Saturday, November 1, 2014 (All Saints' Day)

Saturday, November 1, 2014 (All Saints’ Day)

Hebrews 11:32 - 12:2

Over the past couple of months I have been thinking quite a bit about my faith -- what it means to me, where it came from, where it’s taking me, what it looks like. A lot of this was in preparation for my attendance at a big gathering where I, along with several other people exploring a call to the priesthood, were ‘assessed.’ Naturally, something that the assessors want to learn about is the candidate’s spiritual journey. For instance, was there a definitive conversion experience? Or more accurately, was there a gradual or sudden one? What have been some definitive moments along the way? Or important people? 

It is helpful for all of us, lay or ordained, to think about these questions. It’s good practice for when someone -- anyone -- asks you about your faith or your life story.

For me, one of the definitive transitions or conversions in my life was from a very individualistic understanding of faith and spirituality to a more corporate one. As people living in the West in the 21st century we are naturally inclined toward a very ME-centric orientation. And as Christians brought up in a tradition that came out of the Reformation (even if a bit more balanced than other traditions), we tend to read Paul through Augustine through Luther and come out with a very (or solely) personal understanding of faith. Taken to extremes, your personal faith is everything, and the Church, others, ‘unbelievers,’ people with whom we disagree, can all become inconsequential. 

But if you read the Acts of the Apostles or early Church history, or study Judaism, you start to get a sense of the importance of community. Think about how amazing it is that we are not all on our own. In our liturgy we don’t pray as isolated individuals, but with all gathered, with Anglicans (and not just Anglicans!) all over the world, with Thomas Cranmer, Hippolytus, and Justin Martyr. And those are just a few who have had a direct hand in the Church’s liturgical development. Indeed, we pray with all the saints, and even the angels and archangels. I believe that this change in focus from yourself to the whole Body of Christ can radically change your experience of worship. 

This was hit home for me a number of years ago when I was visiting Holy Cross Priory in Toronto. I was speaking to Brother William, a fascinating guy from the Southern US, about my prayer life. I told him about how I was saying morning and evening prayer, but changing all the “we’s” and “us’s” to “I” and “me.” He quickly corrected me: “No, no, you don’t need to do that! Even if separated by space and time, the whole Church prays together! So leave the wording as is!”

I had another turning point around the same time. I had been growing in my appreciation of our monastic tradition, and was quite taken with St. Francis. I had the nudge to go out and get one of those statues that you put in the garden (St. Francis being a popular one based on his connection to the natural world). But it wasn’t sitting right with my Protestant upbringing. So I called up my friend Greg, someone whom I consider to be a mentor. He compared statues and pictures, at least at their best, to family photos. And why wouldn’t I surround myself with photos of my loved ones? (My wife Leslie bugs me that in our living room we have a picture of Thomas Merton, but not one of ourselves. Though I could point out to her that we also have a huge poster of Kevin Bacon from the movie Footloose, too.) 

Today, All Saints’ Day, is a good day to give thanks for that “great cloud of witnesses” that surrounds us. God is made known to us not just in direct revelation, like a laser beam into our brains, but often in the lives of others. What saints have been important to you? Today I give thanks for those ‘big names’ I mentioned; people like St. Francis, Cranmer, and Merton. And I also give thanks for those whom I have been privileged to know personally: people like Br. William and Greg. 

- Matthew Kieswetter

Friday, October 31, 2014

Friday, October 31, 2014

Revelation 19:1-10

“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”

It is no small feat to comment on the book of Revelation. Fortunately, I follow Ann and Matthew who justifiably point to the difficulty and strangeness of the Bible’s closing text, and then offer helpful insights for our lives today.

This reading comes at the end of what scholars term the “Babylonian Appendix,” and is a description of the fall of Rome (symbolically termed Babylon). In particular, chapter 19 is a celebratory hymn to God who both judges and destroys the empire. Passages like this have inspired persecuted and oppressed peoples throughout history and continue to do so. The message that injustice does not have the final say in God’s creation is both true and necessary.

