A 2,000 Year-Old Prayer Room

                                                          Newly revealed Pompeii bath house

                                                             Bath house change room 

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 

But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:5-6 NRSVue

Not long ago new tourist regulations were announced for Pompeii, a World Heritage Site in Italy that attracts 2.5 million visitors a year. It is a Roman town captured in time after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD entombed the community in  an pyroclastic flow, a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter. 

Pompeii has been a place of somewhat morbid fascination for centuries and excavations going house by house, street by street have revealed astonishing aspects of Roman architecture and daily live. When an exhibit of the figures of those caught in this natural disaster visited Toronto and Montreal in 2015/16 it drew more than 600,000 visitors (we went to Montreal). While these were plaster casts of the people who died, essentially the negative images of their figures, it was a solemn experience. 

Pompeii is in the news again as another recently excavated area is the subject of a documentary about a complex of buildings likely a villa owned by one wealthy person. Two skeletons were found in a room, one of a woman in her 30s who was well to do (well nourished, with jewellry) and that of someone who might have been a slave. They may have been seeking refuge from the cataclysm. 

                              A pair of gold and natural pearl earrings found close to the female skeleton

It all sounds amazing but I am really intrigued that one small area, a room painted blue, has been identified as a prayer room. There is no explanation of how the archeologists decided that this was the purpose -- were there indications on the walls? 

Lots of us have particular places inside and outdoors we find conducive for prayer and I tend to do so in my upstairs study, a quiet spot with a view out to two birch trees. When I was still in pastoral ministry I came in to the office fairly early to have some contemplative time and occasionally I actually put a "Prayer in Progress" sign on my door, although that didn't deter some people. 

According to the gospels Jesus took time apart for prayer, and if he needed to do so, why wouldn't we? In the Sermon on the Mount he gives some pointed instruction on personal prayer and contemplation and has harsh words for those who like to strut their prayer stuff, calling them hypocrites. 

While the residents of the villa in Pompeii likely worshipped Roman gods we can appreciate their devotion and take it to heart. two thousand years later. 

Re-Pigeoning our Christian Faith?

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.
 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains;
    your judgments are like the great deep;
    you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.

 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
    All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
 They feast on the abundance of your house,
    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
 For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light.

 O continue your steadfast love to those who know you
    and your salvation to the upright of heart!

                                               Psalm 36:5-10 NRSVue 

This past Sunday the gospel passage told the story of the baptism of Jesus and wrapped up with a dove that descends from the heavens, a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. When I hear that story now the provocative little book When God Was a Bird: Christianity, Animism, and the Re-Enchantment of the World by Mark Wallace comes to mind. There is a heading in the first chapter, The Pigeon God, and with this a reminder that a dove by another name is a pigeon and that all the gospels give this account with the imagery of this rather common bird as God declares that He/She/They is well pleased with Jesus as Beloved Child. 

The daily psalm this morning offers verses from Psalm 36: 5-10 which celebrate the God of steadfast love (mentioned three times) who is present in the heavens and the earth and in all living things. God's salvation is for humans and creatures alike -- all of Creation. And do you notice that we are promised shelter beneath God's wings. 

As something of a bird nerd who delights in the flutter of a chickadees wings and the whoosh of wind through a swan's pinions this enchanted imagery speaks powerfully to me. In truth I figure that if humanity doesn't undergo a "back to the future" conversion, reconnecting and reclaiming a sense of the communion of saints that includes all living things we are in peril. I'm grateful for these scripture reminders and many more that tell this truth of God's steadfast, redeeming love if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. Shall we "re-pigeon" our Christian faith?!

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

                              Luke 3:21-22 NRSVue

                                       Peter Paul Rubens. Baptism of the Lord, oil on canvas, 1605.

Homelessness at a Tipping Point

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 

                                             Matthew 25: 34-36 NRSVue

It has been cold enough in our part of southern Ontario that there is enough ice for skating on sites designated by the city that are along the Bay of Quinte. Ruth is a happy skater. It's also frosty enough that we've bundled up for our walks, complete with snow pants and heavier mittens because even a slight breeze can be bone-chilling. We love being outdoors, even in this weather, and we would be happy if it persisted for a few weeks. Winter should be winter. Amen. 

