October 27, 2024 Reflection

Please note: This is written for ease of presenting it orally. Proper English and grammar are not the priority. Also I may change things when I’m speaking.

Pray:  (Psalm 19)   May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts and minds be touched by your loving spirit. Amen

Here at Mount Seymour United we are in this series called “Do Unto Others.” Week 2. Last week the theme was Kindness.

-Do Unto others – as you would want other to do unto you- Golden Rule – is in all the major religions – the wording varies a bit – but the point is the same. You will find it in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Taoism, Baha’i

 This week “The Polarization Within: Compassion”

We have this reading from Isaiah.

The wolf shall live with the lamb.

The leopard shall lie with the kid.

The calf and lion will feed together and a little child will lead them.

The baby shall play over the pit of the snake.

The child shall put its hand on the snakes den.

They will not hurt or destroy…. Yikes…I don’t think so…

I don’t want to put my baby near the snakes den!

This vision of Isaiah putting together these opposites… of prey and victim or “natural enemies” is hard for me to get my head around as I watch the evening news these days….I see:

-Russian leader Putin and Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy

-Israel leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine/ Gaza leader Hamas

-Trump and Harris

-People who have homes and the unhoused population in Vancouver

-Conservatives John Rustad and NDP David Eby in BC

-Lots of polarization…unrest…and even violence. 

Wolves and lambs peacefully together…our world is not a vision of different groups getting along and working together towards a peaceful Kingdom.

The message I’m getting today… is the world is in big trouble… like a house that’s broken down…the message today is protect myself (and those closest to me), look after myself… who know what is coming next? I try to be informed…but honestly sometimes  everything in me just wants to run away from it …but that’s not compassion…that not love

We have these huge issues/ polarizations going on in the world and this reading from Isaiah today that ends “they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” An image of peace, no hurting, no destroying, understanding of God love and compassion known and lived out just as the waters cover the sea.

Let’s see if we can find some Hope in this reading/text for today. I thought maybe Isaiah was delusional or writing in time when his world was very peaceful. It turns out Isaiah was writing during a time of war and offering a radical different vision of what is possible.

I think when we are in times of deep personal grief or high stress it’s difficult to imagine that things could be different…we know this on personal/ individual level. 

-when we think about groups…communities, provinces, countries and the global world – all this is magnified…both the pain and the impossibility of imaging that things could be different/ better.

Heart of this Isiah text is about different groups listening to each other, growing in understanding and compassion.

Share with you 3 examples to help us have Hope.

Help us move in the direction of trusting in this vision of Isaiah towards peaceful communities and world. Where are the places that people who don’t normally hang out together and get along are working together to build a peaceful community. (not hurt and destroy)

First, is about homeless shelter I was involved for 7 years. 2008-2015

with the previous congregation I served.

At that time we were starting to notice people visible on the streets without homes Tri-Cities.  New for area 2008 and a growing problem. There was no shelters or help available.

A new community group came together called the Tri-Cities Homeless and Housing Task Group to address the problem.

I wouldn’t say it was made up of wolves and lambs…maybe some would…but it was a group made up of all kinds of people who don’t normally sit around one table to address one community issue.

Churches and few individual people started the group : United Church, Baptist, Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical community churches and invited mental health from Fraser Health, Police, Addiction rehab agency, municipal, provincial and federal governments has reps at the table.  Everyone was invited and welcomed around the table and wanted to be there.

This group was like a new green shoot raising from an old nurse log…old ways of doing things in their separate silos. 

The common denominator was compassion for people who were sleeping outside in the cold and wet winter months. We set up a shelter program for the winter months in the Tri-Cities. Rotated around to 7 different church sites (freely offered space) for 7 months of the year.  Staffed overnight by 2 paid staff and 9 volunteers per day. All the cleaning, hospitality and food –breakfast lunch and dinner was donations of time and food by volunteers which was coordinated by the hosting church.  7 months of the year for 7 years. Amazing program to offer shelter and food every night of the week during the cold weather from Oct – March. Also lead to advocating for a permanent shelter being built in the Tri-Cities opened in 2015.

Acting out of a place of compassion for people who were sleeping on the streets and in the bushes this variety of people (and organizations) came together to create something no one group could have accomplished on their own. The trust between people from these varies groups grew and they worked together in spite of differences.

