The Pen is Mightier...

I am inclined to write letters and emails to various government agencies and departments expressing my concerns about expenditures and matters of justice or injustice. I have done so as an individual, a leader in a congregation, and as the co-chair of the Mission, Outreach & Advocacy committee of my former United Church presbytery. Sometimes it feels like "spitting into the wind," and I have found that the current federal government deigns not to respond to correspondence, even when it comes from an official body. I continue though as an aspect of my Christian practice. We are called to justice and advocacy of the marginalized, and this is one very small way to take action.

Of course leaders are more inclined to respond if you approve of their actions. Here is a response from Minister Deb Matthews in Ontario:

 

 

Dear Reverend Mundy:

 Thank you for your email regarding our government's decision to re-instate basic health services for refugee claimants. I'm encouraged by your kind words of support for our decision.

It's very gratifying to know that Ontarians, like you, share my belief that Canada was built on the values of inclusion and mutual support and that we are stronger as a country when we work together.   I can assure you that we remain committed to protecting the health of those who choose to live in Ontario and our health care system will not turn away those in need of emergency medical treatment.

 Following the changes to the Interim Federal Health Program, we urged the federal government to do the right thing and reverse its decision.  Previously, I had also written previously to the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister, Health Canada, and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister, Citizenship and Immigration, to express Ontario's serious concerns about their decision to significantly reduce health coverage for refugee claimants.

 I expressed that the province is extremely disappointed that the federal government made this decision without any consultation with its provincial and territorial partners and that we view this move as a serious abdication of their responsibility towards some of the most vulnerable people in our society.  In addition, their decision effectively downloaded federal costs onto the provincial health care system resulting in greater pressure on our health care system for Ontarians.   For example, health care providers had to determine who would receive treatment based on a complex set of rules, or provide care without assurance of compensation.  The complicated patchwork of coverage available to refugee claimants meant physicians were spending too much time navigating the system rather than providing care.

 We were also concerned that a lack of access to health services for refugee claimants could reduce their health outcomes and lead to the over use of emergency rooms, which in turn will place a greater burden on our health care system.

 That's why we introduced the Ontario Temporary Health Program (OTHP) on December 9, 2013.  The OTHP took effect on January 1, 2014, and will ensure that refugee claimants have access to essential and urgent health care.  Consistent with Ontario residents, refugee claimants will obtain health care coverage through the program three months after their refugee application is submitted.  The three-month waiting period will be waived for:

·         Infants and children under the age of 18,

·         Women requiring prenatal and perinatal care, and

·         Individuals who have a life-threatening medical condition requiring immediate medical attention.

 Our government will continue to monitor the impact that the federal government's changes to the Interim Federal Health Program have on Ontario's health care system and will bill the federal government for the OTHP program annually. Again, thank you for taking the time to write and share your support.

Sincerely,

  Deb Matthews Minister

 

 

Is anyone else a letter/email writer? What do you think about doing this?

Carving Reconciliation

Well, there will be no coordinated national inquiry into the disappearance of hundreds of First Nations women across the country, despite the agreement of most provincial premiers that it should happen. The study results were released to parliament on Friday with no recommendation for a commission of inquiry. http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/HOC/Committee/412/IWFA/Reports/RP6469851/412_IWFA_Rpt01_PDF/412_IWFA_Rpt01-e.pdf

Our United Church of Canada has supported the creation of this commission, but the calls from many quarters have gone unheeded.

I was encouraged last week to see one symbolic choice made by a congregation in Victoria BC, FirstMet, which I have visited on a number of occasions. In keeping with the United Church commitment to work toward "right relations" FirstMet made its sanctuary, the space where the congregation worships, available to aboriginal artist Tony Hunt Jr. to carve a totem pole because he was having trouble finding enough elbow room to create this ambitious project.

I love it! The sanctuary at FirstMet has been filled with the fragrance of cedar as Hunt worked toward completion. It was there for everyone in the congregation to see, and there was plenty of outside attention drawn to this act of reconciliation and creativity http://firstmetvictoria.com/8670

What do you think of this initiative? Could it happen in your church?

Is Fasting Foolish?

On Shrove Tuesday a colleague in ministry tweeted, "Is there still people out there who are fasting during Lent? I mean real intelligent people..." His grammar was iffy, but he is a Francophone and his English is far superior to my French.

