Rosh Hashanah Forgiveness

 

What is Rosh Hashanah? 

Rosh Hashanah, meaning "head of the year" in Hebrew, is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. During Rosh Hashanah, Jewish people around the world ask God for forgiveness for mistakes they’ve made over the past year and remind themselves not to repeat those mistakes in the coming year.

Today marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holidays and as you can see Rosh Hashanah involves introspection, asking God for forgiveness, and commitment to a different path, While this is an important Jewish celebration those of us who are not Jews might ask what this means for us in terms of the persistent anti-Jewish sentiments and hatreds which continue to plague our societies. 

There is is disturbing evidence all around us that anti-Semitism continues with sometimes blatant, sometimes more guarded words and actions. Added to this is the conflation of Judaism as a practiced religion, Judaism as a cultural identity, Zionism as a movement, and the state of Israel as a national entity. Sorting through all this can be confusing yet it is important to do so. 

Jesus, the Jew, understood the power of hatred and enjoined his followers to chose love. This is an important message today and every day. We can examine our own hearts and minds and seek forgiveness for stereotypes but also for indifference. 

Radical Hospitality at the Edge of the World

                                                                     Gander runways following 911 

 Let mutual affection continue.  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 

Hebrews 13: 1-2 NRSVue

Today is the 25th anniversary of a day of infamy when terrorists attacked key sites in the United States, including the two World Trade Towers. I recall vividly the custodian of the church I served in Halifax, Nova Scotia, coming to my study to report what he'd heard of the unfolding story. The staff gathered to watch the seemingly incomprehensible collapse of the towers. That evening our Presbytery met for its regular meeting and we discussed how our congregations might participate in providing shelter to the occupants of planes forced to land at Halifax airport, although that proved to be unnecessary. 

Through this day there will be special events in Gander, Newfoundland, to mark this solemn occasion, Gander, with fewer than 10,000 residents, along with surrounding communities sheltered 6.000 bewildered passengers from dozens of jet planes which landed at Gander airport. Over the next few days these communities exhibited extraordinary hospitality, providing food and shelter and remarkable human kindness to these frightened visitors. 

 My first pastoral charge was not far from Gander and our son was born in the Gander hospital. We spend time almost yearly on islands an hour and a half from Gander and land at the same airport with its one, small baggage carousel.  It feels more like a bus station than an international airport.  We have tried to imagine the chaos of those first few hours yet a small miracle unfolded. Locals welcomed strangers into their homes, grocery stores provided food for communal meals, parties were organized for children. There was no expectation of financial recompense. 

Beverley Bass, the pilot of an American Airlines flight that diverted to Gander, Nfld., on 9/11, greets retired air traffic controller Patrick Woodford at the local airport this week.

A couple of years ago we saw the musical Come From Away about these events in Gander and it was moving. The guy who runs the food concession in the theatre came onto the stage before the production to speak about those tumultuous days. 

Many of the stranded will be in Gander today, people who are immensely grateful for the kindness they experienced. They are appalled by the harsh treatment Canada and Canadians are receiving from the current American administration. It's as though we are enemies rather than loyal neighbours and the tone and actions are deeply alienating. 

One of the chief offenders is Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, a belligerent flack whose presence at today's commemoration offends many, me included -- he's no angel. Yet I am reminded by scripture and by Jesus that we are to welcome strangers and to love our enemies. Nearly all religions include hospitality as a virtue but Jesus instructs us to practice radical love for those who we would prefer to shun. I'll probably be working on this directive for the rest of my life.

 I pray that all goes well in Gander today and that this commemoration of astonishing hospitality transcends politics. 

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?

                          Matthew 5: 43-46 NRSVue

Canada, the United Church, and the West Bank

A few days ago Canada, France, and Great Britain announced that they would be banning products from the West Bank, the supposedly Palestinian enclave within Israel. I say supposedly because there has been a relentless program of building Israeli settlements within the West Bank. These settlements are often populated by militant Jewish settlers who harass their Palestinian neighbours, sometimes forcing them to depart farms and properties owned for generations. Other Palestinians live on land they settled after being forcibly removed from villages at the time of Israel's formation. 

