Bent

Have you ever had the occasion to step over or walk around someone sitting, lying, or sleeping on the sidewalk in a North American city?  Perhaps the person was panhandling, maybe sitting with a coffee cup asking for change.  How did you react?  If you were in Canada, did you reach in your pocket or purse for a loonie or toonie?  Or did you look the other way and hurry on by?  Did you wonder who these people are and how they got to such a state?  Did you assume they had chosen the street life because “There must have been an alternative for them some where!"  Perhaps you muttered something to yourself or someone else about “Why don’t they just get a job!”

At one time or another over the years, I confess I have done most of those things.  On my better days, I have had enough compassion to suspend the questions or judgment and simply give a little help.  At other times the questions or doubts have won out and I have looked or walked the other way.  Sometimes I have even felt afraid, not because the homeless person was menacing (which seldom happens), but because the situation was strange to me and beyond my comfort zone.  I have personally witnessed homelessness in at least four cities; Toronto, New York, Miami, and even my lovely San Diego, in each case with people literally sleeping on the sidewalk.  I must tell you that, of all of those, Toronto in January felt the most desperate with the mercury plummeting to dangerous levels on bitterly cold winter nights.

In all the times I have encountered homelessness and street begging, one thing I have never done, and probably never even considered, is to take the time to make the acquaintance of the street person and get to know them.  But that is exactly the strategy of Toronto street worker, Tim Huff as described in his 2008 book Bent Hope: A Street Journal published by Castle Quay Books.  Huff invests the hours, days, weeks, and often months it frequently takes before the person is able to trust him enough to let him in. 

The experiences chronicled in this little book provide a brief glimpse into Huff’s daily encounters with the homeless.  The author works with youth, so most of those he introduces us to are young; often in their mid-teens.  It is both enlightening and chilling to learn exactly what their former life was like that made this desperate and dangerous existence preferable.

One might expect stories of homelessness to be depressing.  While it is true that many of the stories do not have a happy ending, the overall impression one receives from reading this little book is one of hope; albeit a hope that is often "bent" just as the title implies.  Yet hope is real, and sometimes Huff’s nights of listening and talking result in new beginnings and lives saved.

I encourage you to find and read this little book, available here from Amazon.  It will warm your heart and bring you hope.  What's more, you will never look at homeless people the same again.

Posted by Carman

Action

At the invitation of Kris Judd, a number of people in our mission centre and beyond have adopted the practice of “dwelling in the word” of selected passages of scripture. Each day for a month, we read the designated verses and listen to discern their voice in our lives. The scriptural selection for June is from Doctrine and Covenants 163:1-4.

As I ponder this document this morning, I am struck by how many action words are contained within its verses; in fact the text is a virtual call to action. Here is a partial list of the verbs this selection contains.

Discern
Embrace
Discover
Become
Go
Come
Receive
Follow
Share
Restore
Create
Strive
Challenge
Pursue
Be alert
Open
Awaken
Equip
Prepare

Significantly, all these imperatives and more are contained in only the first four verses!

From the time this seminal document was given to our community four years ago, I have had the sense that it has the potential to transform the church. That earth-shaking potential is dependent, however, on our willingness to live within its images, discern its call to us, and invest ourselves in its invitation. Only if we are willing to do so can we discern and embrace its full meaning. Only in this way can we discover the potential of its powerful inspiration.

We are called to action, and that action begins with contemplation. What is the Spirit's prompting to you?

Posted by Carman

Wait

I recently spent an extended time on "Hold" waiting to be connected to the order desk. So naturally I used the time to think about a potential "good word."

"Please wait!" There's an instruction that generally creates some annoyance or displeasure of sorts. And yet, it's also something that is a very big part of our lives. We need to learn very young how to wait. Of course, the wait time until our third or fourth birthday or the wait time until our fifth or sixth Christmas feels quite different from the wait time we experience as adults.

Our extended family is just now awaiting the birth of a new baby. It's an exciting time, not without a tinge of anxiety, for health and safety. But we also wait in faith that all will be well for this new family about to enter a whole new phase of their life.

Much waiting time is spent in places created for the purpose. And persons are given particular wait staff designations. Of course I'd much rather be waiting for my order of pad thai than sitting in most waiting rooms I'm familiar with. Maybe it's just waiting in line to make a deposit, pick up a new license, pay for my groceries.

I've been reading a book for awhile. It's not one of those front-to-back hurry-up books; it's one to pick up and taste a couple of pages over an extended time. The title is When the Heart Waits. Author Sue Monk Kidd has had an interesting faith journey, and like many of us, has experienced some kinks in her path. One thing she's learned is the need, sometimes, to just wait for what comes next.

