ASSISTED DEATH: THIS NEEDS MORE RFFLECTION

 

This past week our federal government put on hold the provision that would have allowed mental illness as one of the sole criteria that could have been used to access MAID (medical nassistance in dying). The postponement does not have an ending date. 

 

There has been much criticism, serious reflection by health providers and some general hesitation on the part of our Canadian public. If a person suffers  from mental illness, there is always hope of a future recovery. Many health practioners in the mental health field brought forth many examples of a recovery from mental illness and depression.

 

Using MAID is a form of suicide. This person is actively ending their life with the help of modern medicine.

 

Pay attention to the reasons that people who are actively seeking MAID give for ending their lives. This is a very difficult conversation because it places us in the center of how to live a meaningful life. This conversation is hampered because many people will limit it only to a personal issue: it is my life and I will decide what to do with it on my terms! This makes a human life merely an issue only about myself. This is a reflection about how our society has become so individualistic.

 

When people start talking about their desire for MAID they exhibit a great loneliness. You feel that they are very disconnected from others. Do you hear, ‘Even if I am going through some difficult health issues, I want to spend every hour possible with my wife, or my children?” Do they talk about how they still want to be part of the lives of their friends, old hockey players  and their close friends over the years? This lonely focus is only on themselves.

 

This is just the opposite of the rancher/farmer who was dying of cancer. His wife shared this precious time in their lives.  He insisted that he would die at home. His wife arranged to have a hospital bed installed in their living room. She cared for him throughout this ordeal. At the end she observed that “as his world got smaller and smaller (i..e, confined to a hospital bed) his life got bigger and bigger.” It was that precious time that he spent with his children and grandchildren, and all the neighbors and friends that spent precious time with hm, living and sharing their memories. Even though the process of dying was painful, it became life-giving in the love and friendships that it generated. Although confined to a hospital bed, his life flowered in love and hope.

 

This connectedness with others seems so absent from the people asking for MAID.

 

Secondly, it is the absence of the meaning of life. Has their life become so empty, so unresponsive to the love of others and their fellow human beings, that they just want to end their life on the note that living is not worth anything anymore?

 

We need a lot more reflection, prayer and dialogue on this issue in Canada. What values are being left out of this discussion in 2024? Is human life actually enhanced with MAID?

 

I am so grateful that our Christian faith teaches us that every life is actually the gift of God. Every life is meant to be lived to the fullness; in joy and gratitude. My life is a lot more than just my narrow, personal possession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE NEED GOOD WORDS

 

During th last decade public discourse, especially from the US media, has degenerated into some very mean-spirited attacks on public persons and the reduction of public commentary to negative and vicious entertainment. 

 

We need a reset. 

 

Before you read any further look around your social group. Count the number of people that deliberately try to speak well of all the people they deal with each month. And then, there is the one or two persons who have a vicious tongue.

 

All words are powerful. Nothing that leaves our mouth is just vapour that will disappear in the air. Once a word is spoken, it can never be taken back. Just think back to the unplanned moments that your blustered out something that was out of place the moment it was spoken! We blush even remembering those moments.

 

The suggestion was made that at the time of death we could have the reading out of ‘all the terrible things that the deceased spoke about other people, politicians included!’ The reaction has always been horror on the faces of people who first heard of this suggestion. 

 

Call for accountability on the part of everyone, ordinary Canadians and public figures, to speak the truth without any malice or evil intent.

 

At this point, move into reflecting on the good words that you speak about others. Even if some very hard truths must be spoken, see how it has been spoken without malice and evil intent.

 

Your fifteen year old (without a driver’s licence) caused an accident. The repair bill was three thousand dollars. You consciously did not fly off in anger but you sat him down and laid out the road to responsibility: how are you going to pay for all the repairs on this van? Recognize the foolishness and lack of judgement but you did not crush him. Your words were true, firm and responsible. But they were words that took responsibility for poor judgment.

 

You have two brother-in-laws that have personalities that just clash. Family gatherings are difficult. You laid out the rules of how they were to relate to each other at family gatherings. It is awkward at times, but your family can function as a family group. 

