A Noble Theme

I am very excited to offer a book discussion series on my book  Caesar's Census, God's Jubilee. The Gospel of Luke alone tells the story of the birth of Jesus set against the background of a census taken on the orders of Caesar Augustus. This historical setting has always raised serious questions: Was there ever really such a census? Why does Luke describe the census as being carried out in a manner that does not fit with what we know of Roman practices and policies? This book struggles with questions like those in a creative way which leads to some surprising new ways to understand Luke's timeless story of Mary and Joseph and their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Part investigation, part exercise in creative imagination, this book will help you to see the Christmas story in a whole new way. The discussion will be held on Wednesday evenings from Wednesday, October 15 through to Wednesday December 3, 2014 We will meet at 7:30 pm in the Foyer at St. Andr...

True story: Today I had the great honour and privilege of presiding at a marriage. As we prepared, I asked the couple, as one will often do, how they met. They told me the story of how they had come to know each other while they were both working in different departments at the local Rona store. He worked in plumbing and she was in the flooring department. It was just a nice little story and they were a very nice couple who obviously loved each other very much and so their story put me in mind of the greatest love story every written. That was why I started my sermon today like this: "If you are at all like me, you found that to be a beautiful story - a classic love tale. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more it reminded me of the greatest love story of all times. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when William Shakespeare took up his pen to write what many consider his best play and what was certainly his best romantic play, didn't he open it with these words:...

Once upon a time, there was a lovely little coastal village. Life was good and peaceful there but there was one little problem. The nearby coast was treacherous and unforgiving to passing sailors. It seemed like there were shipwrecks just about every week. And so the villagers all got together and decided to do something about this terrible problem. They decided to pool all of their resources and build a tall and beautiful tower. It would stand on the shoreline and offer warning and guidance to all who passed that way. They formed a society to make sure that the light was always lit, that the foghorn was ready to go off in bad weather and to ensure that the tower continued to stand and do its job. It was a wonderful achievement that made them rightfully proud. There were some other benefits of all this work. In those days, the Lighthouse Society was the most important and most active association in the village. Everyone wanted to be part of it. Meetings of the society became t...

While we were there in Winnipeg for our mission trip, we spent five days in full-time connection with the various parts of the Winnipeg Inner City Mission. During that short time, a number of very significant things happened: A young girl in the church went missing from her family. Another young girl, in desperate need of a new kidney, successfully underwent surgery that would allow her continue her daily dialysis The church was putting together household items to set up housekeeping for a young mother and her children as she was in the process leaving an abusive relationship. A resident in A Place of Hope celebrated two years of sobriety. Another resident reached the end of her time in A Place of Hope and made arrangements to move out and begin a new and exciting phase in her life A church picnic (that had been as good as cancelled) was resurrected and organized in about two hours. This was, as far as I can tell, a fairly typical week at Winnipeg Inner City Mission with big d...

Our trip to Winnipeg has been short - too short we all agree. It seems like we just arrived, have just gotten to know the people there and to appreciate everything that is so special about them and we have to go. But there is absolutely no feeling in the group that it was not worth the effort to get here for a few days. Why are we so sure that it was vital that we come? Because we have received that message loud and clear from everyone at all involved in the ministry that we have met and from the children and young people and families. Is that because of all the work that we did for them? Well, not exactly. They certainly appreciated everything that we did. Whether it was painting Flora House (and, yes, we did manage to get the main hall and the front and back entrances painted in our time with a little help from Derek) or organizing clothes and goods in the miracle store, weeding Papa's Garden, helping to keep the kids or youth organised and safe on outings or cleaning o...

Rev Margaret Mullin comes from a mixed First Natiions and Irish heritage. She is an ordained Presbyterian minister and a recognized First Nations elder who has had the traditions passed on to her from the elders who have gone before. There are eight eagle feathers on her staff to represent the eight years she has spent learning from the elders. The spirit name that she was given is Thundering Eagle Woman  - a name that fits her very well indeed. It is as if in her two different worlds have come together in one beautiful spirit. Today she spoke to us about the long and difficult journey she has had to reconcile the different traditions that are her heritage. Today she participates in almost all forms of native spirituality and sees no contradiction to the teachings of the Christian tradition as she has received and absorbed it.  I tend to think that she is on the right track. There is no question that the Christian church has done a lot of damage and been a ...

I spent most of my day, our third day at Winnipeg Inner City Mission, at Flora House. The day's activities there began, as they often do, with a smudging ceremony. The First Nations kids take smudging very seriously and respectfully and it really makes for a good start to the day together for them. In such a ceremony, dried herbs (usually some mixture of sage, tobacco and cedar) are set to smoking in a small shell or pot. The smoke is waved by a feather and each person takes a turn to waft the smoke over his or her arms, head and body. The smudging ceremony is primarily a purification ceremony -- a way of putting aside mistakes, errors, regrets and things that weigh you down. This kind of ritual that is part of most every religion and is needed by everyone (even non religious folk) at least sometimes. And that was kind of what all of our day's work at Flora House was about today. Flora House has gone through some tough times recently. There have been som...