Observer Articles

Tomorrow I leave Floradale

Tomorrow (August 31, 2016) is my last day as pastor of the Floradale Mennonite Church. I have served the church in Floradale for 25 years. In my time there, I have felt deeply loved and cared for by the congregation. They gave me three sabbaticals, so that I might improve myself as a pastor, and as a person. Over these 25 years, we have walked through some difficult times, and some very celebratory events as well.

How have I changed as a person and a pastor? This is a question I am asking myself, and it is hard to see in what ways I am different. You live with yourself everyday, and so change takes place over time, and since you wake up with yourself every morning, change is difficult to perceive.

I am a pastor, at least until tomorrow. So, one of things that I have had the honour of doing is to study the Bible. And I have gotten paid for it. I read the Bible, and then have time to reflect on it, and by Sunday, I am to preach to a congregation of 350, if they would all come to church on the same day. I love to preach, and have been affirmed in my style and content. I hope I have improved, but I do not know. I do not have any of my sermon notes, nor do I have a manuscript. All the paper goes into the recycling box after my sermon is delivered, and I do not save them on my computer. I have no completed sermons to keep anyway. A sermon is not a sermon until is delivered. You will have to ask people who have heard me preach, to tell me how I have changed.

I know I have a different understanding of the Bible than when I arrived here in Floradale. I did not think of the historical setting of the Bible before I started preaching almost 36 years ago. I now believe that the Bible was written by real people, to real communities about real-life situations. The Bible is about the raw soil of life. I do not think any of the Bible writers intended to write Scripture. Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, was developed over hundreds of years, and it was the communities of faith that decided what was Scripture. From the time, the writers wrote after Jesus’ death (around 33 C.E), it took the Church nearly 400 years to decide which letters, gospels would be in the Bible.

So, therefore, I carry Scripture more lightly. I do not want to use it as weapon against any one, ever. The Bible was written long ago, how can I think that I might know what it means, and how to know how to follow it today? I take it more seriously because I know my understanding is limited. Since I have read the Bible almost all my life, I tend to be boxed in. I “know” what it should mean. The thing that I try to do is actually read the text, and not to try find meaning in it from what I remember of it. I read it, so that I might know how to act.

I have traveled to Turkey and Greece in the last 12 years to explore the ancient world of the Apostle Paul (he is the guy who wrote the first letters to the church). It is on these trips that I discovered the Bible in new ways. The Bible has become more real to me, but I am less dogmatic about it.

One of the other things that I have learned is that all of us struggle with something in our life and faith. None of us are perfect. We all have disappointments, sadness’ and hard times to deal with in our lives. We are all in this life together.

Thank you to the Floradale Mennonite Church. You have been a wonderful place for us explore our faith together. God is not done with me, nor is God done with you. Enjoy the ride of faith. Thank you.

Fred
August 31, 2016

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I am on the Jesus Train Headed for the City of God

I grew up in town of Niagara-on-the Lake, before the Shaw Festival arrived. In the 1960’s the town was a sleepy place, where the town encouraged its residents to park in the middle of Queen Street, so it would make the town seem busier. Since the Shaw Festival came to the town, it has been transformed with many boutique shops, bed and breakfasts and tourists from all over the world.

Niagara was the first place I met God. God has always been there, but God was revealed to me in my childhood. God was all about place for me. There is a spot where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, and it seems the river is flowing in the wrong direction. There is also that spot at the end of the fourth hole (now the fifth hole) on the golf course, that on a clear day you can seen the skyline of Toronto.

Shirley and I returned to Niagara-on-the-Lake this past weekend. We met God again. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Virgil. The b and b’s in the Old Town were all full. We met a family from Ohio who were also staying there. I said to my wife, we are not going to talk politics, but the family brought it up. The younger man told us he carries a gun, to protect himself from the federal government. I could not imagine when he would determine when the government crossed the line, and who would he shoot? God was there in the discussion somewhere. The family was not religious.