We can't imagine, though, having no option other than "living rough" in this weather, or being forced into a shelter or warming centre, perhaps couch-surfing with a friend. Yet we've learned through a recent survey by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario that this is the reality for at least 81,000 people in Ontario, a 25% increase since 2022. It may be a lot more because the unhoused or homeless are a challenge to count when they don't have a fixed address and tend to move around alot. According to a CBC piece: 

There are now 25 per cent more people living in shelters or on the streets compared to two years ago, the report found. AMO policy director Lindsay Jones said they knew the problem was widespread, but still found the total number of homeless people to be "staggering." 

"To put the numbers in context, that's about the same size as the city of Peterborough," she said in an interview."Imagine everyone in Peterborough being homeless or everybody in Sault Ste. Marie being homeless, that's the scale of what we're talking about."

To bring this even closer to home, the cities of Trenton and Belleville combined (not the regional municipalities) are between 85 and 90 thousand. 

When we ramble about locally we see tents and encampments in places they didn't exist when we moved here 11 1/2 years ago. There are regularly tents and shanties up against Bridge St. UC in downtown Belleville, something that was unimaginable until the pandemic hit. There are now about 1,400 encampments in and around communities across the province.

Municipalitiies are struggling to respond and feel that other levels of government are deaf to their requests for funding. Ontario premier Doug Ford's response is that these people should get jobs when the reality is that even those who have work can't find affordable housing. His government introduced legislation to impose fines of up to $10,000 on tresspassers who have nothing. It is so absurd it should be laughable but this seems to be the Dougie way.  

We can't turn away from what municipalities are claiming is a tipping point. This can't be "us and them" and we can't pretend we don't know -- just ask Jesus. 

Still Praying for a Ceasefire

I've waited to write a blog today because of expected news about a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. If this finally occurs it will be an answer to protests and prayers that have continued for 15 months. 

 Six months, almost to the day, from the beginning of our visit to Israel in 2023 the terrorist organization Hamas began an attack on southern Israel from Gaza. Within hours 1200 Israelis were dead and hostages were hurried back into the tunnels of Gaza. Many innocent people died, some of them who had worked for mutual understanding and peace for years. 

Israel retaliated almost immediately and the destruction of the Gaza territory has continued  unabated except for a brief ceasefire to exchange hostages and prisoners. A report just issued claims that about 64,000 Gazans have died, a significantly higher number than enumerated by the Palestinian health authority. By my math that's more than 50 Palestinians for every Israeli killed and thousands of the dead are children. At the same time hospitals, schools, places of worship, museums and archives have been obliterated. It is Winter in Gaza and people are living in tents with barely enough food to survive. People die every day, some from military attacks, some from starvation. 

We had a wonderful time in Israel as Ruth's sister and brother-in-law, residents in Israel for more than 30 years, took us from one end of the country to the other, at times passing close to Gaza as we travelled. They now live in the United States, having retired, but they were traumatized by what unfolding in the months before they returned to North Ameria, 

We saw them last week when they were in Canada and we chose not to discuss what has transpired because we have very different outlooks. We're all Christians and we all decry anti-Semitism, but Ruth and I are appalled by the level of destruction in Gaza and feel passionately about the Israeli response. I suppose we have a shared desire that this senseless loss of life come to an end in the land that is so important to the three great monotheistic religions. 

So, we wait, and hope, and pray. Here is the BBCs report today on what the ceasefire might entail: 

What could be in a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas?

It is hoped that a ceasefire deal will mean an agreement to stop the war which has been raging in Gaza.It is also expected to see an exchange of hostages and prisoners.Hamas seized 251 hostages when it attacked Israel in October 2023. It is still holding 94 captive, although Israel believes that only 60 are still alive.Israel is expected to release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some jailed for years, in return for the hostages.

How would the ceasefire work? 

This ceasefire is expected to happen in three stages, once a deal is announced. Details are still being ironed out. Until an agreement is finalised, it is subject to change.

First stage 

A Palestinian official told the BBC that in the first stage, 34 hostages - expected to be civilians - would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. Three hostages would be released straight away, with the rest of the exchange taking place over six weeks.During this stage, Israeli troops would also begin pulling out of populated areas in Gaza.The Palestinian official said detailed negotiations for the second and third stages would begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire. 

Second stage 

In the second stage, the remaining hostages - soldiers and reservists - would be released, in return for a number of Palestinian prisoners.Of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel is thought to have agreed to release, about 190 are serving sentences of 15 years or more. An Israeli official told the BBC that those convicted of murder would not be released into the occupied West Bank.During this stage, Israel would also allow displaced people now in the south of Gaza to return to the north.Almost all of Gaza's 2.3m population have had to leave their homes because of the fighting.

