It is February …yes, already the fourth day of the month. Now I love each of the seasons of the year for many different reasons. But when it comes to the months of the year February ranks right up there for me. Yep, February is a great month. “Why” you ask? Well, you gotta love a month that begins with a day celebrating a ground hog. It doesn’t matter if you observe Willie or any one of his many cousins who get dragged out of their ground hog holes on February 2^nd to squint in the sun; it is a day to celebrate the passing of time. Regardless of whether winter will last another six weeks or spring is on the way Ground Hog Day reminds us that the sun is coming back and the days are indeed getting longer.

Of course, right smack dab in the middle of the month we get Valentine’s Day. Now Valentine had to be a pretty cool saint to be celebrated with chocolate - he is my kind of Saint.

Then there is the fact the February is the shortest month. So, when it seems like the month has flown by and we don’t know where the days went we can be comforted by the fact that this month is minus a couple of days. It makes sense when the month has disappeared in a flash!

February is the month when outdoor activities are usually at their peak. The ski trails are well broken in. The slopes are usually covered with the white stuff. Ponds and lakes offer skating rinks to enjoy. Of course when the day is over there is ample entertainment inside. The crokinole board is at the ready. The jigsaw puzzle is spread on the table. And with the Academy Award Nominations announced at the beginning of the month we know which movies we have to rush to see before Oscar night.

Of course many readers will know that this is all just a build up to the real reason I love February. It is my birthday month! Yep, just as I am finishing up my Valentines Chocolates along comes a birthday cake to sweeten my disposition. 

Gotta love February.

I think this will be the last entry about my week at “Epiphany Explorations”. I want to share with you a bit from one of the final speakers. I found her most engaging. Chung Hyun Kyung is a Korean Christian theologian and is an Associate Professor of Ecumenical Theology at Union Theological Seminary in the United States. Professor Chung's teaching and research interests include feminist and eco-feminist theologies and spiritualities from Asia, Africa and Latin America; Christian-Buddhist dialogue; Zen meditation; approaches to disease and healing in varied religious backgrounds; mysticism and revolutionary social change; Goddesses and women’s liberation in Asia; interfaith peacemaking; as well as the history and critical issues of various ecumenical theologies. Phew – that’s makes me tired just reading it.

Listening to her speak was anything but tiring. It was inspiring. She is an engaging, gentle and humorous presenter. Her first lecture highlighted her research as she traveled and met with Muslim women in 17 different Muslim countries. It was fascinating. But it was her second lecture that stole my heart. She talked about her own personal journey. She is a baptized and devoted Christian but during a time of personal struggle she found herself drawn to talk with a Buddhist Master. In those conversations she came to draw more and more strength from the Buddhist style of worship and theology. Eventually she committed herself to a year in the study of Buddhism and as a result became a Buddhist. Let me be clear she did not leave behind her Christian faith. She describes herself as a “Double-Belonger’ meaning she is both Christian and Buddhist.

She proposed that as our culture becomes more and more inter-racial, inter-cultural and inter-faith people will draw on and include in their belief structure many different faith perspectives. Chung was quite adamant that one could not “cherry-pick” just the good from this one and that one, asserting that it is necessary to commit to a faith. Nonetheless, she acknowledged that there is much good in every faith and people do have the capability to be, as she put it, omni-faith, meaning taking strength from many different faiths.

It is an interesting perspective. Do you think there is room in your Christian faith to recognize and adopt some of the practices from other religious beliefs? If so how would you live that out?

The opening seesion of “Epiphany Explorations” was sobering indeed. Reg Bibby is a sociology professor at the University of Lethbridge, Order of Canada recipient and a researcher who has surveyed the beliefs and attitudes of Canadian teens and adults for over 30 years. Trained in theology, he has written extensively about the religious and spiritual beliefs of today’s society. His research in Canada and the United States gives him a unique perspective on the similarities in social trends affecting religion and spirituality. He is the author of five books that focus on religion. At one time he was referred to as “bad-news Bibby” because he held up the mirror of church statistics noting how the role and appeal of the institutional church has diminished in our culture.

He continues to track the statistics and had these figures for us. In 1961 49% of Canadians identified as Protestant in 1981 that number had dropped to 41% and by 2001 it had dropped further to 32% His research on teenagers is most revealing. In 1984 those who identified as United Church were 10% but by 2008 that number had dropped to 1%. Furthermore teens who never attend church rose from 23% in 1985 to 47% in 2008. Plainly put this means that half of the population of teenagers in Canada never attends church.