More difficult to stomach is an image of a vengeful and violent God and the sanction that image seems to offer humans who want to follow its model. John J. Collins, in an article called “The Zeal of Phinehas: The Bible and the Legitimation of Violence,” observes that the link between the Bible and violence is deeper than the numerous portrayals of a warrior God, or the countless divine commands to slaughter others. Instead, the deeper connection between the two is the divine certitude the Bible gives to the faithful.  “The Bible has contributed to violence in the world,” Collins argues, “precisely because it has been taken to confer a degree of certitude that transcends human discussion and argumentation. Perhaps the most constructive thing a biblical critic can do toward lessening the contribution of the Bible to violence in the world is to show that that certitude is an illusion.”

Maybe Collins’ advice would work well for us who aren’t Bible scholars, but who faithfully attempt to live the Bible’s stories, worship using the Bible’s images, and pray using the Bible’s language. Perhaps in this year of renewal, in the midst of our living, worshiping and praying, we can also critically reflect on our own, often hidden, certainties. How would this challenging spiritual practice transform us, our churches, and our neighborhoods?

- David Shumaker

Thursday October 30, 2014

Mark 13:3-13 

The Titus Arch in Rome that celebrates the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE by Roman troops under Titus .

Mark's gospel tells of the Jesus' growing conflict with the authorities.  Jesus arrives in Jerusalem to the cheers of Hosanna! (Save now!  Save, we beseech thee!) and then drives the buyers and sellers out of the temple.  Jesus then leaves the city and when he returns his authority is questioned through a series of pointed and loaded questions which he ably stickhandles.  

Jesus returns to the temple, again challenges an exploitative temple system, and (provocatively?) sits opposite the treasury and watches many rich people put in large sums of money.  When Jesus sees a poor widow put in two small coins he says to the disciples,"Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.  For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."  

This the context of today's reading.  As Jesus comes out of the temple, a temple built by King Herod, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”   Jesus seems unimpressed, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”  And indeed they were in 70 CE.

We humans continue to be impressed by what we have built - physical buildings, economic and political systems, mighty militaries, careers . . . but time and again Jesus calls us to remember the temporality of our creations perhaps especially those created to impress or oppress.  Jesus draws our eyes to "the least of these"; those who live on the margins or the borderlands, those whose contributions to humanity seem small or even invisible, but who give out of their weakness and poverty. 

How do you hear this good news?

Marilyn Malton

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Revelation 12:1-6

In John’s account of the crucifixion Jesus looks down from the cross at his mother and at the beloved disciple and says to Mary “Mother, here is your son,” and to his friend “[h]ere is your mother” (John 19:26-27). Because of this moment of radical openness to the other, theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar wrote that “Mary cannot be Mother of the Messiah without becoming Mother of all the brothers of the Messiah (Rev 12:17), without therefore being the co-origin of the Church...”*

Many commentators have associated the woman in today’s passage from Revelation with Mary. This would especially have been the case in times like the middle ages when devotion to Mary was a significant aspect of popular spirituality. Others connect the woman with Israel (the crown of twelve stars representing the twelve tribes), the Church. Others point out a more general use of language and imagery that we find in the Bible and other myths of Near Eastern cultures.

Today I’m meditating on this passage thinking about what it means to associate Mary with the woman. Von Balthasar, as I referenced above, seamlessly links Mary with the Church. It's a powerful image, if we identify the child with Jesus, death, personified as a dragon, eager to swallow the child up. The resurrection and ascension also come alive for me too, being described as God “snatch[ing] away” the child and taking him to God’s throne (Rev 12:5). And what about the woman/Mary/the Church? We are told that she is nourished for 1260 days (three and a half years). That likely represents incompleteness, as seven is typically used to denote wholeness. Maybe those three and a half years represent our liminal (transitional, in-between) time as Church labouring on the earth, simultaneously working to build up God’s Kingdom in the here and now, while also looking with anticipation for God’s consummation of that work. 