We were walking in the Old Town, and came across a Fred Penner concert, Penner was on the CBC as a kid’s performer. He helped raise us, and our kids. The concert was full of kids and young parents. He sang familiar tunes, and it was great. The concert was a fundraiser for the community to raise money for a Syrian refugee family. The family has arrived and there were pictures of them having a picnic in one of the town parks. God was there for me in the concert, and is in the community as it welcomes the refugees into their homes. For me, God is about music and about justice. We encountered both at the Royal George Theatre. And Fred Penner signed his book for our grandson Levi, and the next one that we are expecting in December. God was there.

The reason we went to Niagara was to attend a Bruce Cockburn concert. It was an intimate outdoor venue at the Jackson-Triggs Winery. It is always great to have Bruce in the house. He started the concert with “Lovers in a Dangerous Time.“ He played mostly his old stuff like, “Pacing the Cage” and “Lord of the Starfields,“ and so it was a great evening. In the background, there were frogs also playing their own song. Bruce noted that frogs sing in a certain key throughout the world. Cool. He ended his concert with a new song. I think it is called “Jesus Train.“ The refrain went like this, “I am on the Jesus train, headed for the city of God.” Bruce has also had an interesting spiritual journey that comes out in his songs. God was there.

On Saturday morning, before we left for home, we watched the birds on the shore of Lake Ontario. Swallows, seagulls, cormorants, and terns were among swooping, diving, and talking birds that we experienced. Then there were the peaches, plums, grapes, nectarines that were being sold along the roadside. God can be seen throughout the creation. At least this is what I try to believe.

I was with my lovely wife, and I got to see Fred Penner, hear Bruce. Life does not get any better. I do not know why I have been so blessed. “I am on the Jesus train, headed for the city of God.“ I do not know where I am going, but I know who I am with, while here on this earth.

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Why go to church?

If you have never gone to church, what do you think happens there on a Sunday morning? If you have not gone to church for a few decades, do you imagine anything has changed over the years?
The local churches are having an outdoor service at Gibson Park at 10:30 this Sunday. We invite everyone to come out for the worship service. After we are done worshipping God, we will have time for conversation, coffee and some snack food. I think we expect that only church people will come to the service. It is a community event for those who experience and understand the church. If you have never gone to church, what would you want to happen there on this Sunday in Gibson? Maybe we should all just play on the playground equipment at Kate’s Kause. Or maybe we should talk about the things we deal with at work, or with our families, or real issues in our lives?

So, what will happen on Sunday If church has not been part of your experience, it would feel weird. We welcome everyone, we sing, we pray, we listen to a sermon and then we invite God to go with us into our week. It is important to me to meet with the people of God. I feel I am responsible to the rest of the church for my actions and attitudes. I am also responsible to the rest of the world for my actions and attitudes. If someone knows I go to church, they might watch my activities very closely. As they should. I should be no different in church as when I am at work, or when I am watching a Woolwich Minor hockey game.

I have been told that I am a mystic. I see and hear God in silence. I have been influenced by people outside the Mennonite tradition. I have had a Jesuit Catholic spiritual director who told me many times, that I really do not live by the grace of God. I am always trying to do the right things all the time. Henri Nouwen, a Catholic priest, has shown me grace in new ways. Frederick Buechner, a Presbyterian, has shown to me what God is telling me through my life story. I have done three, five and eight day silent retreats. Faith for me is never about logic; it all about mystery. So, I do not need the church as much as others.

This is precisely why I go every week. I need, want to be with them, and they might need me as well. If you have never gone to church, this is hard to explain. I do not need the church to relate to God, but I need them to help me experience God in different ways.

So, back to this Sunday’s service. To remind you, it starts at 10:30. You could stand in the woods if you want to observe us. You might want to stand on the sidewalk on First Street West. At the end of the service we are going to have free food. Come for the coffee and drinks. Ask the people who were at the service, did you meet God? Can you explain it to me, this God thing? What might be your other questions?

I am biased. I have gone to church all my life. I have never left the church. I have had my doubts, and crises of faith. Some of the bible makes no sense to me at all. But the community of God, the church, has always been my community. It has changed me and changed the world. Come out, and sing and pray with us on Sunday; or at least have coffee with us.

