Blubbering into Eternity

    When…this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:54

This last Sunday was Eternity Sunday. It was well celebrated in our church, paying tribute to those who passed during this last year, complete with swelled in-person worship attendance, namely family members of the deceased.

I say it was well celebrated because of the occasion, not necessarily because of the way we celebrated it. Eternity Sunday is an important observance at the end of the church year, next Sunday being Advent 1 and on into the new church year (Lectionary C). For me it has always been the third most important Sunday of the year, right behind Easter and Pentecost.

Yesterday’s occasion was palpable, especially before and after church. You could feel the anticipation as family members and extra guests filed into church – smiling eyes above masks as they were duly recorded for corona protocol. And after the service there was much social distanced (sort of) masked visiting. Undeniably this was Eternity Sunday, or Todtensonntag as per German label when I first entered pastoral ministry. It was acknowledged and it was right even though the service itself was kind of a blubbering blur. 😉 Let me explain. Family members had been invited to “say a few words” before lighting a symbolic candle for their departed loved one. Most of these words were indiscernible from behind masks worn by speakers who did not seem to realize those masks might be removed when at podium, and also speak into the microphone! The occasion and the memories still visibly raw for the families who had endured a corona good-bye this past year; not a lot of animated speechmaking! Nonetheless there was communication – excellent communication actually – even when one of the candle-lighters almost ignited a whole pack of tall matches, quickly providing a flurry of fire extinguishing gymnastics by whoever was nearby! And of course we needed to sing behind our masks some slightly awkward new hymns from Voices Together (MennoMedia, 2020) a new hymnal debuted during pandemic. The adapted melodies and inclusive lyrics would have been strange to the ears of the deceased. I can imagine the opinion of one of those dear departed brothers regarding these newfangled songs! I miss him so. 😢 

An unavoidable fact of life was recognized in this gathering. And that fact is becoming a bit more invasive in this second year of COVID-19. Todtensonntag celebrates exactly what stares us in the face, even half hidden behind masks. Nothing new here. No matter the hymns or pop tunes we sing or upload onto devices, or neighbors we meet or ignore, or battles we win or lose, death is a part of life. So the scientists, the philosophers, the horticulturists, the theologians and elders of all stripes have told us. People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. (Hebrews 9:27 Yes, this also from the preacher). The swelled church numbers this day would indicate begrudging or hearty acquiescence to this fact. 

Although the roads to church are less traveled these days, and often there we hear only earthly concerns (like rejoicing and weeping, etc.), but the presence of the eternal everlasting One is still the real reason to gather in worship. Jesus says in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." My prayer is that this last Sunday may also have been the beginning of new beginnings, perhaps even a discovery or rediscovery of Jesus - new throbs going forward, whether into a Spirit-led year C, or a direct move to eternity for whoever of us is destined that way. Eternity Sunday was a good reminder.

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Private Enterprise Welfare

The last twenty years of my gainful employment included many miles on the highways and interstates mostly in the U.S. of A. Now four years past the threescore and ten when I finally stepped out the left hand door, I am amazed how even in retirement the memories continue - almost every day and every dream every night! I am alive today because of my trucks. Anyway, I just realized those longhaul years also provided a heads-up to a societal trend already beginning back then! I saw my first cardboard sign held up by a bedraggled homeless-type, probably about fifteen years ago, well before it was in vogue here in Canada. With signs lamenting their woeful circumstances and usually concluded with GOD BLESS YOU, their ‘evidence of residence’ often was blankets and pup tents underneath certain city bridges.

My first attitude to these less fortunate was one of sympathy, or even a kind of respect. A little sociopolitical thinking here: what circumstances would lead people to hold up their poverty for all the traffic to see? It takes a certain amount of guts and humility to stand out there in front of everybody. I would wonder if they had siblings, or parents - kicked out of the house maybe? Would parents write about them in their Christmas letters? 😏Then the follow-up thoughts after observing some of these same persons in ‘off duty’ feeding their huge dogs, smoking cigarettes or even toking up. Not good thoughts, these clouding my first attitude, but not immediately leading to disparagement. I did most of this 'thinking' quietly, choosing to reflect on condition of my inner spirit for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of, as it says in the Bible (see Luke 6:45). No shortage of opinions on the CB radios and in truckstop drivers’ rooms. Ironically, not much shaming among the drivers, just loud opinions about those poor #!.< ers out there. 

