Isn't that a great title for a blog? So why title tonight's rendering 'Wine, Eating, Girls, and Sloth? It is inspired by this unbelievably protracted pain that is radiating anguish into my ankle from the side of my foot. It turns out that one of the great joys of George-dom is high uric acid, which usually leads to tortuous torment of kidney stones or the persecution of gout. So painful are these things that Mary Worley Montagu wrote, "People wish their enemies dead, but I do not; I say give them the gout, give them the stone!" All but one of the six boy George's (including my Dad here) have had one of these afflictions.

The last time I had this problem was about four years ago – so I have had a good run. But yesterday my frightful friend returned. From a distance I could feel grisly growl and groan of gout coming alongside hoping to tie on for a spell. Gout arrived and tied a half-hitch around my ankle firm and tight at about 3 AM. Since that time I have been pretty stationary, and since she has tied on, whatever small distance I have drifted this ghastly gondola called gout has travelled alongside.

Benjamin Franklin said, "Be temperate in wine, in eating, girls, and sloth; or the gout will seize you and plague you both" What does that say about the George boys, apart from one brother that is? This gruesome gout is from eating, wine, sloth … and girls? Wow! I had no idea my life was that interesting really. I have been seized and plagued today for sure. One of the George boys tells me that the best cure for gout is half a bottle of Lamb's Palm Breeze Rum. While my doctor might disagree, if this pain persists much longer, I may try Robert's rich remedy. At least I would get some sleep.

On the upside, I can't remember the last time I spent a full day at home. The weekend was tremendous and tiring so a day home was probably needed. I am so glad that I did not get this affliction on Saturday. The concert on Friday was a GREAT SUCCESS. The choir was outstanding and thrilled the more than 220 guests. Also outstanding was the Windsor Youth Choir. Another great highlight of the night was the band anonymous. Rob Agnew Jr. and Mitchell Shields brought the house down with their original song 'As the Days Pass' (you can see their original video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWSCu3jwjws).

Also wonderful and house stirring was Arla Peters and Christian Paulton's stirring rendition of 'The Prayer.' It was an excellent evening. Stay tuned to the parish webpage at www.stmarkschurch.net for a video highlight's by week's end.

Our Mass of Rededication was a great celebration of all that is good about past and present ministry at St. Mark's by-the-Lake. We have over 240 people at our liturgy including a number of visitors from the business and building community as well as visiting clergy from the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches. It was great time of celebration and we give thanks to our Bishop Bob Bennett for his kindness on the weekend.

It was good to see Minnie Heeley and Lee Paprosky receive their award for excellence in ministry was a great moment. But having opportunity to pray in thanksgiving for all that God has done with the hands of people like Fausto Volpatti, his many subcontractors and Dr. Norm Becker his engineers Bill Lebel and Donato DiGiovanni as well as HryCay Engineering. It was as well a great day at church and a great day in the church's history.

Sunday saw two baptisms take place at the church. It was wonderful to welcome Gareth and Peyton into the community of God. Also had opportunity on Sunday to visit one Godchild playing baseball and another swim in a pool – the heart is lifted in being with children. It was a good day indeed.

So I got lots of activity in before this long day of inactivity – feels sort of like sloth…

"Doing nothing gets pretty tiresome because you can't stop and rest!" – Author unknown.

This weekend is going to be a blast here at St. Mark's by-the-Lake. This weekend we celebrate together the joy of having completed our renovations and expansion as dedicate our new space to the glory of God for work and service in our time. There is more than one opportunity this weekend to come and celebrate with us:

