Tag Archives: Devotion

Lenten Devotion for March 28, 2023

The Good Courage devotions for this Lent, particularly the ones written by Amy Panton remind us that life can be hard.

Not all faith communities have learned how to give support, love and acceptance to folks whose lives don’t quite fit within the “norms” of middle-class life.

I’m pretty sure that those “norms”- that we are all heterosexual, gainfully employed, in stable committed relationships with a long term partner, raising kids who will take up careers, then closely duplicate the lives of their parents, perhaps with a little more prosperity- the norms were always part of the big illusion.

The big illusion being that life is do-able, manageable, and “winnable” for almost all of us. Those who can’t seem to make it work, well, they are the exception. For the most of us, life is great, near perfect in fact!

This has too often made it even harder, for folks who struggle, to admit to themselves, and to others, that they needed help.

It just a few years ago that someone close to me shared her difficulties with anxiety and depression with a faith leader in their community, and was told she needed to pray more. Then they “laid hands on”, and tried to pray the problems away!

That’s not something we’d say (hopefully!) if a person had a broken arm. We would see that the person received appropriate medical care- perhaps even take them to the hospital.

Which is what Amy Panton did for her friend, when she needed help.

Lenten Devotion for March 27, 2023

A few years ago I travelled with my son to Iceland. One of our excursions was a trip down into, and through cave-like underground lava tubes, formed when a conduit of still-flowing lava moved under the surface layer, which had cooled enough to crust and harden.

We were advised to wear clothing that would survive rough treatment, and issued helmets and lights before we descended.

There were places at which the tunnel was like a massive high-ceilinged underground cathedral.

There were also progressively narrow and low sections, that required us first to duck, then crawl, then slide our bellies on wet stone to get through.

Several times I had to remind myself we were being guided on by trained and experienced folks, who knew the way.

Alexa Gilmour, today’s “Good Courage” contributor shared a heart-rending story of the loss of her unborn child, and a significant conversation with her mother.

Alexa said to her mother, “I have a child to take care of. I need to get up, but I just don’t know how.”

It seems to me her mother’s response gave Alexa the permission she needed.

“Yes, you do,” she said, “You’re doing it now. The only way back is by way of grief.”

Then her mother sat with her and they cried together.

In your own life, has there been a person who offered you a gift like Alexa’s mother did for her?

Have you experienced grief as a healing process?

I worried it would feel disrespectful to Alexa’s story to include the Youtube video, but her very personal disclosure reminded me of this old nursery rhyme. Especially the verse about the deep, dark cave.

We’re Going On A Bear Hunt

We’re goin’ on a bear hunt,
We’re going to catch a big one,
I’m not scared
What a beautiful day!
Oh look! It’s some long, wavy grass!
Can’t go over it,
Can’t go under it,
Can’t go around it,
Got to go through it!

We’re goin’ on a bear hunt,
We’re going to catch a big one,
I’m not scared
What a beautiful day!
Oh look! It’s a mushroom patch.
Can’t go over it,
Can’t go under it,
Can’t go around it,
Got to go through it!

We’re goin’ on a bear hunt,
We’re going to catch a big one,
I’m not scared
What a beautiful day!
Oh look! It’s a wide river.
Can’t go over it,
Can’t go under it,
Can’t go through it,
Got to swim across it.

We’re goin’ on a bear hunt,
We’re going to catch a big one,
I’m not scared
What a beautiful day!
Oh look! A deep, dark cave.
Can’t go over it,
Can’t go under it,
Can’t go through it,
Got to go in it.

Uh, oh! It’s dark in here.
I feel something,
It has lots of hair!
It has sharp teeth!
It’s a bear!

Hurry back through the river,
Back through the mushroom patch,
Back through the long grass
Run in the house and lock the door.
Phew! That was close!

I’m not afraid!

Lenten Devotion for March 23, 2023

This past fall I was out to Halifax for a weekend, and decided to worship at the historic “round” church, St. Paul’s Anglican. I was warmly welcomed, and since I was a guest in someone else’s house, I behaved myself.

But, I was sorely tempted! At the front of the sanctuary, on the right side, there is a “Royal Pew”.

This is a church that was built originally with money granted by royalty. When most of it burned down, members of the British monarchy supported the rebuilding efforts, and made significant contributions.

Trip Advisor’s piece about the church notes that many “royals” have used this pew, and it had even seated Elizabeth the Second.

I noticed there were no “royals” using the pew the Sunday I was there.