This consummation is mysterious and beyond our comprehension. So we have books like Revelation and parables like those used by Jesus that capture our attention and imaginations. I’m wary of preachers who flatten prophetic and apocalyptic scriptures into a neat and tidy package. To do so is to do them a disservice, usually in the name of a nationalistic, imperial agenda (which is ironic considering that Revelation is, at least in part, a denunciation of the Roman Empire). I’ve shared a few ideas of what the text might be pointing to, but I definitely haven’t exhausted it. Revelation is notoriously confusing, but by spending some time with the book, it can engage our hearts and minds in powerful ways.

- Matthew Kieswetter

* Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Priestly Spirituality, trans. Frank Davidson (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007), 46.

October 28, 2014 (St. Simon & St. Jude)

The Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude

John 14:15-31

               The reading for today from St. John’s Gospel is packed with promise and hope. Jesus declares to his disciples that, being emboldened and empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit, they will experience a divine peace which will set troubled hearts to rest and banish all fears.

               The message of promise and hope which Jesus offers is heard by a small group of people who have followed him, watched him and listened to him for several years. They have reached that moment where they have heard the story of how God delivered the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt through the experience of the Passover story. Gathered around in that intimate fellowship and meal, they have heard Jesus use signs and symbols of freedom in a new way.

               “This is my Body…this is my Blood of the New Covenant”, these are words which transform familiar signs and symbols of tradition into new realities. Going out into the world, empowered by the Holy Spirit, this small group of individuals will offer a life – changing, world – changing message of promise and hope.

               Two of that number are remembered today as they committed their lives to the mission and ministry in the name of Jesus. Stories surrounding Simon and Jude are not as detailed as we might hope. One of the traditions associated with their ministry was that they were martyred for their faith in an area known then as Persia.

               In recent days, I have been made aware of the tragic reality that in the part of the world where Simon and Jude were martyred, followers of Jesus are facing persecution. On homes and businesses the letter “N” is being painted as a marker. The followers of the Nazarene (Jesus) are being singled out for prosecution and persecution. I have been wearing a pin with that letter, as it is written in Arabic, as an act of solidarity with those who are living their lives on the knife edge of persecution. It may seem like a relatively insignificant action, yet in some way, it makes a statement that those whose lives are in danger are being upheld by the prayers of the Body of Christ around the world.

               Each of us has the opportunity to offer our prayerful support for those who are facing persecution. Each of us has the opportunity to bear witness to our Lord . Each of us, as we open our hearts and souls and minds to the movement of the Spirit of God moving within us has the opportunity to experience that gift of Peace which Jesus has promised to all those who claim him as their Saviour.

               It is my hope and prayer that each of us, empowered by the Holy Spirit and filled with an awareness of God’s Peace may be faithful witnesses to Jesus in our daily lives.    

- Reverend Canon Christopher Pratt

Monday, October 27, 2014

Monday October 27, 2014  

Sirach 19:4-17 (pasted below)

The Book of Sirach, often called the Wisdom of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, is found in the so-called deutero-canonical texts, and is not present in every bible.  In general, these texts were not universally accepted to be part of the full makeup of the books that became what we know as the bible.  Some Christian denominations accept and read these writings in their liturgies, others do not.  Obviously, the Anglican Communion does use them, but sparingly.  Sirach is known as a wisdom writing, and can best be described as a gathering of ethical teachings.

Today’s reading certainly fits that description.  Each of the verses prescribes suitable behaviour with respect to conversations with others.  The teaching, to my mind, is sound and virtually fail-safe: “Never repeat a conversation and you will lose nothing at all”, or “Have you heard something? Let it die with you.  Be brave.  It will not make you burst!”

I’ll not waste time moralizing about these teachings; doubtless we have all been in the unenviable situation of being party to gossip, or, worse, under pressure to spread gossip.  The words of Ecclesiasticus are gentle but firm in their counsel: let the conversation die with you, and resist the temptation of repeating what may not be true.  We would do well to heed this counsel.

