(With gratitude to the PCC, for this simple and appropriate Ash Wednesday prayer!)

As with many students who studied Hebrew as their theological language in seminary, I grit my teeth when I see “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” used as a name for God. Let me explain – both of these are an attempt to transliterate the “YHWH” name of God found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Jehovah is a bad transliteration based upon a rudimentary understanding of Hebrew use of vowels. Yahweh is a better transliteration, but it still falls short.

The Hebrew understanding of the “YHWH” name was that it was holy – set apart – not for daily use. In fact, once the temple was built and the priesthood formally instituted, that name of God was meant to be pronounced only by the High Priest, only in the Holy of Holies (most sacred space in the Temple), only on the Holiest day of the year. It was a very protected and sacred name.

Ordinary priests, scribes and individuals, were trained to pronounce “Adonai” (Ah-don-EYE), which is equivalent to the English word, ‘Lord,’ whenever they came across the YHWH in scripture.

At the same time, if you try to pronounce this word without vowels (which is how it was ALWAYS written), it comes out like breath. Try it. YHWH.

So Rob Bell, in one of his Nooma (a play on the Greek word for Spirit) videos, talks about God being as close to us as breath. He asks the question: do we die when we stop breathing or do we die when we can no longer say the name of God?

So if all you managed to do today was breathe – especially if it was a day when you were struggling with even that – it may be that you’ve spent the day doing something both simple and incredibly holy.

Never underestimate the power of your breath. Never doubt that God is as close to you and as constantly with you as the next breath you take.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep breathing, keep praising the Lord.

Quarantine Fatigue is real!:

This sweet piece of advice – give it a chance, even in 2021!:

This still cracks me up:

Gotta love a double entendre:

I’m gonna hazard a guess that they’d be fine:

Valentine’s Day advice for those on a budget:

Single girl’s guide to Valentine’s Day:

See, God does answer prayers, (actually, I love a good salad, but I also love a good donut!):

And Ontario! (though I’m sure Alberta is further back and colder!):

Charlie Macksey always has wise words, keep going, friends!:

And finally, this blessing for your day:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep on thinking and laughing and drawing closer to God!

Welcome to Sunday Worship, as we continue to worship virtually in the midst of the Pandemic. Today we wrap up our series entitled, The Struggle is Real, with a conversational sermon about mental health and finding community even as we stay at home. May this virtual service be a blessing to you:

It’s also Valentine’s Day, and I want to wish you a very happy one – whether you’re celebrating with your special someone, enjoying some chocolate or other candy of choice (mmmmmm, cinnamon hearts!), watching some RomCom movies, or just ignoring the day completely – may you be blessed and know the love in which God holds you. And may His love invigorate you to love others.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, you are dearly beloved!

Happy Saturday, everyone! As we do every Saturday, we are gathering resources on the blog today, to help you prepare for worship. We are wrapping up our series entitled “The Struggle is Real” this week – in which we’ve been searching the scriptures for cues on how to experience better health – physical, spiritual, and mental – during a time of struggle. So let’s begin with a couple of quotes about mental health:

This lovely setting of a new-to-me Fanny Crosby Hymn, “Redeemed,” by the youth of Fountainview Academy – a Christian High School in southern BC. I defy you to not be uplifted by this sprightly hymn:

This lovely call to worship that reminds us that we are called to be in this together, to be united in Christ:

The song, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” was mentioned at our Coffee Fellowship Zoom a few weeks back, and this popped up on my YouTube suggested items. While this song is by Hammerstien, featured in the musical “Carousel,” it’s quite easy to hear it as a promise of God – that we never walk alone in this life, because God goes with us, every step of the way. This is a wonderful virtual choir of that song by the Alumni men of BYU Men’s chorus:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, may God be a healing force for your body, soul and mind.

As we head into the weekend and the celebration of Valentine’s Day, I am reminded that if I had to whittle Christianity down to one word (which would cause me actual, PHYSICAL pain), it would be: love.