The fear between volunteers and guests at the shelter diminished over time, connection were made, very interesting times was shared together.

Compassion was the common denominator that made the difference to grow this little new green shoot…new way of serving the community

This house that’s broken down…

Second example today,  (As we continue to look for Hope)  I want to talk about Palestine/Gaza and Israel. Dire situation…

Since Oct 7 when Hamas from Palestine took 120 hostages and killed 1200 people in Israel, Israel has attacked Gaza. In Gaza there has been 42,000 people killed and 90% of the people are displaced. Hospitals ruined and Israel is limiting aid into Gaza. Journalist and aid workers have also been killed.

Prior to Oct 7^th there is long history of Israel occupying Palestinian land and going against international law in their treatment of Palestine.

I partner this all in my mind – alongside the pleas of a nearby Jewish acquaintance of mine to feel safe going to her Synagogue and public gatherings. By supporting the rights and lives of Palestinians, I am not saying that her right to safety should not be secured here in Canada… just as everyone should feel safe to worship and attend public gatherings.  To speak against the massive suffering in Gaza is not being anti-Semitic.  I want all people to live safely.  I want the bombing being done by Israel towards Gaza, Lebanon and now Serria to stop. I want to see leaders work towards a cease fire.  For me, this comes from a place of care for our common humanity and Compassion for those who are suffering.

I admit I find it overwhelming and everything in me wants to run away from it all…not knowing what to do. I’m not actively involved in United Church groups working for Peace but try to stay informed. We can be hugely thankful to the people who are working for justice and peace in Palestine knowing there can be a personal cost to witnessing such suffering. Compassion is not always easy. They would say it is nothing compared to suffering in Palestine.

How can we get to the place that Isaiah envisions…where the wolf shall live with the lamb…they will not hurt or destroy…it feels very far away…

If we back up a bit in our Isaiah text we read “a branch will grow from the stock of Jesse, and a shoot will spring from his roots.”  Isaiah is talking about a new leader…someone to lead the way to his vision of a peaceful world. Some say it was about a leader in Isaiah’s time.  Early followers of Jesus looked back at the text and understood Jesus to be the new shoot. For today I want to ask…who are the people among us that are the new green shoots? Able to find life out of an old host log. Able to see things in a new way and work with others in new way…from a place of our common humanity and compassion for all of life.  

Perhaps the recent of work the National level of our United Church is a small new green shoot toward the United Church (nationally and locally) participating in actions towards peace in Palestine and Israel. 

Quote from United Church of Canada web site.

“On Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, the 44th General Council (of the United Church) affirmed the application of justice principles to the conflict in Israel and Palestine; in doing so, it enabled the national office and local congregations to adopt Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) strategies and joins in the consensus of the international human rights communities in recognizing and rejecting Israel’s apartheid system.” 

The Moderator, the Right Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, has written a pastoral letter to the church about the decision.” Printed copy.

You can read more on the United Church web site. For full background and recommendations.

Small green shoots working from a place of compassion, looking for ways of working towards peace and to work together with international human rights communities.

That’s a lot to take in…

Here is a third story of Hope…a little green shoot…it’s short…video clip from CBC. It’s about Members of Parliament from different parties not arguing or putting each other down…but working together for a very positive outcome.    (Show YouTube)

MPs from Conservatives, Block, NDP, Liberal and Green worked

together to get some women out of Afghanistan…airport

Taliban took over Afghanistan there was 69 female MPs. They went from being honored to being hunted.

I know our world can feel messed up…like a house that’s broken down…I know each of you, also have your own person lives to manage with its joys and woes…maybe on a good day we image with Isaiah that the wolf shall live with the lamb…they will not hurt or destroy…maybe on a good day…

-and there is also little green shoots growing out of old nurse logs

-out of old ways that no longer work…something new emerges…it’s nourished by the light and grows upwards…it starts small…and needs an environment of water and sun around it to grow.

Be light, be water, be sun…be part of what makes the new green shoots possible. In your family, your neighbourhood, your church, your local community, your wider community of country and world.

Pick your spot to watch for new green shoots and know that Isaiah is not delusional – he offers us a vision of peace for all the earth – for us to grow with…and live into…to advocate for… with compassion for ourselves for each other… with the spirit of God and each in our own scope and way.  May it be so, Amen