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The Church Needs to Find Room for Everyone

The Christian Church started soon after Christ was killed, around 35 A.D. After Jesus’ resurrection, he left to go back to heaven. Then, the disciples and others began to tell the story of Jesus to the world, inviting people to be part of a community that loves and accepts everyone. It was their orientation to life, because they believed that was the message of Jesus. No judgment, only love and compassion.

Where has the church gone wrong?  At the beginning of the church, it was mostly people from the Jewish tradition that saw God doing a new thing in Jesus. By the beginning of the second century, the Gentiles, Greeks and everyone else, who felt a loving acceptance into the Kingdom of God, began to push Jewish people out of the church. This might have been the start of the anti-Semitism that has been a terrible blot on the history of the church. So, the people that Jesus had intended to experience the love of God, turned the invitation around, to find no room for others. Everyone was invited to the Great Banquet, but we locked doors to some, who we thought should not sit down next to us at the table. We have sinned.

Around 312 A.D. (or C.E.) Constantine, the Emperor of the Roman Empire, legalized Christianity. He had become a Christian a little bit earlier in his life, and decided it was good for everyone. You had no choice in the matter. If you were born a citizen of the Empire, you were also a Christian. We are all about freedom of choice in our life now; we would never go for it. No one is going to tell me what to believe or where to go to worship, or not worship. Jesus’ community became the community of the Empire. Bishops were set up, and they answered not only to Christ, but also to the Emperor. Who do you think won most of the arguments?

Since the Reformation, the Protestants have divided into many hundreds of small groups. Mennonites have a long history of division within our small group. We emphasize peace, but we have often found it difficult to get along with each other. We say that we want to be more open, but often each of our conservative or liberal groups end up with more stringent entrance requirements.

We do not know what to do with people outside the box, of Christian faith and tradition. We go very quickly to who is in, and who is out. People want to belong in their communities. Why can we not welcome everybody to the community? Sometimes people ask me, “What does Floradale Mennonite believe?“ I think people ask me this because I am seen as the gatekeeper of the church. I am not going to decide who is able to enter the door. I relate to probably 350 people as pastor, and they are a diverse group of dynamic people, who are trying their best together, to live out Kingdom of God values. We are not a static group. We are at various places on the theological perspective.

But we want to be caring and compassionate people of God. We came together this week to surround a grieving husband, when he had to deal with the accidental death of his wife. We want to be loving to him at this difficult time, but we also want to extend that kind of love to everyone who comes in our door, and whom we meet every day.

We are not quite there yet. I am not yet there, as a pastor and a member of this community. But, it is what God, through Jesus, wants us to be. Be inspired to welcome all the world into the life of the church. Now, rather than tomorrow.

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Canon within the Canon

https://floramc.org/wp-admin/post.php?postCanon within the Canon

While I was studying in seminary (all through the 80’s), we were told about this concept of the “canon within the canon”. In theology, they call the entire Old and New Testaments (the holy books of Christianity) the “Canon”. I do not know why, but I suspect someone, probably a German theologian, whose name starts with a “B“. All great theologians are German, and their names begin with “B”, like Buber, Bultmann, Barth and Bonhoeffer.

So, the idea of a canon within a canon means that you try to find, in the Bible, the most essential meaning of life, or of God, or of Jesus Christ. The Bible is a complex book, written over a large span of time, with many writers trying to say what they believe is the truth about God or about life. I believe the writers were inspired by God to write down what they thought what was the meaning of life. There are no straight roads to reading, or interpreting the words we have in the Bible from all of these writers. There is history, fictional parables, poetry, personal letters to churches, and one book is like science fiction. With these many different styles of writing, and the many different periods that the words were written, it is not surprising that there is no coherent theology of God.

But, while in school, we were invited to explore and discover this “canon within the canon”. Some people say that the central idea is about covenant. We had one from Abraham (the father of Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths) then from Noah, then from Moses and then from Jeremiah. These are from the Old Testament, and then we have the covenant of Jesus Christ.

