How was church today?

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I went. I had not been since Christmas. Many people said it was good to see me but not one had called or e-mailed while I was absent to ask how I was. Minister did know what was going on......but still-they feel like fairweather acquaintances.
 
I actually enjoyed church this morning. Our confirmation group (joint with a neighbouring UC) was present & gave a lot of leadership. Our usual minister is on vacation, so a member of our congregation led the service and preached & did an excellent job of it - I always find points to ponder in her preaching. Then the youth led an exercise with the congregation (a small group because of bad weather & flu season) - we TALKED TO EACH OTHER!! LOL - sorry for the caps - I'm so happy when our group steps outside the usual format!! People then wrote their dreams for our church on a cloud shaped paper - these were collected & posted to the front of the communion table, and worked into the prayers of thanksgiving and concern. We'll have them typed up & send them out to everyone too. What I was so pleased about is that I heard many more missionally focused comments than in the past - so perhaps the Spirit is moving more of us toward change :)

Then I spent lunch & the afternoon with the confirmation group, as I'm a 'mentor' this year. We had some interesting discussion & watched some good videos - topic of the day was 'the bible'.
 
Worshiped at Knox today. Rev. Greg Glatz had a good sermon on how we are called to serve Creator and to serve others. He spoke of how this is one of the great mysteries of the faith journey. So many of us are more ego driven and worried about some sort of personal salvation and we can miss the big picture. Greg had an interesting story as part of his sermon. It took place in Arkansas. Some teenage boys were drinking had the idea they should vandalize the local mosque with racist graffiti. They were caught and arrested. The folks at the mosque decided the best thing would be to forgive the boys so they went to the prosecutor and asked that the charges against the boys be dropped. The prosecutor refused saying there had to be consequences for the actions of the boys. The boys went to prison convicted of a felony of hate crime. The judge also threw some salt in the wounds by fining the boys. One of the boys was facing $3200 in fines when he was released from prison. His family was so poor they had had their water cut off and as a convicted felon the young man was having trouble finding a job. It seemed a hopeless situation, but the folks at the mosque felt genuine empathy with the young man so they paid his entire $3200 fine. Not only did they forgive the boys for the vandalism, but they took the forgiveness a step further. This reminded me of an incident years ago when I lived at the coast. Some vandals burned down a Baptist church and the only thing left on the church property was the church sign. Despite the sadness of losing their church home to the arsonist, they put up a message on the sign that read, "We forgive you and God forgives you." I think the folks at the mosque in Fort Smith Arkansas and the folks at the Baptist church in New Westminster really understood the radical compassion of Goddess/God in ways that many of us who focus on the small picture of our possessions and our social structure miss completely. A good day to attend Knox for sure.
 
We had a cool service today as well. Led by our youth minister, who is half time with us, half time with Presbytery. Today, he and the youth and junior church led the service, accompanied by our Presbytery "Social Justice Animator", a young man of Japanese decent who I had not had the pleasure of meeting before. He talked about social justice on a number of interesting levels - individual, systemic, etc., but he also invited us to think of ourselves as "we" doing good for "the underprivileged" and to work hard to erase those we-them barriers. Great quote from Lilla Watson, indigenous Australian artist/activist:

"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time.

But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

And then a lovely little play written and performed by our young people: The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystanders. It was great.
 
Missed church today as I was at home with the flu. According to my mom, it was a good service with our Pastor preaching from Micah. Yobo went too and she helped today with the Sunday School.
 
There's a social get together tonight but I am not in the mood. I missed church this morning. I just feel really tired. I worked yesterday - it was kind of a long day - and just feel like being on my own today, doing very little.

