Be a rebel with me, today, friends! Let’s count some blessings, some gratitudes. Let’s say three as my theological side always feels better when we do the Trinitarian thing.

1. I am so deeply grateful for the blessing of my friend, The Janet. She has faithfully “met” with me (over the phone) every Wednesday since all this began. I can’t tell you how much her insight, encouragement and friendship have meant to me since our Seminary days, but even more acutely during these quarantine days. I don’t know how I would preach without having talked through the scripture with her first.
2. I am grateful for new music coming this Friday by the country band Old Dominion. I got to know their music through a friend of mine, Tracey. In January and February, I got to see them live (once in Florida, once in Toronto). During the quarantine, they’ve been doing a Facebook Live every Tuesday night. Tuning in and giggling at their antics has become a joyful part of my quarantine routine. Their music isn’t spiritual (except that all music is spiritual!), but it’s a lot of fun. By clicking this link, you can watch a video of my favourite of their songs: Not Everything’s About You. New music is a gift, and I look forward to it!
3. I’m grateful that the coyote Koski and I saw on our morning walk, passed us by with barely a glance. We’ve been walking later in the day or in the evening, but with the heat wave that Toronto has been dealing with in the last few days, we wanted to get our steps in before the day (and the pavement) became too hot for my sweet girl. It’s the first time I’ve seen a coyote in my own ‘hood, so it was a surprise and made me nervous. But I’m thankful that he wasn’t interested in us at all. Small blessing? Maybe. But felt pretty big to me as we started our day!

Now, it’s your turn, dear friends. Say them out loud, write them down, comment or email. I’d love to know your gratitudes, but more importantly, I’d love for you to give your thanks to the Lord! Until tomorrow – stay grateful!

Do you remember that line from John Donne? It’s something that has been buzzing around in my mind for a while now. The longer the pandemic goes on, the more I begin to glimpse how connected all of life is.

I can’t make it through this on my own. And thank God! I don’t have to.

I have friends and family who are with me on this journey (and am with them on their journey, as well). I am grateful that the rhetoric in Canada has been “we are all in this together, we are all Team Canada.” I am grateful that the idea of cooperation and helping each other has been a major part of our country’s response.

These two images from earlier on in the crisis came to my mind today:

The fact is: we need each other. We were made for relationship with God and with each other.

So today, I just want to thank you for the ways you have been here for me: phone calls and emails, encouraging comments, “likes” on Facebook, sharing a joke or some news that you think might interest me, the prayers that I know you’ve said for me – even though I haven’t heard them myself. Small kindnesses that aren’t small at all.

You, dear friends, are a blessing. Until tomorrow, remember that we are all connected. That the good you do for one, has ripple effects that reach beyond that one. And that the opposite is also true. Be kind. Be generous. And it will be counted to you as righteousness.

Alright, here we go again with some fun, some funny and some deep thoughts for your Monday.

This take on how fashion is changing (that blue one, though…soooo uncomfortable!):

This wonderful take on how Jesus reacts when you can’t take another step (Radio Free Babylon is awesome – I love their Coffee with Jesus comic!):

These two positive takes on dealing with the storms in life:

This reminder about relaxing public health measures:

And this reminder about what negativity actually does:

And finally, a blessing for your day:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, find reasons to smile, shed a tear or two when you need to, and know that God is with you.

Welcome to this week’s edition of ‘some assembly required’ worship. Blessings to you as you take the time to worship today.

Let’s begin with Eric’s prelude. This week, Eric plays for us the third movement of Beethoven Sonata Op. 10, No. 1, “Minuet and Trio.”

A prayer of Adoration and confession to settle us as we worship:

Our first hymn this morning is #400, Spirit of the Living God. You will notice that Eric is playing an introduction to the hymns this week. So wait until he pauses before you start singing along.

Our Scripture reading this week is provided by my Mom, Barbara Mitchell! She is reading from Ephesians 1:15-23 in the Good News Translation:

The sermon is entitled HOPE for these hard times:

And our final hymn is #792 Let us hope when hope seems hopeless (you may not recognize the words, but I promise you will know the tune! Remember to wait for the intro!):

Until tomorrow, dear friends, keep on hoping in God whose mercy and love never fails!

It’s Saturday again! Honestly, where do the weeks go? Here we are again with some extra worship resources to get you ready for tomorrow.

First up, this lovely video from our friends at St. Phillip’s Lutheran, singing their version of O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing. (click the link to watch the video!)