Others say that the canon is all about creation and our relationship to it. While others say that the overarching concept is discipleship. It is all about following the ideas, laws and rules, and living a faithful life. This is hard to be a unifying concept because we usually take different rules to live by.

Some also say, that it is all about the “grace” of God. We cannot live well enough to ever gain our own salvation, and God’s grace allows us this knowledge.  If I say to God “I believe” is it finished with God? If it is only about what I believe, then I am in charge of my own salvation?

While some would say, it is all about the words, the life and the activity of Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus the Christ. It is Jesus being human and Jesus being divine. We can understand Jesus as human, but the divine part is beyond my grasp.

Our vision at Floradale, where I serve as pastor, is to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind… and to love our neighbour as ourself. This comes from the Old Testament and from the words of Jesus in the New Testament.  I believe, and think, that it is a good way to live as individuals and as congregations. The first part is about worship of God, and the second part is about acting with justice, mercy and peace to all of the world. Even when you do not believe, the second part invites us to live with our neighbour in mind, in all the things that we do.

So, how do you boil down all that we find in the Bible into a short statement about belief and action? Is it all about you or about me or about God?  Christian Century magazine challenged its readers to write down the gospel in seven words. What seven words would do it for you? How about… God, through Jesus Christ, welcomes you anyhow (Martin C. Marty). What do you think?

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I am committed to peace

I am Committed to Peace

“For he (Jesus) is our peace, who has made two groups, one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. “The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2 verse 14.

My mother and father were refugees as children from the Ukraine. Their parents left to survive the famine and the violence that was happening in the Ukraine. My dad could never talk about the violent events that happened to his family. I lived in the Alsace region of France for six months in 1980’s. The mother of the farming family that I lived with for six months remembered the Nazi tanks that came over the border. A Mennonite minister from Alsace was conscripted into the army, but refused to load his gun. While at seminary, I read the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Daniel Berrigan, John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas, all pacifist theologians. Shirley and I worked in a refugee camp in Thailand for three years. The refugees that we worked alongside were fleeing the after effects of the Indochina War. For the most part, they were innocent civilians, but not all. Two Vietnamese brothers came through our camp, both soldiers. One said that he wanted to kill all those communists, while the other said there has been enough killing. We listened to Cambodian refugees talk about the horrors of living under the Khmer Rouge for almost four years. It seemed that no Cambodian family was intact. We left Thailand battered and shaken, after listening to the violence that was done by human beings to other human beings. During my time at Floradale, we have had many short-term mission projects to places of war and poverty, from Labrador, Toronto, to Texas, Guatemala and Costa Rica. I believe these kinds of experiences have continued to shape us into a community of peace and compassion. Our daughter, Hannah, works in human rights in Colombia. After over 40 years of civil war in Colombia, a peace treaty has been signed by all the warring factions. We pray for peace there. Our youngest son, Caleb, spent a year in Lebanon helping to facilitate aid to help refugees outside and inside of Syria. He worked for Mennonite Central Committee. It was a tough assignment.

All these life experiences have shaped my dedication to peace-keeping and peace-making. I accepted Jesus Christ as my guide to life and faith in and around 1977, and have walked this journey of peace since that time. Peace is never the easy way out. When everyone has a gun, then it is the more difficult decision to not have a gun. Jesus chose, near the end of his life, that he would go to the cross because he loved everyone and the world. He chose not to send down thousands of angels to destroy the military, political and religious authorities, when his followers that this would be a good idea. Jesus said, while on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. “He was praying that the God of all creation would find forgiveness to those who were killing the Son of God. War and violence are never the answer, and if we go to war, we have already lost our way.

If God is the most powerful being in all the universe, God does not need me to violently defend him anywhere or anytime. Violence on any side, is always counterproductive. This does not mean that I have not done violence. I had violent thoughts about the Khmer Rouge, and the recent coup attempt in Turkey has shown to me that I still have violent tendencies.

