Lent 5: A Little Bible 101!

During this season of Lent, we have heard Jesus speak in the parable of the barren fig tree and, just this past Sunday, the parable of the prodigal son.

Did you know that the purpose of a parable is to cover the real meaning behind the story, so that only those who are capable of understanding it, or
willing to put forth enough effort to find the meaning will do so?

This effort or ability is literally a type of spiritual test to sift away those who do not care about the significance of the teaching, because that concern (or lack thereof) is truly an outward sign of the heart or ‘spiritual fortitude’ of the person.

When asked by the disciples why Jesus spoke in parables, or stories, (from The Message, Matthew 13: 10-17)

11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them.

Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears.

That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward a welcome awakening. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:

He then goes on to repeat Isaiah’s prophesy: (again The Message)

Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.

Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.
The people are stupid!
They stick their fingers in their ears
so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut

so they won’t have to look,
so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
and let me heal them.

16-17 “But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.

So, there it is.  I have found, over the years, that quite often we do not understand why Jesus chose to tell stories in the way that he did and that, knowing the answer can be so helpful in our desire to both understand and to follow his path as disciples on the Lenten journey.

In peace

Pastor Beryl, DLM

More Memories of Chalmers

Bruce Padgham says this is a shot of the CGIT group from Chalmers United. I’d say it’s from the 1970s sometime. Bruce has provided quite a few names. Can anyone fill in the gaps?

Ken Jordan , Susan Jordan (nee Turner) Janice Souva (nee Luther) Kate Stuart , Bruce Padgham and Harriette Davies (Barnewall) who we lost 3 weeks ago

UPDATE: Carole Mackenzie, in consultation with Ken Jordan, her brother-in-law, identifies the people in the picture as : Front Row: Harriett Barnewall Davies, Kathryn (Kathy/Kate) Stuart, Janice Luther Souva, Susan Turner Jordan, Diane Elphic (spelling?)
Back Row: Ken Jordan, Rev. A.B. Moore - Moderator- United Church of Canada who joined the group for a weekend retreat, Bob Montieth, Bruce Padgham, Dave (not sure of last name).

Also, they believe this is a Kairos group rather than CGIT.

Sadly, as Bruce mentions, Harriette Davies (nee Barnewall) passed away February 19 in Chalk River, Ontario. Our condolences to her family and friends. Read the obituary here.

After sharing the photos of the closing of Chalmers in another blog post, I heard from Sherilyn Bell who is the granddaughter of Ernie May, who was in one of them. She didn’t think her grandmother, Maisie May, was in any of the pictures, but the name jogged my memory: We have this lectern at SouthWest that we still use that came to us from Chalmers. It was originally dedicated to Mrs. May Rand, Maisie’s mother (and Sherilyn’s great-grandmother), then it was re-dedicated in memory of Maisie as well. Sherilyn kindly shared a photo of “my precious grandmother, a true lady,” which I have added below.

As always, if anyone has pictures or stories to share from any of the United/Presbyterian/Methodist churches in Verdun, I would be delighted to share them here and in our newsletter.


Amy

Praying Through Lent in an almost Post-Pandemic Season

Lent 4

This week we reflect on words from Numbers 21: 4-9

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. 5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So, Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Dr. Elizabeth quotes:

“By this time in Lent, the romance of reflective contemplation is definitely over!  To make it to the end is going to take a bit of grit and grind, and a heaping dose of self-honesty”. 

Dr. Elizabeth continues “Do I really want to be the more “Gospel-centered” disciple of Jesus that promised God I’d try to be, back when the ashes were marked on my forehead?  Is the price too high?  Is the effort worth it to the world – let alone me? Does it make a difference in the grand scheme of things, or is it so much spiritual self-indulgence?”

“There is a paradox in the Christian journey that means we have to heft the weight of a cross, and travel further than the point of exhaustion before we discover that the burden is as light as grace, and the journey has brought us to a place of healing.” 


Prayer

Covenant keeper God,
We don’t want to see the fall out of our fearful small-heartedness.
We’d rather keep hidden from our eyes all the poisonous ways we inflict venom, our privilege, our sense of superiority, our selfishness, upon too much of the rest of the world.
Today you’re going to ask us to take a good look at our own folly.
You’re going to make us hold it up against the clear blue sky, like a snake on a stick.
But not to convict or condemn us, or shame us, but to heal us.
Amen

 
In peace, I share this fear and this healing journey with you.

Pastor Beryl, DLM

English
Français