?

I listened to a scientist last week who estimated as many 400,000 infected people by Christmas. Now we are told that it could be a million. And to date roughly half of those infected die. Liberia is the country most affected. I didn't know that until today, and you might not have either, a reminder that we aren't all that attuned to the specifics of the spread of Ebola. Liberian officials are concerned about the collapse of the economy and wars in the region as a result. Families are being destroyed. Medical workers are at great risk. Many of them are from Christian relief organizations, as well as Doctors Without Borders. The world must respond with compassion and all the resources at our disposal. 

Please be generous in responding and let your MP know this is important to you. The United Church website offers the opportunity to contribute online but you can do so through your local congregation as well. The ACT Alliance is a good way to respond because we work with partners in the countries affected. 

Comments?

Doing the Math on Church

Was there a time when being the Christian community seemed to "add up?" I do think there was an era for the church in North America when the math made sense. Conversations with my late father and late father-in-law convince me that their ministries, post WW2, were filled with positives -- growth and building and upward trajectory. They were still active in the 1970's and 1980's when decline was well underway for mainline churches, but by the mid to late eighties they were wrapping up pastoral ministry.

I began ministry in the early eighties and while I have served active and at times thriving congregations there have always been people who wanted to wax nostalgic about the fifties and sixties. The landscape of the church in Canada is certainly not what it was when I was ordained and the horizon seems to be murkier rather than clearer. I came across a book title called Doing the Math of Mission: Fruits, Faithfulness, and Metrics by Gil Rendle, an author whose research and insight I have appreciated through the years.

Thanks to online resources I could peek at the book and Rendle's observation that there are no “right ways” for a constantly changing church landscape, only “appropriate ways” to establish God’s purpose for each situation. This rings true for me, as does the phrase “conversation is the currency of change.”  This is much harder than it might sound. Many people want to reminisce, or tinker, or "get 'er done" without talking through the appropriate ways of responding to current circumstances. I like the six questions Rendle has borrowed from another book entitled The Advantage:

Why do we exist? The underlying reason for being, our core purpose

How do we behave? The set of principles that guide behaviour and decisions,  preserving our essence

What do we do? Our organizational or congregational  definition
How will we succeed? Strategy –the collection of intentional decisions in order to thrive
What is most important now? Establishing top priorities to overcome organizational “monkey mind” & silos
Who must do what?  Leaders must clarify & unambiguously stipulate respective responsibilities

The Advantage Patrick Lencioni -- Six Questions for a Healthy Organization

It seems to me that if congregations developed the focus and the stamina to address these questions they might have a hope.

What do you think? Why do we have such difficulty having the conversations which are appropriate to our circumstances? Has God left the mainline building, or is there still hope?

The Job of a Peacemaker

This ad for a poster design for the Mennonite Central Committee quotes a pacifist, a woman named Muriel Lester, who strongly opposed WW1 and set the bar rather high for the role of a peacemaker!

"The job of the peacemaker is...to stop war, to purify the world, to get it saved from poverty and riches...to heal the sick, to comfort the sad, to wake up those who have not yet found God, to create joy and beauty wherever you go, to find God in everything and everyone."

While the language may be quite what we would use in the 21st century I love the breadth of the vision, including celebrating joy and beauty. There is the tendency for some "brands" of Christianity to have tunnel vision about a "personal relationship with Jesus" and the promise of heaven after this life is over. The brands of our faith which focus on social justice often forget the joy in their earnestness.

I want to remember this, maybe post it on my fridge. Comments?

Spare the Rod

 Those who spare the rod hate their children,    but those who love them are diligent to discipline them. Proverbs 13:24
First of all it was NFL star Ray Rice who was suspended for domestic violence. Then it was another pro ball player, star Adrian Peterson, who was kicked off his team for using a switch to punish a child. The latter situation sparked a debate about corporal punishment for children. Some African Americans offered that a majority of black dads in the States might be fired if it were known that they smacked their kids as discipline. There are lots of conservative Christians who feel that physical punishment is supported by scripture. No matter that a couple of verses from Proverbs are slim pickins'. It is an enduring mandate for punishment, from God no less.

This situation got me thinking about my childhood. My father, a minister, seemed to get great satisfaction out of physically punishing his two sons. He had a sawed-off yardstick which was the usual form of punishment, and it actually accompanied us on vacation. Fun times! When the stick was not readily available an open hand or fist would do, and we received many slaps and punches over the years, often without warning, and for misdemeanors that weren't always immediately evident to us. My mother hated to see us knocked around and did everything she could to protect us. We were both sneaky and fearful as a result. This didn't stop until my younger brother, a teen at the time, informed our dad that if he ever punched him again he would clean his clock. That brought the physical punishment to an end.