No one used it. It looked like a great place to sit. I wondered if it always sits empty, just in case. I also wondered what would happen if I sat there.

The Good Courage devotion for today includes the story of two of Jesus’ closest friends and followers, James and John. The writer notes that even after having seen and heard Jesus bringing his message of God’s love for all people, no matter their circumstances, these two seem to seek special status.

“And they [James and John] said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” (Mark 10:37)

The writer suggests that not all implications of Jesus’ message of self-giving, serving, love has sunk in. Even so, these were members of Jesus’ inner circle, amongst those he would trust, and commission, to go forth and continue his work after he was gone.

The Jesus movement is made up, for the most part, of ordinary people, like you and me.

In 30 plus years working in churches, I’ve met some very saintly people, who shone with God’s love and compassion, and had deep and profound prayer lives. I’ve also met a lot of people who are more like me- mostly interested, most of the time, in doing the right thing, and being kind.

We don’t always want to do the right thing, and we don’t always know what the right things are. We muddle, and fumble along. We have unreasonable, or poorly considered expectations, like James and John. Our feelings can get hurt, when we don’t get the recognition we thought we were due.

We can circle back, again and again, to two of the lessons in the story about James and John seeking special status.

The first is that even though they didn’t “get” Jesus and his message, all the time, he loved them, and accepted them, and did not give up on them.

The second is that knowing that they (James and John) did not always get it right, reminds us that we don’t either. That’s a reminder to stay humble, even, and maybe especially about the things about which we feel the most certain.

Lenten Devotion for March 21, 2023

The writers in Good Courage, the 2023 United Church daily devotion book for Lent have taken their readers on journeys to places that for many of us, are outside our experience. I think that’s good. Lent is a season for self-examination and growth.

To visit, even briefly, the hard places where people dwell, and struggle, and look for meaning and hope, is a good thing.

A few years ago I was on the writing team for one of these Lenten books. It was an honour to be asked. It’s humbling now, to see how much deeper into places of vulnerability and pain this year’s writers have gone, than I went with my writing. They have shown such, well, Good Courage.

Amy Panton’s pieces have been particularly challenging. Today she asked how we might respond if someone in our life revealed they practised self-harm. The character she creates for us to meet wants to be accepted for who they are.

I could not tell, from the brief sketch, if this person wants to be accepted as someone who has found in self-harm a necessary coping mechanism that they have no desire to stop, or if the person wants to be accepted as someone who is struggling to find healthier ways to cope.

I’m not sure my question would matter all that much, in the moment the person revealed the scars on their arms from cutting. I think they might just want to know that the person they chose to hear their story, would listen.

Amy Panton, the writer of today’s devotion is doing important work. Check out her website, podcast, and The Canadian Journal of Thelology, Mental Health and Disability.

The website:

https://www.spiritualcare4selfinjury.com/

The Podcast:

https://themadandcriptheologypodcast.buzzsprout.com/

The Podcast in Video Form, with captions, on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/@cjtmhd6243/videos

The Journal:

https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cjtmhd/index

Lenten Devotion for March 20, 2023

Where does your help come from?

Not everyone imagines God the way I do. Many people use different words and concepts to form their prayers, and to “name” the God to which? to whom? to what? they pray.

Today’s devotion from Good Courage included a story about a brave and kind, committed and compassionate doctor, who set aside worries about their own well-being, to care for worried and desperate people at a huge, over-crowded, and under-resourced hospital in India.

It’s an inspiring story. When I meet people like this physician, I wonder how they do what they do. If I get to know them well enough to ask, I say something like “Where do you find the energy, or strength to keep on?”

Often the answer is they derive their sense of self, purpose, and connection to others, to the universe, from the faith in which they have been nurtured.

The doctor in today’s devotion said, “Every day I said a prayer to the ancestors to keep us safe and give me the courage to face whatever adversity. That’s how I got through.”

The doctor is of the Kodova faith. Kodovas worship ancestors and nature. Their deity is the river, Kaveri. The photo below is of that river.

According to Wikipedia, the Kaveri is a sacred river to the people of South India and is worshipped as the Goddess Kaveriamma (Mother Cauvery). It is considered to be among the seven holy rivers of India.

I had to look those things up, because I’d never heard of any of it before.

But I recognize faith, and the fruit of faith, when I see it.

Lenten Devotion for March 19, 2023

The Good Courage writer for today asks the reader to think about who they know, who is acting with courage to make a difference in the world.