The United Nations has deemed these Israeli settlements illegal but they continue to be developed. Since the 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel the settlers have become increasingly violent and the Israeli military literally stands by and watches. The United States has decried these attacks and Prime Minister Netanyahu says they are unacceptable but this concern is a lie. The IDF could stop this almost immediately.

While these decisions by the three countries made the news, including predictable condemnation on Israel's part, there are other countries which have taken similar steps. The Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Norway, which have either banned goods or are in the process of doing so. Other countries including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden are considering their own actions.

This is all important but should have happened years ago. United Church members may recall that in 2012 the General Council of the UCC voted to boycott products made in Israeli settlements. Companies such as SodaStream and Ahava are situated in the West Bank. In 2013 the United Church undertook a program called Unsettling Goods: Choosing Peace in Palestine and Israel, specific to West Bank products. 

The United Church was criticized and even vilified by some here in Canada. I was still active in congregational ministry at the time and I was contacted in various ways by individuals and organizations who condemned our stance. I was more than willing to defend our actions. 

At times it seems as though the UCC could be renamed the Church of the Cheshire Cat as we shrink in membership and number of congregations, a ghost of our former presence. Yet we have been bold and courageous in so many areas including ordaining women in the 1930s, offering apologies to Indigenous peoples for residential schools, including LGBTQ2S persons in our life and work, and choosing to ban plastic products at denominational meetings. In every instance we were mocked or dismissed or condemned as heretics.

 Hmm. While I struggled with some of these decisions at the time I wouldn't change any of them now.

World Peace and the Korean Peninsula

Ecumenical Prayer service for Peace and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula in Gospel Church in Seoul, August 2019.

 

Photo: Grégoire de Fombelle/WCC

There is an important event underway in South Korea, what is described as an International Ecumenical Peace Convocation. The theme is World Peace and the Korean Peninsula. The Church as a Community of Healing, Reconciliation, and Peacebuilding. 

You are probably aware that North Korea and South Korea have been divided since the 1950s after the conclusion of a war in which Canada participated and more than 500 Canadian military personnel died. 

North Korea continues to be a totalitarian regime cut off from most of the world while South Korea is a democracy with a robust Christian community of about 14.5 million. Over the years there have been tentative efforts toward reconciliation and family reunification but this has been a difficult road. 

In 2022 the United Church was invited to participate in an ecumenical appeal where 10,000 of our members would sign a petition for peace on the Korean Peninsula. The United Church had a missionary presence in South Korea for a long time but eventually renounced all properties run by the denomination and developed a different relationship with the churches there. While there are admirable goals for the petition it didn't seem to get much attention in the UCC and didn't meet the goal. I signed it but I really wondered why given the current North Korean regime. Hey, sometimes the gesture matters as much for oneself as for the outcome.

 Here are the main points:

End the Korean War and establish a peace agreement. 

Create a Korean Peninsula and a world free from nuclear weapons and nuclear threat. 

 Resolve the conflict with dialogue and cooperation instead of sanctions and pressure. 

 Break from the vicious cycle of the arms race and invest in human security and environmental sustainability. 

The irony is that the De-militarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas is heavily armed and guarded yet has become an ecological "ark" where many species flourish without human interference. 

Will peace ever prevail on the Korean Peninsula? God only knows. 

A Fair World Requires a Fair Map

 

Amnesty International

@amnesty

The UN voted in favour of a resolution to formally phase out the commonly used 16th century Mercato world map. The resolution rightfully acknowledges that the map’s distortions contribute to a ‘symbolic minimisation’ of Africa, perpetuating historical biases. The resolution encourages governments, schools, tech companies and international organizations to use the Equal Earth projection going forward, which depicts Africa and other continents accurately. In the words of Togo’s foreign minister Robert Dussey who spearheaded the resolution, "a fair world begins with a fair map."

