Neighborliness....

In the thriving metropolis of Farewell Cove we are presently looking after the neighbour houses on both sides of us. Yesterday, as the rains got going well, I discovered a leak at one house. Many towels later, we set up a dish pan for overnight and a fabulous funnel Peter-creation of foil vapour barrier and miracle red tape!

First thing this morning, as I opened the curtains in our own living room, I discovered puddles on the windowsills, between the windows and the plastic we had installed to cut down drafts for the winter - both old windows on the east side! Then to the kitchen to open the curtain ... only to discover that the tray in which I toss keys and my watch (fortunately safe in water to 45') was FULL! There was a sinking moment when I glanced to the left to see the stack of 40 Christmas cards and letters ready for posting - oh NO! Sigh of relief. The leak was one-sided! Cards safe! whew!

We hastily checked everything else on the east side of our house, and donned rain coats and boots to head over to the neighbours. The funnel had done its job: the dishpan was FULL and overflowing onto the braided rug and running along to the kitchen door. Sigh. First we bailed, and then we dumped and then we mopped.... and then we checked everything else on the east side of the house! Another leak upstairs - mopped and sopped...

Dishpan and towels reinstalled downstairs - check.

Cat fed and litter box cleaned - check.

Hey! the dishpan is filling up again .... sigh.

Note to self: better come back by noon at the latest....

Off to the other neighbour! Fortunately everything in good order there! Whew! What a day this is going to be! There is something perversely enjoyable about dressing up to brave the elements and moving into 'survival' mode of battling nature.

Thankful that the ground is not yet frozen and can still absorb lots of water.

Thankful that we live on 'higher ground' and not near any raging brook or the sea, now whipped by wind and high tides.

Thankful for dry wood to keep the stove going and nothing crucial on the agenda for today, except being good neighbours!

Secrets

Wow! Priest and spiritual companion are pretty big in the secret-keeping business… that’s fairly obvious and sometimes the secrets are good, and sometimes they’re sad, but it is a great privilege to be able to offer someone forgiveness and God’s love when they’ve shared a secret that they have carried heavily on their heart - perhaps for a long time.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had the chance to contemplate, and try to figure out, another kind of secret-keeping: personal information. Two weeks ago today I received The Big C diagnosis - a malignant nodule on my thyroid. If you have to have cancer, it’s the best kind to have, and all in all my prognosis is excellent. But here’s the catch: do I tell people I have cancer? Do I just pretend nothing has happened, nothing is different, even though I’m going through hell inside and full of questions for people who have already had this experience? Do I keep the secret?

What to do? I live in a small community where news spreads faster than wildfire! There is no such thing as just telling ‘a few of my closest friends’. First of all, priests don’t have close friends in their community - if they’re wise - and my closest friend has a pretty loose tongue! Do I believe in the power of prayer? If I do, I must ask to be put on prayer lists, and people always want to know why. And what does it say if the priest doesn’t want to be prayed for? - doesn’t believe in prayer? Ohhhhhh…. not good.

OK. So, decision made - I’m gonna tell people. Now, where to start? Who ‘deserves’ to know first? Well, ok - my boss (after my family, of course). And then perhaps the friend who encouraged me to go to the clinic when the lump was really annoying me (rather than waiting for an appointment a month later)… and of course my close friend (with the loose tongue) … and then a couple of cancer survivors who I really admire and look to for support and encouragement … and even though I’ve been careful to tell people The Whole Truth, the story still manages to get warped!

So, did I do the right thing? Should I have kept the secret after all? It’s really not a very serious cancer - perhaps I’m making a big deal out of nothing… Secrets: to keep or not to keep? What constitutes a secret, after all?

Picture this ...

You're 94 years old and you get a letter from your insurance company saying that you have to get a new furnace and get your old oil-tank out of the basement! You're more than a little ticked off, but over the course of the summer - and tolerating rather poorly many people's well-intentioned assistance - you call in your local furnace man and arrange to purchase a new furnace and have the new oil tank installed in the yard.

There was nothing the matter with the other 40-year old furnace. And really, what's the problem with having the oil tank in the basement? Seriously?

Before the furnace is installed, the guy dies. No problem! Someone else will install it!

So, in due time the furnace gets installed, a compact, efficient up-to-date little number. There's still oil left in the old tank, so they hook it up to empty that tank first.

Famous comment: "I was always trying to save money and not run the furnace much, and now I'm trying to empty the tank as soon as possible!"

All well and good, but now that said dear lady is ready to write the insurance company and tell them to 'stuff it' - she has a 2010 furnace and oil tank - out in the yard - thank you very much .... she notices that the policy says the nearest fire hydrant is 1000 feet away! Nonsense! There's one right across the road! So out she goes to measure, and prove them wrong.

"It was just a rough measurement, because I didn't have anyone with me. And I didn't want to be in the middle of the road for too long, with a tape strung across the traffic, you know....but at the very most it's 70 feet. I think they never even noticed that there was a hydrant on that side of the house."

IF I am still alive at 95, may I have the marbles and interest to be 'showing up' the insurance company!