 

Your nephew in his early thirties struggles with drug addiction. He has come clean twice but suffered a relapse. You seek to speak about his struggles with his addictions in words that understand. You always offer words of hope that he will hit his bottom and go to seek help. 

 

Gather up all the good words that you have spoken about your family, co-workers and associates. You will be surprised at the number of good words that you actually speak on a daily basis. We need to do this in our foul climate to people spewing off  negative  barbs at other people, especially people who a different from the speaker.

 

When bad words are spoken, we are challenged to speak good words and the truth.  In a storm of social darkness of bad words, may you be a llight! May your words be a blessing.

 

 

 

 

 

THE BITTER COLD

 

Last week we were hit with a week -long, bitter January cold snap. We  hunkered down and stayed warm. We survived. 

 

The cold can be a lens through which we can interpret our spiritual lives. When it is cold you try to be resistant.

 

The cold wind that shake our soul is the present warfare going on in the world: in the Ukraine, in Gaza and the Sudan. In ware r parents see their children killed in the bombings, babas (grandmothers) in the Ukraine seeing their houses and apartments smashed to the grounds and families torn apart. War leaves deep wounds in the lives of individuals and families. War is very evil. Every rocket launched is a cold blast of hurt and pain.

 

We live with families torn apart by selfishness and sharp words. One family member hurts another and everyone shares in the woundedness. Grandparents cry themselves to sleep because one son will have nothing to do with the other son. No family can skate on the ice that exists in such a fractured relationship. The cold winds of division can be numb our lives.

 

We will receive the figures from our provincial health departments very shortly about the number of Canadians who have died of a drug overdose during 2023. The numbers are staggering. For every family member and friend that is connected with these deaths, there is a numbness, an emptiness about the loss of this productive life. This sadness is like a slow moving coldness moving into our lives. This is totally senseless and we do not know how to stop it.  These cold winds of the toxic drugs make us feel powerless.

 

One of the sources of the cold winter winds is the reality of indifference to the poor and the suffering in the world. Pope Francis laments the attitude of looking away, of the world being indifferent to the many suffering people in the world. The rich and the powerful in every society  are very slow to move to lift the poor from their poverty. The cold winds of winter blows in the hearts of the indifferent.

 

We need not go on. In the face of these bitter cold winds we try to survive.

 

When confronted with such evil and indifference, such brokenness and anger we turn to our God. Do not hesitate to ask God to move the hearts of evil people who make war or refuse to turn to the poor and suffering of this world. 

 

We ask God to give us the power of hope that we will turn from making war to  grow food for each other. We ask to turn toward the people at the bottom who are struggling to give their children an education and see them move out of poverty. We ask for healing for broken families and family members who have been hurt by the foolish and addictive life-styles of their loved ones.

 

The bitterly cold winds may blow today but we are praying for and living in the hope of a new springtime that only God can bring about. 

 

In this bitter cold there our prayers ask for the spring sunshine and rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EARTH SURVIVAL WILL REDIRECT OUR FAITH

 

 

When people reflect back on their lives and the many phases that their life has taken, I  have never heard anyone ever say: “You know, if I could do it over again, I would like to relive the years between fifth teen and twenty-two.” 

 

Never!

 

When you listen thoughtfully to the lives and stories of the elderly, you might notice that there is a gap between 1977 and 1983. They never share anything from those years. Could it mean that those were some very difficult years and the pain (the memory) is still very fresh and  the wounds hurtful?

 

As our lives take on different tones (depending on what we are living through), so too the shape of our Christiaan religion takes on a new tone. Consider that dramatic shift that occurred once Christians recognized that any form of slavery was  very wrong. The professes to abolish slavery in the British Empire arose out of the Churches. But many people within the church at that time were involved in the slave trade. Christiaan churches are still struggling with the many negative effects of the practice of slavery (slavery to the Americas was practiced over a period of three hundred years).