1 God's got the whole world in his hands.

God's  got the whole world in his hands.
God's got the whole world in his hands.
God's got the whole world in his hands.

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
    the world, and those who live in it,
2 for he has founded it on the seas
    and established it on the rivers.

                        Psalm 24:1-2 NRSVue

I remember when back in the early 1970s a new world map was created and presented called the Peter's Projection. Most of my generation had grown up with the Mercator Projection developed in the 16th century by a Flemish mapmaker of that name. What is now known as the Gall-Peter's Projection offered a more accurate depiction of different parts of the planet and it was hailed by many organizations, including Christian denominations such as the United Church. Even still,  Africa was undersized in comparison to other continents. 

There is a proposal for adopting a more accurate global map called the Equal Earth Projection. Here are the first paragraphs from a New York Times piece: 

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday endorsed a world map that depicts the size of Africa more accurately than the map most commonly used now.

The assembly approved a resolution favoring the Equal Earth projection, a map that supporters say shows the true size of countries, over the familiar Mercator map, which shrinks regions near the Equator. It passed with 164 votes in favor and six abstentions, according to the United Nations.

The only nation that voted against the resolution was the United States, which said the map promoted an “ideological agenda” and was a distraction from the “genuine problems of international peace, prosperity or good relations.”

While it is bizarre that the United States would object to honest and fair depiction of the planet, honesty and fairness seem to be low on the agenda for the current administration.

One might figure that any nation desiring justice, especially those that claim to be rooted in the Judeo/Christian tradition would support this development. We live in a time when African nations are stepping forward to challenge the colonial past and asset themselves on the world stage. Perhaps it's the ugly slavery past that rankles the US.

I'll be interested to see how faith communities including Christian denominations respond to this UN proposal, if they do at all. Christians should always have an ideological agenda based on justice and equality. 

A Divine Vision of Meaningful Labour

                                            Christ in the Carpenter's Shop -- Gerrit van Honthorst

 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.  On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” 

                                            Mark 6: 1-3 NRSVue

We were part of the congregation at Trenton United yesterday and as is usually the case in many churches on the extended Labour Day Weekend there wasn't a big crowd on hand. Still, Rev. Isaac presided for our worship while Dianne was the music leader, with help with some friends, and it was a thoughtful service all round. Lots of people work on holiday weekends and we hope that they are adequately compensated for their labour. 

The reason we celebrate Labour Day today is to honour meaningful work and those who were committed to protecting the rights of workers. During my years of ministry I took Monday as a day off and no one ever suggested that I should receive Tuesday as well on our so-called long weekends...but I'm not bitter. There have been efforts to establish a union for clergy and other church workers in the United Church but the movement never gained traction. 

As Christ-followers we remind ourselves that God chose to be with us as a human, a premise that is preposterous to many but it is part of the appeal of Christianity to me. And he had a job, identified as carpenter in the verses above. There are plenty of paintings of Jesus apprenticing for this trade with his father Joseph but poor Joe doesn't get a family mention here in Mark. 

I preached on the theme of work on a number of Labour Day Weekend Sundays and approached the subject from different perspectives. What would I say in 2026? Maybe I would reflect on the rise and some would argue the threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to honest human labour. 

Some pundits are sounding the caution that AI will result in the disappearance of tens of  millions of jobs world-wide and create a crisis for those who are approaching the labour market. Some billionaires are open in speculating that AI will change their industries and shrink their workforces. There is no sense that they consider those job losses as unethical or immoral. Perhaps they're too busy building rockets and buying castles. 

I'm grateful that Pope Leo's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, considers what lies ahead with AI. The irony that the quote above was shared on X is not lost on me. The complexities of these new developments in artificial intelligence make may make the notion of traditional trades such as carpentry seem almost quaint yet communities of faith do need to ponder the ethics of technology. 

While this may seem overwhelming we are called to be discerning and faithful in every "brave new world" we find ourselves in. I may sit outside on this glorious day and ponder it all. Happy Labour Day!