A Dedication Concert: - Tonight at 7:30 PM (doors open at 7 PM) we have a near sold our concert in our church. Our Choir has been rehashing nonstop and have put together a great evening of both sacred and fun music. Maya Angelou is credited with saying, "A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." Our lives are really about the song. We need to celebrate the gift of music more often. The church was gifted with a beautiful Clavinova from Dr. Wayne Paprosky. Our very skilled and talented Director of Church Music Andrea Morosin has been giving it a great workout with the choir these past few weeks as they ready themselves for this concert. Our choir 'has a song!' We have a very gifted group of singers who with the clever and masterful direction of Andrea, bring music to a place of prayer. Tonight you have an opportunity to soak in that great gift – take advantage of it. There are still a few tickets available but we are going to have a very full house. While tickets will be available at the door, If you want to come I would suggest calling the church office to pick up tickets in advance – it will assure you of a ticket and it will assist us getting everyone on and seated in a timely fashion. At $15 it is a great evening out with wonderful music. I might also suggest coming early as seats are first come, first serve.

Our second and MAIN EVENT – is our Mass of Rededication. We are pleased that Bishop Bennett will be with us as rededicate our space and dedicate our new space and new furnishings to God's glory. On Saturday at 4 PM you have an opportunity to join in a liturgy that we do not get to do so often anymore – the setting apart of new space for ministry. Too often we are gathering to deconsecrate as we close churches. In Windsor, all too many people in the Catholic Church have had to gather to say farewell to their parish family. In fact, the 'new pews' at St. Mark's by-the-Lake are from the former St. Anne's Church in Walkerville. We are so proud of our building and its completion. But more than that we are so proud of the people of this parish they have accomplished. Thomas Kempis said "The loftier the building, the deeper must the foundation be laid." I believe that this building is laid on a very firm foundation of love and hope as proclaimed by a community of openness and respect.

Our third event speaks to nature of church itself – we will gather on Sunday morning at 8 AM and again at 10:30 AM. We will express our love for Jesus and for God's people in prayer, in song, and ritual as we come together for our weekly Eucharistic feast. It will gain be an opportunity for s to give thanks for the dedication of our new church space.

So plan on being with us this weekend – we will be here and we will be celebrating –

We would love to see you

I really do not like to have to say goodbye to people. I hate it even more when I have to say goodbye to people I have come to know, and love and respect. When we build relationship with one another we take for granted the fact that we can have time together. It becomes painfully obvious at times that time together is a precious commodity.

Today Catherinanne and I said farewell to Captains Steve and Erika White and our little buddies Owen and Benjamin. They will move tomorrow to Toronto and while we may have opportunity to see each other agin from time to time we will certainly miss having them just down the road. These four fellow natives of Newfoundland have been good friends to us and we have shared great times together since meeting. Speaking of that, it is amazing how close we can get to people in a short time. We only meet the Whites in December of 2007 and since that time have enjoyed a great friendship.

Steve and Erika are gifted and devoted servants of God who in their new positions as Secretary for Youth and Secretary for Children will do great work for God. They have loved well the people of Eastwood Citadel and have been good witnesses to pastoral love and devotion as ministers to that church community. Benjamin and Owen are joyful and full of life and are being nurtured by great parents to be good people. They have been a great witness to me.

A quick story couple of Stories: a few months back I was at the White household for dinner and Owen was honoured with offering grace. He folded his little hands together and he looked slightly toward the ceiling, his eyes shut so gently and began, God is Great…." When I hear the word 'grace' I think of Owen. It is a little moment when the Holy Spirit was so present I could taste glory – I am so grateful for the moments.

Benjamin reminded me one day how precious the love of a parent can be. He had been sick for a couple of days and had been home from school and day care. I was visiting the good Captain and he was tending to his sick little boy. Benjamin was in his daddy's arms and you could see that he was not feeling well at all. Looking at him at one point that day I saw so much more than a sick little child. He was so safe and so secure in his father's arms that it brought tears to my eyes. That is the security we long for in God's arms. He looked to his Dad with such love and trust, hurting and yet knowing that his father would care for him and see him through it. I went away that day praying for the ability to have that same trust in God.

