Mid-Week Message - April 9

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you!

Have you seen the meme going around that lists out Canadian seasons?  Winter; fool's spring; second winter; spring of deception; third winter; mud season; actual spring, summer; false fall; second summer; actual fall; hello darkness my old friend. After last night's snow (aka free fertilizer for the farmers!), I'm cautiously optimistic that we might be on the threshold of mud season!

And my brain connects this list of seasons with what is going on in the world right now. We hear something horrific, then the news reports a glimmer of hope, and next day we are back into despair. It feels like (metaphorical) spring is never going to get here, but we keep getting plunged back into (metaphorical) winter.

I was in a meeting over Zoom on Monday night, and we were asked to engage in a visioning exercise, looking at the mission statement of the organization.  Everyone in the meeting (there were about 20 of us - 2/3 on Zoom and the other 1/3 in-person) was asked three things:  What keeps you awake at night?  What gives you hope in the midst of whatever you answered for question 1? And what role does our organization play in all of this?

You can probably make a pretty fair guess at the sorts of answers the group shared for the first question:  Gaza, the lack of empathy in the world, apathy, the threat of a global war, inequalities, cruelty being celebrated.  (As well as some of the funny answers that were given to lighten the mood:  a snoring spouse, a full bladder, a cat.)

I was particularly interested in the answers given to the second question, the one about hope.  Most of us answered in a way that held up the small actions of ordinary people who dared to act in a way contrary to the world's narrative of greed and apathy and fear.  For me, when it was my turn to share, I said that I draw hope from things like watching people put food into Ida's Cupboard, not knowing who was going to get the food, but trusting in God's economy of grace rather than capitalism; from things like watching people give away free pie on PIE Day, not selling pie as a fundraiser but giving it away for free along with an affirming, encouraging message.

We are not a Good Friday people - we are an Easter people.  The heart of our story doesn't involve suffering and death - the heart of who we are is resurrection and new life.  The first Easter almost 2000 years ago wasn't the end of God's story, it was the beginning of the unfolding of God's kingdom.  And today, while we are still waiting for the completion, when I see people doing God-like things of compassion and generosity and reconciliation, I know that I am watching flickers of God's kingdom popping up in our ordinary world, reminding us that some day this will be the only way of being.

And while we wait, I encourage you to take heart from remembering that no Good Friday lasts forever.  Every Good Friday is always followed by Easter.  No matter what challenges or stresses you are facing, no matter what worries are keeping you awake at night, remember that Easter is coming.

In terms of announcements this week:

• Worship on Sunday will be at 9:15 at Long Reach and 11:15 at Westfield and FB Live. This is Palm Sunday, so we'll wave our branches to accompany Jesus into Jerusalem at the start of the last week of his life. This year, we'll be reading the Palm Sunday story from the gospel of Luke - Luke 19:28-40 - that includes my favourite line from any of the Palm Sunday stories in any of the gospels:  Jesus said, “I tell you, if these [people] were silent, the stones would shout out.”

• Long Reach on Sunday - because this will be the last Sunday at Long Reach until after Easter, this week we are doing our big Easter Celebration with the Sunday School. Easter egg hunt, Easter activities and crafts - families with younger members, you won't want to miss this week!

• Westfield on Sunday - this will be the last of our Lenten Social Gatherings after worship for this year. Session will have the tea and coffee ready; and this week, anyone who missed their week to bring "eats and sweets," as well as members of Session, are invited to bring something to share!

• Asking the Big Question:  Tuesday April 15, 4:30-6pm (with pizza!). This month's big question will be "What's so good about Good Friday?" and we'll have discussion and activity prompts to dig into the meaning of Holy Week and Easter.

• The Chosen:  We are continuing to gather on Wednesday evenings to watch season 1 of The Chosen, a dramatization of the life of Jesus. 7pm in the parlour at Westfield!

• Holy Week Schedule:  I've been sharing the schedule of services for Holy Week over the past several weeks, and it's now available in poster form! You can access it by clicking here. This is the story at the heart of who we are; if you have a friend who might need a little boost of hope, maybe consider inviting them to join you through the week as we move from suffering and death into joy.

• Sandwiches for Romero House - our Church in the World Committee had a meeting on Sunday evening, and the next event will be making sandwiches for Romero House.  This will happen on Friday April 25. This time around, we are asking the churches to make:

  Westfield - bologna

  Long Reach - egg salad (no onions)

  Summerville - ham and cheese

  As always, you can butter the bread but no condiments (they are given out separately by Romero House). Please place the sandwiches in individual baggies, then back in the bread bag. Pick-up will be:

  Summerville - inside the front door of the church by 9:30am

  Long Reach - to Anne Titus ahead of time, or at Fullerton's Market at 9:50am.

  Westfield - in the fridge at the church ahead of time, or in the parking lot at 10:15 or 10:20 (depending on the ferry)

• Winter Gloves - this is also from Church in the World. The last two Octobers, we have done a "Sock it to Me" sock drive where you all had a chance to throw socks into a box I held at the front of the church (or at me - your choice!). Romero House has been very grateful, but Bette heard through the grapevine that they had lots of socks last winter, but were desperate for gloves. So this is your 6-month advance notice to start watching for sales on gloves! At this time of year, many stores are putting them on clearance to make way for spring and summer, so this might be the time to snag a good deal, and then hang on to them until October when you'll have a chance to throw them at me, I mean, into a box in worship. (I'll remind you again at the end of the summer when warm clothes make their way back into stores!)
  

Thank you Corner - this week's "thank-you" goes out to everyone at Long Reach who made the Yester-Years Fashion Show and Luncheon such a success last Saturday! It was beautiful to see the peninsula community come together to make it happen, and then the wider community and beyond come out for a delightful afternoon! Like the MCs at the event, I hesitate to start naming people, because I will surely forget someone, but I will try and if I miss your name, please forgive me. From our church, thank you to the organizers (Beth, Kathy, Anne, Joan, Treva, Pam), cooks (here, I honestly have no idea who cooked what, but I suspect that most of the Long Reach congregation was involved), MCs (Rose, Gail), models (Grace, Evelyn, Elizabeth, Kate, Jenna, Gwen, Sarah, Jillian, David), and everyone who loaned clothes to the event. A huge thank you to all of you, and to everyone I've missed, and to everyone from the Legion and wider community who helped out!

Finally, for a closing thought this week I want to share a list that was shared by one of my former professors, Rev. Dr. Rob Fennell. It is a list of 50 Kind Things to Say to Kids. (In the comments, I suggested that these are also kind things to say to adults.) What would the world be like if we all lifted each other up through kindness? If you want to read the list, you can click here.

Blessings to you and yours, today and always,

Kate.

  Rev. Kate Jones

Two Rivers Pastoral Charge

(506) 757-2201 (office)

(506) 343-1307 (mobile)

www.tworiverspastoralcharge.com

Pronouns:  she/her/hers

"Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?"

Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: "You must love your neighbour as you love yourself."

(Matthew 22:36-39)