Sunday Reflection: Forever I will sing

Today's reflection is brought to you by

Psalm 89.

Even when singing is not allowed,

I sing of your love in my head,

O God,

and will forever.

When I am far enough from others, 

my mouth cannot help but make music

to proclaim your faithfulness to me.

Your love is clearly seen

in the necklaces of diamond galaxies

with which you festoon our skies,

galaxies that took billions of years to form,

billions of years of your faithfulness.

I am blessed,

who see and celebrate your love,

who walk in its light and beauty,

who recognize your face

in all that you have made.

I rejoice in your creation

and celebrate your goodness.

You are my strength in these challenging days.

I don't know your plan,

but I trust,

I praise,

I sing of your love for all your creatures.

We belong to you,

Holy one,

and entrust our future

to your care.

Help us to care for each other,

to be your hands and feet, 

to bring to fruition

the common good

on this,

your earth 

and our common home.

+Amen.

* * * * * * *

Lately, in these pandemic times, I have been finding it hard to find God's presence in the struggles we face. We are in the middle of what I would call a "wake-up call," yet many of us refuse to wake up. The huge push to "get back to normal" is causing a second wave of the virus in many parts of the world, and here in North America, the insistence on personal freedom over the common good means that many people are ignoring the precautions (like simply wearing a mask) that can make a difference for so many others.

If we can't work together on reducing the effects of this virus, how will we work together to handle other serious challenges like climate change and leveling the playing field for the poor of our planet, who seem to bear the brunt of global catastrophes?

Even as I wring my hands over our world's difficulties, I know who is in charge. The force in the universe that brought everything to be, the force that sustains all things right down to the breath in my lungs and the beat of my heart, is still here, still with us, still waiting for us to do the right things. So we continue, in hope, and I find my comfort in singing.

Here's another of my favourite Taizé chants, sung in Portuguese. Today I raise it for the people of Brazil, India, Russia and the US who are experiencing the highest numbers of covid cases these days. I sing it for all those who pretend that there is no virus, or that it will have no impact on their lives. I have posted the English lyrics below, if you would prefer to sing them. Or join me in singing the Portuguese:

Cantarei ao Senhor enquanto viver;

louvarei o meu Deus enquanto existir.

Nele en contro a minha allegria.

Nele en contro a minha allegria.

I will sing to the Lord my whole life long.

I will worship my God as long as I live.

For the Lord brings joy to his people.

For the Lord brings joy to his people.

Sunday Reflection: We are all bread and wine

Today's reflection is brought to you by

1 Corinthians 10: 16-17. 


O Christ,
you are the cup of blessing,
you are the bread broken for us,
by us.

One bread,
one cup,
shared with all of humanity
so that we might learn
to be broken
and to be blessing
in spite of our brokenness.

So that we might learn
that we are all one body,
in union with
black lives,
indigenous lives,
LGBTQ+ lives,
unborn lives,
"other" lives that barely touch our own
but who, 

with us, 

are part of
one body,
one Spirit in You.

Forgive our blindness,

heal our hypocrisy,

and help us to change ourselves 

and our world.

Make us into your cup of blessing,
your bread broken
that the world might live.

+Amen

* * * * * * * 

Moodling here hasn't happened lately simply because the murder of George Floyd left me speechless. What can a white, middle-class, middle-aged woman possibly say in the face of something like that? Not much except that Black Lives Matter to me, always have, and always will, though I am aware that I live in a state of white privilege that belies that statement. If Black Lives Matter, how does my life show it?

When Donald Trump was elected, I couldn't bear to spend the next day alone, so I went to have lunch with some of my friends at L'Arche. We were five or six different skin colours around the table, and we talked about the racism my friends face here in Edmonton, and how Trump's presidency might "normalize" racist behaviours for those already leaning that way. The murder of George Floyd and Trump's behaviour since show that it seems to have come true. But facing facts, these injustices have been happening for centuries, probably because too many of us have felt powerless to stop them, and because we have been too comfortable in our own lives, where these injustices don't touch us often enough.

Clearly, the president of the U.S. favours the white having the might. But God has no favourites -- she and he made every one of us favourite children, equal in God's sight. And contrary to the holy pictures I grew up with, Jesus and Mary were brown-skinned Middle-Easterners. It's an awfully messed-up Christianity that insists otherwise! And it's time to change that. 

As I mourn for George and so many others, including our missing and murdered indigenous men and women here in Canada, I can't help but think that we're past time for those of us who have lived in a bubble of white privilege to be broken, to have our comfort and complacency overturned in a way that allows us to feel the deep hurts of those who have lived with injustice for many hundreds of years. It's our turn to break, to enter into the pain. To sit with those who are hurting in ways that we don't understand -- until we finally understand. To see every single person as a family member. To stop shaking our heads about injustice, and to actually make justice, to insist on justice even if it means we have to lose our comfortable lives in order to relate more fully with those who are being treated unjustly. It's our turn to become blessing instead of guilty bystander as injustices rage around us, because of us.

There are many organizations that are working to combat racism that need our help. We are called to become like Christ, which means to become the bread broken for the world, the cup of blessing shared with all. We can contribute our time, talent or treasures to anti-racism organizations. And we can reach out with love to all those who are facing injustices on a regular basis, simply by befriending, listening, and doing what we can to make change.

We are all meant to be bread and wine for each other. No exceptions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q77uRQxKDCY