Mid-Week Message - February 19

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 managed to chip your way out from that last ice storm on Sunday/Monday? I was grateful that it didn't start until later in the day so that we could have both of our annual meetings in the morning (and I was even able to get up to Patterson United Church for their annual meeting on Sunday afternoon - I'm the Pastoral Charge Supervisor for Welsford Pastoral Charge, which means that I get to attend all of their meetings while they are without a called minister).

As I sit here in my office at Westfield United, I can see some drops of water dripping from the roof and from the branches of the trees.  All of the muscle that so many of us put into chipping away the ice, and now the sun is making it disappear without seeming to put out any effort.

I've been thinking a lot about the global situation - sometimes it just seems so overwhelming with everything going on in the present moment.  I don't know whether to be angry or to grieve; I don't know whether to cry or to shout.  Everything just feels so futile, when a small number of wealthy individuals have seized power and are doing what they want with no consequences to face.

Sometimes it feels like anything I do is like chipping away at that thick ice that still covers my driveway, deck, and walkway - a lot of energy spent for no effect at the end (other than sore muscles).

What can we do, when it feels as though the world is falling to pieces around us?

I think that the most powerful form of resistance that we have is to continue to live our lives as faithfully as we can.  We're going to have a very challenging scripture reading on Sunday that talks about loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us.  I confess that I often don't want to do these things.  It is easier to wish ill towards oppressors who are causing evil than it is to pray for their well-being.  Yet Jesus says that this is the only way.

The only way through the present moment is to keep putting one foot in front of the other - to keep on loving not only our neighbours but our enemies too, to keep on trying to forgive, to keep on trusting that Jesus's way of lovingkindness is the only good way.  It is hard, but it is holy work.

And maybe, just maybe, with all of us loving and praying and putting one foot in front of the other as we travel the way of Jesus, we can be like the sun that is currently melting the ice outside my window, the force of warmth and light even more powerful that the force of a violent icepick.

I wish I had easy answers for the present moment, but all that I have right now is love - just keep on loving.  Love God.  Love your neighbours (yes, all of them).  Love yourself.  And trust that the force of love is stronger than anything else in the universe - stronger than fear, stronger than anger, stronger than hatred, stronger than even death.  "For faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13)

In terms of announcements for this week:

• "Stop! In the Name of Love" - the rescheduled concert by the Westfield United Church Choir is coming up tomorrow, February 20, at 7pm; admission by free-will offering.  It is going to be worth the wait!  The decorating elves are currently at work, erecting a love theme in the sanctuary; some choir members are baking cookies and making punch; and all of us are getting our voices ready!

• Worship on Sunday - Bayswater-Summerville will be gathering at 9am for their annual congregational meeting, woven together with worship.  Westfield's service will be at 11:15, as usual, with livestreaming on Facebook - this will be a "regular" worship service (ie no meeting this week!); and our scripture reading will be that challenging one I mentioned earlier - Luke 6:27-38.

• Ash Wednesday - we are rapidly approaching the season of Lent, the 40 days (plus 6 Sundays) leading up to Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which falls on Wednesday March 5 this year. As in previous years, we will have an Ash Wednesday service, where we receive a mark of ashes on our foreheads to remind us of our mortality, but then we also celebrate communion to remind us that we are united in Christ so that death is never the end of the story.  This service will be at 7pm at Westfield United Church.

• World Day of Prayer - The World Day of Prayer service will be back again this year for the first time since 2020. The women of Westfield United Church, Church of the Resurrection, and St. Matthew's Roman Catholic church share in the leadership of this service, and it rotates between the three church buildings.  This year, it is going to be held at Westfield United Church at 7pm on Sunday March 9.  Everyone is warmly invited to this service, as we pray for the world. It isn't just for UCW, ACW, and CWL members - it is a service for the whole community to participate in.
  

And I think that's all that I have for announcements this week.

For a closing thought, I want to share a reflection from Nadia Bolz-Weber that came through my inbox this morning.  Yesterday evening, at our Asking the Big Questions gathering, we asked the question "God is great?" and we had all sorts of prompts that explored the relationship between and intersection of faith and doubt.  (As always, we had very rich and vulnerable conversations.)  When I read this article today, it touches on so much of what we talked about last night! You can read it too, by clicking 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)