“Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared, it is itself the great venture and can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. To demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself. Peace means giving oneself completely to God’s commandment, wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying the destiny of the nations in the hand of Almighty God, not trying to direct if for selfish purposes. Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won where the way leads to the cross.” (Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, 241)”
When I was out of a job you....
When I was hungry you gave me lunch
When I asked for a dollar you gave me two
When I was thirsty you got me a glass of water
When I was unemployed you helped me find work
When I was feeling down you cheered me up
When I was being stupid you pretended you didnt see
When I was too tired to play you sat with me on the grass
You were Jesus to me - Surely it's not that difficult ? Matthew 25:35
Holy Sonnet
Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
Source:
Donne, John. Poems of John Donne. vol I.
Justice and Power
“Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.
Blaise Pascal
”
Be Still and Eat
Tonight I was present at an auspicious event. I witnessed my 2 year old grand-daughter partake of a bowl of raspberry jelly. It was her first time to encounter the joys of jelly. She said in her rather new language – ‘it’s squishy’…. I said ‘it’s wobbly’…. thinking that was the more appropriate adjective. She looked and tasted and relished the new food. She was practising the art of mindful eating!
I have noticed the term ‘Mindful Eating’ lately and have thought that somehow this could have some sort of significance for our SoulKitchen. Mindfulness in our eating habits means using as many of our senses as possible whilst eating. We should notice the texture and the feel of the food as well as the smell and the taste. We might consider really taking our time to enjoy that first bite. To savour the feel of the food in our mouth. Mindfulness means we should take time to notice. To pay attention to what we are eating.
I like this idea and I do think it is a practice that we can promote in our work. We want to find ways to encourage our guests to really take time to enjoy the food on their plate. Especially those who may have experienced decades of eating only what is put in front of them or given out at food banks or food lines. When you are always on the scrounge for a meal – anything – the joy of eating is actually reduced to its most basic place. Instead we want to teach others to learn to celebrate not only the procurement of food but the experience of eating. Those volunteers who assist us with the purchase and preparation of the meals begin to use more of their senses when eating. They are more appreciative of the process and the results.
We can introduce these new habits of mindful eating when we sit around a table and enjoy, not only the company of others and a discussion about the food on our plate, but also develop a culture of gratitude for the provision. We can savour our time to eat together and the sensation of eating good and healthy food.
“Jesus said when you drink this wine and eat this bread you should remember me. The first communion leading us to a more mindful eating approach ?”
Some general tips for the practice of mindful eating:
1. Tune yourself to understand hunger and notice it
2. Spend time on the first bite
3. Limit distractions whilst eating
4. Learn to separate your thoughts between exercise and food
5. Consider leaving a morsel on your plate
6. Be grateful for the food and where it has come from and the hands that have made it
Karis Karis How Does Your Garden Grow?
A garden provides one of those 'more than food' opportunities in the middle of the concrete canvas of downtown. We are always on the look out to add value to our work - to be more than a provider of meals but to go after that immeasurable add-on - the soul part of kitchen. How can we set the table with more than just the consumables?
Our partnership ith More Than A Roof provides so much as our work continually dove-tails. They also want to be more than housing providers - they, too, seek the 'more'.
The garden under the caring 'gloves' of Nellie is one such project. The housing piece is decorated and made more like a home in the city with the garden on the back porch. It is with a special sense of provision that the greens hit the buffet table. This is now the season again. The run of warm days spelling an early start to summer harvests.
“All for the purpose of creating communities where ‘ people blossom in the city like the grasses of the field’.Psalm 76:16”
Soul Gym
Must be more creative...must be more creative....
Today I pray for a creative spirit to grow bigger in me. I don't want to be dumbed over and numbed down to the real and exquisite beauty that is all around me. I need your help , O holy spirit, for my eyes have grown accustomed to the gray and my feet are used to treading along the well-worn path. Lead me down a new road and let me be inspired by beauty.
If 'He has made everything beautiful in its time', then I am on a treasure hunt to find the moment when I can witness the unveiling. Eccles 3, 11
The Good Neighbour
I take my neighbourhood to mean about a 2 block radius – back, front, left and right. Like a small square box that defines my part of the city. These are my people. My neighbours. I feel at home as I round the corner past the Salvation Army Thrift shop, past the Gas Station, around the roundabout and then into ‘Kits Yard’ which is home.
Our street changed this last month. Really changed. The City of Vancouver striving forward with its plans to create a greener, friendlier landscape, blocked off the top and the bottom of our few blocks so that it is a true cycle-way. The street remains driveable but is harder to access from the two main arterial roads. It creates a quieter, more cyclist and pedestrian friendly zone. More exclusive. The City has determined that the automobile is not really wanted here – or at least is a ‘second-class’ form of transport.