But not the love that is all hearts and flowers and dreamy looks. Those are great things, and I hope everyone gets to experience a true romantic love, at least once in their lives.

But the kind of love I’m talking about is the kind that Jesus modelled – love that would take on suffering itself to alleviate someone else’s pain; love that sits with the outcast; love that heals; love that is put into action for the betterment of others.

I think this sweet cartoon puts it perfectly:

I know we can’t safely hug right now (at least not with those outside our own households) but that doesn’t mean we can’t love. We can – by sending a text or making a phone call; by smiling at others, even from behind our masks; by opening the door and letting another go first; by doing simple actions, every day, that bless others.

So, I encourage you to do as Mother Theresa said:

And because I always think in song lyrics, I leave you with this song from Michael W. Smith that includes the lyrics, “love isn’t love until you give it away”:

https://youtu.be/iWGTzPBP1dE

A Happy Valentine’s Day, in advance, dear friends. May you spread love wherever you go!

As much as I appreciate Bell’s Let’s Talk Day for it’s efforts to raise the conversation around mental health, one of the difficulties of a day like that is that we be tempted to feel like we only have to talk about it one day of the year.

And the reality is, mental health is an everyday thing, not a one-day-a-year thing.

In the midst of the pandemic, there have been many studies and reports about how our mental health is suffering. I’ve shared here about my struggle with anxiety, but I also struggle with exhaustion and frustration right now. Everything is more difficult than it should be. Everything takes more energy than it would in normal times, and all of the things that feed my soul – working out with friends, snuggling with my chosen-nephews and chosen-niece, hanging out with their parents (and with other good friends), going out to dinner, visiting my folks, singing with my choir, singing with my congregation, hugs at the door after worship – are simply off the table. Or at the very least must be attempted over Zoom (which is both a God-send and a poor substitute).

So let’s talk about it.

Let’s not suffer in silence, because that isn’t strength and it isn’t healthy and it, frankly, robs the church of the ability to BE the church – the community of faith that helps each other journey through life.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, talk about your struggles, share with each other, help each other through the journey, and know that God is with you!

(I found this SO reassuring! God doesn’t give up on us, friends!)

I was reminded of this excerpt from Psalm 137, today:

¹By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
² There on the poplars
    we hung our harps,
³ for there our captors asked us for songs,
    our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
    they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” ⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord
    while in a foreign land?

It was in an article about the exhaustion we are all feeling at this point in the pandemic. Exiled from much of what was normal social life, normal working life, and normal worship life, we are weary. We are wondering how we can sing the songs of the Lord as we continue through the foreign land of this pandemic.

And while my first instinct is to rush to answers – to encourage you to sing any way (you should!), to say the songs haven’t changed (they haven’t!), to say God still listens and empower our praise (He does!), the article I read endorsed simply sitting with the question for a while. Being ok with not being ok. Being willing to lament in a time of sorrow. Being willing to cast our uncertainty and grief upon God, who can take it.

That isn’t a comfortable place for me, but it may be what these days call for. What is one supposed to do in a time of exile except lament? We are in extraordinary, unprecedented times. There are no simple answers right now. And crying out to the Lord int he midst of this complexity, is an act of faith.

So I invite you into faithful lament. Faithful crying out. The faithfulness of being ok with not being ok, when the times themselves are not ok. And I pray you will know God’s presence in the midst of your lament.

We don’t know how long we will be crying out to God, but dear friends, keep crying out, God is bending down to listen.

2021 joke to begin (and baby Yoda always makes me happy!):

Bernie memes aren’t dead, after all!:

A little theological joke for you (John just HAD to be different!):

This stellar (and a bit snarky) piece of advice:

Pretty much how we’re all feeling in Toronto in Lockdown:

I mean, really, 98% of pre-school ANYTHING, right? I once coached three 3 year olds in pre-school recreational gymnastics, and this is exactly what that experience was like;

(Or in my case, this morning – a canister vacuum to the face!):

Snort!:

And finally, this blessing for your day:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep on thinking and laughing and drawing closer to God!