- Reverend Paul Kett

+++

⁴ One who trusts others too quickly has a shallow mind,
    and one who sins does wrong to himself.
⁵ One who rejoices in wickedness^[b] will be condemned,^[c]
6     but one who hates gossip has less evil.
⁷ Never repeat a conversation,
    and you will lose nothing at all.
⁸ With friend or foe do not report it,
    and unless it would be a sin for you, do not reveal it;
⁹ for someone may have heard you and watched you,
    and in time will hate you.
¹⁰ Have you heard something? Let it die with you.
    Be brave, it will not make you burst!
¹¹ Having heard something, the fool suffers birth pangs
    like a woman in labor with a child.
¹² Like an arrow stuck in a person’s thigh,
    so is gossip inside a fool.

¹³ Question a friend; perhaps he did not do it;
    or if he did, so that he may not do it again.
¹⁴ Question a neighbor; perhaps he did not say it;
    or if he said it, so that he may not repeat it.
¹⁵ Question a friend, for often it is slander;
    so do not believe everything you hear.
¹⁶ A person may make a slip without intending it.
    Who has not sinned with his tongue?
¹⁷ Question your neighbor before you threaten him;
    and let the law of the Most High take its course.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Haggai 1:1 - 2:9

Haggai’s name means ‘feast’ or ‘festival’ (hajj). His ministry lasted only fifteen months. His two chapters are easy to overlook. But the key to his prophecy is in the back-story. Let me explain. 

It had been two decades since the Israelites returned from Persian Exile. Their focus was on rebuilding their homes and restoring their ruined economy. To make the transition easier, the Persian king restored their Hebrew leaders; Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and Joshua the high priest. Whether these men were political puppets or devoted to Israel, they did begin rebuilding of the Temple. It remained in ruins. And that is the issue to which Haggai prophesied the Word of the Lord:

“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

The call to rebuild the Temple echoes that of Egypt. When the Israelites were slaves there the pyramids became a national project that drove the spiritual efforts and economic engine of that country. Egypt’s grand effort united the country in a way no other enterprise could. In bold language, Haggai calls the leaders and people of Israel to a similar cause, and he lays out God’s reasons for this:

“Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little.
You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill.
You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages,
only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

Haggai could easily be describing our modern world. Now, as in Haggai’s time, the influence of spiritual leaders shrinks in the face of those with secular and economic agendas. Like the Israelites of Haggai’s time, we too focus more on our own immediate needs. Our decisions are driven by ‘what’s best for me’ ahead of ‘what’s best for the community’. Large picture thinkers do not dominate our leadership teams, and when they do stand up at podiums in our public meetings, they are politely listened to; then ignored. Our spirit-led leaders are greeted with open hostility and dismissed out of hand. 

In Haggai’s time, selfish, self-centered desires at the expense of re-building the Temple had all but destroyed the moral center of Israel. Haggai stood up in front of his leaders and people, and, like all prophets before him, he risked being ignored as well. Haggai outlined a cause and effect reason why Israel was wasting away morally, physically and economically. Israel was not giving any priority or attention to God. Not that God wanted a temple per se. But he demanded the top priority of the people he had restored to freedom not just once, but twice. 

Amazingly, within a month, Israel responded to Haggai’s call to re-focus. 

‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory?
How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?”

“Be strong … all you people of the land … and work … For I am with you … This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.”

Through Haggai, God promises that the new Temple will be filled not only with gold and silver, which God reminds them is his anyway, But also the Temple will be filled with something far better.

“I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come,
and I will fill this house with glory,”

God promises that the glory of the new house of the Lord will be greater than the glory of the old one, that the Israelites weep over and recall with such sad memories. They are called not to look back and weep for what was lost but to look forward to a better future.

“And in this place I will grant peace”

A Temple filled with ‘glory’ could mean a unified nation deserving the name ‘God’s People’. It could be an old reference to the actual ‘presence’ of God in the Holy of Holies. Yet the fact remains; one preacher turned an entire nation around in less than a month. The Temple became the focus of their energy and consequently their fortunes were restored. Do we know of any spiritual leaders like Haggai in our own time who can command this kind of prophetic power? Do we listen?

Peter Mansell Thanksgiving, 2014 

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Saturday, October 25, 2014 

Revelation 10: 1 - 11

Revelation is  a strange book for us. The visions and their meaning are anything but “revealed!”  It has provoked speculation and debate, finger-pointing and back-patting for years.  I do not pretend to understand it, but I do think we can glean insights from some of the pictures painted.