I don't actually always agree with my pastor's points of view, philosophically, on everything. On some things I do. But the discussions are interesting. He's very educated. I can't remember if his doctorate is in philosophy, theology, or both...he's more conservative in some ways than me...economically, I think. (I think there are more people in my new church with persistent conservative views than the UCCan, because of their backgrounds...and just as many who lean left. It's an interesting mix where we meet in the middle because we don't fit in anywhere else, but we feel safe to be different, even from each other, there.) The pastor is also interesting to talk to and would be (and is) open to respectful debate. People disagree with him, and that's okay. He also has a great sense of humour, and can make fun of himself.
 
Jae said:
Missed church today as I was at home with the flu. According to my mom, it was a good service with our Pastor preaching from Micah. Yobo went too and she helped today with the Sunday School.
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I hope you feel better soon, Jae. Are you attending a United Church...or is your mom attending your Baptist church?

I like your avatar, btw. Fun glasses.
 
Kimmio said:
I hope you feel better soon, Jae. Are you attending a United Church...or is your mom attending your Baptist church?
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Thank you Kimmio. My mom attends our Baptist church with us when she's here in Toronto for the winter. She attends a United Church when she's in NB in the summer. When we visit her in NB, we attend her United Church.

Kimmio said:
I like your avatar, btw. Fun glasses.
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Thanks. :)
 
I was very sleepy in church today. (Many people with Parkinsons have sleep problems - trouble sleeping at night, trouble keeping awake at other times.) I woke at 4:00 this morning and could not go back to sleep. By 11:00 church time I was ready for a nap. Nevertheless I went to church. Standing for hymns, responsive psalm and unison reading, kept me awake - but not as alert as I would like to be for the message.
 
Seeler said:
I was very sleepy in church today. (Many people with Parkinsons have sleep problems - trouble sleeping at night, trouble keeping awake at other times.) I woke at 4:00 this morning and could not go back to sleep. By 11:00 church time I was ready for a nap. Nevertheless I went to church. Standing for hymns, responsive psalm and unison reading, kept me awake - but not as alert as I would like to be for the message.
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Sorry to hear that, seeler.
 
Seeler said:
I was very sleepy in church today. (Many people with Parkinsons have sleep problems - trouble sleeping at night, trouble keeping awake at other times.) I woke at 4:00 this morning and could not go back to sleep. By 11:00 church time I was ready for a nap. Nevertheless I went to church. Standing for hymns, responsive psalm and unison reading, kept me awake - but not as alert as I would like to be for the message.
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Sorry to hear that Seeler. I hope you got a chance for a good nap afterwards.
 
Hope you got some rest today Seeler. I hate it when I wake up too early (often!) and can't get back to sleep. I always joke that I don't mind if the sermons or messages I deliver in church put people to sleep...If that is what is needed, I am happy to oblige.
 
Both my ministers know about my periods of sleepiness. They can happen any time - not just when I've had a poor night's rest. They often occur after a meal, or sitting quietly watching TV or on the computer. I seldom get to watch and entire movie, and most nights Seelerman has to wake me to go to bed after watching 'The National' Usually it's just five or ten minutes dozing, but sometimes a deep sleep for half an hour.
A long drive in the country puts me to sleep like a baby; but not when I've driving myself. I've got things to do then. I also don't drive long distances anymore - partly because their is not a lot of stimulation along the highway. Seelerman drives me to out-of-town ppreaching pooints.
 
Good idea to let others know about health challenges. It would be disconcerting for your minister to see you napping. Adjusting life around health challenges does impact the whole family in one way or another. I look around and feel thankful for my guy. He, like Seelerman, helps with certain things, like driving. Some people live alone and don't have help with the things they can't manage by themselves. A simple event like a doctor appointment becomes a major challenge - how to get there, how to get home, will the driver be willing to stop at the drugstore? Put that doctor appointment in a city an hour or more away and it becomes very easy to understand why people decline medical treatment!

Often I have heard people say - they can get Home Care. Unfortunately they can't just phone Home Care and get a ride to the doctors. There are people in this town without a partner or descendants. Once the friends start aging and losing abilities this leaves them in a somewhat precarious position. I wish I or someone else could come up with the answer to this problem.
 
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