I’ve always loved that phrase, it’s from Isaiah and imagines a day of absolute peace in which prey and predator will lie down together and be lead by a child.

It’s a vision of the future in which the very fabric of reality has changed, and those primal parts of us that cause the wolf to prey on the sheep, will no longer have sway.

But it always reminds me that sometimes we need a little child to lead us.

We need the lack of pretence that kids often display, the ability to love easily, the joy they find in the smallest things. So when I saw this on Facebook today, that’s exactly what it reminded me of:

It’s great advice. Especially in these days of uncertainty, and difficutly. So much of ‘regular life’ has been stripped away.

As I write this, I’m about to leave for Oshawa to bring a gift to my chosen-niece, who turns 9 years old today. In normal life we (her family, my family, friends) would all be gathering at her house, sharing food and cake, laughing and chatting, hugging and enjoying her reactions as she opened gifts.

Today, I will drive out, place her gift by the door and sit at least 2 metres apart from her, while she opens it. It would be easy to be sad, but this meme reminds me to find joy in the fact that I have gift to bring her and the ability to bring it to her in person.

The little things are still so very precious.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, remember to find joy in the little things, to leave the complaints to the side, and take life day by day!

Here we go again. Hope these bring you a smile, a deep thought or even just a few minutes of distraction.

Let’s begin with these two serious words about racism:

This is an oldie, but a goodie!

This terrifying and hilarious take on what might be the next plague of 2020:

I know there are some Star Trek fans at Graceview, so here you go, friends:

This bit of guidance on how to read the Bible correctly:

This sweet reminder of how to battle the fear and anxiety of these difficult times:

And finally, a blessing for your day:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep smiling, keep praying, and keep going!

Welcome to Sunday worship, friends! I am glad that you are here, and are taking the time to draw near to God right now. I encourage you to take part in all parts of the worship that are posted, it is good to sing, it is good to read scripture, it is good to pray. Even though it’s not the same as what we are able to do when we gather together, I do believe God is still with us. I believe God is still calling us to be the church.

Let’s begin with Eric’s prelude. Today he plays for us, Op.81, No.5, Stephen Heller:

A prayer of adoration and confession to bring us into God’s presence:

Our first hymn is #52 On Eagle’s Wings:

Sheila Thomas supplies our Scripture reading which is Romans 5:1-8:

Todays’ sermon is entitled, “FAITH for these hard times”:

Our final hymn today is #267 Rejoice, the Lord is King:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, hold fast to the promise, and consent to being loved, even while still unworthy!

Saturdays mean a few extra things to prepare your hearts for worship tomorrow. I hope that these are a blessing to you!

My friend Shelagh played J. Brahms – Intermezzo Opus 118 #2 this week, and I found it absolutely transcendent:

This amazing (very professional) virtual choir involving 300 churches in Ireland. It begins with “Be Thou My Vision” and moves into a famous quote by St. Patrick and ends with a spoken word blessing. Beautiful!

Speaking of that quote by St. Patrick, here it is in full:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, may Jesus be as close to you as your own breath, and may you see him in the face of everyone you meet!

I’m so excited that one of my fave bands, NEEDTOBREATHE are releasing a new album in August. They’ve released three songs from it already. The latest, entitled “Survival” came out this week. You can listen to it here (and read the lyrics in the comments if you go to YouTube itself):

The line that jumps out at me, of course, is: “Jesus, come quickly, I need you for my survival.”

Have you ever had a moment like that? When you’re just calling out to Jesus because you’re not sure that you can hold on for one more minute?

Moments like that happen. And only people of faith really know what it is like to call on Jesus and find him, even in the midst of your turmoil and heartbreak.

There’s a line right before that one, that is pretty fantastic, too: “I am man in need of constant revival.” This is why our faith is a daily practice. Because we are all in constant need of revival.

Remember the very last thing Jesus said in the Gospel According to Matthew:

Dear friends, He is with us always – in every moment of joy and every moment of turmoil – to the very end of the age! Call on Him for your survival, but also for constant revival.

The reckoning that has come concerning racism in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the ongoing protests and marches seen around the world, has been on my mind and on the mind of many of my colleagues.

Some of us just shake our heads and weep at the pain, but some of us immediately try to find ways to ‘fix it.’ Not that we are delusional enough to think that we can do that easily. But some of us are spurned to finding solutions.

My Mom is like that whenever I’m facing a problem in my life. We used to get in a lot of arguments because I’d complain or vent to her, and she’d immediately try to supply me with five possible solutions. I didn’t want solutions. I wanted someone to hear my stress/pain/upset/confusion. We had a lot of conversations in which I said, “Mom, stop trying to fix it – just say, ‘Yeah, honey, that sucks.'” We’ve worked at it and these days, she’s pretty awesome about saying “Yeah, honey, that sucks.” (And then later, sending me links to possible solutions….by that point I’m usually ready to think about possible solutions.)

At least twice in the last couple of days, I’ve heard Black leaders say that maybe we just need to sit in our discomfort for while. My colleague, the Rev. Paulette Brown, minister at St. Andrew’s Humber Heights Presbyterian Church, said this in her sermon last Sunday (the prophet she refers to is Joel, the reading was Joel 2:1-27) :

  I do believe that we are living in these times when the

          word is not a word of comfort.

