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As many of you know I was blessed to be able to take a trip to Russia in early October. I spent two weeks cruising the waterway from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Many of you have asked about the trip and about my experiences. I can put it in one word WONDERFUL!!! Well, maybe two WONDERFUL AND FABULOUS! Russia is such an interesting country rich with culture and such an interesting and often tragic history
On another day I will write more about The Russian Orthodox Church and our delightful, young guide Katerina who is very active in her congregation.
Today I want to share with you one highlight and learning piece for me. In each city and at every stop along the way we were guided through local cathedrals and churches. One might have expected that the churches would have died out during the decades of communism. You will recall the famous quote of Karl Marx “Religion is the opiate of the people.” Nonetheless the Russian people take great pride in their beautiful places of worship.
Russian Orthodoxy uses as icons as a means of worship and prayer. To step into a Russian Orthodox Church is like stepping into a colourful feast for the eyes. In many of the churches and cathedrals every inch of wall is covered with frescoes and murals showing stories and characters from The Bible. The Russian Orthodox style of worship is nothing like ours. The first obvious difference is that there are no pews! The worshipper does not sit but stands for the service or even mills about as the service goes on (A service might last a couple of hours) so to have the biblical story displayed in paintings on the wall is both a source of inspiration and education for the believer. The frescoes and the icons, so rich in colour and beauty, often made me feel like I had stepped into a tapestry. IN one particularly beautiful l cathedral I said to my sister, “They have covered every inch with art and we think we do well when we hang a banner!” Well, of course our culture is one that favors’ plain over ornate and our tradition is one that values word over art but after my visit to Russia I have a new appreciation for religious art and the power of symbol to draw one’s spirit.
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On a recent CBC’s “The National” they profiled a Community Kitchen in Toronto. A Community Kitchen is a group of people who come together to make up large batches of food which can then be divided and shared out among the participants. As the story of this happy and enthusiastic group unfolded it showed variously aged people working together to make up nutritious meals to take home. Not only were they cooking but they were also learning together and enjoying the camaraderie. Clearly they were benefiting in many ways.
In this same report it was observed that the use of Food Banks is up. I checked out the Food Banks Canada web site and it states, “People with jobs constitute the second largest group of food bank clients, at 14.5% - up from 13.5% in 2007. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the majority of food bank clients with jobs are employed at low wages. The expansion of the low-wage economy has generated more working poor who, even with full-time jobs, are unable to meet basic needs for themselves and their families.” Furthermore it notes, “Children continue to be over-represented among food bank recipients in Canada. This year, 37.1% of food bank clients were under 18. Child poverty is now at the same level seen in 1989, the year when the federal government made an all-party resolution to end child poverty. Child poverty is directly tied to the level of household income. Among households accessing food banks, families with children make up more than 50% of recipients”. This is shocking to me.
20 years ago the federal government made a commitment to end child poverty. 20 years have passed and nothing has changed. Not too long ago I was chatting with a friend about the whole H1N1 vaccine situation. She said, “You know all this money and media attention is going to H1N1. If the government is really serious about dealing with the health of the nation they would do something about poverty and the number of children whose health is compromised due to poor nutrition.
In that TV newscast, one of the commentators said that Food Banks were started as a temporary measure but they have turned into a permanent fixture of Canadian society. He said, “Food Banks have become a moral release for the government. It lets them off the hook.” Hmmmm, I support the Food Bank. I send people to the Food Bank, I know that in our society right now we need Food Banks … I just wonder why, in a country like Canada, that is the case. What do you think about Food Banks?
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Yesterday morning I was listening to CBC radio. You know, that kind of half-listening, as I buttered my toast and slurped my coffee, but something caught my attention and I listened up. A woman was being interviewed about charitable giving. She said that Canadians give 8 billion dollars to charity annually. 8 billion dollars! That is a lot of money. She talked about what motivates our giving and said that often it is traced to relationships. We give to causes that draw us for some reason – often our giving is reinforced through connections with family, friends and neighbours.
Last Saturday night 50 people gathered in the church auditorium to enjoy a dinner together. It was the culmination of our Faith Trek study on the biblical character Joseph. We called it “Joseph’s Egyptian Feast” and a delicious meal of biblical based foods was served. A few people wore costumes, we had some quizzes and there were door prizes. After the dinner we watched the movie, “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dream-coat”. But, in addition to the enjoyment of the evening by those who were there, was the fact that the proceeds from the ticket sales will make someone else’s life richer. After the expenses were paid for we were left with $245.66, plus extra donations of $67, we were able to add $312.66 to our Extra Measures project. This means our evening of feasting and entertainment benefits a child in The Congo. For every $200 that we raise a child in the Congo is able to go to school for the year. Our Extra Measures project is to raise money over-and-above our regular giving. The name for our project comes from the scripture verse in Luke 6: 38 “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, and it will be put back into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” We chose this project because we believe that educating a child today will change the future of the world.
