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Christmas Greeting 2021

On this second Christmas season in the pandemic, we had hoped for a gathering of my family.  But circumstances related to the COVID restrictions and personal cautions have meant that is not going to happen.

But that does not need to prevent us from embracing the celebration of the birth that signifies the Divine Presence among humanity. Granted, the tradition of gathering as family and friends for this celebration helps to reinforce that significance.  But technology (Zoom) has allowed us to do that virtually through these 20 plus months of the pandemic perhaps more often than usual. I am wondering if the virtual gathering is reflective of a universe in which our real connection with one another and with God is through the Spirit.  Certainly, the connection I feel at this time with friends and family that I have not seen for several or many years is still real.  I hope the feeling is mutual.

During this past year, I have not travelled. We have not had the annual national Gatherings of the UNJPPI Network. Yet I continue to help connect the network by managing the email and website. I am the President of the Chatham Lions Club again, and we have been meeting virtually but trying to be active in service to the local community.

The Blenheim United Church opted to sell the building just before the pandemic, so we have been meeting on Zoom.  The decision was made to seek amalgamation with one of the surrounding rural churches that still have a building, but that decision has been delayed by the pandemic. I have not been assisting with leading worship for the church since 2020.

The grandchildren continue to impress me with their maturity and talents. Gabriella has graduated from high school and is working while she explores future opportunities. Aurora is completing grade 12 while working part-time in a florist shop. Jasper Addison will complete grade 8 in 2022 while continuing with his dance group.  While COVID-19 has halted the theatre performances, I have hopes of seeing them on stage again.

The limited travelling which I did this past summer was with my family. I joined Fern and Willow as they performed on fiddle and banjo at the Farmer’s Market in Alliston.  I was then honoured by their overnight visit with Chris and their dog Chase as they stopped on their way to Florida in early December where Fern and Chase planned to display their skills as a team at a dog show.

The few days I spent camping near Sudbury this past summer with Suu and my family was a pleasant reminder of the many camping experiences we had as a family.  It helped to confirm my decision to sell the camper in the spring as I am finding it difficult to manage it on my own. 

As you gather with family, whether in person or virtually, may God’s gift of love and peace proclaimed in the holy birth fill your life.

Curtis Marwood (curtism@cmarwood.ca)

Suu’s family at Sudbury Giant Nickel (Brie, Jasper, Rori, Suu & Neil)

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Commemorating Dr. Kenneth Kaunda

I had the privilege and honour to offer a tribute to Dr. Kenneth Kaunda at a virtual memorial service held on July 6, 2021 with Zambians living in Canada. For a link to this service, go to https://wp.me/P5v0yp-3z

Dr. Kenneth Kaunda

I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak in memory of Doctor Kaunda.

I was appointed by the United Church of Canada to work with the United Church of Zambia as a teacher at Kafue Boys Secondary School.

I arrived in 1967, three years after the country’s independence. Secondary school education was recognized as an important element of development for the country. Many expatriate staff were needed. I came with 2 other Canadian teachers and joined a staff with several other Canadian families.

I soon learned about the national campaign to encourage people to “go back to the land”. I was also proud to learn about Kaunda’s philosophy of humanism and as a Christian, I was committed to his principles of service and humility.

His dedication to multiracialism and peaceful transition to an independent African nation made us as Canadian teachers feel welcome. I remember his slogan One Zambia One Nation and was caught up in his enthusiasm to unite a country that had many different cultural and linguistic groups.

As a science teacher, I soon learned about the ministry of education’s plan to add agricultural science to the curriculum. So I began to work with the school and the Ministry of Education to develop agricultural projects to supplement the curriculum. We raised chickens and vegetables to supplement the food for students. In this way, I was proud to participate in the development of Zambia in keeping with the back to the land vision of President Kaunda.

President Kaunda visited the school at least once while I was there, and I was proud to have the opportunity to hear him speak to the students about his hopes and dreams for this young nation. I was impressed with his compassion and caring for people – “out of love of my country”, as quoted in The New York Times.