For years into adulthood we joked together about this reign of terror, then we realized how abusive it had been. I have always been reluctant to tell others --hey, this was my parent. Even now with my father long dead I don't like admitting that he did this. But I know now how wrong it was. The euphemism "spanking" doesn't begin to sanitize what this really was. I must add that it was common for children to be spanked in my era, but that didn't make it right.

As we raised our three children we quickly concluded that spanking was an expression of parental frustration, not an appropriate form of discipline. It is not right and it is not Godly to beat on our kids. God is a loving parent, and loving parents don't abuse. Yes, children can drive us to distraction at times. And yes, we may express frustration and anger inappropriately. But there is no justification for physical violence against the vulnerable, including children. I would like to think we did better as parents, and I'm confident our kids will do better than we did. I already see that with our grandson.

Thoughts?

Jesus was a Refugee

God makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; God loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)

• “Long ago I gave these commands to my people: ‘You must see that justice is done, and must show kindness and mercy to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners who live among you, or anyone else in need.” (Zechariah 7:9)

• I am the Lord, and I consider all people the same, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living among you. (Numbers 15:16)

• See that justice is done – help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows. (Isaiah 1:17)

Canada has a population of 35 million people and Sweden has a population just under 10 million. Canada has received 200 Syrian refugees to date and Sweden has welcomed 30,000. Why is this? While the Canadian government has denounced the barbarity of the Assad regime we seem unwilling to respond to the plight of those deeply affected. This is what foreign affairs minister John Baird said after visiting refugee camps:

It is tremendously important for the world to see the victims of Assad's repression and to see the conditions in those camps and be inspired to do more. I can't imagine how horrifying it is to flee your home and risk life and limb for you and your family to escape this regime.

Yet, whenever government ministers including Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander  are asked about our commitment to admitting Syrians they are vague and evasive. Now we hear that Syrian refugees are flooding into Turkey out of fears of attack in their camps.

We have a long history in this country of acting decisively to welcome refugees and churches have often been at the forefront of those efforts. There is lots of evidence that federal policy is making it more difficult for faith groups to do this work.  
http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2014/09/22/canadas_refugee_sponsorship_program_under_threat.html
The biblical mandate is clear about caring for the vulnerable, including foreigners. And Jesus was a refugee as a child. Should we become more vocal as denominations and congregations, and willing to be involved in sponsorship? Just as important, do we expect our governments to welcome the stranger?

Religions for Creation Care

I am deeply disheartened but not at all surprised that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in New York City today and yet has chosen not to participate in the United Nations Summit on Climate Change. I will go a step further and say that I am ashamed by his indifference to this central issue of our time. He can huff and puff all he wants about the Ukraine and ISIS at the UN on Thursday, but climate change poses a far greater threat to our global security. And apparently in his eyes more than 300,000 marchers in New York and roughly 600,000 around the planet don't count for much.

I am grateful that on Sunday and through this week leaders and representatives from various religious groups are involved in a number of events In NYC related to care for Creation and the justice issues which are part of this discussion. A Huffington Post article describes one event:

This Interfaith Summit on Climate Change will...gather 30 faith leaders such as Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslims, Sikh and Indigenous religious leaders to discuss how people of faith need to take this issue of climate change seriously and at the forefront of their agenda. Part of the statement from 30 faith leaders...reads:

"... share the conviction that the threats of climate change cannot be curbed effectively by a single State alone but only by the enhanced co-operation of the community of States, based on principles of mutual trust, fairness and equity, precaution, intergenerational justice and common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities. We urge the rich to support the poor and the vulnerable significantly and everywhere, especially in Least Developed Countries, Small Island States and Sub-Saharan Africa. Significant support would include generous financial resources, capacity building, technology transfer and other forms of co-operation."

There is another event underway at Union Theological Seminary called Religions for the Earth. In conjunction with these two events there was a worship service this past Sunday in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, one of the largest church structures in the world. I would have loved to be there for that multifaith worship experience.



Are you encouraged that religions can find common ground in the cause of care for the planet and justice for those most affected by climate change? Have you views shifted through the years. Is this a Godly cause?

Climate March & God's Creation

The weather this afternoon is supposed to be rainy, with a chance of thunderstorms. Wouldn't you know that there is a walk/march planned for Belleville! It will be this town's expression of the People's Climate March, a global effort to bring awareness to the pressing issue of climate change. Well over a thousand rallies and walks have been scheduled and already there have been large turn-outs in cities such as Melbourne, Australia.

