reading james 1

"James, a slave of God and of Jesus, the Messianic King,

To the people of God scattered to kingdom come around the world,

Greetings.

When the bottom falls out,

when things come apart at the seams,

when the stock market crashes,

your job is up for grabs,

the mortgage payments are getting harder to pay,

and you really don’t know how you are going to make ends meet,

this is a time for pure, unadulterated, ecstatic and contented joy!

When your church is without a pastor,

when older, faithful members are moving away,

when you are in a time of transition, unsure of the future,

when the budget looks like an unattainable dream,

that’s fantastic!

When you face all kinds of trials,

the infirmities of older age,

the insecurities of being a young person,

the struggles with loneliness,

painful confusion about sexuality,

the collapse of beloved institutions,

a marriage that has seen happier days,

tensions within the family,

you name it!

then again I say to you, this is pure joy!

“Joy?” you ask.

Grin and bear it, maybe.

Dig in and get through the trouble, perhaps.

Maybe even patience.

But joy?

This is the kind of stuff that strips me of any capacity for joy.

Economic anxiety,

worries about the future,

deep internal pain,

that debilitating sense of loss,

that impending death in so many areas of our lives …

and you say we should receive all this with joy?

Pure joy?

Yes, my friends, joy.

to continue, see: When the Bottom Falls Out :: A Targum on James 1.1-18 by Brian Walsh

i still remember memorizing james 1 with pastor ted way back when. it comes in handy. i found this piece by brian walsh to be a source of encouragement as i prepare to enter more fully into the church and her ministry in the coming year.

home but not yet

i've been back in vancouver for a month and a half now. i find myself not knowing how to continue with this "away home" blog, thus the silence.

it's a little strange being back home. part of me still want to be travelling i guess. i get these emails about working opportunities in egypt or tanzania, or friends going to taize or botswana, and i dream of the possibilities of escaping away again.

i went on a little "retreat" last night while worshipping with others at afcvancouver. the experience took me back to the waves near our camp in mexico, the beach of iona, and the different star-gazing nights during my time away. i was reminded of this song, that "god will delight when we are creators of justice & joy", and i realized then that my journey home is far from being over. what an honour & privilege it is to be given the role of a co-creator for things of this earth and for what is to come.

may your kingdom come. may your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

you know the way that is mine

while riding the train or walking the streets of cape town, i often find myself humming these two songs i learned over the summer. there's one that i posted before from iona, and then there's this song of taize. the words apparently are from the journal of Bonhoeffer two weeks before his execution.




Gott, lass meine Gedanken sich sammeln zu dir.
Bei dir ist das Licht, du vergisst mich nicht.
Bei dir ist die Hilfe, bei dir ist die Geduld.
Ich verstehe deine Wege nicht,
aber du weisst den Weg fur mich.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

sabbath

it's week 7 for me...
and that's how i spent part of my sunday afternoon, and today after work!

the seapoint pool is a wonderfully relaxing place!! it reminds me a lot of kits beach pool back home, with the salt water and all. except this one is seems much nicer for some reason. and if i stay late enough, i could catch sunset there too.

Expecting a Surprise

i started reading nouwen with my friends & fellow travellers:

"Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our heats, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity."
-- henri nouwen, bread for the journey

inspired by nouwen

i'm writing this at the little courtyard of st. michael's college at the university of toronto. i got down here early so i have a few minutes before the morning liturgy. i love wireless!! i'm gonna miss my laptop when i'm europe & south africa!

we had the first plenary session last night, and just that talk alone was worth the price of the conference in my opinion. it was mary jo leddy. she structured her speech based on an concept she got from a jewish philosopher, that:

we human beings think of god as merciful & just
because we are both weak & strong.

that alone got me thinking all night, and it even spilled over to this morning i guess! hahaa..

well, me gonna go join those "inspired by nouwen" people in prayer, and maybe i'll even get to witness the power of god getting generated in relationships as time progress.