Steve and Erika have been such good friends and confidants that I will indeed miss them, as will Catherinanne.  All I can say tonight is – I am sad! Happy for Steve and Erika and the boys – but I am sad….

Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together?  I guess that wouldn't work.  Someone would leave.  Someone always leaves.  Then we would have to say good-bye.  I hate good-byes.  I know what I need.  I need more hellos.  ~Charles M. Schulz

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.  ~Voltaire

There is no question that this was penned by an enlightenment writer.

Many of you may not have noticed … but I love eating! I love good food and I love trying new food. When it comes to food nowadays it is becoming harder to enjoy eating because every study group imaginable is telling us what food we should not be eating. Oddly, what one study says is terrible, another says is healthy. These experts agree about as much as biblical scholars agree on many matters – next to never. Julia Child once said on a TV program, "They have made us afraid of our food!" How true! Well, I am here to declare that I am NOT afraid of my food. I agree with Voltaire. How tiresome would the very act of eating be if not for the pleasure that comes with eating?

That pleasure for me is found in a few ways.

Perhaps the first place that I derive pleasure in eating is in cooking the meal itself. I love to cook and I love to create while I am at it. 'Recipes are a theme,' I read somewhere, and the cook can play with that theme as she or he wishes. There is something really satisfying about discovering a new taste by combining different ingredients. Oddly, it is like 'doing' or 'being' church. If we have the courage to not be afraid of using all of the ingredients that God has placed before us in bringing together a casserole of love and justice, we will be surprised at what we might produce. I love cooking, and I love being church. In each instance I would add that there are times when we have to learn by trial and error. We figure out – sometimes the hard way – that some recipes are not for success. Those lessons are valuable. When I try new things in the kitchen, I sometimes find that what did not work needs a little tweaking one way or another and when I come back at it again, the results are delicious. So it is in being church. I believe our community is learning day by day how to better be church. I believe strongly that people of God at St. Mark's by-the-Lake are great at trying new recipes, including many ingredients that others are afraid to include – and the result is a more than palatable parish with a toothsome togetherness. I think those who get to sample this dish find it hard to resist a second helping.

Another point of pleasure in eating for me is simply in the eating itself. Taste is a wonderful gift from God. It is a great delight when the taste buds find a pleasing taste for the first time. Perhaps more interesting is the notion that those same taste buds can be impressed over and over again and even long for the same dish, the same treat. Those same taste buds will also tell us when we have taken in something that we do not like. I take great satisfaction in tasting something that I have cooked that is really good, but I take even more satisfaction in eating something that another has prepared that is exquisite. I think that here too, there is metaphor for the church. 'Being Church' means figuring out what tastes right for us. When we do, it is fair to say that we go back to that same old tried and true recipe that has never let us down. Having said that, we have to be careful not to let the taste buds get complacent being exposed to one food only, over and over again. So it is incumbent upon us as church then to honour the notion that we need to feed people with more than one meal and we need to serve it in more than one way, including a variety of spices and seasonings. In the Anglican context, our meat and potatoes is our Eucharistic celebration. Each week we know when we gather around the table that we will feast on the life-giving presence of Jesus in the form of the Eucharist. Having that spiritual 'comfort food' is crucial and it gives life and nourishment to the 'priesthood of all believers.' What we also have in the Anglican Context is a rich ability to bring so much more to that meal each week. We need to ask ourselves as a community, "What are we serving before and after that great feast?" Also, how do we garnish our Eucharistic Celebration? As church we have to embrace the many ways in which we can 'spice up' our church experience. Take a look at this list of Ingredients;

Children, Seniors, Youth, Artists, Musicians, Poets, Colour, Smell, Joy, Laughter, Tears, The Broken, The Stranger

Silence, Teachers, Healers, the Disabled, the Builders, and the list goes on.