I responded; "Why demean folk who choose fasting? There is a long biblical & church tradition of restraint before celebration."

I got thinking about it and realized that every major religious tradition includes fasting; Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity. And many streams of Native spirituality includes vision quests where fasting is an element. Can they all be wrong?

Lent is a traditional time for fasting with the notion that in order to truly celebrate the feast we must begin with the fast. Mind you, we may choose to get creative with our fasting, moving beyond food. We are invited into a "carbon fast" reducing our consumption of fossil fuels. Some commit to a technology fast, designating days of the week when they will turn off their not-so-smart phones or abstain from the internet.

Fasting challenges us to curb our insatiable hungers and refocus our hunger for God. We are often relationship-starved when in comes to prayerful intimacy with God, and Lenten fasting allows us to redirect our energies.

What do you think about fasting, or do run in the other direction at the thought?

Um, What's in There?

Recently we were driving along Station St. in Belleville which, as the name suggests, parallels the train tracks and goes past the VIA station. Well it goes past one set of tracks. There is another about two kilometres to the south along the waterfront. I was aware on this drive of what looked to be spankin' new tanker cars -- scores of them. Maybe hundreds. I stopped, waded through the snow, and took photos with my phone because there were so many. I tweeted a photo later and a friend in Bowmanville responded that they had been rolling past her place as well. Alas, I must have deleted the images but they looked a lot like the ones above.

We're told that the number of rail cars carrying crude through Toronto has risen from 500 a year in 2009 to 140,000 in 2013. That's a substantial and rather sobering increase, don't you think?  A lot of that oil is the flammable and explosive Bakken crude coming from the oil field of the same name out West. It is the stuff that transformed sleepy, lovely Lac Megantic Quebec into a living hell. And those tanker cars passed through Toronto and Bowmanville and Belleville and Montreal before eventually creating an inferno which took all those innocent lives.

We live about a kilometre south of one set of tracks and a kilometre south of the other. We have no plan for escape in the event of an emergency, and I'll bet none of our neighbours do either. And I'll wager that none of us know what is produced in the chemical plant near the train station. Maybe we should.

Am I sounding more alarmist by the moment? I don't intend to, but as good stewards of God's earth, perhaps we should ask what moves through our communities and the standards for safety in transporting hazardous goods.

At the same time we might ask what it is about our lifestyles which make it necessary for such volumes of fossil fuels to be transported here, there, and everywhere. Maybe we could all give up denial for Lent! We all like our stuff, and replacing our stuff with new, improved stuff. But there are always consequences to our actions.

Do you know what moves through your community on those trains? Have you attempted to become better informed? Could becoming aware be our Lenten challenge?

Lent & the Choices of Power

In recent months we have heard a fair amount about the forceful and tragic ways in which police have responded to individuals with mental health issues. None of us envies the role of police officers in demanding situations but most of us hope that lethal force will be an option of last resort after exhausting other possibilities.

Yesterday an elderly woman was dropped by taxi at the door of Bridge St. church and our administrator was suddenly dealing with a person whose mental health issues were obvious. She wasn't aggressive but she was loud and delusional. She wanted help, but didn't like the options presented to her. Carol was incredibly patient seeking help which various agencies couldn't offer or the woman wouldn't accept. Eventually the police were called and responded. The two young officers were also patient and kind with a person who swung between despair and verbal aggression. Eventually I convinced her that the officers would get her help at the hospital and they promised that they wouldn't leave her side until she received it.

We had a similar incident with a young woman who came to a concert at Bridge St. at Christmas. She too was delusional and eventually we called the police after exhausting the alternatives. Those two officers were young as well, and they too talked her through the possibilities until she went with them willingly.

I wrote a letter to the police department to thank these officers for the way in which they responded in both instances.

I emerged from my study to respond yesterday as I plugged away at my message for the first Sunday in Lent. We will ponder Jesus' wilderness sojourn and his choice not to give in to the temptations of power, which is such an important theme in our world today.

It occurred to me that all four officers who responded to these two women have been given authority and power in our society but chose a more helpful and non-confrontational approach than what was available to them. I was very impressed.

Thoughts?