My thoughts? I was a guest there in America. This country which “Trusts in God” also provides opportunity for the have nots to show their face. If you are down and almost out, but still up for it, you stake a spot and announce it to the Cadillacs and the 4 X 4’s and Big Trucks and SUVs and whoever. Yes, considerable humility required, and courage, as I reminded myself. Up where I come from we can hide our poverty – at least for a while – because our social system provides opportunity for those who cannot (or will not) go to work to “go on welfare.” There are pros and cons to our slightly more socialist system, so I told myself; and occasionally I would allow myself to be special guest to a drivers’ room conversation telling about government health care, govt pension plans, and I felt no need to carry a gun in my truck because I did not feel threatened by communists at all! In hindsight I recognize I may have over glamorized my country just a bit, especially to a captive audience. Once a trucker, always a trucker; once a preacher always a preacher! ... always some bs - so I was told once. 😇

Fast forward to these retirement years. This old trucker, this old preacher still thinking about many things, including considerable meditation and reflection about my circumstances. By now I have taken stock of the modest income accumulated during my working years and now converted to ‘fixed income.’ It’s called a LIRA, so my wife and financial manager tells me.  Aah, it may be modest, but definitely better than no income. My dreams at night and my retirement volunteer activities bring up the unending subject of life, life’s opportunities and tragedies, and how to make good decisions among it all. I have the dignity of eating meals in our home which got paid for a number of years ago – not as elaborate as most of my relatives and colleagues, but that’s another story. And we are very comfortable – unless a disaster or sudden ill health were to occur. How big a disaster? And what type of disaster? Mostly we are good!

Also (yes also) I am endlessly reminded of those less fortunate, the almost homeless, the unemployed or underemployed and substance addicted right here in my neighborhood. And, in this city it’s an easy train ride now for the downtown homeless also to show up here. Yes, our fast food drive thrus are a handy place to stand with the plaintive looks and cardboard signs, even borrowing the American closer “GOD BLESS YOU.” (See one of my earlier blogs “Hey What’s Your Name,” April 15, 2021). They now stand here before us too - social safety nets expired or squandered or ...?  American private enterprise begging is now another reality emigrated to this good Canadian city, Calgary, province of Alberta, often dubbed “little U.S.A.” So in this good country many refugees, many immigrants, and also ongoing economic and political disparities, all of this in the grips of a pandemic of epic proportions, neither Americans nor Canadians exempt.

 I have the feeling that if I were still a trucker down there, I would perhaps need to be kinder and even a bit quieter. My political views are still similar to the way they were then, a Christian socialist (yes), but instead of the occasional pro-Canadian speech, I might do some more listening, and perhaps even confess a bit about us westerners becoming somewhat disillusioned with an out-of-touch eastern government which needs a tune-up. 

Maybe all of us, whether north or south of that 49^th parallel, need to reconsider the gift of this Turtle Island. Environment and neighborly relations of utmost importance, it behooves us to get it right with our Creator, and with each other including the indigenous, and who cares whether it sounds liberal or conservative! 

And I would love to have a conversation with – if still alive – one or two of those pioneer street corner prophets.

 

One Heart and Soul

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul. (Acts 4:32)

Every once in a while I read an article and I can do nothing but say to myself or anyone who might be nearby, "Amen. Amen. Amen." This morning it happened while reading the devotional from Rejoice! (MennoMedia, vol.57, no. 1, p. 70). Written by Karl McKinney, a 'retired' pastor, the message gives deep pause to any of us whether retired, employed by, fully engaged, or considering membership in any of our modern churches. He begins with a searching question.

Can our congregations declare that we share one heart and soul like the first Christian church? I believe the church in the United States has work to do before that can happen. On one occasion, says McKinney, I listened to church leaders and members worry that Christians in America were being persecuted, and America was being changed into a non-Christian nation. I did not hear anything resembling "Christians are suffering because we are of one heart and soul and share God's good news in Christ." Rather, I heard people fusing Christian and American in a way I don't share.

I resonate with McKinney as he goes on to say he does not feel part of the suffering that these white brothers talked about. The changes oft-described in these laments do not feel like a threat to me as a follower of Christ. These individuals lament that the U.S. is straying from its Christian founding. McKinney goes on, "I wonder if they know that the convictions that formed the nation were wholly different from those of Jesus' early followers. United States history involves extermination, enslavement, and forced removal of entire groups. Much of its infrastructure was built through the forced labor of enslaved people, indentured servants, and the working poor." So he portrays this unsavory U.S. history and I say not much better in Canada; witness creation of Canada's 'ribbon of steel', the Canadian Pacific Railway. Witness also the continuing discovery of unmarked children's graves at former Indian Residential Schools. And, yes in other countries as well; eg. the present-day violation of indigenous populations in the industrialization of Amazonian rain forests in South America.

His final paragraph strikes a chord equally applicable for all. "When we look to return to our nation's founding faith, are we following Jesus, or are we preserving Christian traditions from the colonial period?" Being an American or Canadian is not the same as being a follower of Christ.

Very thoughtful this devotional prophecy. And if it brings on some confession, that would be quite appropriate for prayer time.