Good Morning!
It's 6:am on Wednesday morning. Where I am now is pretty quiet,save for a heater whispering out in the hall. Everone is still asleep. My mind is busy already. I am planning out the parts of the day that I control. We will be travelling back to Gander as soon as the Grandkids head out to School.
I had a good checkup appointment at the Cancer Clinic; now it is time to focus on others. We are heading home for a funeral this afternoon, and worship tonight.
Tonight's meditation at the Cathedral: Lent Calls us to Integrity and Honest Self Examination .
There you go. I have just shared the space I am in with you,and now invite you to take some time and think about your own space and time today. Taking the time to just look back and look ahead each can give you great perspective and focus.
When you do take some time,simply ask for God's guidance and blessing.
Today is the Seventh Day of Lent.
The reading for tonight (along with psalm Psalm 139: 1-17) is :
James 1:19-25
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
The Theme for the Message tonight is: Lent Calls us to Integrity
and Self Examination.
See you at 7:00 tonight!
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
The Theme for the Message tonight is: Lent Calls us to Integrity
and Self Examination.
See you at 7:00 tonight!
The message podcast and Homily notes will be posted here this evening or tomorrow morning!
The Lenten Schedule of worship and events are posted here
The Second Entry For Today
Last Evening is now a shadow of a time past. We gathered at the Cathedral for Compline. Following the service our choir remained for continued fellowship and a practice .
The podcast of the readings and message are available here
Has your journey awakened you to questions that were always on the horizon, (life,Faith,truth...you choose)....and when they got within arm's reach, you were able to push them back?
The Second Entry For Today
Last Evening is now a shadow of a time past. We gathered at the Cathedral for Compline. Following the service our choir remained for continued fellowship and a practice .
The podcast of the readings and message are available here
Message Notes:
·
Richard Rohr's book : Falling Upward: A
Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, illuminates a truth about the
Spirituality of Many people. In the book, Fr. Richard Rohr posits there are two
halves of live. The first half of life is about getting established...finding
security....building an identity, and making choices about one’s faith.
·
Most of us tend to think of the second half of
life as the inevitability of health problems, hearing loss, and fiber rich
diets.
But it does not have to be that way.
But it does not have to be that way.
·
Pretty much every spiritual writer from the
first century until no would agree that
the second half of life is about moving into a mature understanding about God, life, and the meaning and purpose of our very existence.
the second half of life is about moving into a mature understanding about God, life, and the meaning and purpose of our very existence.
·
They would also agree that sadly, not everyone
enters that stage.
Spiritually and
physically speaking, we will be, (and I believe God tells us)
be led to the edge of our own private resources where we can no longer control the outcome.
be led to the edge of our own private resources where we can no longer control the outcome.
One certainty of life is that we
will “lose” something, someone, or everything.
It is then that the words of I Corinthians verse 12 become a reality.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
It is then that the words of I Corinthians verse 12 become a reality.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
It is when we are up against a brick wall, and have no way out;
that the physical has a chance to be
fully integrated into the Spiritual.
Lent is a Call to Self Examination and Integrity
Integrity is about being able to look at our own selves,
honestly, and accepting what we see.
Does this describe you? Does this describe me?
Poet W. H. AUDEN : We would rather be ruined than changed. We would
rather die in our dread than climb the cross of the present and let our
illusions die.
The story of the Boy
in the Orphanage.
(This is a story that
I had in my sermon notes for years...wish I knew the actual source of the
story!)
A ten year old boy was growing up in an orphanage.
One night in the large dormitory he wakes up in the dark but knows that the dawn can't be far away. It is summertime and there is a lake on the grounds of the orphanage. He feels a great desire to see the dawn at the lakeside, but the rules are rigid. On no account should any child get up before the bell and it is strictly forbidden to leave the dormitory before the proper time.
One night in the large dormitory he wakes up in the dark but knows that the dawn can't be far away. It is summertime and there is a lake on the grounds of the orphanage. He feels a great desire to see the dawn at the lakeside, but the rules are rigid. On no account should any child get up before the bell and it is strictly forbidden to leave the dormitory before the proper time.
He decides to risk it. He dresses quickly and creeps out
holding his shoes in his hands so as not to wake the others. He travels down a
long dimly lit corridor. along it on one side are the pictures of the past
presidents of the institution ,on the other pictures of saints.
So, he puts his head down because he does not want to face
the disapproving glances of the figures on the walls.
He comes to the lake, and waits for the dawn. The drama of the new day begins and the colours change from orange to red, to bright sun. He watches all of this reflected in the water of the lake; he is absorbed by the sheer beauty. Then suddenly he remembers the time. They will be up by now. He will be missed. He will be in trouble.
He comes to the lake, and waits for the dawn. The drama of the new day begins and the colours change from orange to red, to bright sun. He watches all of this reflected in the water of the lake; he is absorbed by the sheer beauty. Then suddenly he remembers the time. They will be up by now. He will be missed. He will be in trouble.
He gets up to return because he must, but says to the lake. I'll
go back now. Thank you, because I am not the same. I don't care if I am
punished, because now I know that the God of the Lake is greater than the God
of the Orphanage.
Do we have Walls? Are we brave
enough to admit that we do?
Do we ever leave the Orphanage? We keep going back because we must...that is where our lives are,but we should never forget that the God of the Lake is greater than the God of the Orphanage.
Do we ever leave the Orphanage? We keep going back because we must...that is where our lives are,but we should never forget that the God of the Lake is greater than the God of the Orphanage.
Let us resolve not to limit God because of our comfort, complacency
or any walls that surround us in daily life.
In Auton, at the Cathedral of St. Lazare there is a
sculpture of the Magi:
The three Kings are in bed, and there is an angel trying to
wake them to tell them of the star.
One remains asleep...
one is wide eyed in wonder... and the other is half awake.
one is wide eyed in wonder... and the other is half awake.
This sculpture represents the medieval idea of levels of spiritual
awareness.
That particular image still speaks to us today doesn't it?
Our complacency and comfort separates us from a sense of
mystery and connectedness to God......
How has YOUR Journey
been?Has your journey awakened you to questions that were always on the horizon, (life,Faith,truth...you choose)....and when they got within arm's reach, you were able to push them back?
From James: Anyone
who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks
at his face in a mirror and, after
looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect
law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have
heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
When you are brought to a point of decision, disaster or
major turning point in life, two things can happen.
1. Losing Sight of God and faith, in turning away, or by
denial and complacency
or
2. The nurturing of a deeper, more real , and Honest
relationship with God.
May a deeper walk be the reality for us all.
Amen.
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