What do we do for instance with these and other ingredients in our church communities to make our eating together most flavourful? I personally want to know that each week we gather we will have the tried and true Eucharistic Celebration. I am pleased that the People of God in my place of worship have added so much more to that feast for me each week. Here is a for-instance. Let me tell you about dessert at St. Mark's by-the-Lake today;

We have a great young man named Michael in our church. Michael is in a wheelchair. He has some challenges but I refuse to say he is disabled because he has so many abilities. Michael was very excited today to tell me that he had graduated from his program at school. It is a life skills program. At the end of church today, after the choir and the rest of our altar party had made its way to the back I wheeled Michael to the centre aisle and we as a church had the dessert to our Eucharistic meal. "Michael has had a big week, haven't you?" I said! Michael beamed a wide-mouthed smile and nodded yes. I continued, "Tell us what happened, Michael!" While Michael can sometimes be hard to understand he responded in a very loud and clear voice, with great joy, "I GRADUATED!" The congregation was elated and erupted in very spontaneous applause. Michael was ecstatic and his joy was more than obvious as the Holy Spirit hovered among us and we knew God was in that place. Micheal then proceeded to offer the dismissal. It was indeed a delightful dessert to a fine Eucharistic Feast. Everyone went away satisfied. Sometimes we have to be prepared to serve up what is in front of us.

The other element of Joy for me in eating is in whom I eat with. To me eating is a social affair and it breeds the best forms of intimacy. In breaking bread with others we get to know them in ways that we do not in casual encounters. There is something about eating together that removes inhibitions and breeds conversation and indeed even dialogue. This is something that is common in almost all cultures as well. While the customs and the foods vary, the act of dining together as a way of nurturing relationship is cross-cultural. When we want to know someone better we invite them for dinner. It is indeed an act of intimacy and it brings us closer to one another, and that is another reason why I love to eat. I think that the church, here too, fits with this eating analogy. If we are to 'be' church in the truest sense of the word, then we must build a Eucharistic hospitality that moves beyond our hour-long masses. Rarely do we have 150 people over for dinner. So as church, we have to take hold of other opportunity to dine with those who dine with us at the Eucharistic Table. Let me offer an example here as well, also from St. Mark's by-the-Lake.

Jane Cornett is our Director of Children's and Youth Ministry. She is a very gifted person and she is devoted not just to children and youth, but to God and to the membership of her church in general. At the Feast of Pentecost – the birthday of the church – Jane had 12 people bake birthday cakes. For coffee hour that Sunday she had one cake at each of 12 tables in our church hall. Each table was labelled with a month from January to December and during coffee hour we sat at our birthday table. We ate cake with others from the church, and that day many of us got to know people a lot better than we had before. Indeed, many people met for the first time. I had many people tell me just how much it meant to get to know others that day. What changed from coffee hour the week previous? We had cake with people that were 'new' to us. While this idea was not a new one, it was a great gift that Jane brought to us. As Church we have to be willing and able to share our best recipes with one another. When something is filling and satisfying we should want others to taste the same dishes of love.

Today there were new guests at our Eucharistic Table and that is true many weeks that we have this feast. As church we have to ask ourselves if we are prepared for the stranger, the unknown guest, and whether we have made preparations so that he or she will be most welcomed at our table. When we dine together we get to know one another. How wonderful then it is that, as we feast on Eucharistic food, we welcome those we do not know and seek to know them better.

I love to eat – for all those reasons and for so many more. I love being church as well – great that these two things go so well together, especially in the Anglican Church.

Those of you who have been accustomed to reading a daily post from me on my blog have probably wondered where I have gone. Truth be told, I just got tired; tired from many duties and tasks, and many responsibilities. When I started blogging a couple of years ago it was very much an avenue for me to express myself. It was in fact a step away from the sense of duty and a place to muse about the many things that 'pop up' in day to day ministry. I think that I may have overdone it a little bit, at least in the context of all the other things that have been 'popping up' in the parson's pilgrimage. Sadly what was life-giving for me became another duty. I last blogged in Lent and when Easter arrived I gave myself permission to take the 50 days of Easter off. I felt that a Sabbath from blogging was wise. I think it was. While I stretched a little beyond the 50 days of Lent, I do feel a renewed eagerness to write again. I find writing a free place to express ideas that come to the fore. That being said I submit this little bit tonight as my opportunity to wade back into the pool.