Today is Sunday, so I was at Harrow United Church to lead worship. I also had opportunity to chat with some people, who are doing important things.

We have a lot of active and retired teachers in the congregation. Teachers work every day to encourage, and inspire, to care for and educate young people. To do what they do takes so much heart. (The word courage comes from the same Latin root as heart.)

There were people at church who are involved with Project Hope, a non-profit that works every day to treat people with dignity and respect, and to address food insecurity.

We heard from someone at church today who is one of the organizers of a concert that will raise money for Project Hope, for the Harrow Food Bank, and for the scholarships Harrow United Church sponsors every year for two girls to go to school in Tanzania. That’s a long term commitment, and investment the congregation is making in their future.

During coffee hour I witnessed two women recruiting other women, of all ages, to join a women’s self-defense class that will be offered free of charge by the sensei of the Karate Dojo that meets in the church.

These are all important, heart-felt efforts to make a difference in people’s lives.

Lenten Devotion for March 18, 2023

The Good Courage writer for today worked from a passage in the 3rd chapter of the letter to the Phillippians. Here is a version of part of it from The Message:

 “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.”

I started running cross-country in high school. I was not good at it, but I liked it. It’s the only athletic team I ever “made” in high school. There were no try outs. If you came to practice, you were a runner.

I’m still not a great runner. Years ago I ran a few half-marathons, and full marathons. More recently, I do 5 km events, that others think of as races. I am happy to start, cover the course, and finish.

I cheer on the ones who are out front, and who will reach the finish line before I am halfway there. I cheer on the ones who are struggling. It’s okay to take a walk break, stop at a water station for a drink and a rest. It’s okay to go as far as you can, and be kind to yourself.

We are, all of us, on the race course and off, works in progress. We do what we can do.

The photo is from about a decade ago. My friend Mary Ann joined me for part of “Darrow’s Dash”, a fundraiser for the congregation I served then.

I remember running in the 1980’s while carrying my rather sizable and weighty “Walkman”, and listening to the soundrack from “Chariots of Fire”. That’s the movie about Eric Liddell, the Scottish missionary who famously refused to run in the qualifying heats for the 100 metre sprint at the 1924 Paris Olympics, because they were on Sunday.

Because life is weird and amazing, the congregation for which I ran “Darrow’s Dash” included a lovely woman named Heather, who is one of Eric Liddell’s daughters.

Lenten Devotion for March 17, 2023

The Good Courage devotion today asked the reader to consider what they give out of their abundance, and what do they give out of their poverty. The underlying message or point I took from this was that giving out my abundance is easy. Further, that which we give from our poverty, the areas of our life in which we feel lacking, is a deeper, more noble kind of giving.

The practical example the writer gave came from their experience of sorting cans collected in a food drive, and seeing how many from her parish gave expired canned goods. I’ve “been there and done that”, in that I’ve helped sort after two community wide food drives in our area.

We packed dozens of cardboard boxes with cans that could not be passed along at the food bank, or the local food pantry, so would be taken to a local farmer who’d feed it all to their chickens. (Apparently, chickens can eat almost anything.)

What does it mean to give in the way the “poor widow” in the gospel story gives?

“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. ” (Mark 12: 43– 44)

Lenten Devotion for March 16, 2023

We have a St. Vincent De Paul Society collection box at the back of our church parking lot. I’ve noticed that every day I am at the church, the bin is full to over-flowing, and there are usually items piled in front.

Even at the height of COVID, when we were all presumably shopping less, and staying home more, every time I visited the church, the bin was full. This was a bit of an issue for a short while, when the re-sale stores were not able to open, and the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, Goodwill, and Value Village were all gathering more donated goods than they could process and were running out of storage room.

I think the community-based Full Circle Thrift Store in Harrow had similiar issues, when they could not be open to sell the goods that kept appearing in their loading area.

We live in a culture with a lot of stuff. I know that we have more in our closets, garage, and backyard sheds, than we can use, or actually need. We were amongst the COVID cleaners, who used the lockdown time to sort, order, and dispose of many things. There is a lot more we could live without.

The spiritual practice suggested in today’s Good Courage devotion was to “set a goal that for the next few weeks, you’re going to set aside one item that offers you very little. Maybe it’ll be a book on the shelf that you’re likely to never read, a habit that offers no joy, or a grudge that holds you captive.”

If you listen carefully, you might hear Lyle Lovett and John Prine backing up Delbert McCLinton on this rocking country song. The track also has some very fine Hammond organ.