Archived Thoughts 2006
St. Andrew's Church
An Anglican Church • Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
(I have them occasionally!)
Written by
Stuart Pike
Rector
For More Information Contact the Office
Notice any errors? Have a suggestion? Or a comment? Then ....
Snow Thoughts
It has been a busy couple of weeks, preparing for our Annual Vestry Meeting. Reports from committees and boards have been coming in for a few weeks. The budget was drafted again and again. The nominations committee had prepared their slate of officers, the agenda was sorted out, and I spent some time considering my charge to vestry (Click on the right to see it) In the midst of all of that preparation, the work of ministry continued: we worshipped, the sick and dying were visited. But one of the most valuable things which I did was Sunday afternoon after the Vestry meeting was over. My wife and I strapped on our cross country skis which hadn't been used since we moved to Grimsby. Our daughter joined us, dragging her sled over to the snowy hill beside the high school track. There were some children already there. Down we went, time and again, all sound dampened by the whiteness on the earth and swirling in the air around us: except for the laughter of the children.
Posted 29 January 2007
Posted 5 December 2006
Advent is here. We celebrated it on Advent 1 with a Parish Dinner followed by our Advent Carols service. The season of expectation is now!
Not only do we wait in expectation for Jesus' coming at Christmas, we also wait for his coming again. Perhaps more immediate than this, though, is looking for the signs of Christ among us in the here and now. Jesus breaks into our every day lives in the guise of the stranger and those in need. "What you did for the least of these .... you did to me," says Jesus.
What are some new ways that you can reach out and serve our Lord in this season of expectation?
Internationally, December 10th is Human Rights day. In recognition that Poverty is both a cause and a result of a lack of Human Rights, the United Nations is focussing on elleviating poverty as its major focuss in addressing Human Rights. Please read about Human Rights Day by clicking here, and see what you might do to join the cause.
Please also check out Make Poverty History once again. This campaign has made a huge difference in fighting poverty. If you are interested in supporting the campaign, and/or wearing a white band to show others about your support, please speak with me (Stuart Pike) or e-mail me.
Posted 5 December 2006
Posted 29 November 2006
It is our Patronal Feast - the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. He was not the most famous of Jesus' disciples, he was the brother to the more known Simon whom Jesus named Peter. Although Andrew is less exhuberant and less impetuous than his brother, it is really Andrew who was the very first apostle. Apostle means one who is sent and one who brings in. And it is in the very earliest days of Jesus' ministry that Andrew,hearing Jesus and recognizing him to be the Messiah first went to his brother, Simon and brought him to Jesus.
Although Peter seems to be in the lime light through most of the Gospel, it never would have happened without his brother. The occasional glimpse we get of Andrew in the Gospel story usually has him bringing someone to Jesus. And so Andrew works in smaller, quieter ways, not seeking glory, but being faithful to his Lord, Jesus. Andrew is a model for each one of us - especially for us who are members of his Church. May we all inherit something of Andrew's spirit - to be sent out and to bring others to find Jesus - even right within the walls of his Church.
Posted 11 November 2006
Today we remember: not to glorify war, nor for self-pity, nor to harbour and grow umbrage. We remember because in our world, peace and life and happiness usually come at a great cost. That cost is usually paid in the same coinage. Other people gave up their peace and happiness, and even their lives for us. They often did it without thinking it all through. Many were caught up in politics and the strategies of war which were not their own. Many said goodbye to their loved ones never knowing that they would never see them again. But ultimately, they did it because they wanted a better world for themselves, their families and even for those they had never met.
We remember because people are still giving up all this for us today. We can honour them in no better way than in praying for, and practicing peace.