This colouring page from the folks at Illustrated Ministry, that is a reminder of how God loves us:

This super-fun take on the Hallelujah Chorus, sent to me by The Janet ( I may just have ugly-cried-slash-laughed while watching!):

The Hallelujah Chorus-2020 from Most Sacred Heart on Vimeo.

This lovely video from my friends Shelagh and Rob, who are singin’ in the kitchen:

And finally this contemporary worship song by Matt Redman:

Until tomorrow, dear friends:

Let me just admit to you, dear friends, that writing and, more importantly, publishing yesterday’s post was hard. I almost scrapped it altogether. I was afraid – afraid of making others worry about me, afraid of being THAT honest, afraid of receiving criticism for not being “strong” enough in my faith.

And yet, as my pointer hovered over the “publish” button on the post, as I looked at the delete button, I felt a still small voice inside me say, “just do it.”

So I hit publish.

And then I closed my computer and walked away. I spent some time conquering the mountain of dishes in my sink. And as I finished them, Koski came to the door of my kitchen with a hopeful look on her sweet face. When I asked if we should go for a walk, she did the happy dance. And I laughed and said, “ok, let’s get your leash.” (More happy dancing and barking in joy ensued.)

We ventured out into the world – walking the sidewalks of the neighborhood behind our condo complex; enjoying the warmth of the sun; smiling at families and couples who were out for a walk; noticing the flowers and the leaves on the trees; and just breathing and continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

When we got back home, I found an email from a friend, kindly admonishing me for saying I’d accomplished nothing during the day, and enumerating the things I had accomplished. And then I began to get some other responses from the blog – and you know what? My post resonated with people. Somehow I’d put words to what a number of people are feeling.

I have always ministered out of vulnerability – it’s important to me to speak about faith from my own experience and to acknowledge that I don’t have it all together. I have struggles just like anyone else. And being up front about those struggles has often helped to strengthen my own faith, while also connecting with and encouraging the faith journey of others.

So let me make a couple of pledges to you:

1) I will continue to be vulnerable and honest about my struggles, and trust that my readers will respond with kindness and compassion.

2) If I get to a point where I’m worried about my mental or spiritual health, I will reach out for help (that’s really hard to promise, because I’m intensely independent and I hate asking for help! But I’ve seen others in crisis ask for help and receive it. I’ve been humbled by their strength and courage in doing so, and I will take a page from their book when and if it becomes necessary).

3) I will (and have been) program downtime into my week. I have implemented Meme Mondays for this very reason. Pre-pandemic, Friday was my day off. During the pandemic, it’s been harder to find a day off. But the routine that has emerged over the last couple of weeks, and seems to be working, is that on Friday I pre-program Saturday, Sunday and Monday’s blogs (at least the framework and available elements for Saturday and Sunday) so that by the time I post my “some assembly required” Sunday Worship blog, I am able to take the rest of Sunday and all of Monday as some downtime.

What can we take from all of this? Well, I hope you have people with whom you are able to be vulnerable (my friend, The Janet and I call these “safe people” – those who you can trust to love you even when you’re not at your best), I hope you are able to ask for help when you need it (it is not a weakness!!!), and I hope you are able to find downtime for yourself. You may not be working, but you still need a break sometimes. Maybe from the news or maybe from being in the same place all the time. Go for a walk, or a drive, read a book, listen to some music or take a nap or a bath. Whatever your way of giving yourself a break, make sure you do it!

Until tomorrow, dear friends, be honest, be kind (to others AND yourself) and trust in God’s love.

In case no one has reminded you lately:

One of the things I know I have been struggling with during this pandemic, is the fact that in the stretch of any given week (or any given day or even any given hour), I feel a bunch of different things that are contradictory.

Today is a gorgeous day in Toronto – the second day in a row that has been pure sunshine, warm temperatures and and that wonderful sense that Spring is finally here, and summer is just around the corner. There’s so much beauty in the natural world right now, that it’s kind of shocking. It’s a great time to get out for a walk, enjoy the leaves that are bursting open and the flowers that are blossoming.

Intellectually, I recognize all of that. Emotionally, I’m having one of those days when I just haven’t moved off the couch or accomplished anything.

You see, I can feel grateful for sunshine and warmth and beauty, and still struggle to participate in it. I can be thankful for all that I have – a safe home, a great dog for company, technology and entertainment, plenty of food, clean water, a comfortable bed – and still worried about all the unknowns that surround us right now.

That’s part of what it means to be human – we are complex and capable of feeling contradictory emotions at the same time.

And I wanted to write about that today because sometimes we get into this mindset that our emotions are black and white – we are either perfectly happy, or we have no happiness at all; we are either at perfect peace or drowning in unease; we are either fully optimistic or horribly pessimistic.