Lost in Cyberspace!

I've been lost for months - somewhere in the space between old and now defunct and inaccessible email accounts and the lack of time to go hunting for myself!

So this morning I found myself: is there a metaphor here?

If I can ever find myself again, I'll go back to somewhat regular postings!

Stay tuned ....

Extravagant Love

What a beautiful story (John 12:1-8)!

-What an amazing collection of stories we have in this book we call the Bible!

Picture this scene:

• Jesus has come back to Bethany to visit his close friends: Lazarus (raised from the dead), Mary & Martha (sisters)
• They give a dinner for him - perhaps there were invited guests; likely there was special food; and time to relax, to honour their dear friend, spend time with him….a really nice gathering…
• They author doesn’t say much about who else was there, except Judas, but it doesn’t seem likely that he was the only one … he’s not listed anywhere else as being part of the inner circle - like Peter, James and John who sometimes went somewhere with Jesus on their own …
• And in front of the guests, in the middle of this lovely time together, Mary takes out some very expensive perfume oil or lotion, and pours it on Jesus’ feet! Wow! And then she wipes them with her hair! This is a very sensual scene … washing, massaging someone’s feet is a very intimate act …
• Imagine the perfume filling the whole house - it would be hard to ignore that something special was going on!
• And we’re told that Judas was not at all happy about this - he criticized Mary’s act and said that the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor… We don’t hear anyone else’s reaction …

What would your reaction have been, I wonder? How would I have felt to be another guest at that dinner party?

Would you be embarrassed, do you think?

• embarrassed at the extravagance, in front of one who lived so simply and taught about the importance of justice and equality and caring for the poor?
• might you be embarrassed for Mary, about what Jesus’ reaction might be to her act?
• would you find it embarrassing to be present at such an intimate act? I wonder if it broke up the party? Do you suppose the conversation could ever go back to ‘normal’ after this incident and Jesus’ response? ….

Perhaps you would have been annoyed…

• annoyed that Mary was always taking the place or the role of being close to Jesus ...remember on another occasion she was sitting at his feet and Martha chastized her for not helping with the serving? Jesus took her side then too, and said she had chosen the right role…
• would you be annoyed at the ‘wastefulness’ of her act - using a whole container of expensive perfume like that?
• or perhaps you would share Judas’ reaction that it should have been sold and put into the common purse for the poor, or at least some practical need…

Perhaps you would have been a little jealous that you hadn’t brought Jesus a special gift … or that he always seemed to say nice things about Mary.

We each have our reactions to situations like this … if we let ourselves get into the story and really be part of it…really feel it inside us...

As I look back over the gospel stories of the last 4 weeks, I see that they have all been about extravagant love, in some form or another.

• last week we had the celebration with the fatted calf, and the ring and the best robe for the prodigal son - the outpouring of the father’s love on one who seemed (by worldly standards) not to deserve it.
• the week before we heard the gardener begging the vineyard owner to let him try for another year to bring the fig tree into production - offering more tending, more encouraging, more love… after anyone would have said it was time to cut it down and get rid of it.
• and before that we heard Jesus’ sadness over wayward Jerusalem - wishing he could have gathered the people like a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings for protection -

stories of extravagant love!

Everywhere he went, Jesus represented extravagant generosity:

180 gals of new wine at the wedding - far more than the guests could drink!

feeding the 5000 - and 12 baskets left over!

153 large fish in the net when the fishermen had been fishing all night and caught nothing on the other side of the boat!

Abundance! and not just abundance, but over-the-top extravagance! Jesus’ ministry was not one of scarcity - just enough healing for one more person; just enough fish for supper...

What could be more extravagant than giving up his life for the love of us?

But I want to suggest this morning that we have a hard time accepting, understanding, appreciating the extravagance of that love. I want to suggest that we often have the same reactions to it as we have to the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with the precious perfume:

we’re embarrassed - we can’t really believe it’s true - we make excuses for why we’re not worthy: we’re afraid to accept and enjoy the beauty of it - the real gift that is God’s unconditional love.

we’re annoyed - that salvation could be possible for even the really bad sinners!

Surely there’s no salvation for Saddam Hussein or pedophiles or the perpetrators of genocide...why would God waste love on those people?

or we’re jealous - We think that perhaps God loves someone else more than me - after all, she seems to have a better or easier life…

In these last couple of weeks leading up to Easter we’re being prepared to come face-to-face with the real extravagance of God’s love!

A love so vast, so mysterious - that Jesus would give his life for us - for all of us and for each of us...and that wouldn’t even be the end! God’s love would then reach out even farther to offer Resurrection - new life, new beginnings, more mystery ….. more LOVE.

Nudgings, synchronicities, memories...

"It's been a big [week] day, Maggie... I wonder what will happen tomorrow?" famous words of Mr. McGarrity to my childhood friend, Maggie Muggins.