Third stage 

The third and final stage would involve the reconstruction of Gaza - something which could take years. The Israeli official said Israeli forces would remain in a buffer, or security, zone inside Gaza during any ceasefire.

Hospitals for the Soul

 

Monastery of Christ in the Desert

Christ in the Desert Chapel 

 In the morning, while it was still very dark, [Jesus] got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him.  When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.”

Mark 1:35-37 NRSVue

1 Come and find the quiet centre in the crowded life we lead,

find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:

clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see 

all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.

Voices United 374 

On Friday I was in this curious bricks-and mortar retail store that sells books and little else. Imagine that such a place still exists! I was seeking Aflame: Learning from Silence,  the latest by Pico Iyer, a travel writer who has now written a couple of books on the contemplative life. I discovered that while they had it on order it won't be released until later this month. 

Lo and behold, Saturday's Globe and Mail newspaper -- I still get one newsprint paper a week, Luddite that I am -- had a feature article by none other than Pico Iyer. The Opinion section caption under the above photo was Soul Places: What we'll lose as monasteries disappear. The full page piece within had the bold headline HOSPITALS FOR THE SOUL. The article began: 

To get to the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, just past Georgia O’Keefe’s Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico, you have to bump for 13 miles on barely paved tracks. Signs warn of “FALLING ROCKS” and “FLASH FLOODS” and the update posted by the guestmaster monk online alerts visitors each day to treacherous road conditions. “All-wheel drive vehicles are advised...”

Some of you may recall that I have written about visiting Christ in the Desert monastery and the Ghost Ranch retreat house called Casa del Sol some years ago. In fact, years ago while on what was largely a silent retreat at Casa del Sol -- in January --I set out in my rental car without either all-wheel drive or snow tires to drive those 20+ kilometres to Christ in the Desert, passing an SUV with both where the driver was dealing with a flat tire. I did stop and ask if he needed assistance and he assured me that AAA was on the way!

 This quixotic venture may have been bordering on madness but it was a remarkable experience into the silence and astonishing beauty of the Chama River valley with a soupcon of mild terror. 

            A reproduction of this painting of the Chama River by Georgia O'Keeffe is in our home

Iyer reflects on his experiences in various places of spiritual renewal, so many of them connected to time-honoured religious orders: 

Over more than three decades, I’ve stayed in monasteries in Japan, in Western Australia, in southern England and in California. Indeed, I’ve made more than 100 solitary retreats just in the New Camaldoli Benedictine hermitage in Big Sur, Calif. – sometimes even staying with the monks in their enclosure.

I never come away from the place anything other than refreshed, clarified and full of joy; though I’m not a Christian, the monks open their hearts and doors to me without hesitation, faithful to St. Benedict’s call to hospitality. At the same time, I’m a perfect example of what I increasingly worry about; I’m happy to stay for a few days, offering the small voluntary donation the monastery suggests, but I’ve made no formal commitment to a place that has changed my life. Over the 33 years I’ve been staying there, I’ve seen the number of oblates – lay people who vow to honour the congregation’s principles as much as they can in everyday life – surge from 700 to 800; in that same time, the number of full-time monks has shrunk to almost single digits.

We’re surrounded, of course, by ever more New Age sanctuaries, retreat centres and yoga-inflected spas, yet what will be lost, I often wonder, if formal monasteries and convents based on lifelong commitments close down? Unlike new spiritual centres, they are not as a rule centred around a single teacher, a doctrine every guest is encouraged to follow, or some theory of existence discovered five years ago; they’re tested millennia-old establishments that don’t depend on one fallible human or yesterday’s revelations. 

This resonates with my sensibilities when I stepped away from busy/hectic ministry to recollect myself in solitude and prayer. So often in these holy places, far from the madding crowd, I felt enveloped in the presence of God the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. They were truly "hospitals for the soul", noting that both hospital and hospitality come from the same root and hospitality is a Benedictine imperative.  

 While the range of my experience doesn't come close to Pico Iyer's I have been on retreat in Britain and France, along with a number of places in the United States and Canada. I was able to do this because of the funding available as a United Church minister through congregations and the denomination and I am very grateful. I appreciate what he is musing about here regarding the profound sense of tradition underlying the immediate gift of these settings, as well as the conundrum about the ongoing existence of such places. 

I haven't spent time in a monastery or convent or retreat centre since retirement, although we have intentionally sought out prayerful silence through these years. I am grateful for the reminder by Pico Iyer and now I'll need to decide whether to purchase yet another book...you know which way I'm leaning. 