Our efforts to create safety and a clean environment can come at a communal price. You can’t smoke here. You can’t drive here. You can’t rent this space out. You can’t have pets here. You can’t park here. You can’t cross the street here. You can’t cycle here. You can’t drink alcohol here. You can’t sell anything here. We are so used to rules. Defining our behaviour. Regulations. In fact, we seem to be creating more and more rules – for the common good?
Our rather quick movement towards a knowledge led society rather than a values or morally led society make these changes something that everyone HAS to know – more that parents will teach their children. “But why can’t we just knock that wall out and make a bigger play room, Dad?”
Pity those who don’t know. Those who have limited access to knowledge networks and information channels. “Didn’t you know after this week you won’t be able to use a single ticket to get onto a train – you must have a Compass Card.” How will they find out especially those for whom English is a second language or just don’t connect with media services.
In some ways education becomes more important now – or at least a basic level in order to learn the rules – and to keep up with the changes.
A neighbour can be someone who distributes information to those around. Not a know-it-all – but someone who connects with others and discusses what is going on around us. We can’t lose touch with each other or many will be left out of the loop.
- CONNECT WITH SOMEONE ON YOUR BLOCK THIS WEEK -
The Can is Open and the Worms are Running Amok
“...legitimacy is based on three things. First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice--that if they speak up, they will be heard. Respect. Second, the law has to be predictable. Trustworthy. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be Fair. It can't treat one group differently from another.” Malcolm Gladwell - David and Goliath
Cooking and sharing with the Poor
In Luke 14 Jesus tells us when you cook a really good meal or banquet then invite the poor, the disabled and the blind and you will actually be blessed. Dont just invite your friends and family.
Those listening to Jesus knew that to share a meal or be invited to a meal was to become a friend. Because of the cleansing rituals, it was almost entering into a covenant with another. a special relationship between those at the dining table.
So Jesus, by suggesting that the meal be shared with those who are struggling and living on the margins, is asking us to pull down a wall and open up our hearts and our homes to those who have been disadvantaged through poverty or because of a disability. It is an invitation for friendship with the other as Jean Vanier insists in his excellent little book, Encountering the Other. This is the very heart of the gospel - it moves us from simple generosity and giving towards a more powerful way of entering into relationship with the other. It dissolves the gap between the giver and the recipient and says 'Come join me at my table'.
I'm Afraid of Me
In 2010 I was ordained. Ordained as a Pastor, Minister of Religion, Reverend, or member of the clergy. Whatever you want to call it. To be ordained didn’t seem very significant actually. It didn’t change anything. I still did the same tasks, mixed with the same crowd, and cleaned the same house. I struggled for a while. Had I earned it? At one point I made the decision to just accept it. The small print says that it is indeed a spiritual gift, not of any earthly worth, but given by God in order that I might equip others.
So I began to look instead at honouring the ‘badge’. Ensuring that I represented my ‘uniform’ well. I was to spend time straining to act justly, to love mercy and to try to walk humbly (Micah 6).
Then we moved out of pastoring within a church. We planted ourselves in Vancouver. Here, my pastoral landscape is very different. I don’t serve a particular congregation. I don’t work within the walls of a church. But I have found a new parish. A new set of pews. My parish-in-ers have become more like parish-out-ers.
My pulpit became the street, the bus, my desk, my neighbourhood and anywhere I find myself with other humans.
I have called many of my old practices into question. I am like a Neurosurgeon trained in traditional surgery who now recognises that the key-hole method is the way to go. More organic and gentle. Less brutal. So I am trialling new ways of demonstrating Jesus. Some work – some don’t. Some believe me, some walk away, some grip my hand and beg me to walk with them.
I have become acutely aware that I am surrounded by a common humanity – we are all in this together. We are all God’s children – I am just fortunate enough to have been personally introduced – and somehow have sustained a robust belief in the source of that humanity – Christ. I am called to become deeply affectionate towards all of life. Called to treasure those that God has made. Wanting the best for them. This must be the Love.
The lines in the sand are faint now – I am less sure of who is in and who is out – we are all being pushed forward in this wave of life. I surely just want to point others towards hope. I want those around me to see the Jesus that I love.
I am, however, afraid of me. Afraid of my own ability to fail in this. I often turn bad. No-one is looking. My tendency is to draw those lines of judgement again. My religious bigotry lurking nearby. It’s tough. I’m still a pastor. A very ordinary one.