Just a short week ago, while driving home from yoga, feeling very tired and desperate about how to create more time to take care of Mom's post-heart-attack appointments, tests, etc. a little voice in my head said quite clearly, "It doesn't have to be all or nothing, you know". Bingo! Brilliant! It doesn't have to be retire or keeping struggling to keep up. I could take a 2-month leave from work. I could get my life in order, get Mom settled in a new routine, and then pick up where I left off and keep on going a little longer, doing the work I really love. Amazing! I felt as thought Someone had just picked up the 1000 pound weight from my shoulders...Someone. Nudging me...

Today, while enjoying a snow day, I spent a little time googling information about a very old print I had removed from an old frame that used to be in my father's house. It was put out by the Pears Soap people in 1908 and suddenly I found myself reading about the beginnings of the commerical soap business in the 19th century. Fascinating stuff! Almost as good as the story of sugar. And then there were links to the Pears soap saga, and suddenly up came a page about Mevagissy, Cornwall, England. The minute I saw the peculiar name it rang a bell...and as I read more it all came back to me. This was the quaint little fishing town Peter and I had driven through on the local bus when we left Heligan Gardens to return to our B&B in St. Austell (and the birth place of Andrew Pears). It is a town with streets so narrow that people have to stand in their doorways when the bus goes through! And we went there because the kind bus driver made a detour to deliver a pregnant lady home after she had missed the last bus of the day to Mevagissy! What are the chances? An old print, an intriguing story of soap, a tiny town in Cornwall with a bizarre name...synchronicities...

And memories - where would we be without our memories? First a call from old friends - catching up on health news, church news, wonderful laughter...and then working on my liturgy for Christmas Eve: finding a prayer written by an another friend, professor and mentor! Just like a hug! We'll use it Christmas Eve - no one else will know that it's special, but I'll know that my friend is there with me...

nudgings, synchronicities, memories - ignore them at your peril!

Matthew 6:25-33

Thanksgiving Sunday – it’s sort of a ‘feel good’ time, isn’t it? Kids home from university, family gatherings planned… How many times, I wonder, have you heard the preacher talk about how much we have to be thankful for? – food, clothing, shelter, friends and family…freedom…We are very fortunate people, in a great land. And even today, when we’re feeling a little disappointed about the weather, we can still find something to be thankful for!

So…… I guess that’s all there is to it! We can pack up and go home!

Or, wait! Is there a bit more to it than that? …What about the gospel we just heard? “Don’t worry about what you’re going to eat, or drink, or wear”, Jesus says…God will take care of all that. Huummmm……

But those are real issues for all of us – and they’re actually quite a problem for some people. In this climate we have to have clothing and shelter, and food and water to just stay alive. It’s true that many people don’t have too much trouble getting those things for themselves and their families in this town. But some people do…

What’s in this passage for the poor, and the hungry and the homeless? What can you say to your friend who has just lost his job and wonders where the next month’s rent is going to come from? What can I say to the young mom who finds herself a single parent because she had to leave a man who was abusing her, and she’s out of money for groceries? Can we say, “don’t mind the cold: God loves you”; “don’t worry about your children’s empty tummies – God loves you.”

It doesn’t work, does it? I just can’t say that to someone who doesn’t have the basics for life, when I do.

We have to make sense out of these teachings in our own lives –folks. These are not just pretty words written 2000 years ago in a distant land – for other people. By coming here today you’re saying that you believe these words, and they make a difference in your life… so we’d better try to make some sense of it….

I think we need to go back to the verse before our gospel starts today: the last part of vs. 24: “you cannot serve God and wealth”. There’s a clue here for us. Don’t focus on accumulating more than we need (that’s wealth). Get our priorities straight: serve God first! And what do you think happens if we put God’s principles first, rather than our own wealth?

1. We pay fair wages to our employees, rather than trying to make bigger profit for ourselves.
2. We buy from companies that don’t use child or slave labour – even if the products cost us a bit more.
3. If we have enough extra to invest a bit, we support companies that practice ethical business – even if the profit, and therefore our interest, is a bit less than the companies that rape the land and destroy other people’s ability to raise their food and provide shelter for their families.
4. We share with others – we give our tithe, our 10% of what we receive, to the food bank, the clothing bank, projects that help equal out the abundance of creation amongst all God’s children.

It’s actually been my experience that the most generous people are often those who have the least to share – the least worldly goods. Generosity seems to come naturally to them. They seem to understand that whatever they have is gift from God, and therefore belongs in the economy of the Kingdom – the Kin’dom, as some people call it…reminding us that we’re all together in this as ‘kin’, or family.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God” – practice a lifestyle that promotes equality, because you understand it! Because you truly believe that we are all beloved and equal in God’s eyes! And when we do that, of course people won’t have to worry about the details of daily life, because there will be plenty for all to share. God has provided abundance in this wonderful world and God invites us to take care of each other – I’m sure you’ve heard the expression that God has no hands or feet in this world except ours …

So when we give thanks today for what we ‘have’, let’s also remember that ‘having’ is not the important part. Life in the kin’dom – serving and loving and sharing – is what’s important! And when we get that right relationship with God and each other down pat, all the other details will be taken care of………

Amen!