Mid-Week Message - July 9

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

As always, it was very good to get away for a couple of weeks of vacation - time to disconnect from work (I got to ignore my email!), and time to re-connect with family and friends - and it has also been very good to come back this week, and start seeing the familiar faces of the beloved people of God who call Two Rivers Pastoral Charge home.

In the time I was off though, it felt at times like the world was falling to pieces. The US bombed Iran. The US unilaterally declared a ceasefire with Iran. A concentration camp (nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" or "Alligator Auschwitz") is being built in Florida. Flash floods in Texas washed away a sleep-away camp where children were supposed to be safe.  Wildfires continue to burn in western Canada, including one near Lytton BC, a community that was almost completely destroyed by a wildfire just a couple of years ago. And in a bizarre plot twist that I didn't see coming, churches in the US are going to be allowed to endorse political candidates, eliminating the separation of church and state. (I've said it before and I'll say it again - our faith calls us to be political; but even if it wasn't the law, partisan politics have no place in the church.)

Sometimes the grief and the fear in the world threaten to overwhelm us (or, since I can't speak for you, I am better to say that they threaten to overwhelm me).  I feel paralyzed into inaction because no matter how much I do, I can't fix the whole world.  I can't force everyone in the world to love their neighbours as themselves.  I can't take the reigns and make everyone in the world live with respect in creation.  I can't force warring parties into authentic reconciliation.  There are many days when the world just breaks my heart.

When I start feeling this way, I take comfort from an internet meme - a quote usually attributed to the Talmud (a collection of teachings that are central to Rabbinic Jewish faith), but in reality comes from the great source of quotable quotes, Anonymous.  It reads:  "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief.  Do justly, now.  Love mercy, now.  Walk humbly, now.  You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."  (This quote offers commentary on Micah 6:8 - "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.")

It is not my job to fix all of the world's problems.  Instead, my job is to move about in the spaces and places in which I move, doing justice in the ways that I have available to me, loving and supporting the kindness that I witness in the world around me, and walking humbly the path that Jesus shows to us.  And if I'm very lucky, the small bit that I do might make a minuscule change in the world, but even if I don't see any change in the world because of my actions, that doesn't matter - God still calls me to do this.

God doesn't promise us a world where our hearts won't break from the grief of the world (at least not until God's kingdom has finished unfolding - that time when "all tears will be wiped away"); but God promises us the Holy Spirit moving in us and in the world, equipping and empowering us to do the small acts of justice, kindness, and humility that, when taken together, do change the world.

And so let us continue together, one step at a time, helping each other along the way; and I know that when my faith falters, your faith will carry me on, and likewise if your faith is faltering, maybe mine will be able to carry you.

In terms of announcements this week:

• Worship on Sunday - our Flower Services begin this week, so our worship schedule will be a bit wonky for the next couple of weeks! For this week, our schedule is:

  Westfield and FB Live - regular worship at 11:15

  Summerville - Flower Service at 11:00am. The weather forecast is looking good for Sunday, so the plan is that we will be gathering outside in the cemetery for worship.  Bring a lawnchair, bring a hat (and water bottle), and bring your bug spray!

  For the full Flower Service Schedule, you can click here.

• Summer Sermon Series - beginning with the Flower Services (so this week at Summerville and next week at Westfield and Long Reach), we are going to be launching into a summer sermon series that will carry us through to Labour Day weekend.  We've done some fun summer series in the past (I particularly remember the summer that we explored Things Jesus Didn't Say), and this year we will be diving into scripture readings that fall into the category of "Wait? What? That's in the bible???"  Did you know that there was a talking donkey in the bible?  What about erotic love poetry?  A magical pole that cures snakebites?  Over the next couple of months, we'll be looking at some quirky readings and stories that don't usually make it into the regular routine of "parts of the bible we read in church."

• Summer Movie Nights - we began our summer movies last night, and will continue on Tuesday evenings at 7pm through July and August in the parlour at Westfield United Church.  Next week we will be watching "The Truman Show" - an older movie (1998) that has us asking some very contemporary questions like How do we know what is real? How are we being shaped by the media?  As always, the popcorn will be popped, and you are welcome to bring your beverage of choice!

• Drive-Through Strawberry Dinner - The tickets sold out early this year so I can't encourage you to pick up your ticket, so this is just a reminder that if you do have a ticket, the dinner is coming up on Thursday!  The UCW (and friends) have been hard at work this week in the basement of Westfield United, getting everything ready - today's task was hulling all of the strawberries that will go into the strawberry shortcake...

• Pride Parade - even though it is still a month away, the Affirming Churches in the Saint John area have registered to walk in the Pride Parade again this year!  Not only is this always a fun event, but in the current state of the world, it continues to be essential that we proclaim a message that God's love includes EVERYONE, and that ALL people (of all gender identities and sexual orientations) are created in God's image.  So this is your "save the date" notification - Saturday August 16, gathering at 12:30pm for the parade to begin at 1pm. We'll sort out carpooling and signs etc closer to the date! (Related to the opening of this email, the pride parade is one of the ways to live out justice and kindness and joy, in the face of a world that sometimes feels otherwise.)
  

Thank You Corner - this week's thank you goes out to everyone who helped in any way with Dave MacPherson's funeral a couple of weeks ago. I was very sorry that I was away at that time, but all that I've heard since I came back is that the church gave him a good send-off.  I hesitate to start mentioning names because I know that I will miss someone, but a special thank you to Rev. Elizabeth for presiding at the service, to David S. for the eulogy, to Session members who helped Rev. Elizabeth coordinate the logistics, to Joan S. and the Long Reach Singers for leading the music, and to everyone who helped with the parking and with the reception after the service. From all that I've heard, the church was truly churching that day, and I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

And that is it for today.  As a closing thought, let me share a Prayer for Gloomy Thinkers by Nadia Bolz-Weber that came through my inbox this week. (As always when it comes to N B-W's writing, a content warning for coarse language - only in the title this time, and not in the prayer itself.) You can read it by clicking here.

And 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)