24 October, 2006
Music has been ambushing my soul again! Perhaps it is the new things we are learning in Choir. Perhaps it is the gifts of music that I have experienced through my family members. On Saturday we hosted my Aunt, my father's sister, to dinner and she came early so that we could have our own hymn sing around the piano in our living room. Good old fashioned hymns. The ones many of us grew up with. Aunt Marie plays hymns with flourish and rhythm - toe tapping, pulse quickening, joy inspiring fun! We sang all the parts in harmony. And Katherine learned some new descants. And so we came upon my Dad's favourite hymn, which has also become one of mine, "Fairest Lord Jesus."
On Sunday I heard the Pax Christie Chorale chamber choir sing in Latin and German. And I was swept away again. My brother-in-law sings in the Chorale and I've been a groupie for all the years I've lived in Grimsby. Somehow the season of Fall seems to make me more open to the music again. But the music takes me beyond itself to the place where I feel my Lord's joy. "None can be nearer, fairer, or dearer than thou, my Saviour, art to me."
25 September 2006
It is a happenin' place here at St. Andrew's. We're preparing for the annual phenomenon called "The Turkey Supper" It is mostly run by the choir, though we've managed to cobble some other members to help - and even one of our retired Rectors and his wife. People are busy preparing squash right now. Others are baking pies for dessert. The Turkeys will arrive next - probably 15 or so of them.
Friday night everything will be done to perfection and the people will arrive. We will feed hundreds of people: young and old - people of all descriptions. It will be delicious, it will be noisy, it will be fun.
I remember the feast to which we are all invited as I listen to Mahalia Jackson sing "How I got over" and "Oh Happy Day" Does she ever have soul! When I see us pulling together as a Church so we can host a feast, I realize that it is all connected: this Friday's feast, and the heavenly feast. In the noise and distraction and fun you can pause, just for a second, and feel that tug. And that is how the communion of saints works. Saints above and saints below. It is what we celebrate each week: it's called Eucharist.
21 September 2006
This Sunday we will be celebrating as Sea Sunday. This is an expecially important year because it is the 150th anniversary of the Missions to Seafarers which is an Anglican ministry that reaches out to seafarers around the world.
It is too easy for us to take the work of Seafarers for granted. They are people who are often far from home and who often work long hours in dangerous situations for little pay. Yet we depend on them so much to provide the goods and services which we enjoy day to day. Frequently they are forgotten - strangers in our land without our even knowing they are here. Frequently they are lonely, missing their families back home.
Missions to Seafarers provides a place for fellowship and worship, a way to phone home and a listening ear. They often sort out problems which seafarers encounter and advocate for decent working conditions.
Jesus enjoyed the company of Galilean seafarers, and called them to be his disciples. Come join with us this Sunday as we remember Seafarers.
19 September, 2006
I just got my subscription to the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. It is a two for one sale for first time subscribers, and the guest that I will be taking with me is my mom! At least half of my musical genes have come from her, and certainly all of the classical appreciation genes. It appears that I have passed on some of those genes to our ten year old daughter who is in her second year of cello.
Music has always reached me, and it has always been a big part of my life. I started singing in choirs from the age of around 7 years, and my wife and I both still do sing in our Church choir. As I write this I am listening to Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto.
For me music bypasses the cerebral cortex and goes straight to the soul. Music continues after words fail. This is a great gift to me: it allows me to leave the sequential domain of words: the syllogisms of noun and verb and preposition. Instead I can just be and experience. It takes me further - even leads me - toward the ineffable place of spirit where I might be caught up beyond myself and into something greater. It is the same chamber in which I have experienced something of God.
What is it that takes you there?
14 September, 2006
I, like most Canadians, am still in shock because of the shooting at Dawson College in Montreal. As some of the young people are fighting for their lives and their parents and friends are numbed by shock and fear, I wonder how it is possible that there can be such violent and disturbed people as yesterday's killer.
One of the things which I think about is the violence of our culture and I wonder about people's complicity in that. We live in a society in which it is legal and profitable to produce videogames which teach violence and dehumanize people. Probably more than a third of the Video covers at the video store have a weapon in the picture. And we don't say anything about it! There are no voices saying that this is an unacceptable state of affairs! There is something deeply wrong about that.