One of my favourite writers is Stanley Hauerwas. At the beginning of the Iraq War, he was the only person who said that the War was unjust, at the Society of Christian Ethics. He also said that he does not have a “pacifist bone in his body “. He is a sinner and as violent as any other person. He believes, as I do, in the peace and grace of God. As a Christian this is what I believe, and try to live out everyday. Go in peace, to love and serve our Lord.

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Jesus as Saviour and Lord

What does it mean for you/me to follow Jesus? As the Americans begin to think about who to follow, either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, in their election in November, what does it mean for Christians to follow Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Christ? Some of you who read this article are not Christians, so what would you say about Jesus. Who do you think we are following in our daily lives? You might say that from your perspective, we, as Christians, are not on the right track, and really need to repent our not following the life and teachings of Jesus.

So, who is Jesus? There are few sources about him outside the four biographies we have in the New Testament. This would not happen in the age of the internet. The biographers all have an agenda or a bias. They want me to believe that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. I am okay with this because none of us live without a bias of some kind. I am writing this article with a certain bias or perspective. You could not call me a human being if I did write a certain edge or bias.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth (both towns now in the Occupied West Bank). At around 30 he was baptized, and selected twelve men to follow him as students. They traveled very little but started in Galilee, just north of Jerusalem. Jesus told fictional stories (parables), re-interpreted Jewish law and history, did miracles and hung out with the poor, the lame and the powerful. About halfway through his three years, he decided it was time to head to Jerusalem to die. He told those 12 guys that he was going to die. In Jerusalem, he arrived in a parade, but by the end of the week, he was hanging on a cross, dead. He had a final meal with his friends, then was arrested that evening, put on trial by the morning, and killed by that afternoon.

Three days later, he resurrected from the dead, and was seen by his friends. He stayed for 40 more days, and from the top of a mountain, he went back up to heaven. Christians have awaited his return for about 2000 years. I think this a long time to wait, but maybe it is just me.

So, Jesus’ death is our way to salvation. He died, so we might have salvation forever. Jesus loved the world so much that he endured such great suffering as he died. If he would have lived longer and died in a nursing home, would he still be the Saviour of the World? I believe that Jesus is my/our/all of ours Saviour, but I have questions still. But I also believe that God is God, and God could have/ should have planned it another way. I am just saying.

Jesus as Lord is easy, but also very difficult. Jesus must lead all of my life. Those parables we have in the Bible are tough. They are all directed at me. The sermon on the mountain is even harder to live out. That sermon is in biography one, Matthew, in the fifth through seventh chapters. ”Love our enemies, do not worry about anything, and ask for anything and it will be given to you“, are some of the things it says. We must take the sayings and the life that Jesus led while he was on the earth, as seriously as he is the saviour of this world.

I can really only worry (oh, I am not to worry) about how I live with the world, and with all the people that I meet. I believe that rest is out of my hands, and feet and head and arms. This is what I believe about Jesus, how about you?

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Another Bombing in Istanbul

On June 6, 8 and 17, I flew through the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. About two weeks later, three suicide bombers blew up themselves and killed over 40 other people at that airport. The bombers were in the arrivals, departure and security areas of the airport when they triggered the explosives. I had been in all three areas where they were. I am not sure how I am feeling about that. On June 7th, I was 15 minutes away from a bomb that killed nine policemen, also in Istanbul. I am not sure how I am feeling about these two experiences.

The odds are still low about being killed in a terrorist attack. But, it is not about that. If I have faith in God, that God will be with me. God has not prevented others from being killed, so there are no guarantees about being saved from an attack or anything else for that matter. I do not have faith in God because I believe that I will be saved from all calamities. I do not only have faith to get into heaven either. I have faith that God is here with me, just as God was here with his son, Jesus of Nazareth. But faith is not certainty.

So, at this point, I will return to Turkey and Greece to lead tours exploring the world of Paul. Paul being that theologian, church planter, scholar and letter writer from the first century who led the early church. It would seem to me, if Paul could travel to dangerous places, and have faith, then I should also do it. I am not into being a martyr. I do not think that God, or Jesus or Paul demands that any of us be martyrs. We need to be faithful.