          God knows that sometimes this word of comfort gets

          in the way.

          It keeps us comfortable in our conditions of suffering.

          It doesn’t give us the kind of umph that we need to

          stand up and to join in the struggle to change the

          structures and the things that need to be changed in

          order for this restoration to take place.

          But the prophet is clear.

          The prophet says it’s not a time for comfort.

          It’s a time for your pain.

          Enough is enough.

          The world is in pain.

          The families are in pain.

          God is in pain. 

And last night, I was watching Anderson Cooper as he interviewed Amber Ruffin, comedienne and writer for Late Night with Seth Myers. She talked about some of her own stories of facing racism, and the discomfort of her white friends when she told them. How quickly they wanted to move on. Because it IS uncomfortable when we see someone victimized by racism – even the ‘micro- aggression’ racism of careless comments or assumptions, causes undue and unrighteous pain.

Maybe we just need to sit with that for a while. Maybe we need to be able to sit with the pain of others, with their uncomfortable experiences, with the reality of the fact that our world is not as enlightened as we would like to believe.

I’m reminded of the hymn lyric, “I will weep, when you are weeping…” The world is weeping right now, dear friends. We owe it to the brokenhearted to weep with them.

One of the key points of the conversation I was having with The Janet today, centred around hope. We were talking about the passage we are each preaching on this Sunday.

And The Janet read to me part of a commentary that stated that hope moves us forward. I loved that thought.

I don’t have much brain power left today. The last 24hrs has been full of thinking, talking, writing, and my brain is tired. So let me just leave you with that thought – hope moves us forward.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, our hope is in the Lord. Let us cling to Him!

So it’s just been one of THOSE days.

I had to get my summer tires on (I know, horribly late in getting that done, but honestly…what HAS gone according to normal schedule this year?), so my car was in at the dealership today. Normally, I’d get a ride back home or back to the office and get some work done while my car was being serviced. But, of course, the shuttle isn’t offered right now. I sat outside and waited, for two hours. I wasn’t settled enough to write anything, so I spent the time reading and thinking. But I can’t say I accomplished anything quantifiable.

Once I got home (soooo hungry!), and had lunch, a couple of my friends helped me out by getting me a new air conditioner. I had to install it myself. Without going into too much detail – it didn’t go easily. I persevered, the unit is installed and I will be able to sleep in my own bed tonight (I’ve been sleeping in the guest room where there is a working a/c unit during the worst of the heat we’ve had this Spring).

And really, I’m grateful for both. It all worked out, in the end, but both these tasks took more of my time and a whole lot more of my energy than they normally would (plus, let’s talk about two failed attempts to have the a/c shipped to me, which ate up a number of weeks).

My Mom and I have said to each other over and over, since the quarantine began: nothing comes easy right now. Everything is different than it was. Everything feels slightly unnerving and uncomfortable. A lot of things take more time than they used to.

Most of our ‘trials’ are fairly trivial – trust me, I get that – but it makes the point that everything is just a bit more difficult than usual. And as such, even as we adapt and grow ‘used to’ a lot of measures, we are probably all feeling a little more stressed than usual.

So I just want to encourage you – to be kind to yourself and be kind to others. I know I’ve probably said that a lot since all this began, too. But I think we all need that reminder, especially as time goes on!

Until tomorrow, dear friends, be kind, love one another, and keep on following Jesus!

Here we go again – sometimes they’re silly, sometimes they’re deep. Let’s see what I thought was worth saving and sharing from this week’s social media travels!

This, to begin with, because the refrain ‘let it begin with me’ rings true:

This hit a little close to home! What can you do, but laugh?

I mean, this just feels a little too true, right now:

So we probably need this reminder:

This is both true and untrue. The thing is, dogs are simple. it takes the basic things to make them happy: a warm place to nap, regular feeding, going for a walk with their person, and lots of cuddles and belly rubs. People are far more complicated:

This is so wrong, but I confess, I giggled and giggled!

This timely word from Dr. King. May we remember what his life embodied, and continue to push for liberty and justice for all:

And, finally, a blessing for your day:

Before we begin, today, I want to share with you the Moderator’s reflection on anti-black racism, and the things that our world has been going through in the past week: https://presbyterian.ca/2020/06/03/the-moderator-on-anti-black-racism/

Eric’s prelude for the week is one of my favourite hymn tunes: “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” arranged by Becki Slagle Mayo:

I share this prayer for unity in diversity, for peace in the midst of these times:

Our first hymn this week is #299 Holy, Holy, Holy:

Kathy Twynam reads (and introduces, nice job, Kathy!) our Scripture for this week, Psalm 8.

The sermon this week is entitled “THINKING ‘WE’ for these hard times”:

This link will take you to Nadia Bolz-Weber’s website and specifically to a pastoral letter she wrote this week. It is worth reading, and also includes some links to books, podcasts and voices worth listening to on this issue. I recognize that most of these are from an American perspective, but I still think they are worth engaging to become better informed. (I signed up for the course offered in that letter, so that I can work on becoming better informed, too.)

Our final hymn is #435 All things bright and beautiful:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, please know that God created each of us – in all the diverse expressions of humanity, the fingerprints of God are found. God made us for love – love of God and love of each other and love of the rest of creation. Go, in His name, and love boldly.