Some of you know that last week I began a Doctorate in Ministry at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. I spent my first residency week in Chicago and cannot say enough about the faculty and staff at McCormick. I am thrilled to have accepted there and am looking forward to the next three years of study in this esteemed institution.

I have been considering more formal study for a few years and this past year it became clear that I needed to get back to study in a theological setting. I spent considerable time in the past twelve months praying and discerning what I should study and where I should study. The culmination of all of that heart-searching and soul-searching is the decision to take on this course of study with a concentration in Parish Revitalization. When it comes to the ministry setting, I have been living a charmed existence. I am fortunate to be in a leadership position among a people of God who take their call to discipleship very seriously and who work hard at it. Because of that dedication to ministry I have witnessed the growth and development of a parish that is working hard to be a relevant part of the community around it. At this juncture of my ministry at St. Mark's by-the-Lake, I feel a great need to take that which I have learned from the people in this church and find a way to share it with others who are seeking to lead the church, in these changing times, to a place of mission and growth for discipleship tomorrow.

On the other hand, I feel the stress of the expectation and responsibility that goes along with a growing church that has just increased its seating by 50%. There is so much more that we need to do and so much more we need to learn about ourselves as a church community and I really want to be equipped as much as possible to help with growth and development of our church community. I am keenly aware that there are people in places of learning with prophetic voices that can help me and help us on our journey. The biblical foundation on which I have been operating is found in Luke 12:48b which reads, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more." I have read those words more than once in the past few years. I have read it in many translations and I think the one I like best is the paraphrase known as The Message. It reads like this, "To those whom much has been given, much is expected!" Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!" I first felt the impact of that statement early into my tenure at St. Mark's. It was clear to me that we had so many gifts present in our community and that those great gifts meant great responsibilities. Now? There are even greater gifts, which mean greater responsibilities. In order to live up to those responsibilities I am praying that further formal study for me will help us on our travail together.

I love learning. Learning is a life-long venture and no 'program' of study will ever impart what can only be learned through lived experience. That was a powerful lesson after my studies at Huron College. Ask anyone who has gone to seminary and you will find that a common attitude after leaving the seminary and entering the church a feeling of not having learned enough to be prepared for what takes place on a day to day basis in the church. The real benefit of having studying with my colleagues was getting ready to learn. The real learning takes place when you first have to sit with a dying parishioner, when you first have to stand with a couple who are committing their love for each other, when you first have to stand at the altar and celebrate with the people of God the mystery of the Eucharist, when you have to tend to the needs of those who hunger, or pray without books with those in crises. The learning is constant and it never ends and it is enriching in a way that cannot be easily articulated by a blathering blogger. The important principle is that learning is a lifelong process…

Many times when I am uncertain about an idea, a concept or even a decision I reflect on what my Dad would say, or what my Dad might do. Dad is nearly 93. While he has slowed down of late, one thing remains – he continues to learn. I spoke with him a few nights ago and he told me about one of the many books that he has been reading now that he does not get out as much as he used to. My brother tells me that he cannot keep the books to my dad fast enough. In his inability to learn with his hands and his feet he has discovered time to strengthen his mind and his thoughts. There was a day when Dad would disappear to the workshop. While there, without any drawings or blueprints he would create, and produce crafts, furniture, boats, and so much more – he learned by doing. He has and continues to live fully what Henry Ford said so long ago - 'Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.' My Dad is nearly 93 – and you know – he is not old!