 

Today, we are confronted with the survival of the earth (humans, animals and all plant life). Humanity is heating up the atmosphere by burning too much fossil fuel. We know the consequences of our own actions. The best way to measure how the earth is heating up is to follow the melting of the artic ice. Take a tape measure and see how far the ice has receded from its security of tens of thousands of years in frozen security. Now, the ice is melting!

 

Humanity is confronted with its own survival. We cannot ask any one country to ‘do something about it.’ Earth survival involves everyone: This is cooperation for every human being (sex, religion or ethnic identity are irrelevant here). Everyone must cooperate and adapt their life -style. Can you imagine what will happen if every human being pulls in the same direction to save the planet? 

 

Our Christian beliefs offer us much help in this regard. It affirms that all creation is good and not ever meant to be abused. We have yet to discover that the first book of revelation on the part of God is created reality.  We have neglected that part of God for about a thousand years. It is time we are reclaimed by the demands of God’s creative action.

 

Humanity has a responsibility to hand on to future generations a world of clean water, vibrant forests and soils that can grow food for all the people who will come after us. In Saskatchewan that means that we must go out to every field, pick up a handful of soil and say, “and we want you to grow food for all our future grandchildren, even up to a thousand years from now.”

Reclaim the power of your Christiaan religion to empower you to work to not only preserve our common home (i.e. the earth) but to help it to thrive and b ear abundant fruits for those who must follow us.

 

 

 

 

EPIPHANY REVITALIZES US

 

Sometimes our foundational stories can seem old and well worn. They are like comfortable slippers; not very useful for real work!

 

The roots of the Epiphany story must be rooted in the message that the Gospel writer, Matthew was trying to make clear to his church membership of Jewish converts. At this point in time the Jewish religion were sure that they were the chosen people of God and that there was no salvation outside of their religious circle. The Christians of Matthew’s church struggled with the problem: how could the Gentiles be saved? 

 

Their very concept of God and divine election was seriously challenged. 

 

Into this struggle Matthew shows us that the first people to come seeking the new -born Messiah were the pagans: the people from the East. While you are holding on to the pagans from the East, coming to worship the newborn Messiah, recognize that the final mission that the resurrected Jesus sends the disciples on is to the whole world.(Mt. 28,19) Matthew has bookended his gospel with a universal direction: the salvation brought by Jesus Christ is for all people, everywhere.

 

Now separate the historical details of the Magi story from the event itself. This is the work of God to include all human beings. What we celebrate as Epiphany today (2024) is very contemporary.

 

Travel to any country. Who are the poor and he excluded ones? Who are not benefitting from the wealth and educational opportunities that are offered in any country?  The poor are always invisible in every society. Who gets left out? 

 

There are thousands of people on the move today because in their country it is not safe to live, the unemployment is crushing, and there is no future for the children. War and civil unrest just fuels the refugee crisis. 

 

We watch the news focused on the  wars in the Ukraine, in Gaza and the Sudan and we can just imagine the degree of hatred and blistering anger there is on both sides of the conflict. This animosity will not die out like a spent campfire once a peace treaty is signed. These divisions between peoples are very powerful. 

 

In much of the First World (economically dominant) countless numbers of people are walking away from any religious connection. They do not sense any need to be actively connected with the divine and share in a community of faith and prayer. 

 

When we tell the story of the Epiphany in our faith communities we must place is squarely in the reality of today’s world. God has come to bring all humanity to value and care about each other. In the heart of God there are no divisions between peoples but rather a love that binds peoples to each other in care and compassion. 

 

Tell the Epiphany story this year standing in the midst of any divisions. Tell the story in the middle of the inequalities that exist in our Canadian society. Tell the story in any country where there is racism; exclusion based on skin color, religion or education levels.

 

This is not some dusty old story from the Bible. It is the story of how God is working in our world, 2024. 

 

And it is challenging!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PANHANDLER JESUS

 

There is a statue of Jesus outside of the Church of St. Stephen in-the-fields in Toronto. It is the creation of artist, Timothy Schnaltz. It captures the imagination of everyone. The artist first named his creation, “the Homeless Jesus.” It only took a brief time for the artistic creation to be nicknamed, the “Panhandler Jesus.”

