Wednesday Wondering - November 6, 2024

Scripture

Psalm 139: 23 - 24

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Galatian 1: 10

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Matthew 15: 8

“These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Reflection

I have been wondering lately, a lot, about what it means to be authentic, or true to one’s self. I suppose that this is rather appropriate as we just finished up with Halloween, a day when many dress as someone, or something, else. What does it mean to be authentic?

In the Psalm the Psalmist is asking God to help them align their innermost thoughts with their outside presentation of who they are, who they present to the world. Meanwhile, in Matthew Jesus is speaking of those who act one way towards the world, but inside it is something very different. Again it speaks to the idea of being authentic and yet there is more to being authentic than what we do and how we act. There is also the expectations of those around us and the expectations of the world.

I have been struggling lately and wondering about the idea of who we are in the world and how the world perceives each one of us. As I have struggled with this idea I have come to the realization that often the world imposes upon each of us ideas of who we should be. We are told that we are, or have to be, a certain person, that we should be acting a certain way, that there are certain roles that we must fulfill, ways that we have to act, that we need to ‘on’ each and every day. But what happens when we are not ‘on?’ What I mean by that is what happens when we don’t fulfill the expectations of those and the world around us. What happens when the funny one is sad? What happens when the compassionate one is struggling to find compassion? What happens when the one that always seems to be in control, loses control? What really happens when we fail to meet the expectations of the world, or our loved ones?

I believe that there are often times when we don’t fulfill the expectations of the world the world works harder to impose those expectations onto us. When we change and grow, the world, oftentimes, does not understand that change and works at reverting us to who we were before, or how we acted before. Each time this happens it can chip away at our understanding of ourselves and chip away are our self esteem. It is almost as if we do not have the permission to be who we really are, or who we have grown into, that we have to be who everyone else thinks we need to be. We can come to question who we are versus who the world says we should be. We can even lose sight of ourselves and only see the roles that the world imposes upon us.

To be authentic is to know that we, each one of us, was created within the fabric of this wonderfully diverse thing that we call creation. As such, we too are diverse creations who feel the whole range of emotions, who live a whole range of experience, and who continue to become throughout our whole lives. To give people the freedom to be who they are, and who they are becoming. To give oneself the grace to be who you are, the whole range of who you are, and who you are becoming, that is to live in the love of God. To understand that each of us is a unique creation of a mysterious, sacred, loving God. To understand that you yourself are on a journey to be who you were created to be, is to live within the love of God. To feel your anger, your sadness, your lament, your fear, your joy, your laughter, your giddiness, to feel all of who you are at any given moment, that is to live in the love of God. To be and allow others to be as they were created, that is living in the love of God. So, don’t always be ‘on’ for you do not always have to be ‘on,’ it is okay to not be okay sometimes, it is okay to change and grow, and discard what no longer works for you and who you are becoming, just continue on this journey that we call life.

Prayer

God if Infinite Diversity, help us to remember that we were created to be diverse, unique, and growing individuals. Help us to see others not as the world says that they must be, but as they truly are in the world. Give us the grace to know that we can’t always  be ‘on’ and that is okay. Give us the courage to break away from who society says we must be to become who you created us to be. We ask this in the name of the one who came to show us a new way, your son, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday Wondering - October 30, 2024

Scripture

Psalm 46: 10a

“Be still and know that I am God,”

Matthew 6: 34

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Reflection

I have been wondering lately about this idea of pausing. Partly this has come about because I heard a radio announcer asking about the latest hockey game that was going to be streamed on a streaming service and he was wondering if you missed the beginning of the game, could you go back and start the game over. That was an interesting question and in reality I did that a number of time this summer with baseball games. That is the one thing about streaming services we can hit the rewind and, sometimes more importantly, the pause button. Now let’s be honest most of us hit the pause button when we want to get a snack from the kitchen, or when we have to head to the bathroom (I know too much information). To hit the pause button gives us time to take care of some of those things that we need to take care of without missing anything. I remember a time when there was not pause button, and we would have to wait for that inevitable commercial to take care of those things.

There is a fad going around with young people who are struggling. There have been a number of them who have been getting tattoos of a semi-colon on their wrists, hands, or forearms. The semi-colon indicates a pause when reading, for these young people who are struggling with mental health issues, it is a reminder of for them to pause, in the midst of crisis, pause, in the midst of challenge, pause, when things are going very wrong, pause. It is an interesting and very simple concept. But I saw where it had been taken to another level.

I saw an image of flash (which is a more difficult way of saying a design for a tattoo) where there was the word ‘hope’ with a semi-colon immediately following the word. This made me wonder about the idea of hope found in the midst of a pause. How might we find hope in a pause? I have been wondering about this since I saw that design of that tattoo and my mind came to the scripture from Psalm 46. This small 1/2 verse of scripture reminds that in the midst of pause is where we might just find God. I think that that is a challenge in today’s world, where we are constantly bombarded by images, demands, challenges, by the world. It is so easy to be distracted by everything us and I wonder what happens when we get overwhelmed. I know that, in many ways, for myself, when I get overwhelmed I have a tendency to put my head down and just continue to try to move forward. The challenge with that is that quite often we end up beating our heads against the proverbial brick wall, or we continue to try to force that which we need to let go of and move on. To pause is to take a step back from what is happening and to just be, in that moment, whatever that moment may be. I think that this is something that we might have forgotten in our world that seems to be whirling at an increasing fast pace. We have forgotten how to pause and just ‘be’ in our lives and in doing so I think that many times we miss the opportunity to feel God with us. When we pause we might just find God in the midst of all that is happening in the world.