Baptism on a Frosty Morning

 

The baptism of Jesus

As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

We tend to think of the ever-expanding Summer season as a quiet time in congregational life but these next few weeks before the beginning of Lent could be described as the doldrums of the Christian year for liturgical churches. The hangover from Christmas activities, lots of sickness, travel for oldsters, often results in lower attendance and a heapin' helpin' of "whatever."

Into this floats the Baptism of Christ, a Sunday that seemed a bit incongruous to me living in frosty Canada. It conjures up images of a polar bear swim or the crazy Russian tradition of immersion in ice water on the Feast of Epiphany, which is next Sunday in the Orthodox calendar. No thank you. 

There was supposed to be a baptism at Trenton United this morning but illness in the family meant that this sacrament was postponed. Baptisms are few and far between in the United Church these days as our congregations age and fewer younger households feel compelled by extended family expectations to "have the kid done." I baptized lots of children, teens, and some adults where it was a meaningful experience rooted in Christian faith. I was also uneasy at times because it did seem to be a matter of convention or pressure. 

When I served in Halifax I was contacted by a young couple from a wealthy Halifax family living in Toronto about flying in the next weekend to have their newborn baptized. They were not church attenders anywhere, nor did their local family worship with us anymore, but this was their traditional congregation. I suggested that this was a sacrament of commitment and that they might get connected with a faith family in Toronto first, then we could talk, but their sense of entitlement was astonishing. They even suggested that there would be a nice financial contribution to the church if we accommodated them. I was diplomatic but firm. I wonder how John the Baptist would have responded? I notice that the lectionary reading leaves out John's rather un-pastoral "brood of vipers" declaration aimed toward certain religious folk. 

I had many heart-warming and holy moments baptizing little ones and often sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit. I certainly did wonder many times whether by baptizing babies we had diminished the fire of radical commitment in our desire to model inclusion.  

Polar dip, anyone? 

One of the key elements in The Celebration of Baptism or The Renewal of Baptismal Faith is a declaration of faith made by the candidate or on their behalf.  The baptismal vows offered in this resource reflect an understanding of baptism as both a gift from God and call to Christian discipleship.  While the order and wording of the vows may vary according to context, it is important that they reflect the following core elements:

a. profession of faith in the triune God;

b. commitment to seek justice and resist evil;

c. commitment to follow the way of Jesus Christ;

d. commitment to the mission and ministry of the Church.

from Baptism Preamble in Celebrate God's Presence UCC

The Wampum Belt & an Openness to Learning

Lots of United Church folk have participated in the Kairos Blanket Exercise (KBE), an experiential teaching tool that explores the historic and contemporary relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the land we now know as Canada. Developed alongside Indigenous elders and educators the KBE has been offered thousands of times in churches, schools, and community centres.Part of the presentation is about two-row wampum, a wampum belt that symbolizes a treaty agreement betwween Indigenous peoples and European colonizers.

I'm currently reading the book Nation to Nation: A Millenium in North America by Kathleen DuVal. She explores the value of beaded wampum as a form of currency when many European countries had not yet developed standardized currency or accepted gold and silver as literal "coin of the realm." There was no paper money either. Wampum was a sort of legal tender and it was also symbolic of much more in terms of identity and reciprocity. 

Duval points out that when the Dutch supposedly purchased Manhattan from the Munsees in 1626 for $26 worth of beads it was actually a transaction involving wampum. It was the basis for an agreement allowing the Dutch to establish a trading post but the Munsees continued to live there. Rather than this being an example of naive "savages" making a bad economic deal it was meant to establish a good-faith relationship. I've never heard this explained before and it is reminder of the way history is often written by colonizers.

Those of us from European backgrounds, including religious institutions, have so much to learn about relationships with Indigenous peoples and the opportunities are there, if we open to exploring them. 

In August of 2012, at the 41st General Council, The United Church of Canada acknowledged the presence and spirituality of Aboriginal peoples in the United Church by revising the church's crest. 

The crest changes include incorporating the colours often associated with the Aboriginal Medicine Wheel. The Medicine Wheel, which reflects respect for diversity and interdependence, is often represented in the four traditional colours of yellow, red, black, and white, which incorporate important teachings from the four directions, the four stages of life, and the four seasons. The placement of these colours will vary according to the traditions of the nation. 

The Medicine Wheel teaches us to seek balance in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the circle of life. The crest changes also include the addition of the Mohawk phrase "Akwe Nia'Tetewá:neren" [aw gway--  nyah day day waw-- nay renh], which means "All my relations."