The march in New York City has been spearheaded by Bill McKibben and the 350.org movement. They are planning on at least a quarter of a million participants and everyone from movie stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio to the  Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, will take part. All of this is in anticipation of the UN Climate Summit which will begin on Tuesday in New York. http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/

As Christians who acknowledge our God as Creator, we are called into a discipleship of care for the planet. We have not done this well, and creation is groaning under the weight of human influence.

We plan to walk here in Belleville, even if it is raining. Ruth, my wife, commented (tongue in cheek) that there is no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. We'll find out!

Will you be walking somewhere today? Is there much point? Is this our challenge as Christians?

Human Rights in the 'Peg

Another day, another museum opening. This one, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is in Winnipeg, and it is a public/private collaboration. thttp://museumforhumanrights.ca/

 It is the brainchild and passion of the late media mogul Izzy Asper. As with so many projects, the cost ballooned and funding was a challenge. Some critics say that it is a tribute to Asper from his family, funded by taxpayers. The purpose and focus of the museum has been under constant scrutiny. Its defenders claim that it is a museum of human rights, not human wrongs.

It has also been pointed out that this shiny new monument to human rights stands less than a kilometre from the place where the body of First Nations teen, Tina Fontaine was found. The Assiniboine River is being searched and dragged for the bodies of other women. Protesters have picketed the entrance to the museum as a reminder that this country can do a much better job of protecting the rights of aboriginal women and to express their anger at being left out of the opening ceremonies. 

/for all this, I would certainly like to visit this museum, although from all accounts a few hours or a day there will be challenging. As a white male born in Canada after WW2 I am aware that I have led a life of security and privilege. I don't want to go to ramp up my guilt --God knows there are plenty of folk who would like to help do that for me. But as with the holocaust museums I have visited in a number of cities, including Jerusalem, I need the reminders of what happens when groups in society are marginalized and stigmatized. 

Does it make sense for Canada to have a human rights museum? Are you concerned about the controversy? Would you visit?

Art and Islam

Yesterday the Aga Khan Islamic Museum opened its doors to the public in Toronto. https://www.agakhanmuseum.org/ The Aga Khan is a billionaire philanthropist whose various projects help lift people out of poverty, build understanding between races and religions, and support the arts. This museum is a $300 million celebration of Islamic art through the centuries. Toronto was chosen because of its diversity, and the peaceful and welcoming character of our nation. The museum is set on seven hectares of land adjacent to the Don Valley Parkway and includes a mosque as well as the galleries. There are 1000 pieces now gathered from other collections around the world.



I am itching to get to the museum. As you will have figured out, I have strong convictions about art as a spiritual expression and I am sure this collection will provide insight, a window, into Islam. Unfortunately the great Islamic flowering of science, art, and architecture has been overshadowed in the past century by fundamentalists. It seems that fundamentalists in all religions are suspicious of artistic expression, as though it competes with faith rather than giving it visual power.

Have you heard about this new museum? Would you be comfortable visiting it, even though it may not reflect your religious faith?

Calvary

Remember not, Lord, our offences,
		nor the offences of our forefathers;
		neither take thou vengeance of our sins:
		spare us, good Lord, spare thy people,
		whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood,
		and be not angry with us for ever. Book of Common Prayer

Tuesday evening we sat with about a dozen others in the expansive Empire Theatre in Belleville to watch the film, Calvary. It is about a Roman Catholic priest in a small Irish town, Father James, who attempts to live the gospel in the midst of the desperate brokenness of the residents. Brendan Gleeson does a magnificent job of portraying a decent, moral, deeply spiritual pastoral presence in the community. You may not know Gleeson as an actor even though he has been in all kinds of movies including the Harry Potter series.

Near the beginning of the film we see folk receiving the eucharist at mass, but discover that so many of them have separated the rituals of religion from daily living. And then in the confessional booth Father James is told that he will be killed by a man who was repeatedly raped as a child by the local priest. The perpetrator is dead, so the victim has decided to murder the innocent priest who listens on the other side of the confessional screen...but not yet.

The story as a whole is unevenly told but Gleeson carries the narrative with his performance. In an interesting twist Father James has an adult daughter because after his wife died he entered the priesthood. They have a loving but complicated relationship and when, lovelorn, she comes to visit they have strained heart-to-heart conversations. He offers that he feels values are more important than sins, and when she asks which value is most important he names forgiveness.

The biblical phrase that came to mind as I watched was "behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world," John the Baptizer's words when he sees Jesus. We watch and wait for the outcome of this unusual tale. Will the victim become a murderer? Will the resolve of the priest falter so that he flees for his life? What form will forgiveness take?

I would encourage you to see this film, even though not many did the other evening.  Have any of you seen it? One blog reader sat with us, so I know she has! Are you intrigued?

Scotland Forever!