She speaks of waiting time as critical to spiritual transformation, a necessary pause to allow a relationship with God to deepen and grow. She acknowledges the impatience and the anxiety that very often accompany the wait, but urges her reader not to skip ahead-- to jump the queue as they may want to do.

Scriptures are full of admonitions about waiting on the Lord. So many in fact that I'm not going to give you a reference. I suggest you Google the phrase and see what finds you. If you're like me, one will resonate with where you are today. If you'd like to share, we'd be happy to hear where you are just now in your waiting.

Posted by Marion

Ideas

One of the perks of my job comes after evening meetings when I find myself driving home sometime after nine o'clock listening to CBC's Ideas radio program. I've been listening to Ideas for years and years and have come to appreciate the eclectic range of topics discussed there. If it does nothing else, Ideas offers many interesting or unusual facts to be injected into some future conversation.

But today, I'm considering the idea of ideas. Where do ideas come from? What is the spark of a truly new idea? How do visionary or imaginative people tap into that creative force that engenders a brand new thought?

You've likely heard the quotation: if you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you've always got.

I'm amazed at the number of folks I'm meeting or hearing from across our Mission who are actively seeking out new ideas, looking for new solutions to problems or challenges they've become aware of in their lives, or in their congregations. Maybe it's the ratcheting up of camp and reunion planning that has brought this notion to the fore, but I see it in other areas as well.

You've heard about Fired Up! leadership team who are trying very hard to make themselves into a congregation like no other. Not in negative or critical ways, but in creative and inspiring ways. They're looking for the ideas that will draw people into a new community where they can encounter a God-experience in new friendships, in opportunities for service and Spirit-led explorations. They expect to be surprised. They want to remain open to what comes. And they do expect new ideas to happen for them.

What are the challenges facing you? How do you get your best ideas? Do you have a story to share that we're waiting to hear?

Vision

The genius who conceived the idea of Walt Disney World in Florida was Walt Disney himself. Unfortunately, Walt died long before the park was completed. He never saw this dream come true.

And yet, in another sense, he did see it. In fact, he could “see” it when there was nothing there to see. I am guessing that before he even committed to the project, he could see the whole thing in his mind’s eye. As he developed the plans and blue prints, he could envision every detail of how the park would look and work. His was the genius behind the plan, and it was this vision that allowed it to happen. That was Disney’s vision, and his vision inspired his leadership and creative genius.

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Rick Warren always says, “Where there is no vision, the people move to another parish!”

Vision is a powerful and wonderful thing, yet vision is just imagination blessed with intention. Every child is born with imagination. We could all see great possibilities when we were young, and the visionaries among us still can. A leader is merely one who says, “I can see it, and we can do it!”

Some congregations are dying for lack of vision but it doesn’t have to be that way. We can envision and create a different reality. Which future can you see?

Instilled

“The challenges and opportunities are momentous. Will you remain hesitant in the shadows of your fears, insecurities, and competing loyalties? Or will you move forward in the light of your divinely instilled call and vision?” (January 17, 2010 Counsel to the Church, verse 9e)


There is something very encouraging in the last sentence of the above quote; “Or will you move forward in the light of your divinely instilled call and vision?”

For me, a vision of greatness for our congregations and for Canada East Mission is never really a problem. Sensing who we are called to be and what we need to do is not difficult. Ideas often bubble up freely, and it is easy for me to feel inspired by the excitement of the challenge. But still, there is always the nagging wonder if this is really the right path. Call it self-doubt or sober second thought, but I always have to ask myself, is this really what God would have us do, or is this just me?

Don’t misunderstand, I firmly believe this kind of self-questioning is a good thing, and getting feedback or support from others is critically important. One does not want to be deluded with arrogance or carried away with ideas that are misguided. Careful examination of one’s ideas along with thoughtful and prayerful reflection is time very well spent. Still, the doubts often remain.

Having spent time over the past couple of weeks in careful reflection on the words of Counsel to the Church (as you probably have), I have come to value a great many of its words and phrases. It was not until yesterday, however, that the full impact of this particular quotation hit me. Your divinely instilled call and vision...are You talking to me? Can we really take this personally?

I can readily attest to the fact that the challenges before us are enormous, and that the opportunities are equally as great. In fact, that enormity is the very reason for my hesitation. I do not want to ask the people of our mission to spend enormous energy and considerable funds to chase a vision that is not do-able. And yet it is do-able! Further, I firmly believe it is at least part of what we are called to do.

We simply must trust that God is with us. It is easy to say, but not always easy to do. It is, of course, what the Scriptures have always taught us, and yet it is still so easy to lose that confidence.

I find great comfort and encouragement in the counsel to “move forward in your divinely instilled call and vision.

Posted by Carman