The Most Honest of Days

I have written before that I was introduced to Ash Wednesday while at seminary in Toronto, probably in 1978 or 1979. It all seemed odd to me somehow, this business with ashes and people walking around with them on their foreheads. The notion was so Roman Catholic to me, and I didn't take to it readily. I was sure I would never do this in any congregation I served. Except that I have for somewhere between 25 and 30 years. And now I can't imagine not including an Ash Wednesday service in the liturgical year.

In Sara Miles' latest book City of God: Faith in the Streets she writes about beginning a street liturgy Ash Wednesday service in the grubby part of San Francisco where she lives and serves. She talks about being both queasy and thrilled about walking in a procession amidst the panhandlers and druggies, people she knew from the food ministry in her congregation. But of course that was on her turf.  It is a radical approach to get "out there", and of course it works a little better in San Fran than here in the Frozen North, but it still takes chutzpah.

What a reminder that forgiveness for our grubbiness and God's love for us in Christ isn't just a message we discreetly tuck away in a sparsely attended service. It is meant to be acknowledged where we live in what Miles' friend Vera calls the "most honest of days." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLHp8GjUHbI Ultimately Ash Wednesday and Lent invite us into the fullness of life.

I hope you will find an Ash Wednesday service whether you have been going for years or attend for the first time.

Does Ash Wednesday have meaning for you? Are you curious but shy?

Young at Heart

On Sunday morning two elderly women made their way into the sanctuary, canes by their sides. I was in the entrance, greeting, so one of the them said to me "It's March, show us your socks!" I was puzzled for a moment, but she helped me out. I had told the UCW that I was a proud member of the Sock of the Month Club, an outfit that mails colourful and funky socks to subscribers once a month. She figured that it was the first Sunday in March so I should be wearing new socks! I wasn't wearing the latest edition but I showed her the pair I had on, which display the skyline of Austin Texas. She laughed heartily and proclaimed "cool!" Actually, there were four of our seniors who had gathered 'round for the unveiling. I slipped off my shoe so they could get the full effect and the Sock Club label woven into the toe.

I commented to wife Ruth later that we can stereotype our elders when it comes to playfulness and acceptance of that which is different. Sure some seniors are stuffy, but some of the most humourless individuals I've ever met are young, but not young at heart.

This is the first pastorate of the six in my career in ministry which is predominantly seniors. I came from a congregation with lots of children, teens, and their parents. I miss that energy, to be honest. But I am constantly pleasantly surprised by the openness and warmth and humour of these folk at Bridge St. In our study groups they are more than willing to ask questions and to "colour outside the lines"  as we explore what it means to be Christian.  These attributes are not a condition of age.

Comments?

Not Far From God

We have enjoyed several very good films at Belleville's third annual Docfest this weekend. On Friday evening we joined 700 or more to watch 20 Feet From Stardom, which is about backup singers from the 1960's on. It was a feel-good film because the music was so good, and insightful because so many of the singers who sang in the background actually created the sound the star artists were seeking to create. Nearly all the singers featured were people of colour, mostly women. We were struck by the repeated references to the church choirs of their upbringing. They had learned to listen to others and to sing with enthusiasm in the setting of church and gospel music.

Another film we appreciated was Skydancer about the high steel workers of the Mohawk First Nation. We watch these guys leave the reservation/reserve of Askwesasne to work high above the streets of cities such as New York. They dispel myths about some genetic aberration which makes them fearless -- they are afraid at times -- and about why they do this. While they are proud of their six-generation history of this work, they do it for the money in a situation where it is difficult to find good paying jobs.

The film explores their spirituality which in some respects gets left behind when they leave home to work. The two men who are features are impressive in their understanding of Mohawk spiritual practices, and they teach the children of their reservation when at home. But in some respects the earth-honouring spirituality seems at odds with the work they do in intensely urban environments. One laments that is creating scabs on Mother Earth and it's obvious he doesn't like it.

You just never know where God and spirituality will emerge!

Have any of you seen either of these films? Do they intrigue you? I think both are available online now.

Inn-Spirational

The six weeks of daily meals served under the auspices of Inn from the Cold at Bridge St. United Church has come to an end. Last evening was the final meal of forty two, although our frozen meal program called Thank God It's Friday will continue throughout the year.

During these six weeks we have included Inn-spirational Moments each Sunday during worship to remind our folk of this essential ministry. Of course many members of the congregation already know the story firsthand, because they are active volunteers amongst the 170 involve in the program. These volunteers are so diligent and not a single meal has been cancelled during this stormy and unpredictable winter.