For me, his philosophy of humanism was his way of living the Christian life that he was raised with. I was deeply touched by his honest humility represented by his refusing to eat meat as a way of identifying with his fellow Zambians.  So, the opportunity to meet him and shake his hand was a real privilege.  I will remember President Kaunda with pride as a national leader for whom I had great respect as one who lived his faith with humility and sincerity.  May God bless his life and work.

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“Seek Peace and Pursue it”

Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it. Psalm 34:14.

This past week I received in the mail a letter and booklet from the Centre for Israeli and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). It was addressed to us as “those who wish to support genuine opportunities to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians” and “as a constructive alternative…to the unsettling goods campaign.”

The mailing from CIJA included a booklet entitled “seek peace and pursue it”. This phrase comes from Psalm 34:14. But it should be noted that the words “depart from evil, and do good” precede the words chosen for the title of this booklet.

It is also worth noting that this portion of the Psalm was quoted in 1 Peter 3 in the context of his comments about encouraging the readers to find blessing in suffering for doing what is right.

I think it is significant, first, that the psalmist preceded the instructions to seek peace and pursue it with the command to depart from evil and do good. It is also significant that CIJA did not include the first part of the verse in its title. It struck me that if they really wanted to seek peace and pursue it, they would start with correcting the injustices that the state of Israel is imposing on the Palestinians. But nowhere in the booklet is reference to these injustices or to the impact of Zionism on the conflict mentioned. Rather the focus is on Jewish agencies promoting dialogue and cultural integration.

In my brief scanning of the descriptions of the various agencies in the booklet there is no acknowledgement of the history behind the conflict where the current factors contributing to the divisions between Arabs and Jews. The efforts seem to be focusing on bringing Jews and Arabs together to build cooperation and understanding, and honourable concept and effort at reconciliation, but only valid after the injustices are corrected.

It is also disturbing to me that this information was distributed to United Church clergy calling on local communities to support these organizations while admitting that CIJA withdrew from the national consultation. This, to me, is a deliberate act designed to create division within the United Church. The focus of the booklet on the inter-cultural and inter-religious aspects of the projects seems designed to appeal to those who would see the resolution of the issue in terms of achieving understanding and cooperation between Arabs and Jews, and so driving a wedge between those who see justice as the path to peace and those who see dialogue as the path. The fact that they withdrew from the national consultation and yet there promoting dialogue at the local level seems contradictory.

In summary this document seems to be simply using the projects in the booklet as propaganda for CIJA and an appeal for support for its opposition to the United Church policy.

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Cross-Shaped Reconciliation – Lent 4

Mid-way through Lent, one might wonder why the cross is so important for Christians. It has prompted many theological terms to try to explain it, but for me, reconciliation has been an important one.  It has always been forefront for me in my understanding of my role in ministry, but it has become more so as I become engaged with the Palestine/Israel search for a solution to peace.

The focus of the lectionary for Lent 4 is reconciliation.  The father’s welcome of his rebellious son demonstrates a radical grace that leads to reconciliation.

The first priority of Christians is to encourage reconciliation between human beings and God through Jesus Christ. As an ambassador for Christ, Paul calls us to be reconciled to God.

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:20)

Reconciliation between people and God will always be the most important reconciliation.

But reconciliation is cross-shaped: “vertical” reconciliation between people and God and “horizontal” reconciliation between human beings.

So for Christians, can we model our relationships in family, church, social encounters or between nations, on the “horizontal” reconciliation paradigm that Jesus gave us?  In the parable of the Father and sons, both sons were scheming to win a place in the father’s household.  The father’s running and embracing his rebellious son was totally unexpected and undeserved.  The acceptance of the son by the father did not depend on the son’s change of attitude.  Our reconciliation with God is not due to anything we have done, but what God has done for us in Christ.

At the human level, repentance and forgiveness precedes reconciliation. The normal human process makes repentance a precondition.  The blocks to reconciliation are often a prior demand by one or both sides for admission of injustice and repentance in the form of reparations to correct the injustice before reconciliation can happen.  How long do we hold out for the other to give in? The parable of the father and sons demonstrates God’s way of reconciliation as a different way for human reconciliation. Reconciliation without admission of guilt is revolutionary.  But for me that is the essence of the cross.

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Ministry in times of Transition

In times of transition in the church, questions about the future of the church’s mission are in everyone’s mind and they cause some distress when hope is overwhelmed by fears of the church’s demise. I believe that the transition is a Kairos moment when we recognize the opportunity for new life in the church’s mission.