The BUC congregation is a generous and mission focused congregation. We know that we have been generously blessed in many ways. Our response to this abundance is to share it with others. And as our fun at “Joseph’s Feast” shows it is particularly good when our fun has a double reward – we had a great time and it resulted in a mission outreach to a child in The Congo. What a great give-away.
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The lead story on Canada AM’s newscast this morning was that Oprah has announced that her last show will be held in September 2011. The broadcaster said something like, “What will the word be like without Oprah?” Well, no doubt Oprah will not disappear. She will direct her interests and influence in another direction. In fact they mentioned that she might even start her own cable station.
I like Oprah. I have watched her show off an on over the years. Once when I was leading a Bible study there was a member of the group her watched her religiously – and I use that term in its full meaning! Often during our discussion she would quote something that Oprah has said. It got to the point that I would tease her about quoting from the gospel according to Oprah. A few years later at a United Church book display I found a book with that very title. I bought it for my friend and she really enjoyed reading “The Gospel According to Oprah”. I admit – I read it before I gave it to her (read it carefully with no turned-down corners or cracked-open spine). The author provided an interesting analysis of the way that Oprah grew in her fame and influence and how, despite never mentioning a denomination or sometimes even a particular faith base she made spirituality a real part of her reflections and conversation. I remember hearing at the time of Hurricane Katrina that Oprah visited the region. There was lots of publicity regarding her visit and a huge photo op. But what the journalist also reported was that after the camera went away and the media had gone Oprah, quietly and without fanfare, went back to the stadium where the people were in temporary housing. She talked with individuals and spoke to the crowd in a way that offered comfort and hope. The journalist said it was a sacred time in that stadium as people were moved by her compassion.
Oprah can be over-the-top. At the time that she turned 50 the amount of money she spent on her birthday party and the opulence of the affair was staggering But she has been generous in her philanthropy both in America and in South Africa. Her friendship with Nelson Mandella instigated the development of her girl’s academy. She has done a lot of good.
So, after 2011 how we hear from Oprah may change but I am convinced that her influence will continue to be felt.
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How often have you greeted someone with the common question “How are you?” and received the response “Busy.”? In our post-industrial world being busy is prized. Our culture encourages us to believe that being busy is the way we should conduct our life. If we are busy we must be accomplishing something! The adrenaline rush of busy-ness fuels us and we are seduced by the thought that if we are busy then our activities are of value. Implicit in that is the notion that then we must be of value. It is a deceptive value system!
This morning, as it happens every second and fourth Friday, a group of women gathered in The Parlour. The group who make up “Women’s Morning Out” are a fun and engaging group of women who are willing to question and grow in their faith through study and conversation. We have considered a range of topics and for these weeks of autumn we have been focusing on prayer and experimenting with different prayer styles. Today we took a prayer walk. After checking in and discussing what it means to embody prayer and what it means to connect with our body in prayer we set off on the experiment. Each of us, in silence walked for about ten minutes in and around the church. Spending time in silence and in prayer. Some of us were amazed by the details we had missed as we hurried into the group. The sky, the sun, the trees, the gardens each held beauty that we hadn’t noticed. The stained glass windows, the heat from the radiators, feel of the carpet on our feet were all surprises when we took the time to slow down and notice.
What I realized is how much time I spend on my head and how little time I spend aware of my body. While I became aware of this on my prayer walk it has also come to me in with startling clarity over the last few weeks as I have been slowed with two different illnesses. Is my body trying to tell me something? Maybe I have been prizing busy-ness and not been doing enough to nourish and nurture my body and soul. Messages come to us in different ways. Our body is one of the best means we have to relate to the world around us and to communicate with the great mystery of our spirituality. Do you think the day when might come when someone asks me “How are you?” and I could honestly answer, “Thankfully, I have been quiet enough to listen carefully to my spirit and to God.” Well, I live in hope!
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I have been thinking a lot about my Uncle Walter. I didn’t know him but he looms large in our family history. Uncle Walter was my father’s brother. Uncle Walter was killed in the war. We all knew when I was growing up, that “the war” was World War II. Uncle Walter was remembered at family gatherings. He was especially remembered in November when corporate thought focused on our war history and our veterans.
Yesterday, as I stood at the cenotaph, I thought of Uncle Walter. It was a rare Remembrance Day in that the weather was balmy and the sun was brilliant. In that glorious autumn sun the last post was played, the silence was held, and the wreaths were laid. Had Uncle Walter lived he would be an old man now or perhaps, like three of his brothers, he would already be laid in the family plot. Instead his mark is a white, slab gravestone in France. Several of his nieces and nephews have made the pilgrimage to that foreign land to visit his grave and pay homage to his memory.
War is difficult for a Christian. How do I, as a person of faith, decide the killing of another is necessary? The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “There is a time to love and a time to hate, a time for peace and a time for war. (Ecc. 3:8) Is there? How do we justify the destruction of another? At what point does war become just? I have nothing but admiration and respect for the many people who put their lives at risk in places of combat. But I am forced to wrestle with the age-old question, ‘When can we settle our disputes and injustices in a manner other than destruction?”
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on war.
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