This passage comes towards the end of the vision of the 7 Angels who bring terrors and destruction to earth as the “end of the world” approaches.  Water has been poisoned, the sun and moon darkened, plagues, war, disease have all ravaged the earth.  The preceding verses tell that the people who remain alive “went on their merry way - didn’t change their way of life - There wasn’t a sign of a change of heart. They plunged right on in their murderous, occult, promiscuous, and thieving ways.” (The Message 9:20-21)

What strikes me here is that although horrors surround them, the people spoken of here seem to see no link between their own behaviour and those horrors. The suggestion seems to be that they have missed the point, missed the warning and therefore are missing the chance to change themselves and events.

Now our reading today.  It begins with an Angel that seems to bring not horror but promise - a rainbow on his head. That reminds me (and certainly the 1st century readers) of God’s covenant with Noah and the world.  It speaks of safety, protection, love. Wrapped in a cloud, face sun-radiant, legs pillars of fire, all these again might remind us of pictures of God or his angel leading the Israelites through the desert after their exodus from Egypt.  He carries a small scroll, and announces that the time is almost up, the plans of God which had been spoken through the prophets for ages were about to be completed.  Hooray! I think.  This destruction and pain will end, and God will restore His kingdom and comfort His people. 

The writer/viewer of the vision is told to take the little scroll and eat it: “It will taste like honey” (9)  Another reminder: Ezekiel was also instructed to eat a scroll - and God’s words were sweet like honey. (Ezekiel 3: 2-3)  In Psalms too, God’s words are spoken of as sweeter than honey (Psalm 119:103)  

BUT, “when I swallowed, my stomach curdled.” (9)  The result was bitterness, sourness, definitely not what was expected.  Some commentators have said this refers to the sweetness of God’s word for believers, the bitterness for unbelievers: us and them.  I wonder.  I wonder if it is also a message to me to not be too sure of myself, to beware of complacency, of thinking I have everything right with God.  I am reminded by C.S.Lewis in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe  that Aslan is not a tame lion! So, perhaps it means that part of me rejoices when I hear God’s words to me and I say I will obey and live by them, but part of me does not end up carrying through.  It reminds me of the parable of the sower and the seed: the part where the seed is received gladly and springs up, but life (thorns and weeds) choke it out and it fails to thrive.  I may well receive the word from God gladly and taste its sweetness, but when I really digest it, it will cause me pain as I realize how I have failed the mark and continue to fail.  That is a bitterness.  But a helpful one, as it can call me back to that first love, spur me on to try again, confident in God and His promises to never let me go, to never give up on me.  Pain and bitterness when we see ourselves clearly can lead to forgiveness and renewed energy: Peter experienced it, Paul experienced it, I can experience it, we can all experience it.

Blessings

Ann

Friday, October 24, 2014

Friday, October 24, 2014

Sirach 11:2-20 (pasted below)

The apocryphal book The Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus) comes to us from around 180 BCE. This was a time of relative stability before the persecution of the Jewish people that would lead to the Maccabean revolt, out of which comes Hanukkah. Like the book of Proverbs, Sirach is grouped into the category of wisdom literature. It contains profound, but also very down to earth and useful sayings. In reading about not boasting about fancy clothes (11:4) or about concentrating on single tasks rather than taking on too much (11:10-13) my thoughts were taken to the sayings and stories of Jesus that we find in the Gospels, like his words about the lilies of the field, and the story of Martha, who was too busy rushing around to sit with Jesus. Today’s reading might help us to remember that Jesus was part --and very knowledgeable of -- the ways and teachings of his people. 

As someone who sometimes takes on too much in the way of school and church responsibilities at the expense of my time with my friends and family (and spiritual life), I need to take Sirach 11:10-13 seriously. There is a fine episode of Seinfeld wherein George, working for the New York Yankees, figures out that by acting irritably all day, his co-workers and superiors will assume that he is busy, hard-working, and accomplishing much. I don’t want to follow the example of George, at least in that respect. (Despite, or perhaps because of his faults, he remains a beloved sitcom character.)