In Paul’s ministry, he began his ministry in many communities and then moved to new communities. Paul recognized that his ministry was not permanent.  That is, he did not stay with the community.  But he moved on with a confidence in God’s work continuing through the ministry of the community.

(Phil 1:3-6 NIV)  I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Paul affirmed that the ministry of the community as a partnership between the members of the community and a partnership with God enables the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ to continue through times of transition.

Paul also assured the Philippians that during times of transition, we can be assured of the Faithfulness of God when he wrote that [the one] “who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion

I believe that the challenge of transition we face is a Kairos moment in the life of the church.  Kairos is a moment of new awareness and an urgency to act.

Theme of the 41st General Council was based on Micah 6:8:

And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly (do justice) and to love mercy (kindness) and to walk humbly with your God.

What does it mean to do justice in the context of the church’s global mission today – such as in regard to the human rights violations of Palestinians, or the struggle of El Salvadorans against the mining operations that are affecting life in the small country?

I have been re-reading Melanie Morrison’s book, “The Grace of Coming Home”

In the chapter entitled, In This Kairos Moment (p. 66-74) she describes the experience of the women at the empty tomb as a Kairos moment.  She said, “Why have you come here?” was not a reprimand.  It was a moment of realization that the perceived resurrection was not about Jesus but about the women choosing life with the knowledge that the same power that Jesus lived with was available to them.

Morrison describes the moment in El Salvador when the people were forbidden by the government from attending the funeral mass of Marienella Garcia , director of Human Rights Commission.  In spite of the prohibition and high security, the peasants she had helped came at great risk to attend the funeral mass – and later that night the soldiers raided their homes.

The voices of the poor and oppressed around the world are calling us to respond to the Kairos of our times.  Our response to the present Kairos moment is a ministry of partnership in making justice a priority with the assurance of the faithfulness of God.

(This reflection was given during the Chaplain’s Reflection to Kent Presbytery on February 5, 2013.)

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Maranatha–Come, Lord Jesus-A Christmas Prayer

On the Fourth  Sunday of Advent, this was the title of the message today.  Bruce Cook, our minister, introduced us to the origin of the term “Maranatha”.  After an exegesis and origin of the term, he described a familiar experience of how many people react when traveling by plane – displaying a variety of reactions of boredom and disinterest. But a child reacts differently.   When he enters the plane, he declares that he hopes he can see the pilot, at which point he is ushered in to the cockpit.  After meeting the pilot, he returns to the cabin and where for the rest of the trip he exclaims, “I have met the Pilot” and his face is lit up with delight.

Bruce went on to ask, when we come to worship, do we see Jesus – do we expect to see Jesus?  Do we display a glowing of the experience in our appearance and our life.  Are we busy dying or are we busy living?

For the past decade or more, we have been lamenting the decline of the church, in attendance at worship, financial support, presence of youth, and the closing of churches.  It seems to me that we have been too busy dying, instead of getting busy living.  If we could become busy with living, there would excitement, hope and activities that reveal the presence of the Kingdom that Jesus talked about.

For me, being busy with living means being active in the community, or the world, working for justice and peace, and finding community with those who are busy with living.  For the past year, being part of a network of people who are passionate about advocating for justice and peace in Palestine and Israel has given me the experience of being busy with living.

In this season when we celebrate with expectation the coming of Jesus, we might ask ourselves if we have seen the Pilot.  Maranatha is the church word for living with hope in the Kingdom, that is both present and in the future.  Come, Lord Jesus, come.  May this Christmas be a time when you can say Maranatha and welcome the Prince of Peace into your heart – and begin to be busy with living.

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Shining the Light of Non-violent Peace in God’s Kingdom

(Isa 60:1, 3 NRSV) Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

The word Light appears 236 times in the Bible, mostly in reference to the inner light – that which is the source of wisdom or vision and results in action. In the time after Epiphany, light is the metaphor for God’s presence and for our mission.

In the eastern traditions, light is a predominant theme. Eastern spirituality is experiential. In the west, we depend on rational thought more than experience and I wonder sometimes if we have lost a sense of the holy in our daily lives. The biblical references to light not only invite us to be aware of the holy in our lives but to act as light in the world.