I have taken on a course of study hoping that each day I can be reminded that if I stop learning – I might just get old. Dad has never accepted old age and he has never stopped learning. Who knows where this latest trail on this journey of mine will lead. At the moment I am more than content to stand at the mouth of this winding trail and pray for direction as I seek to find God's love in those around me and in those I have yet to encounter. Someone asked me yesterday, "what will you be when you finish this degree…a doctor?" I answered, "What God created me to be – Kevin."

Pray for me.

Henri Nouwen writes, "The many contradictions in our lives - such as being home while feeling homeless, being busy while feeling bored, being popular while feeling lonely, being believers while feeling many doubts - can frustrate, irritate, and even discourage us. They make us feel that we are never fully present. Every door that opens for us makes us see how many more doors are closed. But there is another response. These same contradictions can bring us into touch with a deeper longing, for the fulfillment of a desire that lives beneath all desires and that only God can satisfy. Contradictions, thus understood, create the friction that can help us move toward God."

This fits in well with what I was reading a week or two ago about 'orthopradoxy.' Dwight Friesen a contributor to AN EMERGENT MANIFESTO OF HOPE suggests that being church is really all about embracing an idea that he calls orthoparadoxy. He defines that as "an effort to make God's main thing the main thing for all people of God: reconciliation. Not sameness or agreement but differentiated oneness – where the fullness of one can be in relationship with the fullness of another. Orthopardox hold difference, tensions, otherness, and paradoxes with grace, humility, respect and curiosity, while simultaneously bringing the fullness of self to the 'other' in conversation, not to convert or to convince but with the hope of mutual transformation through interpersonal relationship."

Both of these notions well define the practice of living a Christian discipleship. Those who get mired down in arguments about orthodoxy or 'right beliefs' are in my opinion, in denial of what is intrinsic in the Christian's journey – that which is so well articulated by Nouwen above. A living faith is one which can embrace the notion that we come closest to understanding what we believe when we are prepared to embrace the notion we are often uncertain and contradicted about what we believe. Even more tragic is the resultant discord in the community of God when engage on discussions of orthodoxy or orthopraxy. What is 'right belief?" What is 'right practice' or 'right worship?' Friesen's concept of orthopardoxy is a healthy approach to encourage the people of God to understand that the manifestation of the Light of God is found in diverse and varied places and we can perhaps best experience that Holy Presence by engaging in a respectful way those who have different beliefs, different practices than our own.

The challenge then is to be comfortable enough to allow internal contradictions and tensions to live within us, guiding us on our journey toward Light. If we can live comfortably within these contractions we will likely become self-aware enough to begin to live in those contractions with others, accepting that we are not all the same, we do not all believe the same things, we do not all worship the same way. Nor do we need to all be obsessed with sameness. There is a oneness that is most complete because of its ability to accept differentiation – can we embrace that paradox?

The Hebrew Scripture appointed for today include these verses from Isaiah 49;

Listen, far-flung islands,
   pay attention, faraway people:
God put me to work from the day I was born.
   The moment I entered the world he named me.
He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate.
   He kept his hand on me to protect me.
He made me his straight arrow
   and hid me in his quiver.
He said to me, "You're my dear servant,
   Israel, through whom I'll shine." - (The Message)

"God put me to work from the day I was born." Imagine that! From our creation we have been working for God's purpose. Imagine! You and me and all those people we encounter at church, and in the community, all together, doing God's work. One might argue about how well or not we are doing that work, but the point is, that in our very being is the nature of God's good work and purpose. Seem overwhelming? It can be- but read the rest.

"God gave me speech that would cut and penetrate." Now you will argue here that we are not all orators. Of course we are not! I will counter – don't be literalists. This is a promise that the gifts needed are given and imparted by the God of the covenant to the people. We are approaching the end of our Lenten journey and we now need to ask are we using that which God has given us to do the work that God is wishing to accomplish in us. The gifts are many and varied and God has given those gifts to us. Are we making use of those gifts today to show God's love, God's grace and God's purpose.