Two of the brief presentations have been about food insecurity, the precarious reality that many people in our wealthy nation are iffy about the source of their next meal. It's not that this group goes hungry every day. But they may miss meals, or make choices between essentials because limited dollars can only be stretched so far.

Ruth and I have talked to guests at the meals and heard about that insecurity. A limited pension and rising rent makes IFTC a godsend for one woman. Taking in the girlfriend of a teen son means that the parents coming to IFTC for a free meal allows a few extra dollars to satisfy teen appetites. Grandparents provide a home for a sweet little grandson with autism because the daughter is not coping, so they swallow their pride and come to INTC together to fill up on the nourishing meals. We are struck by the openness and cheerfulness of people who could be raging against a system which keeps them at the margins.

Inn from the Cold and TGIF make a difference, but they are not a solution to food insecurity, of not being certain that there will be enough on the table on any given day. As people of the Christ who made sure there was enough for both body and spirit, we can maintain our commitment to these meal ministries and do so much more.

The Cost of Marriage

I was interested in the recent  Globe and Mail article about a study on marriage which found that if you are married you are more likely more prosperous:

A new study released today by the Ottawa-based Institute of Marriage and Family has crunched the Canadian numbers using Statistics Canada data, and found a pattern similar to the United States. The marriage gap has widened by income. In Canada, couples in the highest income bracket are the most likely to be married, or living common-law – and have pretty much the same marriage rates as their counterparts in 1976. Middle and low-income Canadians have seen their marriage rates fall in all age groups, with low-income Canadians the least likely to be married in 2011. Canadians are “split into haves and have-nots by marriage lines,” the report concludes.

It makes sense, doesn't it? When we are married we share costs and, hopefully, goals. When we get un-married it costs us, big time, as many of you have learned. This isn't a moral judgment that not being married or getting divorced is bad. Nor does it point to singlehood being an unfortunate or inferior state of being. You just won't be as well-off.

It got me thinking (doesn't everything?) that mainline churches such as the United Church are lousy at supporting marriage. We're so worried that we will seem judgmental of those who are divorced or single that we keep our traps shut about marriage to the extreme. It's weird. We do marry people, and married folk make up the majority of most congregations. Hey we are open to marrying two guys or two gals as well. But we act as though the institution doesn't exist except when we announce a significant anniversary or upcoming nuptials.

 Yet in many conservative churches they gush enthusiastically about the covenant of marriage and even encourage couples to have lots of sex as long as it with each other. They say goofy things about men being the heads of households, but is that worse than saying nothing at all? Surely we could see marriage as being a justice issue in that healthy (not endured!) marriages have positive outcomes.

While we do speak of marriage being covenantal and sacramental in nature, history shows us that until less than a hundred years ago marriages were about practical partnerships which could include romantic love, not the other way around. I visited a couple last year about to celebrate their seventieth wedding anniversary. She told me that marriage means a lot of sacrifice. I smiled and said "to you mean compromises?" She looked me in the eye and said "no, I mean sacrifices!" I laughed. She didn't.

Should we offer more honest and practical talk on marriage? What about seminars and events to support marriages? Wife Ruth is trained as a marriage and family counselor so we have done marriage seminars in congregations a couple of times, but not for a while.Should we subsidize marriage counseling the way some churches do?

Arizona's Shame

 

When then state of Arizona passed a stringent and unfair immigration law in 2010 Eugene Robinson  of the Washington Post described it this way:"Arizona's draconian new immigration law is an abomination -- racist, arbitrary, oppressive, mean-spirited, unjust."

Well, Arizona's legislators are at it again, this time with a law allowing any business to refuse service to gays and lesbians. If that seems impossible, sadly it isn't. What makes it worse, people are allowed to do so if they state they are doing so based on their religious convictions.

What immediately came to mind are the laws which existed in many US states which allowed businesses including lunch counters to refuse service to people of colour. We were reminded in the film The Butler what it was like for those who ignored those laws. The governor has finally decided to veto this bill, after considerable pressure, but what would have happened in Arizona if this law is ratified by the governor. Would police have been called to arrest and haul away gays and lesbians who refuse to be refused? Surely this is unconstitutional?