- Matthew Kieswetter

+++

2 

Do not praise individuals for their good looks,
    or loathe anyone because of appearance alone.

3 

The bee is small among flying creatures,
    but what it produces is the best of sweet things.

4 

Do not boast about wearing fine clothes,
    and do not exalt yourself when you are honored;
for the works of the Lord are wonderful,
    and his works are concealed from humankind.

5 

Many kings have had to sit on the ground,
    but one who was never thought of has worn a crown.

6 

Many rulers have been utterly disgraced,
    and the honored have been handed over to others.

Deliberation and Caution

7 

Do not find fault before you investigate;
    examine first, and then criticize.

8 

Do not answer before you listen,
    and do not interrupt when another is speaking.

9 

Do not argue about a matter that does not concern you,
    and do not sit with sinners when they judge a case.

10 

My child, do not busy yourself with many matters;
    if you multiply activities, you will not be held blameless.
If you pursue, you will not overtake,
    and by fleeing you will not escape.

11 

There are those who work and struggle and hurry,
    but are so much the more in want.

12 

There are others who are slow and need help,
    who lack strength and abound in poverty;
but the eyes of the Lord look kindly upon them;
    he lifts them out of their lowly condition

13 

and raises up their heads
    to the amazement of the many.

14 

Good things and bad, life and death,
    poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.[a]

17 

The Lord’s gift remains with the devout,
    and his favor brings lasting success.

18 

One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial,
    and the reward allotted to him is this:

19 

when he says, “I have found rest,
    and now I shall feast on my goods!”
he does not know how long it will be
    until he leaves them to others and dies.

20 

Stand by your agreement and attend to it,
    and grow old in your work.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Matthew 13.53-58 (James of Jerusalem)

Today in the Anglican Calendar we remember St. James, whom Matthew in our reading today notes was a brother of Jesus. In fact James  was a witness to his resurrection and in time became a leader of the early Church in Jerusalem.  Like many others in Jerusalem, he still considered himself Jewish, worshipped in the Temple and tried to follow the law of Moses. Consequently, as the early Church spread out beyond the Jewish people and into the Mediterranean world through the efforts and ministry of Paul, James had difficulty at first in accepting that the Gospel of Jesus was not only to the Jewish people but to all God's people. Ultimately, Paul took himself to Jerusalem, met with James, and won James and other pillars of the Jerusalem Church over: James finally accepted that His brother's life and ministry had  been to non Jews as well.Today's reading is an example of that.  

We see in James one who overcame his own prejudices to further the good news that Jesus lived and proclaims. May we too be open to the power of reconciliation and in so doing further the process of caring for all .

Archdeacon Ken Cardwell

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Wednesday October 22, 2014  

Psalm 38

The psalm we read today, Psalm 38, reflects a difficult theological concept – that of sin and its effect on humans, and, specifically, the human body.  It’s obvious that the common understanding in the times when this psalm was written and/or sung, was that our sinfulness, that is, our separation from God and from neighbour, was manifested in our body.

Our immediate conclusion, if we were to subscribe to this understanding today, was that the writer of the psalm was a very sinful person.  Note the afflictions that are listed: they go on and on, and cover every inch of the body, and the mind as well.

After listing the afflictions, the author acknowledges briefly in verse 9 that God is aware of these afflictions.  Then follow further fears and concerns – that friends desert, that enemies taunt and accuse.

But, in spite of the pain and anguish the writer feels, there is hope: “It is for you, O Lord, that I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.”

And while we may not subscribe to the belief that our sinfulness results in physical ailment, and even more, that this is God’s way of punishing our sinfulness, yet a case can be made in today’s medical community that physical, emotional, and spiritual health are all very intricately interdependent.

So we learn from the author of Psalm 38 that God is present with us in these times of deep pain that we experience, not as a cruel and punishing parent, but as a loving and caring friend.  God stands with us, shares our pain, and brings us through the valley of our personal darkness into a new and gentle and soothing light.  Thanks be to God.

- Reverend Paul Kett