Here is a short video for this moment: https://youtu.be/cALKWnvTH10
This Sunday we are celebrating Pride Sunday, the 95th anniversary of the United Church and communion. If you can bring a rainbow, a candle (flameless or regular one), a piece of bread (cracker, bun, cheerios), and a drink of juice (grape, orange, apple, water) to celebrate together while we are apart.
If folks have any extra bedding plants and would like to help us beautify the outside of the church, you can drop off on the church steps either anytime Thursday or Friday morning and they will be planted on Friday afternoon.
If you are making your way to the church, please be advised that the city is repaving Caledon St. in front of the church. It may be difficult to get through and you may have to use the back alley accessed beside the 7-11 or behind Starbucks.
Many of us are feeling devastated by the events happening in the US. Many of us are uncertain what to do, what to say, how to react. We are thinking deeply about what it means to be children of God, followers of Jesus, spirit-led people in our world. We are thinking of family and friends who might be a victim of violence and are fearful. I cannot give an answer here for everyone; all I can say is that we – each of us – need to think deeply, to pray deeply, to listen to the black voices in our midst, to talk with one another, to act with our hearts, minds, spirits, knowing that these killings are not what God wants for our world, that we are ALL children of God, that this is our issue too. This Sunday, in the scripture for the day, Jesus commissions the disciples and us to ministry in the world; to follow the commandments he taught: love God, love your neighbour as yourself. Being a disciples is never easy. We care, love, and speak knowing that God will be with us day by day by day.
Listen again to the words of the song (shared by Wynn) “We Rise Again” as we think, pray, listen and act in the midst of these troubling images:
Harry writes to accompany the pictures:
We sing: “God sees the little sparrow fall …” . But in watching these little birds, there is more with which they have been gifted than just the passive watchful eye of God. In the first image, the forager parent is handing off a food delivery to the caring parent on the “porch” of their home, just as our family have provided groceries on our porch during our isolation. The second picture shows the reaction of the parents when an intruding squirrel comes close to their home. They stand on ‘tippy toes’, puff out their chests and spread wide their wings in a great display of courage to protect their family and successfully scare off the intruder. So there is more to the metaphor of the watchful eye of God than just in the demise of a little sparrow. These lovely little creatures have been given gifts of love, courage and the knowledge of bringing up their families as part of the great gifts of God.
Listen deeply, pray deeply, think deeply, be deeply, are we rise again as people of God, followers of Jesus, and spirit-led faith-filled people in the world.
In the midst of the events happening to our neighbours in the US, this prayer was written by Nadia Bolz-Weber
God whose name has been used to enslave those who bear your image,
God whose name has been used to steal this land and kill those who bear your image,
God whose name was called upon by Moses and Miriam and Martin Luther King Jr and Sojourner Truth, Brionna Taylor and George Floyd.
God who raised up prophets to speak truth to power, and poets to speak truth to stupid,
We call on your holy name to give us what we need to undo what has been done in your name.
We call on your name to bring your fierce mercy upon us and remove our complacency and our complicity.
We call on your name to heal the wounds of those whose daily reality we do not understand.
We call on your name to give us a holy curiosity about what being Black in America is really like, Lord.
We call on your name to free us from our cherished notions of being “good” that keep us from hearing this truth,
We call on your name to give us this day our daily truth, our daily humility, our daily rage, our daily hope.
This country is burning Lord…may is be a cleansing Holy Spirit fire.
Guide us to believe that the true name of God is stronger than what has been done in God’s name.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Trinity United Church 