A New Old Commitment

The law of unintended consequences.  At times it’s one of my favourite laws and at other times one of my least favourite.  This past week it fell into the former category.  The plan was to attend Agustinus and Erlina Nagata’s Canadian Citizenship Ceremony.  What a privilege to be able to be there to celebrate the milestone with friends.  

The unexpected part was when the Judge invited any Canadian citizens who were there to take the same oath as the new citizens.  Judge Linda Carvery presented it as an opportunity to renew our commitment as Canadians.

So I did, I raised my right hand and repeated the vows along with my friends, committing to be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Queen and my country and to fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen.  Because I have always been a Canadian I had never given much thought to what it meant to be a Canadian, now I do. 

Some of us have been Christ Followers for so long that we have forgotten what it really means to follow Christ.  Maybe every so often we should renew the oath we took when we surrendered our lives to Him and agreed to follow Him, just to keep it fresh.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.   

A Higher Standard.

Well, it’s certainly been an embarrassing few weeks for Canadian politicians.  Federal, provincial and municipal, the commons and the senate and all three of the major political parties have taken it on the chin….  and so they should. Not only do I believe that politicians should have to follow the same rules as the rest of us, but that they should also be held to a higher standard.  After all, they make the laws. 

I feel the same way about police officers and don’t get me started on police cars that I have seen turn without signals  or coast through stop signs, grrrr.  And to be fair I think pastors should be held to higher standards as well.  Although I don’t think it’s fair for people to have those expectations of the preacher’s kids.

And before you think you are getting off so easy, go back and read the Sermon on the Mount.  It would appear that Jesus was holding his followers to a much higher standard than the world.  And the world holds Christ Followers to a much higher standard than others, so that’s why it’s more news worthy when a priest or a pastor misbehaves than a teacher or hockey coach. And that’s the way it should be.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.   

Death be Not Proud

It’s been one of those weeks.  Half of our staff were attending funerals, one of our church families experienced a close family death and my father’s twin brother passed away.  Someone once said “Death, it’s all a part of living.”  And the reality is, we have all been born to die. 

When I was in High School I fell in love with John Donne’s poem “Death be Not Proud”, which was kind of a weird favorite poem.  The entire crux of the poem is that death is not a master but simply a servant, a pawn of chance.  Donne closes his poem with the words, “One short sleep past, we wake eternally,  And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”

When I became a Christ Follower I discovered that theme in the New Testament when Paul wrote “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

None of us have control over how we die or when we die, but I would like to think that I will die well, confident in the grace of my God and that with Donne I will be able to say “One short sleep past, we wake eternally, and death shall be no more.”  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.   

The Dichotomy of Life

I wasn’t exactly eavesdropping, I just happened to overhear their conversation.  That’s different isn’t it?  I was at Tim’s the other day and heard a group of woman expressing outrage and dismay at yet another news story about a new born who had been deserted and left to die  by his mother.  The general consensus was that there were alternatives and that the mother should be punished for her crime.  Later I caught the news and that seemed to be the view of the media as well.  What type of mother would leave her newborn child to die?  And what should we do as a society to provide options? 

The next night on the news I heard the same media celebrating the life and achievements of Henry Morgentaler, the man who is credited with paving the way for unrestricted abortion rights in Canada.  Interesting. 

On one hand we have a society that reacts in rage over a newborn child who had been left without care and on the other hand society canonizes a man whose actions led to the death of literally millions of preborn children.  I guess your value to society depends on timing and on your location, whether you are inside the womb or out.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.