Of course, this same wrong is what makes us complicit in a global economic reality which abuses and dehumanizes for profit.
We need to realize that this is not God's will for us. We, as individuals need to choose to opt out of the violence. We need to find the space to be human, and to speak against the violence of our culture.
What things can you do today to opt out of violence and stand up for peace?
12 September, 2006
We have recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of St. Andrew's Rectory. My family and I have been blessed to live here for the last eight years. It has become home to us. Much of my past life was rather nomadic. We moved every one or two years - sometimes three! Home has always been about people and relationships to me. It's about how I feel more than where I am. Home has meant my heart-home. And yet, here I live in a place that has been the home of St. Andrew's Pastors for such a long time. The work that St. Andrew's people have put into their rectory has been about caring for their clergy - about giving them a home so that they could give spiritual care in return. This home is a place-home.
I know that there are many people who do not have this. I know that ultimately all place-homes will fade and heart-home will be all that there is. But for now, I am grateful that my heart has found a place to call home.
What does home mean for you? What does your heart-home look like?
August 24th, 2006
These last days of August are a time of waiting and expectation. It is almost like a mini-Advent. Children are waiting to go back to school. What will their new classes be like? Who will be their teacher? Will they get along o.k? Work schedules will change the day after labour day too. For me the ubiquitous meetings will start up again. As the summer cools down our lives will heat up! How can you enter back into the busy-ness of it all with a glad heart? Remember that there is an essential purpose to your life. Finding this purpose and staying focussed on it will guide you in all that you do. With this purpose close to your heart, you can direct your life, rather than feeling herded and prodded by circumstances beyond your control. For Christians, our central purpose has something to do with making God's love known, just as we experience that love through a relationship to Jesus Christ. What is your purpose in life? Why are you here?
17 August, 2006
O.k., o.k., I know I've been back from vacation for almost a week and am only writing a thought for the "day" now. It has been a full week of dealing with all of those minute details which pile up while you're away. Our vacation was wonderful! Here we are most of the way up Mont St. Alban: tired, but still ascending. They say that the air is better on top of a mountain. More beneficial ions up there- rarefied, pure and clear. Muscles exercised, lungs breathing more deeply and eyes drinking in the wonderful sights: our ascent is heavenly. Are we not all transfigured at the top of a mountin? I thank God for the gift of this vacation and for the grace of returning to work which I love renewed in body and spirit.
29 July, 2006
I'm just back mid-vacation to officiate at a wedding. We have had a wonderful nine-day camping experience at Letchworth State Park in Upper New York State, near the finger lakes. And we've had parishioners joining us at neighbouring capsites for most of those days. We head out tomorrow to my previous parish of Gaspe on the Ocean in Eastern Quebec. Our vacations almost always have an element of travel to them. Renewal and refreshment, for us, seems to mean an exodus and return. We experience God's creation in a new way and find ourselves re-created. That's why we often call our vacation activities recreation! In the rush of water through the Letchworth gorge; in the light piercing through canopy and dancing in the forest. In the antics of the deer and the sweep and rise and hover of raptor wings, I remember more of who I am and how I have been created to love all of these things.
26 June 2006
I return from my 10-day silent retreat to find it is summer! The garden has grown incredibly, the daughter is finished school and the Air Conditioning project is completed in the Church. It is remarkable what progress happens when one steps out of the parish! Progress has happened inside for me as well. There are some things which I have learned while I was on retreat. I am now practising contemplative meditation regularly. It is only when one can be still and open, not thinking, but emptying of oneself that one can approach the awareness of the infinite and of how precious life is. Here are some words written by William Wordsworth:
that blessed mood
In which the burthen of the mystery,
In which the heavy and the weary weight
Of this unintelligible world,
Is lightened: that serene and blessed mood
In which the affections gently lead us on, --
Until, the breath of this corporeal frame
And even the motion of our human blood
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
In body, and we become a living soul:
While, with an eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
We see into the life of things.