This past Sunday morning I mentioned that I had been corresponding with a Church of Scotland minister who attended worship at Bridge St. UC back in May. At the end of her email she asked for prayers as the citizens of Scotland voted on independence. Scotland has been part of the United Kingdom for over 200 years but the polls suggest that this will be a close vote. For the longest time it seemed that Britain was almost indifferent about the referendum, perhaps convinced that there wasn't a chance that Scots would choose succession. Now there is strange mixture of dire warnings about the economic consequences of leaving and "don't go, we love you and will give you whatever you want!" Come to think of it, it sounds a lot like the Quebec referendums, doesn't it?

We Canadians have strong Scottish ties to be sure. I mean, we have a province called New Scotland (Nova Scotia.) We lived there for a time and it felt like all Scotland, all the time. Honestly, just about every wedding I performed had a piper.

Canadians also have strong Presbyterians roots, even in our United Church of Canada. I have served two St. Andrew's congregations during my ministry, a reminder that they were Presbyhooligan at the time of union. In one of them the gospel lesson was in Gaelic every St. Andrew's day, read by a guy in a kilt. I even married the daughter of a Presbyterian moderator! Many of the classic hymns of our faith came out of the Scottish psalter, and I'm partial to them. There are lots of reasons to care about the outcome of this vote.

I realize that I'm conservative in this regard. I'm open to change in a lot of things, and we know that scores of countries have gained dependence from the former British Empire. Somehow I'm partial to the U.K., but I might feel differently if I were a Scot, or Welsh, or Irish.

Have you formed an opinion on this one? Should the Scottish people pull a William Wallace/Braveheart and choose independence or death? Should Mel Gibson be permanently barred from Scotland? Let's pray for the outcome.

Evil's Expiry Date

Does evil have an expiry date? That question resurfaces for me every time I see a story about the identification of a perpetrator of evil years, even decades, after their crimes. Last week an elderly German was charged with murder for his role as a guard at the Auschwitz death camp.

A 93-year-old man has been charged with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder for serving as an SS guard at the Nazis’ Auschwitz death camp, prosecutors said Monday. Oskar Groening is accused of helping operate the death camp in occupied Poland between May and June 1944, when some 425,000 Jews from Hungary were brought there and at least 300,000 almost immediately gassed to death. In his job dealing with the belongings stolen from camp victims, prosecutors said among other things he was charged with helping collect and tally money that was found.  "He helped the Nazi regime benefit economically, and supported the systematic killings,” state prosecutors in the city of Hannover said in a statement.

On the one hand I am convinced that we should do everything possible to keep the memory of the Nazi atrocities alive. Anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head and earlier in September there was a rally in Germany attended by religious leaders as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel entitled 'Stand Up! Jew Hatred - Never Again!' It was a response to the rise of anti-Jewish incidents out of the conflict in Israel/Palestine.



On the other, what will be accomplished by the trial of a very old man? Three others have been charged in the last year, but two are mentally incompetent and the third died. I am not a victim of these atrocities or the descendent of someone who was so I don't know what satisfaction would come from these charges and a conviction.

What do you think?  To my mind there is never an expiry date on evil, but does the time come when bringing a person to conventional justice no longer makes sense, or has effect?

Blessings, not Burdens

A Bridge St. mother of three children with Down Syndrome passed on a newspaper clipping to me with the comment "I'm glad that this hasn't been our experience here." It was about a priest who suggested to a mother of an autistic child that it wasn't appropriate for them to come to worship and cause a disruption.

I have served in congregations where there have been children who don't fit what some folk figure are the norms of good behavior for church, whatever that means. If anyone understands the importance of decorum in worship it is the worship leader. Worship and "junior church" are group activities, and entering the holy often involves silence. but as the years have gone by I have changed my own outlook about who is a blessing rather than a burden. The truth is that while children with challenges such as autism and Asperger's can be disruptive, so can children who have no identifiable or diagnosed conditions and who are well aware of what they are doing.

We are learning that there are alternatives to the "eviction notice" approach, or the shunning and critical comments of another day. Recently I heard that a congregation I served has set up a rotation of four adults who work through the Sunday lesson one-on-one with a teen with Asperger's. She is a smart young woman who doesn't always do well in groups. This arrangement gives her an opportunity to be included, to feel important, and to grow in faith. I was so glad to hear that this has happened.

Not all congregations have the human resources to do this, but all can be compassionate and exhibit the love of Christ. One of the three kids with Down gave me the laugh of my summer, although not her parents. One Sunday morning she was annoyed that her breakfast wasn't there when she expected it, so she dialled 911!

All three were in church Sunday, and all three made my day by giving me a hug before worship. We were all blessed by their presence.

Comments?