Why is this? Well, Reg identified some reasons. Baby Boomers dropped out of church and their children simply aren’t connected because it was never part of their formative years. He also identified (as did Leonard Sweet in his lectures) that our culture has shifted from obligation to gratification. People don’t come to church because of loyalty or duty as previous generations did. People come to church because it is gratifying and meets their needs. He also identified the shift from deference to discernment. We live in a culture that questions many things particularly the status quo and people are generally more demanding insisting that anything they are involved in has significance and makes a difference in their lives. Finally he identified that biggest social change in the past half century is that women are working both outside and inside the home. This gets lived out in a variety of ways. He said this generation is less likely to entertain at home, is less likely to have informal social visits, is less likely to volunteer in the community and is less likely to go to church.

Did he have any good news to offer? Well, he said that people would come to church if they found it worthwhile. People place a high degree of value on interpersonal relationships. He said people are not looking for a church they are looking for ministry. 

What do you think? What keeps you coming to church, if you do? What makes you stay away?  Are there ways we here at BUC can make ministry more relevant for you?

I wrote yesterday about Leonard Sweet one the speakers at Epiphany Explorations. I was thinking more about his work just this morning. He told us that in an effort to connect more with his students he had begun writing on Twitter. Now Twitter is one of those frontiers I have not explored … well until a few minutes ago when I looked up Len’s page. He said he keeps his twitter page focused on signs of God always looking out for and then pointing out what God is up to.

Well, that got me thinking. On this cold wintry morning in Muskoka what is God up to? God has breezed through my office twice already as soul sisters from the congregation have dropped in just to give a hug and say hello. God’s love was revealed when I listened to the morning news and heard the report from one man of his effort to raise funds for the people of Haiti and his subsequent trip there as a volunteer in the relief effort. God is talking to me through the words of scripture I am reading as I think about this coming Sunday’s sermon. God chuckled along as one dear friend stopped by to share his latest joke. It’s a busy day with a busy weekend ahead. I am reminded of John Wesley’s comments (well I think it was Wesley but it could have been some one else). “I have so much to do today I will have to pray for two hours instead of one so God can help me through it.” God is busy helping me through my busy-ness.

Celtic Spirituality talks about “thin places” these are places where heaven and earth are very close. Places charged with spiritual energy. I have always felt Muskoka was a bit of a thin place and I often see the creative energy of God as I drive around bends in the road and as I peer into the bush.

So, dear readers, where do you see God today? Have you had sightings of The Spirit at work?

It was a great week of Continuing Education in Victoria. The congregation of First Metropolitan United Church hosts this annual conference each January giving folks like me an opportunity to hear great speakers and enjoy a respite from the Ontario winter. Yes, the temperatures hovered around a balmy ten degrees and the sun shone. I even saw a couple of flowering crab trees beginning to bud out and one garden boasted newly planted pansies. Ahhhhh!

The key-note speaker was Leonard Sweet. He is, as the programme material put it, a historian of North American culture; a futurist who “sees things the rest of us do not see, and dreams possibilities that are beyond most of our imagining;” and a preacher and writer who communicates the gospel powerfully to a postmodem age. It also notes he was voted “One of the 50 Most Influential Christians in America” in 2006 and 2007.

Leonard spoke to us of the need to engage in mission through the new world of technology.  Leonard told us that life as we knew it changed in 1973. What happened in 1973? Martin Cooper invented the first cell phone. Ever since then we have been moving more and more into a wireless world. Anyone spending even a few moments in a public space such as an airport or a shopping mall knows that cell phones are the constant companions to most people now. Sweet is great with acronyms and he said we live in a TGIF world (twitter, google, internet, facebook). Leonard made connections for us around spirituality and technology reminding us that as church we need to be using technology to connect with folks.

I guess that is why I started writing this blog. It is a way for us to connect as we consider together how God is acting in our world. What do you think? Does technology strengthen your spirituality? How so?

This past week we had “Upside Down Sunday”.  For our readers who are not attenders at BUC so you might not know what that means.  Upside Down Sunday means after ‘story time’ in our morning worship the children stay in the sanctuary and the adults all go off to Faith Trek. We had six workshops that included drumming, yoga, bibles study, hymns, prayer and the significance of bread. There were over 100 adults participating in the workshops around the building. Later, during coffee time, the hall was abuzz with chat about the various workshops and the learning that occurred. This is the second year we have had an “Upside Down Sunday” here. The morning, first viewed with some skepticism is now, I believe, anticipated as people wonder what class they might get to participate in this year.