What sickens me is that religion is being used as a shield for this travesty. We're not talking about what happens within a religious community with its stated expectations and rules for members. We might not agree with these rules, but we don't have to belong to that church or synagogue or mosque. But if the guy at the corner store makes a judgment call about someone's sexual orientation does he now have a right to refuse service and hide behind his interpretation of the bible? It feels as though the state is determined to crawl back into the dark ages of racism and discrimination. I shudder to think that some pastors will be delighting in this decision and supporting it from their pulpits.

I love that some stores have being stating clearly that they find this new law offensive and discriminatory. It's just hard to believe that it has come to this point.

Comments?

John Brown's Jeopardy Question

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
But his soul goes marching on.             

Chorus:

Glory, glory, hallelujah,
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
His soul goes marching on.
 

The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down,
The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down,
His soul goes marching on.
Chorus:

My "guilty pleasures" tend to be rather tame, and I'll confess that one of them is the television quiz show Jeopardy! Earlier this week the Final Jeopardy answer was:

Frederick Douglass said this man’s “zeal in the cause of my race was far greater than mine.”

The "question" that came to my mind was "who is Abraham Lincoln?" Actually I don't think in terms of questions, but Jeopardy! does. Two of the contestants agreed with me, but we were all wrong. The correct question was "who is John Brown?" I immediately muttered a self-reproach because I recently read the National Book Award winning novel The Good Lord Bird, by James McBride. It features the zealous, quixotic quest of John Brown to free slaves in America. It was based on his deep religious convictions and in the novel Brown enlists the support of Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave who became an eloquent leader of the abolitionist movement. Brown launched an assault on the armory at Harper's Ferry to procure arms for a slave uprising but it went awry, he was captured, and eventually executed.



Some feel that Brown's ill-considered efforts nonetheless heightened the abolitionist cause and the eventual eradication of slavery.

A fair number of great reformers have been as being nutty as they come. Even the saner ones can seem crazy to their peers. including the biblical prophets.

One hundred and fifty years later John Brown's truth and legacy go marching on. Go figure.

Did you know the John Brown story? Do you know any nutty prophets? Do we need more of them?

The Trouble with Trolls

Yesterday I listened to an interesting CBC radio The Current piece on internet "trolls." http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2014/02/24/should-media-sites-stop-feeding-the-trolls-and-abandon-online-comment-sections/These are the people who "comment" on articles in the online versions of newspapers and blogs and are often vicious and racist in their responses. They are also cowards for the most part, unwilling to reveal their actual identities. It sours the value of the legitimate conversation which comment sections afford and unfortunately some media outlets and bloggers and disabling the comments feature because it takes too much time and energy to moderate out the nasties. And who needs the grief? I can't believe the horrible racism of comments after virtually any article on First Nations peoples.

Churches have their trolls as well, the cruel snipers living under the bridges of congregational life who take potshots at those in leadership, including clergy. I am grateful that in all my years of ministry I have never received a derogatory letter or email. although that doesn't mean I haven't been criticized behind my back. Unfortunately this isn't the case for many colleagues. Sadly, it seems that women in ministry are more likely to receive these sorts of unfair and unkind missives.

Recently a woman in ministry in the Kingston area found an anonymous letter on the pulpit on a Sunday morning which demeaned her sexual orientation. Another minister I know well,  who has served her congregation for fifteen years, got an anonymous letter last year from a " concerned mother" who criticized her bare arms during the summer and her fat ankles. Huh? She doesn't have fat ankles, but that's not the point. What level of cowardice and pettiness do certain "Christians" possess that they can do these sorts of things? And why do the few --very few-- feel at liberty to bully women, even when they themselves are women? The male on our friend's ministry team wore short-sleeved shirts but got no such criticism.

Have any of you noticed the disturbing level of discourse in the comments sections online? What about churches? Are you surprised that supposed Christians can be so petty and hateful? What do we do about it?

Phone Home

When I first saw this photo I thought it was a staged image for something akin to Close Encounters of the Third Kind or ET. It is actually an award winning shot by John Stanmeyer called Signals. It was named the 2013 World Press Photo of the Year and it depicts asylum seekers in Djiboutii trying to capture phone signals to connect with loved ones in other countries

Stanmeyer describes it:

Immediately I was astonished by what we were witnessing — the innate desire we all have as humans to reconnect home. Over the following few days I would revisit this stretch of beach where each night there would be a new gathering of men and women waiting for that moment when all the natural layers would combine.