I must confess that at times I am still discerning what gifts God has given me. From time to time I am surprised at what God is calling me to do. From time to time, I feel alone and a little scared that I will fail, or that I will not measure up – not so much to God but to those who seem to carrying a measuring rod at all times. Do you every feel like you need some help, a steady presence to help you on your journey? I do. And the good news is that "God kept a hand on me to protect me." How wonderful and how true! When I think about the most difficult parts of my journey it becomes obvious to me that God has been there as a steady hand in times of trouble and even in times of triumph. That hand has been extended to me in the form of family, friends and neighbours, parishioners and even strangers who have each in their own time protected me when I needed it, encouraged me when I needed it, held me back when I needed it, pushed me when I need it and caressed me and wiped a tear when I needed it. I suspect the same is true for most of us when we think about it. How has God's hand been present for you? Who has extended that hand?

We are God's dear servants and we are the one's through whom God's love will shine. As we near Good Friday and the great celebration of Easter let us discern this week what gifts God has offered us and how we are called to use them. Let us discern how God's steady hand is present to us and in whom that hand is present. And let us discern how we can be the servant through whom the light of Christ might shine.

I missed a few steps last weeks – so I apologize that I missed blogging for a couple of days. Therefore you can count this blog for days 32, 33 and 34! I am slowing learning that God does not need perfection – just an honest effort!

So here is what is on my mind –

Passion is a kind of waiting - waiting for what other people are going to do. Jesus went to Jerusalem to announce the good news to the people of that city. And Jesus knew that he was going to put a choice before them: Will you be my disciple, or will you be my executioner? There is no middle ground here. Jesus went to Jerusalem to put people in a situation where they had to say "Yes" or "No." That is the great drama of Jesus' passion: he had to wait upon how people were going to respond. How would they come? To betray him or to follow him? In a way, his agony is not simply the agony of approaching death. It is also the agony of having to wait. – Henri Nouwen

On Sunday we began the journey toward the cross that is Holy Week. On Sunday we sang Hosanna, in a few days we will yell Crucify!

Jesus still waits – he waits in the hearts of the hungry, the lonely, the broken, the disenfranchised, the forgotten, the mourning, the broken, the rejected, the outcast and just about anyone else who is on the 'short' end of the stick. His short but powerful ministry was all about those on the fringe. His passion was for those who needed love. Where is our passion? I know that we are passionate about the things that we want. We can be very passionate about our political views. We can be very passionate about our sports teams and our kids sports endeavours and our jobs and just about everything else in life but are we passionate about following Jesus?

He waits – still! Will we betray him? OR will we follow him? The truth is we can probably answer yes to both. BUT can we be courageous enough to admit our betrayal and seek to be stronger followers? It is a great question to ponder in Holy Week!

A Brief thought from Nouwen for Today

The Dignity to Give and Receive

"Nobody is so poor that he/she has nothing to give, and nobody is so rich that he/she has nothing to receive." These words by Pope John-Paul II, offer a powerful direction for all who want to work for peace. No peace is thinkable as long as the world remains divided into two groups: those who give and those who receive. Real human dignity is found in giving as well as receiving. This is true not only for individuals but for nations, cultures, and religious communities as well.

A true vision of peace sees a continuous mutuality between giving and receiving. Let's never give anything without asking ourselves what we are receiving from those to whom we give, and let's never receive anything without asking what we have to give to those from whom we receive.

THIS ONE IS FOR APRIL 1^st

Some people want to see God with their eyes as they see a cow, and to love Him as they love their cow - for the milk and cheese and profit it brings them. This is how it is with people who love God for the sake of outward wealth or inward comfort. They do not rightly love God, when they love Him for their own advantage. Indeed, I tell you the truth, any object you have in your mind, however good, will be a barrier between you and the inmost Truth.

... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?)

I love Eckhart and I think this is one of his most powerful quotes. We have soooo much stuff if our lives and learning to remove that stuff will be an improvement in relating to the Divine.