The on-going struggle in Palestine to resist the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, as well as the peaceful protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and now Syria are strong examples of failure of empires to maintain peace by force in the face of non-violent resistance. Are these events signs of the Light overcoming the darkness?

John Dominic Crossan, in his lecture in London before Christmas, spoke of the world’s vision of peace as victory with force. Jesus taught that God’s empire is a non-violent Kingdom of peace, in opposition to the Roman empire of peace by force. Perhaps we are witnessing the power of the non-violent peace in the global movements.

In answer to the question about what we as the church and individual Christians can do to change the world’s determination to use violence to achieve peace, Crossan said the church must understand its mission is to collaborate with God in his kingdom of non-violence. Epiphany reminds us the light still shines to overcome the powers of darkness – the Empires of this world – and that our mission is to bear that light.

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Merry Christmas

The Baby Jesus and Parents
The Baby Jesus and Parents

Merry Christmas

May the wonder of the shepherds,
the generosity of the wise men,
and the compassion of Mary
be in us and flow from us ,
this Christmas and always.
May God bless you richly
throughout this holiday season.

Curtis

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A Week Later

A week has passed since Dawn’s death. I have busied myself around the house this week, started to deal with some of the tasks that have to be done, and gathered for dinner with members of Kent Presbytery to welcome the Moderator Mardi Tindal. I have slept well but I do not feel I have the energy for doing much. I wouldn’t say I am depressed but I feel down and alone. It is not a feeling that can simply be filled by the presence of others; although I long for company and felt cared for by being with friends at the dinner last night, I still welcome the peace of solitude. I think I am understanding the solitude that Henri Nouwen describes as being alone but not being lonely. I guess I am realizing that I did not know how much the loss of a loved one can be so profound. However, lest you may be overly concerned about my well-being, I would assure you that I am OK. These comments are offered as reflections on my journey of grief.

Although I have been doing the housework now for a couple of years, simple things like doing the laundry and preparing a meal seem to be without purpose because I am not doing them for someone. Even when Dawn was not eating much, she shared the meal time with me. She held one end of the sheets when I need help to fold them. Just the week before she went into hospital, she was adding things to the shopping list for the Thanksgiving meal.

In our faith, we are reminded that we are not alone. God is with us. These are words that are meant to comfort – and in the midst of the loss they take on new meaning. The words of comfort that are most real are those from people who have shared such loss. In the empathy of sharing our loss, we are touched by God’s love in the Christ who shares our loss.

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Response to “Give Grief a Chance” by Kenneth Bagnell, UC Observer

This article on current attitudes and practices of grief is
certainly relevant.

Having just had a graveside service today for a family whose
mother had died at 92, I was told that she did not want anything but the family
felt that they needed to say goodbye.
So, as we stood by the grave for the cremated ashes, I led them in
prayers and scripture readings with a short reflection on God’s reconciling
love in response to the emotions of anger, regret and guilt mingled with the
gratitude for happy memories of her life.

It seems when the person lives a long life and does not have
many surviving friends, families think the formal funeral is not
necessary. But I remind them that the
funeral is for the survivors, not the deceased.

When my mother died at 92, she did not have friends of her
age still living, but we had many of our friends, some of whom traveled some
distance to be with us, even though they did not know my mother. It was this support that helped me to
grieve. The funeral was on Saturday and
the burial was to be in another city on Monday.
I was associate minister and attended the worship service on Sunday
because I wanted to be with people who were able to offer ongoing pastoral
support.

I believe his comment that “There’s probably never been
a time in United Church history when strong pastoral care was more needed”
is absolutely true. It seems to be the part of ministry that has been most
ignored in the age of easy access by technology, but pastoral care has been the
foundation of the church in my experience of growing up in the mid 20th
century. My own ministry of pastoral care to those who are bereaved has been
acknowledged as a significant service of the church. Pastoral care to the grieving, whether for a
loss of loved one in death, loss of a job or family breakup, is the aspect of
ministry where the church can relate to the spiritual life of people, whether
they are active worshippers or not.

Thanks to Kenneth Bagnell for this article.