Speaking to many of them, the stories were always the same: the desire to reconnect to family, asking for remittance or updates on emigration papers from family living in Europe. Not all attempts to catch the signal were fulfilled. Some would stand in one place for 20 to 30 minutes, waiting for their phone to grab the faint signal that never appeared, only to return another evening to try once more.

When we hear as Christians the statistics on the refugees, displaced persons, asylum seekers of the world it is hard to grasp the magnitude, let alone the human stories attached to the figures. What can we do as people of faith to make a difference for those unnamed millions? This image is both other-worldly and very down to earth. It has a spiritual quality which can speak to us and encourage us to respond.

Comments?

God Keep Our Land

Canada wins gold! Was it ever in doubt? Okay, we were all nervous beforehand, but the Canadian team was exceptional from start to finish.

Earlier in the morning CBC television went across the country to show us how people were preparing for the game. They went to a mosque in Toronto where several hundred Canadians were enjoying breakfast in anticipation, chanting "Go Canada Go" and waving flags.

 

What a wonderful reminder that this country is made up of diverse backgrounds and many religions. The suspicious nonsense which labels all adherents of certain religions and those who are immigrants as aliens just doesn't hold.

God keep our land!

Comments?

The Age of Anxiety

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

 Scott Stossel is  editor of The Atlantic magazine,which means he has a responsible job, functions at a high level and contributes to society in a meaningful way. He has also suffered from often paralysing fear, phobias, and anxiety since he was a child. He decided to write what proved to be an excellent article in The Atlantic in which he "outed" himself. His willingness to do so has proved  to be a gift in its honesty. Many people who know Stossel well, including those who work at the magazine had no idea how severe his anxiety can be.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/01/surviving_anxiety/355741/ He has also written a book called My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind.



I saw an excellent interview with Stossel by Charlie Rose in which Scott speaks eloquently about anxiety in personal and general terms. He points out that while he grew up in a home where his mother was loving and overprotective, there is plenty of evidence that anxiety is in the genes. http://www.bloomberg.com/video/-my-age-of-anxiety-charlie-rose-01-30-cmBADnyhQqqxiHCblZNnzQ.html

There was a recent Maclean's magazine article on the "worry epidemic" which addresses the increasing incidence of anxiety in our society.

I have lived with anxiety all through my adult life and I have found ways to manage it for the most part. I have usually worked in very active pastorates with lots going on all the time. I like that, and my wife Ruth knows that my notion of the "kiss of death" is a quiet little congregation with not much in the way of challenge. But stress and anxiety can be exhausting and six years ago I took several months away from work to "restore my soul." My physician wisely decided that I didn't need to be medicated but I did need to step away and by God's grace and the help of friends I found a truly quiet farmhouse in the back-of-beyond where I roamed, read, and renewed. I found that the majority of my congregation was incredibly supportive and a handful were idiots. Not kind I know, but true. Some Christians aren't, and perhaps that's why so many are anxious about being outed as anxious!

I find that when I exercise, pray/meditate, and practice the Sabbath I am able to be present in the moment and live hopefully. When I fail to do so I feel myself drifting back into bad patterns which are unhealthy and soul-destroying.

Of course over the years I have spent lots of time with folk who are affected and even incapacitated by anxiety. Lots of them are young and are juggling a multitude of responsibilities and feel the anxiety rising like flood waters. Some of them are in later middle age and find they just can't cope the way they once did. Others have always been anxious, and maybe it is in the genes.

What are your thoughts about anxiety? Have you been able to find your way toward health, if you are anxious? Does your faith help? Remember folks, there is always hope, and God loves you.

Trampling the Needy

Hear this you that trample on the needy,
   and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
⁵ saying, ‘When will the new moon be over
   so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath,
   so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
   and practise deceit with false balances,
⁶ buying the poor for silver
   and the needy for a pair of sandals,
   and selling the sweepings of the wheat.’  Amos 8:4-6

I have been asked to return a graciously loaned book, so I better blog about it while it is still in my possession. I've only had it for six or seven months, so I don't understand the hurry!

It is by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco with the title Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. Sacco, the godfather of graphic artists, illustrates this feisty volume which decries the indifference in America to the plight of the underclass. The blurb on the back of the book refers to the expanded biblical concept of the neighbour and the failure to recognize the neighbour as anything or anyone other than a person to be exploited in their vulnerability.