From "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tinturn Abbey"
10 June 2006
I prepare this week to go on retreat. A nine-day silent retreat where I hope I will learn some more about being quiet, meditation and centering. It is necessary to take some time apart now and again. Jesus did it often: he went to a lonely place to pray. No one desires loneliness, but people do need solitude of heart, of which Henri Nouwen writes. Finding solitude of heart means that you can be comfortable with yourself. I think one of the reasons why we fill our lives with so much noise is that we aren't comfortable to simply be with our selves. In experiencing ones true self, one can realize that in the very depths of our being, we aren't really alone because we carry within us the image of the one who made us. The evidence is there in the silence of our souls. After experiencing this one can return from the place of solitude to really share more of ones self with others. And your self is a great gift which is worth sharing.
What noise can you cut out of your life today?
15 April 2006 (Easter Vigil)
Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! This evening we celebrate the Easter Vigil, and tomorrow we will celebrate Easter day. The empty tomb represents to us new life: a life which bursts out of the tomb, which bursts out of physical matter and which lives, free and pure. Christians everywhere believe that this new life is theirs as well and that they, together, in a mystical way, can be the body of Christ living and acting in the world. We bring the great news of God's love and life for us. How do you reflect Christ's love and life in your life?
Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
9 April 2006 (Palm Sunday)
Jesus entered Jerusalem the last week before his execution humbly and riding on a donkey. Was this what got him killed? Was it his humility? Was it because he would not give people a great military victory? Is it because Jesus asks us to walk in a different direction than the great commercial enterprise would have us go? Jesus chose humility, not pride; peace, not violence; love, not hate; community, not selfishness, sharing, not hoarding. Those simple, loving choices were enough to get you killed in Jesus' time. They still might be today. Yet, Jesus asks us to follow him. I invite you to follow along this Holy Week as we go from the glory of the Palms to the glory of resurrection along the dark route of suffering and death. For it is only if we follow Jesus even to the cross and the tomb, that we can truly celebrate his life beyond life.
23 March 2006
Spring has sprung - or at least the official date has! I, like probably most Canadians, am longing for the warm weather to begin: for the tulips and daffodils to burst open and for the colour to return to our landscape. My longing parallels my lenten journey as, through discipline and fasting, I have felt myself missing colour and flavour. But what I miss every year in Lent is simply a glimmer of what we are all missing in the depths of our souls - life: abundant, vibrant, colourful, renewed, everlasting. We are missing Easter. Let us continue on our Lenten path, though it leads even to the cross and the tomb and reach out with eager hands outstretched to the promise of life.
9 February 2006
The readings for this Sunday tell the story of healing. Especially healing from leprosy. The Leper was not only sick, but was outcast. Driven from community, they lived desperate lives of loneliness and pain. Untouchable, their lives were a living hell. In such a situation, Jesus not only heals, but he does it with a touch. He heals and restores back to community. According to the law, Jesus' healing touch was outrageous and dangerous. Who are the lepers of today? Who is excluded, left outside and ignored? Can you be outrageous in your welcome? For the untouchables in your life, can you provide a human touch?
6 January, 2006
It's Epiphany - the feast which celebrates newness - new insight, new awakening and the rush of new relationship. The Magi came from foreign eastern lands seeking promise and hope. Their way was followed not with downward gaze, watching stumbling feet, but with heads up, eyes filled with the poetry of the cosmos and one bright star which drew them forward. Their journey brought them to a meeting and a relationship with Christ. And at his feet they could only fall forward in ineffable joy and scatter their treasures before him. This relationship is what it is all for, they realize. And then, astonishingly, they go on! Their journey continues, but they are forever changed as is their world. They go on to do all that we do not know.
What holds our gaze? Our feet? Or worse, our navel? Raise your head and be star-struck and move and fall forward and experience your Epiphany.
