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As soon as everyone came together and settled in after the summer hiatus, our church here at St. John the Evangelist has been a beehive of activity. 

Since my last news, we prayerfully and joyfully orchestrated our annual flea market on October 21st—also my birthday. Though our focus was strictly on the multitude of browsers, seeking something of interest from our collection of treasures, it was still a healthy atmosphere in which to spend a special day and have tea served in a favourite bone china cup. 

The old adage that one man’s refuse is another man’s treasure was certainly exemplified by the success of our flea market due to the diversity of donations and generosity of parishioners. The fall fair on November 4th was equally recognized. 

Then on November 5th, Remembrance Sunday, the CLB and Canadian Legion Branch 50 participated again this year in our special church service with the blessing of the colours by Rev’d Canon Jotie. After worship, the congregation and guests proceeded downstairs for a time of fellowship and a cup of tea. 

To make away for the 13th anniversary of our Holly Tea on December 9th, the men of our parish will culminate the fall activities by preparing and serving a three course stuffed chicken breast take-out dinner on November 25th. 

Thus, the physical part of our church journey completes one of two things that go together—things material and things spiritual. 

By the time that this article goes to print, we will have come to the end of another year—a year that has been both busy and rewarding, and sometimes challenging. As the new year approaches, we look forward to a continue journey of this labour of love in God‘s great vineyard. 

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As part of its outreach in the summer of 2023, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist opened its doors to visitors for all of the 35 cruises with more than 800 passengers between June 30 and November 3.

During the Thanksgiving weekend, Corner Brook received two extra cruise ships due to inclement weather in the ships’ intended routes. And on Thanksgiving Monday, over 1,000 people visited the Cathedral, which seats a mere 400!

There is no charge for visiting the Cathedral, but visitors donated over $2,700 in appreciation. Many treasured singing or listening to their favourite hymns as Ida Stone played the Casavant organ. German visitors in particular enjoyed hearing “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken,” sung to the tune of the German national anthem. 

All appreciated the warm welcome and many commented on the inclusivity banner, with its reminder to show kindness to all God’s children.

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But sadly, darkness is also our reality. Any night that you watch the news will verify that such is the case. We hear stories of pain and suffering, of hunger and homelessness, of tent encampments in St. John’s and other cities. If you do an internet search on global conflicts, you will find so much of our world is at war. Wait! Did we not just go through Advent focusing on hope, peace, love and joy? Did we not just celebrate Christmas and the coming of the Prince of Peace? 

Well, yes, we did. Just as it is no coincidence that we celebrate light at the darkest time of the year, it is no coincidence that we celebrate the season of Epiphany—the revelation of who Jesus is and who we are called to be, just after we celebrate the incarnation—the breaking in of God into our hurting and damaged world. 

In this season, Jesus is revealed as a light to the nations, at his baptism as the beloved son of God in whom God is well pleased. Then Jesus calls the disciples, and us, to follow him and, long after his time on earth, to be his hands and feet, to be the means by which his love is made manifest. That sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? It does to me. But here’s a story that demonstrates just how much light we can each shine on this world. A family moved to Newfoundland for one of them to study. As newcomers, they needed to find a place to live. By chance, in the Dollar Store, the mother asked someone if she knew of any apartments to rent. She could have said, no, and moved on, but she didn’t. She helped the family find a place to live and then helped them settle in, going with the parents to register the child for school. In the darkness of uncertainty, light shone. 

There is darkness, that is true. But there is also the light of love. In this season of Epiphany, we celebrate the light. 

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The concept of “vocational awe” caught my attention—a term describing the romanticised reverence for a profession and its institutions. Originally coined in an article addressing the challenges faced by underpaid and undervalued librarians, vocational awe uses specifically religious language to explore a secular phenomenon. Once you start talking about it, you’ll always find people who recognize and relate their own experiences to this double-edged sword.

In academia, educators can blur their personal identity with the noble pursuit of knowledge. In healthcare, professionals see their roles as callings to heal. In many other ‘helping professions’, the comfort of knowing that your career makes a difference is powerful. It’s the belief that our work can be more than just a job—it’s a way to offer up our God-given talents for something bigger than ourselves. Some people say ‘Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’

Yet the sword cuts both ways. This reverence for our careers can lead to unrealistic expectations and unhealthy work dynamics. People feel pressure to sacrifice their personal well-being and boundaries, for the sake of the greater good. Unchecked vocational awe leads to exploitation. Institutions can use it to maintain the status quo and perpetuate inequalities. It blinds society to systemic issues and delays necessary changes. Left unaddressed, vocational awe results in burnout, mental health struggles, and an imbalance between work and life. Another way to put the wisdom of the last paragraph might be ‘Do what you love, and you’ll have terrible boundaries and always be overwhelmed.’

