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We optimistically hope that next year will find us in a position to resume this automatic activity as an eat-in fellowship with our church family and guests from neighbouring parishes. 

The next day was Ash Wednesday, which is a major fast day in the church calendar, and the antecedent (or starting point) of worship during the holy season of Lent. The Rev’d Jotie Noel marked it with the ceremony of the imposition of ashes as a prerequisite for the many commitments which we will endeavour to uphold during the next forty days leading up to the celebration of Easter. As St. Paul said, “practice and cultivate and meditate upon those duties.” (Timothy 4:15)

While standing by the altar directly behind the lectern, and while facing the congregation, Rev’d Jotie commenced his Ash Wednesday sermon with a question: “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?”

This challenge turned out to be a deeply emotional revelation of the multiple symbolic features of the reflection, which I am sure are often overlooked by us or chosen to be forgotten.
We are all aware that “dust we are, and to dust we shall return,” but sometimes we need a little jerk to be reminded of the fragility of human life, and that the facial imperfections we observe in the mirror are just frivolous vanity compared to infinity and our relationship with God.
Each Wednesday evening during the next forty days, Rev’d Jotie, assisted by Deacon Lisa, will lead the congregation every step in the parish’s Lenten path, in preparation for the reawakening of the glorious resurrection on Easter Day. 

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It is common to hear folks say there must be a God behind it all. Yet pursuing such logic does not really clarify much because if one accepts the premise that there had to be a God to start our world, then a logical follow-up question would be: who or what started God? And what was taking place before God’s time? Yet, no matter how we look at it, there remains a huge vastness of unknowingness. Perhaps in a certain sense it speaks to an imperfection of our human condition, of having to live in a world where answers to such questions are necessarily incapable of being understood. 

To say that the universe was here last year, or billions of years ago, does not explain its origin—how did it all begin and what was going on before the beginning? This is still very much a mystery and we are left to wonder and to doubt. Our impoverished imagination on such profound matters prohibits us from arriving anywhere near a common understanding. It is simply not within our range of thinking to accept anything not having a beginning or an end. Yet, to get even close to understanding the beginnings and endings of the origin of life, or of God, we have to seriously re-jig our basic comprehension by accepting that as it pertains to “beginnings and endings,” there is simply no such thing—there is no beginning and no ending. To be born, to live, and to die, is the norm for us, hence we have colossal mental blockages in comprehending anything that does not have a beginning or an ending. Yet there remains a strange fascination in not knowing about the beginning and the ending, and talk as we may on thinking outside the box, the results of our best collective efforts have only reached the piffle and piddle level. We are as hopelessly trapped within that box as we’ve always been, and basic questions on time and space remain, and are demonstrably unanswerable. 

The world as we know it, with our closest star the sun, is situated some 28,000 light years from the centre of the Milky Way. The earth’s annual orbit, at a distance of 150 million kilometres from the sun, allows us to receive just the right amount of solar energy—not too little and not too much. The moon is about a quarter the size of the earth, and orbits our planet every 28 days; it causes our ocean tides, and more importantly keeps the earth’s orbit in a precise pattern. And then there is the speed of things: the earth is 40,000 kilometres in circumference and rotates every 24 hours. This means at the equator we are travelling at 1,600 kilometres an hour. The earth orbits the sun at 30 kilometres a second and simultaneously the whole solar system is travelling around the hub of the Milky Way at the very fast clip of 249 kilometres a second—a case of truth being stranger than fiction. And we have not even reminded ourselves of our planet Earth, being mainly a hot ball of molten lava covered with only a thin shell of crust; yet this is the place where we feel secure—standing on solid ground. 

Our sun is just one star among the hundreds of billions that make up the Milky Way galaxy, which itself is only one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. Over recent years, astronomers have found hundreds of planets orbiting stars in our corner of the Milky Way and the list will soon pass 1000. The universe, the little we know of it, possesses a rationality, order and unity. Yet, we are incapable of understanding it by reason alone. Our hearts, not our heads, may still be the best means of providing comfort into the mystery of its creation. 

We haven’t yet found definitive signs of life elsewhere in the universe. But we can speculate that a carbon-based life on an earth-like planet, orbiting a sun-like-star in a habitable zone is very likely. Planets are probably common around such stars, and sun-like stars are common in our galaxy, and our galaxy is similar to the many, many other galaxies throughout the universe. 

How is it so many of us can accept this fantastic array of reality in such a ho-hum way, especially when the spirit of our times demands only the evident, the concrete, and the practical? A common question from those who doubt there being a God is: “how can you believe in all this God stuff?” Well, why not? The little we already claim to know of our universe’s reality is as mysterious, and may even surpass the mysteriousness, surrounding there being a God.

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Throughout that time we adapted, we learnt and we had conversations—about what it means to be a community, about what we need to remember as we move into an endemic stage of COVID-19, about our understanding of the Eucharist, and about online worship. Eileen Scully, Director of the Faith Worship and Ministry Department of the General Synod (Anglican Church of Canada) edited a book entitled “Eucharistic Practice & Sacramental Theology in Pandemic Times.” It compiles reflections by Canadian Anglicans on worship and the Eucharist. 

At the beginning, being online was the only means by which we were able to worship together. Gradually, as we were allowed to gather together with restrictions, some congregations still provided a separate online form of worship while others live streamed their regular worship service. Now, with no restrictions, the conversation about online worship continues with a slightly different focus. Some objections I’ve heard to continuing to offer live streaming and online worship: people won’t return to the building when they can sit in the comfort of their own home in their pyjamas and “attend church;” watching is not the same as gathering in community; those who stay home and watch may not still contribute financially to the community—the “if people don’t come, they don’t bring their envelopes” argument. 