That’s neither true, nor helpful. Most of our lives are lived in a shade of grey – somewhere between the extremes. Ever been at a funeral and found yourself chuckling at the memories and stories of the deceased shared during a eulogy? I know have! Sometimes with tears streaming down my face, I have found myself laughing and remembering the joy of the person lost.

All of this to say – be gentle with yourself. Don’t set impossible emotional goals (i.e. “I must be happy or else I’m not living my faith and trusting God.”), but also don’t get so fixated on negative emotions that you think they are all you will ever feel. Trust your ability to feel many things at once, because is how God made you.

And on those days when you might find yourself unable to sort out all that you’re feeling, trust that sometimes it’s ok to not be ok. You are still strong, you are still beloved by God, and this, too, shall pass.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, know that God is with you, no matter how much you might be struggling with contradictory feelings.

A friend of mine shared this in a group I’m part of on Facebook:

On the one hand, when the quarantine first began, I found the regular commercials very grating. They represented a world that no longer existed – a world where we could move about freely, where we weren’t afraid of crowds, where we could linger over dinner at a restaurant.

They felt like discordant notes – jarring and a bit painful as they underscored the ways that daily life had changed.

At first, the change to a more tone-appropriate kind of advertising felt, well, appropriate. In the daily drag of staying at home, the sense of doom that seemed to hover in the air, the grim faces of our leaders, the fact that car companies and stores and other brands started to sound more compassionate, more aware of the ways that the world had turned upside down, was appreciated. At least, by me. At least, at first.

But as the weeks have dragged on (maybe I’m slow!), I found myself responding to some of these ads with a bit of a sneer, or a roll of my eyes.

I’ve been thinking about why that is.

And what I’ve come to is the fact that these brands are consumer-driven. While it is always true that some companies invest in the good of their community or the global community, at the end of the day their main concern is the ‘bottom line.’ What drives them is profit. What creates profit is consumerism. Lots and lots of consumerism, as the video above suggests.

So why bring all of this up? Well, because the opposite is true of the church. The church should never be consumerism. We are always to be driven by compassion, by generosity, by kindness.

While most congregations are at least somewhat concerned about money during this shutdown, what I hear from friends and colleagues, is that we are far more concerned about how our people are doing, what each of us can do to help out others, and how to remain faithful in following Jesus in strange and uncertain times.

My Dad said to me recently, that the church has always risen to the occasion in difficult times. So I want to encourage you – the church is rising to the occasion even now. And you can be part of that. By praying for those on the front lines. By being kind to others. By sharing messages of hope and faith in whatever way you are able (I’m a big fan of sidewalk chalk and painted rocks and window-art!).

Until tomorrow, dear friends, remember what a privilege it is to be part of a body formed for compassion, given to the world for its needs. Be kind, be generous, be the church!

I came across this a while back:

And it got me thinking about the fact that God sometimes places us in a season of waiting. It’s not necessarily a comfortable place for us. Maybe you’re like me: used to the instantaneous nature of modern life in a first word country, and usually annoyed when things are not instantaneous. (Just ask yourself how loud you groan when Netflix starts buffering!)

Theres a great scene in the film, “Almost Famous,” in which a reporter gushes about the new technology called a facsimile machine. It’s able to send a page in 12 minutes!

Today, that’s an eternity. I get annoyed if it takes a website more than 3 seconds to load. In the last few decades, as technology has advanced at breakneck speeds, we’ve gotten really bad at waiting.

But the Bible teaches that waiting on God is a good thing. That God is at work in our time of waiting, accomplishing things in us and in the world around us, that need time to develeop.

Today, I found this on my facebook feed:

I don’t know what God is doing in this season of waiting that we are all in. I don’t know what God is doing in ME, and I certainly don’t know what God is doing in you! But the thought that God is at work, that God will use even this difficult season for good in the end, is incredibly helpful to me.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, may you wait on the Lord, and trust that He is at work – in you, and in our world as whole.

Welcome to another Meme Monday! I know this isn’t the long weekend we all would have hoped for, but I hope you are able to find joy even in the midst of these strange days. Here are a few things to make you laugh, and maybe make you think a little:

This take on what zoom meetings really remind us all of:

This awesome take on the “new normal” for clergy fashion: =

This reminder:

This blew me away – we’re hearing a lot about mental heath right now, as the quarantine drags on. But we need to reexamine how our previous “normal” affected our mental health:

And finally, this encouragement from the scriptures:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, hold unswervingly to the Author of the promise, who is steadfast and true!