How does hope fit into this idea of pause? I wonder if we lose hope when we lose connection to God. When we don’t feel God’s presence in our lives, the world can seem so chaotic, so challenging, so confusing, and just too much to handle. When God can’t be found it might just be too easy for us to try to find that spiritual nurture in the world, we might try to fill that void with things that are fleeting, things from this world that don’t last. So when we pause, when we take that moment to step away from the confusion of the world, from all that challenges us, from the constant struggle, we might just find God and in finding God find hope once more to move forward, knowing that that presence of God is with us, even in the midst of all that this world offers. So let’s celebrate that semi-colon, let’s push the pause button for more than just a snack or bathroom break, and let us look for God in those in-between moments. Finding God in the pause might just be what we need in order to continue. Be still and know that God exists in that still moment, in that pause. For God is with us, we just need to pause and feel that truth.

Prayer

God of all moments, help us remember to pause, in the midst of the chaos, in the midst of the confusion, in the midst of the challenges, help us to pause. Give us the wisdom to find you in those moments of pause, for us to be still and know that you are there, in that stillness. Give us the courage to know that you are with us, even when we can’t feel you with us. We ask this in the name of the one who was our gentle example, your son, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday Wondering - October 23, 2024

Scripture

Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Psalm 139: 13 - 14

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Reflection

I have been wondering about this scripture from Psalm 139, where the Psalmist speaks about being fearfully and wonderfully made. I  might be able to understand the fearful part, as that has been a big part of my life (yet, I know that I have completely misinterpreted that part of the scripture), but to consider myself wonderfully made, that can be a huge challenge. I grew up in a time and place where to think of oneself as wonderfully made have been seen as being prideful and one can’t be prideful. I actually remember hearing the words, “don’t think so highly of yourself.” And if I am being honest there are many days when I struggle to just be okay, let alone see myself as being wonderfully made. This world can be overwhelming for so many people and then you add into that mix all of the personal challenges that so many are dealing with, it is amazing that some of us can think anything positive about ourselves. And yet there is something amazing about this scripture passage.

To be fearfully made is not to be filled with fear as we understand it, or to be afraid, but it is something completely different. The word that has been translated as ‘fear’ is actually more accurately translated as sacred, awe, or awe inspired. This scripture is the recognition that we are created as sacred creations, each of us created as unique awe-inspiring persons. It is a call for us to recognize the beauty of our individual natures, as we were created to be. It is a challenge for us to see the gifts that we have been given, each different, each unique, each with a purpose in our own lives. To be fearfully made is to be made as a sacred being, right now, as we are, not as someone else says that we have to be.

One of the greatest challenges, I believe, that we face in our world today is that we don’t see others are fearfully and wonderfully made. Quite often the world sees whole segments of the population as ‘less than.’ When we begin to see others as ‘less than’ it becomes very easy for us to ignore the sacredness of their being and see them as, almost, less than human. It then becomes easier for us to cast all blame onto the vilified, marginalized, group. I was asked a number of years ago, after Russia had instituted a number of LGBTQ laws, what I thought was happening. I responded, “it is politicians playing the game.” They didn’t understand what I meant by that comment. I explain that a politician who is facing many great challenges will take a marginalized group and tell the population that this group it the group that is destroying the fabric of their society. In doing so all of that anger, hatred, and frustration, about what is happening is not focused on that identifiable group, rather than on the politicians who might actually be causing the problems, as was with the corruption in Russia. Politicians do this all the time and in doing so they dehumanize whole segments of the population, so that in the eyes of many then are not fearfully and wonderfully made, they are less than the rest of society and as such they don’t deserve to be treated as others are treated.

It is our challenge as Christians, as followers, to not only recognize the sacredness of our own being, but to also recognize the sacredness of others as well. To see others as sacred, fearfully, and wonderfully made individuals, allows us the opportunity to journey with them on their journeys, rather than conforming them to who we believe that they should be. I read a reflection the other day that speaks to honouring the sacredness of another, especially in times of challenge, “In our darkest moments, we don’t need solutions or advice. We simply crave touch, a silent presence—these are the anchors that ground us when life’s storms rage. Don’t try to fix me. Don’t carry my burden or chase away my shadows. Instead, be the steady hand I can hold as I navigate my inner landscape. Sit with me in the quiet, bearing witness to my struggle without trying to change it. My pain is my own to feel, my battles my own to fight. But your presence reminds me I’m not alone in this vast, sometimes terrifying world. It whispers that I’m worthy of love, even in my brokenness. So when the night seems endless and I lose my way, will you simply be there? Not as a saviour, but as a companion. Hold my hand until dawn breaks and I find my strength again. You silent support is the greatest gift you can offer. It’s the love that helps me remember who I am, even when I’ve forgotten.” To recognize the sacredness of each and everyone of us, is to honour each of us as a wonderfully created individual and also reminds us to know this is to understand that each of us is on our own journey, we are companions along the way. To respect the whole of who someone is, is to also respect their struggles and challenges. When we see ourselves, and others, as fearfully and wonderfully made, we might just come to see that our presence with them, and their presence with us, is a gift of sacred presence. If only the whole world could understand this, I wonder what our future might be?

Prayer

God of Sacred Presence, we ask that you help us to see ourselves and others as sacred creations of your love. Give us the wisdom to not work to transform others into our image, but rather to help them see their own sacredness and worth. Open our hearts so that we might journey with others, being a silent presence in the midst of trouble, a support when their strength wanes, while knowing that their journey is their’s and their’s alone. We ask this in the name of Love Incarnate, your presence with us, Jesus. Amen.