 

As you can see from the photo above it pictures Jesus as a panhandler/a beggar. His hand is outstretched to receive a donation. Why would Christians be so brave as to depict their god as a homeless man begging for food?

 

The people of this church community are trying to make a statement. Many people will be very angry that such a depiction of Jesus should even exist. 

 

During this Christmas season we need a pause over how we depict the story of the nativity. This is not about power and well-being. It is all about the poor trying to survive and get by. Jesus and his parents are homeless. They cannot even rent lodging for the night. He is born in a stable. You would be shocked to hear of any baby today being born in such primitive conditions.

 

And then they were refugees in Egypt. This does not get the attention it deserves. Our divinity was a refugee: without home and power. Was there employment during this refugee period?  How many thousands of displaced persons could identify with the ‘refugee Jesus?’

 

The life, personality and mission of Jesus cannot be depicted in one single image. Jesus is too big for that. Pay attention to the parts of Jesus life and ministry that are not depicted in our religious art. Why do we not see on our church walls pictures of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples? What has that been overlooked?

 

Our Christian faith leads us to not only see the poor amoong us but also to be able to see the very face and person of Jesus in the poor, the neglected and the marginalized. Panhandler Jesus places Jesus right among the homeless and the down-and-out. The street people count in the heart and the plan of Jesus Christ. 

 

Christians may look the other way but the reality of Jesus identifying with the poor and the forgotten does not disappear. 

 

When people study the statue of the panhandler Jesus they discover a change of heart. They begin to reach out a helping hand to those who are at the bottom of the society. 

 

Small gestures of kindness make all the difference.

 

We had a parishioner,  a businessman whose company serviced the much larger construction companies. Every week when he went grocery shopping he would always pick up a jar of peanut butter to bring each Sunday for the food bank collection. No one noticed his weekly donation but over the years the number of jars of peanut butter added up. He lived in a very quiet way a his strong concern for the people who had to use the food banks to make ends meet each month.

 

 What reactions are you feeling when you study the statue of the Panhandler Jesus?

 

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

 

 

We love to decorate. But each decoration carries a message. Each decoration is an extension of our values, our hopes and wishes for the good of others. Decorations are beautiful but they are first of all, meaningful.

 

Spend a few moments in meditation before your Christmas tree. What are the most beautiful decorations on the tree? What carry more meaning than just some pretty and colorful bobble manufactured by a factory in China?

 

Touch the first decoration. This is the wonderful service your own mother gives her aged mother in the nursing home. She is there almost every day to help feed her mother, change her clothes and just be present to your grandmother. Where does your Mother find all the patience to hold her mother’s hand when there is barely any response? The most beautiful decoration on the tree is your mother’s patience.

 

Your second decoration is your own sister who finds time to donate two mornings a week to work at the food bank. She cheerly packs hampers, sorts through all kinds of canned goods and helps the clients with her infectious laugh. And she never expects any recognition. Your family knows that she is the unsung hero of the family. Her service makes the Christmas tree smile.

 

And then there is Mary, our retired elementary teacher, who volunteers several days each week to help the kids who have difficulty with their reading. The kids love this one-to- one attention. The only ones who will notice the improvement in the children are the parents and the teacher. This is true giving where hardly anyone will every give you recognition, but the service will make a difference in the skills of the children.   

 

And then there is Philip, eighty-five and going strong, who will drive any of the seniors to their appointments in Regina and Saskatoon. Calgary is not considered to be too far. Everyone kids him that he likes to drive his Cadillac around but he certainly helps the elderly who do not have any family close by to drive to their appointments. 

 

It is not things that are beautiful. We use these bright Christmas decorations to express our gratitude to what is truly beautiful: the love and service that we give to one another. The Christmas tree can carry much deeper meaning if we but look for it.

 

Today, give your Christmas tree some attention. See the beautiful compassion and service that the people of your family, your church and your co-workers are giving to others. 

 

May your Christmas tree shine with goodness and jolly. Have a wonderful Christmas.