Living for Life

“Thou shall not kill”

Seems easy enough. Most of us could say that we've kept the 5^th commandment. If not in thought then at least in deed – I've never killed anyone. But then there are other kinds of death besides physical dying. Dreams can be killed, hope can be killed, community can be killed…

“Thou shall not kill” might be taken literally to mean do not intentionally take a human life. But perhaps it could also be challenging us to consider the unintentional  taking of life, such as the unseen cost of North American consumer habits on factory workers in Asia, or the cost to South American village communities that happen to reside too close to a Canadian gold mine. There is more than one way to take a human life…

Too far away to be in our awareness? Okay – bring it closer to home. Our words of judgment and criticism can erode our relationships, bringing a slow death to marriages, families and friendships. Our hunger for newer, bigger and better causes us to work harder and longer hours which put tremendous pressure on households and communities.

And then there is our beloved earth. “Thou shall not kill…” We need not look far to find the death of an ecosystem at the hands of careless development and exploitation of the environment for the sake of resources.

So, maybe I have not been quite so squeaky clean on the 5^{th .} What do I do? 

Lest I be immobilized by guilt in the face of enormous local and global issues that I cannot immediately address, I will start small and close to home. I can be a life-giver rather than a life-taker with my family. I can encourage my spouse and children in the growing and living out of their dreams.  I can build connections of care with my neighbors that give life to community. And as far as earth-care, if I just choose one of many possible actions for my household habits and implement it I will be, in my own simple, way using stewardship to give life back to our world, the world that Genesis commands us to take care of with the same love that God has for creation.

Without doubt I have been a killer, intentional or not. And I am sorry for this – deeply sorry. But there is much grace in our Loving God and this grace empowers me to consider the ways that Love may work through me to create life in this amazing world of ours.

Be a life-giver today. In word, in thought and in deed.

Pastor Bill

Breathe

With all your heart

A breath

Of life

Let Spirit

Breathe into

You

And

Smile as

Love flows

Out

From your heart

(First published April 10, 2012)

Behold the Beauty

"Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it." (CONFUCIUS)

A single drop of dew coalescing on the tip of a summer leaf at first dawn; a dozen shades of red and orange blazing across the sky at sunset; my grandsons' eyes; my wife's heart and soul; fresh snow sparkling in the sunshine in December...

How do we know what beauty is? 
How do we recognize, from the millions of pictures, images, sculptures or sunsets which ones are filled with beauty?
I really have no answer for myself regarding this. I only know that certain things strike me as filled with beauty - they just resonate that way with me. In fact, that which I perceive as beautiful will elicit an involuntary response - wow! or ooh! Aah! or maybe deep silence and stillness. And the really strange thing about humans is that we do not all see beauty in the same experiences. Beauty, like humanity, is wonderfully simple and amazingly complex.

I suspect that beauty is built into us - a part of being made in the image of God perhaps. We understand beauty because we come from the same source as beauty; we resonate with it because it is within us. Perhaps the Psalmist sums it up:

Psalm 139:14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

So, what do you think is beautiful? Just think back for a moment to the last time that thought to yourself, "wow! that is just beautiful!" What were you looking at, or hearing, or feeling or sensing? If it has been awhile since your soul shivered in the face of that which is beautiful then perhaps today is a good day to find beauty in your world. Look for it in this day; seek it, yearn for it, and when it surprises you, arising from the least expected place, soak it in.

By the way, don't be surprised if someone notices beauty in YOU today, because, and this is absolutely true, You Are Beautiful!

I leave the last word to Robert Browning (19th century English poet)

"If you get simple beauty and nought else, You get about the best thing God invents." (ROBERT BROWNING, Fra Lippo Lippi)

Be beautiful today

Pastor Bill

Be still
for a moment
just be
Be

Just be
and breathe
deeply out
and deeply
In

close your eyes
and
see Beauty
listen
to your
Heart beating

and hear beauty

and give
thanks
to a beautiful
God
for a beautiful
universe

and
Beautiful
Love

(First published March 28, 2012)

Copy Cats

"Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate." (Anonymous)

I have been thinking about our world's children this week after watching the Youtube video, "Kony 2012." Humanity has so many needs, so much healing waiting to happen, and not the least is for our children.

How terribly sad that some of our children grow up so broken that they become breakers of others. And some children seem to be born carrying a burden of anger that they bear through their years, projecting it out into the world.

Still many, most even, are loved and taught to love and are born full of love and go on to be healers in a world hungry for wholeness.

So, as I think about our children, and the adults that they all too soon become, I think that our world desperately needs us to be people of patience, kindness, compassion, mercy, forbearance, wisdom, forgiveness and, in and through it all, playfulness. As we exercise these qualities of the heart today we are remaking our world, one act, one attitude, one word at a time. And for those children we meet who are difficult to love, who are full of sharp edges, who for whatever reason, do not grow with their inner light brilliantly shining - love them even more. Surround them with so much love that the rough edges are gently worn off and they begin to know themselves as Children of God.

In this day make a difference - make a HUGE difference, by being kind to a child. Tell a child today that they are beautiful; remind them that they are a gift of love; listen to them; just be with them. Repeat as necessary until they understand the gift of being created in the image of a loving God.

"Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear." 

(Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa )

You are a world-changer; today change it for the better. 

Pastor Bill

Breathe
and pray

and think
in your mind's eye

of a child

smiling

laughing

being held
by God's
light

and breathe
again,
in

out

and give thanks
for children

You
are
God's
Child

(First published March 21, 2012)

Enough is Enough

Here's a question I've recently asked myself: If I acquire "it" will I be happier?

The "it" could be anything - car, house, toys, finances, prestige... for me the current "it" is a replacement truck for our somewhat dilapidated Chev. Sure, it has 300,000kms and it's rusty and dented and the seats are worn, but it runs and it pulls our little Boler trailer and I don't really care if the dog jumps in and his feet are muddy. For that matter I don't mind if my feet are muddy when I jump in. 

So, would a new truck make me happier? Really? Deep-down happy? Would I be more at peace with myself and my world? Would I be kinder to my family, my neighbor, my world because I have a new "it"? 

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying we shouldn't buy new things. Money is a form of love and the free exchange of this love puts food on tables and is a part of healthy communities. And things do wear out and need to be replaced. And there are various things we need to live and thrive and grow.

My question is about motivation - am I buying stuff (or acquiring any other "it") to fill an emptiness inside, to soothe feelings of dis-ease, to fit in, to appear affluent enough to have value? If so, then at the end of the day I will go to bed still feeling empty even with a new truck in the driveway. Who we are is NEVER affirmed by what we have or do not have. The treasure of our being is an unchangeable gift from God; the outside world can neither tarnish nor enhance it.

Jesus said, "What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?" (Luke 9.25 - "The Message")

Yeah. We need enough, but after you have enough, then what? "More" simply does not make us happier. Studies have shown that the happiness factor peaks at "enough." Happiness, it would seem is about what we have on the inside and letting what is on the inside shine to the outside.

So, maybe I will replace the truck - because the old Chev is a bit shaky. But I know that the joy of my life comes not from shiny things on the outside, but from the brilliance of love on the inside!

Pastor Bill

If you were to

let go

of all 

your things

you would be

no less

Smile and breathe 

a deep breath

out...

and in...

and again

and give thanks

(First published March 14, 2012)

Editor's note:  The old truck still hasn't been replaced.  Jan 9, 2013