In a world where work-life boundaries blur, the church needs to lead the way in addressing these challenges. If workplaces have become toxic from using our language of vocation, we have an opportunity to reclaim and redeem that language. What if we used our language around vocation to show the world a better way to treat workers? We need to encourage everyone to think about their career as a vocation and not just a job. In fact, that’s the best way to solve the problem of vocational awe. When we recognise that everyone has purpose in life, then no one’s vocation needs to be singled out for special awe. Instead, we are all called by God to use our gifts and abilities in gracious and loving ways.

It’s crucial to eliminate the expectation for professionals to overextend themselves merely because their work is deemed noble. Instead, by celebrating and respecting each person’s contribution, we pave the way for a fairer, more equitable professional landscape. If we wouldn’t demand such extraordinary sacrifices from one profession, why accept it elsewhere? In redefining our understanding of vocations, we can foster a culture that values, supports, and respects every individual’s contributions, transcending the boundaries of vocational awe.

The post The Reverence Trap: Dangerous Vocations appeared first on Anglican Life.

A pleasant duty as commander of the RCMP Academy in Regina was conducting final briefings for graduating cadets. Somewhere spliced into every session, I would focus on our primary “raison d’être”—the protection of life, limb, and property, and the discharge of these duties without fear, favour, or affection. Cadets, being mindful of their looming policing duties in real life situations would frequently have questions surrounding fear, and on individual coping techniques. 

I would often premise my response from the words of an unknown author: “It’s not he/she who’s brave and has no fear, but he/she whose fearful heart is brave.” “Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead” are great lines for the movies, but reality requires us to assess the danger and the risks, and sensibly take a course of action that often requires a fearful heart. It’s accepted that in stressful situations where danger is present, responders will be fearful. Doing ordinary things under extraordinary circumstances underpins the importance of sound risk management, and fighting the good fight. There’s a line in that well known hymn, Stand Up! Stand Up for Jesus: “…where duty calls, or danger, be never wanting there.” It speaks to the need for courage. 

At an early age we get to know the difference between right and wrong. And being truthful takes on its proper meaning when we tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It’s been rightly said that, “a truth that’s told with bad intent, beats all the lies you can invent.” In working with responders, honesty is by far the best policy, in handling serious and critical situations where danger is imminent. 

In the work place, we recognize our own established patterns of coping and attempts at coping, and in observing the behaviour of others. We note the differences in cool dudes, hot heads, and all those levels of competency and incompetency falling somewhere in between. I used to find myself pondering why some individuals can embrace heavy workloads and challenges while others find the load too heavy. The right balance of rest and exercise, be it mental or physical, is difficult to judge, and can not be generalized, as individual coping has its own technique and time table. 

Louis Armstrong’s line “… nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen…nobody knows but Jesus…” has popular appeal. Yet the belief that no one else knows of our troubles is not necessarily always the case. It’s just difficult to imagine that any of our individual troubles, in the total scheme of things, can really be new when we consider all those folks who have come and gone before us. It’s perhaps more understandable to think of life’s troubles as old things happening to new people. 

William Wordsworth’s line, “In that sweet mood, when pleasant thoughts bring sad thoughts to the mind,” is a bit of a puzzle. Why indeed, should pleasant thoughts lend themselves to sad thoughts? Could it be nature’s way of looking after us by not letting us get lulled into complacency? Nature doesn’t always spring to the forefront with such help. Excessive self-indulgence—self-centredness as opposed to being compassionate and caring and showing concern for the wellbeing of others—is a shortcoming that too often befalls many of us. That same self-indulgence and self-centredness can sometimes take us down a lonely, slippery slope, “to that sweet slow descent into self-pity,” wherein we seek false comfort by emotionally feeding off our own misery. 

Our mind, when it experiences mental trauma, often needs time to rest, to cope, and to re-adjust in the healing process. Somewhat like a physical injury of a knee, we need a combination of rest and exercise. And if we strap-up and immobilize the knee too rigidly, without regard to a proper balance of rest and exercise, then healing can easily be hampered rather than helped. Likewise, if we resort too quickly to drugging our minds, it can deprive our natural coping processes. Our individual thresholds on coping with mental trauma or physical pain, vary. And in many cases, it’s perhaps a good practice to stretch ourselves a bit, before resorting to unnatural remedy such as over strapping-up the mind or over strapping-up the knee. 

So then, coping with the stresses and strains of life, when you really get down to the nitty-gritty of it, is an ongoing struggle. Each day brings a new opportunity to fight the good fight, and hopefully the courage and will to persevere. Our daily challenge, with God’s help, is to seek and strive to find that reasonable, albeit elusive balance. 

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Does your parish ever consider doing outreach ministry? Why not consider using the World of Gifts as a way to do outreach in the wider world?