There is truth in these objections. But there’s more to it. People who are housebound are now able to participate, albeit virtually, in weekly worship; those who are immuno-compromised and afraid of gathering, particularly in these early stages, have an option. There are people who tune in to online worship who would not normally attend in person worship. Some are now able to keep in touch with other worshipping congregations across the continent—more than one person has mentioned that they watch any number of worship services on a Sunday. In a sense, it enlarges what we mean by community—there is the community gathered and there is also the wider community that is held together by the connection we have as members of the body of Christ, a connection that is strengthened by being able to access online worship. 

I believe that some form of online worship is here to say. I’ll give the last word to Richard Leggett, a priest in the diocese of New Westminster, who contributed to the book edited by Eileen Scully with an article, “Virtual is real: Some preliminary reflections on Eucharistic worship in a pandemic.” He says this “Online worship is real. Online worship is personal. Online worship is a way that people can be nurtured into genuine Christian discipleship.” 

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Did you know that harmful agricultural practices are second only to fossil fuels as the main drivers for climate change? I find it ironic that our farming practices, the equipment and inputs that we use to produce food, are a major contributing factor to climate change, which is a major cause of food insecurity in the world today. 

Many PWRDF partners engage in a wide variety of agricultural training to increase the quantity and quality of food produced in ways that do no harm to the environment. And project participants are happy to pass on knowledge gained through participation in those PWRDF-sponsored training programs to other members of the community.

PWRDF-funded projects include education, training, and mentorship in raising awareness on the short and long-term consequences of using pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, growth hormones, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and heavy farm machinery. Care is taken to ensure our projects use agricultural inputs that do not harm the land or pollute the air. PWRDF sponsors food security projects in North, Central, and South America; Cuba; Africa; Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. St. Jude Family Projects in Uganda is just one example of such a project. People come from Africa and other parts of the world, to learn about organic farming, food security, income generation, environmental management, tree planting, water harvesting, and soil fertilization. The holistic approach which is used in this kind of education emphasizes that all of these things are connected.

Here is some food for thought: if you are someone who likes to grow their own food, or even someone who grows flowers, please consider using environmentally friendly practices, such as composting, to nourish your gardens. If you do not grow your own food, why not consider planting some trees or shrubs to help remove pollutants from the air?

Happy Spring! Thank you, and God bless.

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What about changing places? Places to live, places to play games or music, place to sit at the kitchen.

Growing up we sat in our own place to eat.

Have you ever tried “sit where you like”?

We have started sitting where we want in church but seats get used by the same people every Sunday. It’s not easy to change your place…try it, be brave and see what happens. Sometimes we are accepted; sometimes we get an odd look. 

What about putting things in the proper place…in boxes, on a shelf, in an envelope, in folders.

And in sewing, right sides together most of the time.

What about being “put in one’s place?” Does anyone have the right to carry that through? What emotions erupt?

Places need to be found 

…for people who are hard to love

…for kindness amid strife 

…for joy amid stress

…for things too good to toss

Places need to be found for my treasures now that it is time to downsize. Is it time to give now, the items listed in your will? One would see the joy of the person who received the gift. 

A resting place must be found for my ashes and my last wishes. 

Places can provide

…peace

…a spot for a rocking chair 

…a quiet time

…a spot in my heart for a new friend 

What will fill the place left after loosing a friend?

For a tidy home, a good work area, or a peaceful mind, one must find a place. 

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The Book of Genesis is not a scientific book. It does not provide us with scientific data to prove or disprove the existence of God. Nobody can prove that God created the universe. Belief in a “Creator God” is, by definition, a matter of Christian faith.

Genesis 1:1-2:4a tells us that God created a good world of rhythm and harmony. It does not detail the physics, geology, or biology of creation. In fact, God created matter from nothing (Genesis 1:1). He created conscious life (Genesis 1:21). Then, at the peak of his creation, God created man in his own image (Genesis 1:27a).

God is the creator; humans are creatures of God. God is infinite and eternal, whereas humans are finite and temporal.  Humans are dependent upon God. Philip E. Hughes wrote: “he has no independent existence apart from God, who is the sole source of his being” (Christian Ethics in Secular Society, 1983, p. 19). Hughes added: “Dignified by his creation in the divine image, man is intended to reflect the excellence of his Creator.” (Ibid., p. 47).

What does it mean to be created in God’s image? First of all, it is the whole of humanity, rather than some part or aspect, that is the image of God. Hughes pointed out that “The image in which man was created, moreover, is specifically that of the Second Person of the Trinity rather than that of the tripersonal Godhead; for the Son is Himself the image of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15)” (Ibid., p. 151).

Humans were created to resemble God. We possess knowledge, feelings, and a will. We can reason and make moral choices. We can love and worship. We can commune with God. We can reflect God in thought and action. Here lies true worth: humans are created in God’s image and are therefore valuable to God and others.

God entrusted this world to our care (Genesis 2:15). We continue God’s work.  God built rhythm, cycles, diversity, and harmony into God’s world. We are responsible for finding our place in God’s rhythm, for living our lives in harmony with God’s order. For more information, please read “Why Should Christians Care for Creation?” (Biologos, December 7, 2019).

After the fall (Genesis 3:1-6), God’s image in us is distorted. We have often failed to govern the earth in accordance with the will and purpose of its creator. Today, we still bear the image of God (James 3:9), but we also bear the scars of sin. When God redeems an individual, he begins to restore the original image of God. At the second coming, Christians shall be like Jesus (I John 3:2).

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