Of course this unusual way to conduct a Sunday morning is not to everyone’s taste but for many it is a fun and refreshing way to worship. Yes, I said worship. I think that worship, entering into sacred time and space, can happen in a variety of ways.  That’s right worship does not require a sermon! A rich experience of entering into conversation about God or experiencing God through prayer, drumming, yoga or in the smell of baking bread can be just as meaningful as a well-constructed sermon … dare I say it …maybe even more meaningful, a bold admission from a preacher!

I extend a huge thank you to the various folks who offered leadership in the workshops – I know some of you are readers. And I say thank you to the congregation for entering into the spirit of the morning.

Now, I am off for some life-long learning of my own. I leave soon to head out to Victoria, BC to attend Epiphany Explorations at First-Metropolitan United Church.

I’ll let you know all about it when I get back.

It is impossible to look at a newspaper or listen to the news and not be touched at the deepest emotional level by the tragedy and devastation that has befallen the tiny nation of Haiti.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and if that weren’t enough of a burden to bear its population this week is reeling by the effects of the 7.0 earthquake that shook some 3 million people and left thousands dead. Many of them lie buried under the rubble of destroyed building.

The reports of the situation in Haiti remind us that once again the world is a small and interconnected globe. Thousands of Canadian citizens have relatives in Haiti. There were over 6,000 Canadians in Haiti at the time of the Earthquake many of them there on mission and aid work assisting Haitians to alleviate the suffering of that nation. 1,400 Canadians remain missing.  Our own Governor General Michaelle Jean fought back tears as she spoke on behalf of Canada to the people of Haiti. Haiti is the land of her birth and she still has family there. This story cannot be about them and not be about us. We are in this together as world citizens.

The good news aspect to this story is the rate at which aid money is pouring in. People have been moved to give and to give generously. Haiti needs it. The reconstruction will be immense and will take years.  In their capital city the UN headquarters, the Catholic Cathedral, the police station, and the prison were among the buildings destroyed by the violently shifting earth. Among the dead are the Roman Catholic Archbishop, the Head of the UN’s peacekeeping mission, dozens of UN staff, and many aid workers. These are among the very ones who might be able to give leadership at this time. Thankfully many countries have recognized the vacuum that is now there and have responded with immediacy.

Among the agencies that have responded is the United Church of Canada. I hope that you are able to turn your prayers to action by making a donation of any size to the relief work in Haiti. Cheques should be made out to Bracebridge United Church and marked “Haiti Appeal”. They will be directed through our denomination to our partners in Haiti and put to work in that country that needs so much to know that the world cares.  At times like this we feel compelled to respond – please give as you are able.

Okay, it is not my intention to include a discussion of snow in every Blog but given the ‘downpour’, or whatever the snow equivalent word is, of the last couple of days how could I not talk about the weather?  

I had friends from Manitoba visit on Thursday and that kept me from the office. I was planning to drive them to Toronto but as we studied the weather we decided it would be better if they traveled by bus and let the road conditions be the concern of Northland Ontario. Then yesterday, I was house bound as the snow kept coming down. This morning I faced the reality that I haven’t written my sermon and all my notes were at the office so I stuffed my laptop in my back pack and walked to the office. What I experienced on that walk is what I want to blog about.

Have you noticed how the weather always gets people talking to one another? I know people poke fun at Canadians because we are always talking about the weather – but really how can we help but? As I walked through my neighbourhood and then on to the church there were folks out shoveling and blowing snow but mostly everyone was also chatting with their neighbours as they surveyed the snow situation. Despite the daunting task of clearing driveways and sidewalks everyone seemed pretty cheerful. One woman shoveling away at the big drift at the end of her driveway said, “I guess we haven’t been praying enough so God sent us this to slow us down.” Another woman, standing with her young son who was engrossed in the working of his neighbour’s snow-blower, said, “It’s a fascinating day!” Before I left the house this morning we had already received two calls from friends in southern Ontario who had heard about our snow on the news. I had an e-mail from my niece last night who said, “It’s all the talk on the news even down here in the big city!”

Psalm 147:16 reads, “God gives snow like a white fleece and scatters frost like ashes.” Job 38 includes these verses: “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or have you seen the storehouses of that hail?” (22) “From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoar-frost of heaven? (29)

I guess that sometimes it does take something like a major snowstorm to slow us down and get us talking to one another. A snow day means we have to stop the activity and respect the weather. I know not everyone likes snow, some of you are anxiously counting the days until you can head south and chase the sun, but for snowmobilers and skiers, sleighriders and snowshoers – this is heaven!