Here are a few suggestions:

Clean water for communities in Kenya. Kenya is experiencing the worst drought in 40 years. PWRDF has been supporting Utooni Development Organization for three years to improve access to clean and safe water and is continuing this support for another three years. $100 will help fund a 10,000-litre water tank for a family or villagers managing a tree nursery. $2500 will build a well with a hand pump. $3000 will build a well with a solar-powered pump. 

How about supporting Indigenous health programs aimed at healing intergenerational trauma, youth suicide prevention, COVID-19 response, culture and language preservation, traditional environmental protection, teaching indigenous knowledge practices and sharing about indigenous food and medicinal plants? How about training Indigenous midwife apprentices in Mexico or Peru?

Then there’s always providing animals for people, such as donkeys, goats, rabbits, bees, or chickens. 

So many people are hungry. Why not consider supporting PWRDF’s membership in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank which supported food relief work in Pakistan, Kenya, Haiti and more over the past year? Through the Government of Canada, these donations are matched up to four times. 

The list is endless and the possibilities are limitless. 

As PWRDF staff like to say “the gift guide is evergreen.”

Gifts range from $25.00 to $3000.00. If you or your church would like to know more about the Gift Guide you can see it in detail on the PWRDF website pwrdf.org/worldofgifts or you can call them at 1-877-936-9199, or if you have a copy of the World of Gifts you can mail your order form to 80 Hayden Street, Toronto, ON M4Y 3G2

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Paul’s story in the Acts of the Apostles tells us about his background as a Pharisee and his history of hostility against the early Christians. His involvement in the persecution of early believers in Jesus, notably the execution of St. Stephen, certainly marked his pre-conversion days.

Then, during a life-changing moment on the road to Damascus, Paul had an extraordinary event happen—a blinding light, accompanied by a divine revelation. Jesus addressed him directly, questioning his actions against Christians. This encounter actually left Paul temporarily blinded!

Three days later, a man named Ananias, from Damascus, restored his sight, and Paul was baptized. After that, he fervently embraced Jesus as the Messiah—so much so that he felt the need to widely share his new faith.

This transformation led Paul on an extensive journey, embarking on three missionary voyages aimed at spreading the teachings of Jesus to regions that were mostly inhabited by non-Jewish communities. His writings became part of our Bible. While they are still very much a part of our lectionary, there’s no question that some of the things that he said are problematic in today’s world. We all know that Paul’s views on women border on the embarrassing. He says that women must remain silent in churches, and other things that we wouldn’t—and shouldn’t—say today. But there is even some question as to whether or not Paul wrote everything that is attributed to him, so if we can let ourselves not be distracted by these archaic rules for women, maybe we can still learn something that is really important from Paul’s conversion.

God’s intervention comes when we least expect it. Paul was just going from one place to another when God got involved. He wasn’t in a place of worship, and wasn’t even necessarily thinking about religion or faith. God can find us even when we aren’t looking for him. We also can be moved emotionally, and feel physically nearer the presence of God, whether that’s in a church, while looking at a beautiful landscape, or looking into the face of someone who loves us. 

Putting aside the famous artistic renditions based on writings that may or may not have been written by him, we still see that Paul’s journey from persecutor to advocate for Jesus is an amazing one. Paul’s transformation is a story of unexpected encounters with the divine. Paul reminds us that God’s intervention knows no bounds. While we might not experience blinding lights or audible voices, we can see and feel the profound touch of the divine in the moments that stir our emotions or connect us deeply with others. Paul’s example, marked by such radical personal change, shows us the possibility for unexpected transformations in our own lives when we encounter God.

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So, gyms get a huge boost in business! Weight loss clinics have tons of new clients! The liquor store isn’t as busy! The shopping malls are ghost towns! We begin the year determined to change ourselves!

Unfortunately, all these things focus on our “physical” selves. Somewhere along the ages, we think the only things we can change about ourselves is our “outsides.” Most people at the beginning of a new year don’t consider making changes that would improve their “inner” selves. How many people say to themselves New Year’s Eve, “My resolution this year is to be kinder.” “I want to be more compassionate.” “I want to be more generous.” “I want to be more spiritual.”

A small fraction of people who make New Year’s resolutions actually maintain the resolution for the rest of the year. Imagine for a moment if instead of joining the gym for January, those people decided to go to church for the new year!

Our Lord and Saviour teaches us to love one another. Jesus ate with the outcasts of society. He healed the lepers. He healed the sick and the suffering. He accepted all those who came to Him. He tells us to be kind, to be generous, to begin with love. Jesus showed us how to change ourselves so we could live with him in heaven for eternity.

As a Christian, begin your new year by renewing your connection with God. Go to his house, share his word, and sing his praises. Make January the month of joy by strengthening God’s love in your life.

God bless you all.

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