The authors address the circumstances in West Virginia where entire mountains are being destroyed for coal, while the folk who live around them are being evicted from their traditional homes, literally bulldozed into compliance. They feature old-timers who refuse to go, although in some cases properties are now bizarre islands in the midst of a devastated landscape.



This relentless appetite for coal obviously also affects community life, including the congregations of the various villages and towns which are being de-populated. The churches are trying to speak out and to help those who are left destitute, but it is a losing enterprise.

Hedges and Sacco contend that the coal companies essentially write the laws because of their power, and even then regularly violate them. While this may seem like an extreme contention just recently hundreds of thousands of West Virginians had their drinking water polluted by a mining spill which was not immediately reported. It has since been discovered that other spills have occurred without supposedly obligatory reporting to authorities.

While this is a rather bleak book, filled with outrage, I'm grateful that someone cares. The biblical prophets often reminded God's people that they weren't going to like what they were about to hear, and they didn't!

Would I recommend the book? Yes, even though it certainly isn't cheerful.

Comments?

Snake 1, Snake Handler no Score

I did not know that there was a reality show on TV called Snake Salvation. I'm thinking it may be cancelled. The pastor of the Kentucky congregation where live snake-handling takes place is Jamie Coots. Was. Jamie was bitten by a venomous rattlesnake at his church and sensible souls called for an ambulance. The pastor refused the anti-venom as a matter of faith and then, well, he died. Why of why would he have this sort of death wish? Because the bible told him too of course. In Mark 16 it says "¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

If you haven't heard this brief reference before, little wonder. It just doesn't come up as a text in mainline churches, and I wouldn't preach on it anyway, except as a cautionary tale. This snake-handling craziness has been around as long as I can remember. It's tempting to just shake our heads and mutter something about Coots' foolishness. But the man is dead and he probably had a family which is now bereft. What a reminder about biblical literalism and the ways in which the "faithful" can get side-tracked from the core of the gospel. This is a freak show, not worship which leads us toward a meaningful relationship with Christ, in service of others.

Through the years I've had my fair share of conversations with those who insist they are biblical literalists but when I challenge them they admit have no intention of poking out their eyes or cutting off their hands because they lust or covet, nor should they.

The scriptures are essential to who I am as a Christian and I can't imagine worship or my own devotional life without them. Whenever possible I share scripture with those I visit because it is a source of solace and strength. But I gave up on the notion of literal reading of the bible a long time ago. After all, the supposedly literal reading always requires someone's brain, addled or otherwise to interpret it.

Had you heard about this situation? Are you a recovering biblical literalist? Do we take the bible seriously enough in our liberal United Church?

Flexible Worship?

I like it when the response to blogs prompt thoughts for yet another blog entry. I have been thinking about the Family Day blog on Sunday, and comments from two individuals in different congregations who weren't in church that day. I know them both, and they are both rock solid when it comes to church attendance and involvement beyond Sunday morning. Any congregation would benefit from having them as members, and I'm glad that they had "time off for good behavior."

One of the two wondered about alternative days and times for worship in our busy culture, which happens to be a conversation I had following worship two weeks ago with a couple who have teens. Obviously they are church-goers as well. This is a conversation I've had often through the years but it seems more common in the last few.

I think having alternative worship opportunities in an excellent idea. There are questions though. When would these services occur? Who would be the target congregation? What would the format be? The Roman Catholics have been doing Saturday evening mass forever and it is often well attended, but it is their tradition. Lots of Protestant congregations have tried without success. I know I'm not at all enamoured of leading worship on a Friday or Saturday evening for seven people. I do have a life apart from my vocation and worship takers a lot of preparation and energy.

Our son Isaac is the minister of children, youth, and families in the ministry team of his congregation in London, Ontario. Part of his mandate is to create worship and gathering alternatives to Sunday morning, and they have started. It was a big step for that congregation to call a second full-time ordained minister for this role, and I have no doubt that the cost - $60,000? -- caused a lot of people to gulp.

It's a worthwhile conversation to have. We need to be flexible and innovative. I will point out that lots of evangelical and a few mainline churches are full on Sunday mornings, so there is something more than alternative worship times.

Thoughts folks?