So, at this point, I will travel to Istanbul airport again, because if I do not go there, then the terrorists win, or at least I lose some part of my faith. Again, I am not wanting to be a martyr. During my recent trip to Turkey, I went by two other places where the terrorists had killed people. I do not want to live, or die, or travel in fear. I struggle with fears every day, so I want to meet them head-on. Maybe traveling to Turkey or other places is a real statement of my faith in God, Son and Holy Spirit.

And, if I do not return to Istanbul, what does it say to our Turkish partners. The guides and the bus drivers have to go to the airport every week to pick up tourists and business people. They will live their lives the same way they have done for many years. They have faith, and if I write to them that I think it is too dangerous to come to see the sights of Turkey next year, what am I saying about my faith. What would Paul have done? He continued to travel despite the risks.

And the terrorists are not Muslim. They are terrorists. For whatever the reasons, they have lost faith in themselves, in the future and they have no hope. Their faith is misguided, so they believe that their acts of violence will bring them into the presence of Allah or God. I cannot believe that about God at all. Ever.

Jesus of Nazareth was at risk all his life. He was a refugee as a baby. They had to move from his hometown because a violent leader was nearby. He was threatened with death after he spoke at his home church (synagogue). One of his best friends conspired to kill him. The religious leaders saw him as a threat. The political leaders did not understand him, but they had him beaten and eventually killed. Jesus’ life must have meaning for me, for my life in the here and now. Life is a dangerous occupation, and I will try to not live in fear. Istanbul, I will come to visit you again.

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Finding God in Summer

Well, it is officially the summer of 2016. What are you looking to do with your summer of July and August? Are you having an important vacation time with your family? You are going to go somewhere with your family for the very first time. Or maybe it will be the last time that you are going to vacation in the summer with all of your kids. This might mean going to the family cottage for a going away party. Or, this might be the first summer without your spouse, and you just want to stay at home, and relax.

Since summer is different in all of our experiences, it might offer to us a time to find God, re-engage with God, or think about what God is all about. The summer is generally slower at work, except for farming and some other jobs, more people are on vacation, and the weather usually is better for just lounging around. It is a different summer for me, as I slow down, and think what I might do next in my life.

You might want to read the Gospel of Luke. It is one of four biographies that we have about Jesus. It is the third book of the New Testament. Jesus is a storyteller, a miracle worker and is an advocate for the outsiders in his community. In the biography, Jesus tells parables. These are short fictional stories that Jesus tells us to point us toward the kingdom of God. He takes possible everyday events, and then puts a twist on them at the end. People in the book often get angry with Jesus, because, I think, they see themselves in the parable. Often, when I read them, I like to find others in them. What would it mean for me this summer, to read the parables and find myself in them? If I find myself in the story, I might, or will, have to change my life in some or many ways. We all like to see ourselves as the persecuted in the story, but what if I am really the powerful and arrogant and violent person in the parable? What if I have to forgive someone 70×7 as it says in one parable of Jesus’. I might find God in a new way, if I read these stories from a different set of glasses.

What if I look up to the clouds at least once a day? Recently, I believe, that God is showing me the clouds differently. It seems to me that I see them more now. When it is sunny, the light that shines onto the clouds and sky is amazing. It really is all about the light. If it really cloudy, the sun plays a different role in my seeing. The light shines more darkly. It is almost like in music when it is in the minor key. There is danger in that music, just like there is danger in the dark clouds. What might God show you in the clouds? You cannot control the clouds in any way. The clouds might flow east or west or in a circle. Take a few minutes this summer or a few hours a day, to look at the clouds. What might you learn about God, about the creation, and about yourself?

And, if you have the time, you might want to listen to someone’s story. Maybe your grandmother or your great uncle, or your spouse or your teenager daughter. Or, maybe a complete stranger that might be sitting on one of those benches in Gore Park. Or maybe you have never talked to the person that owns the cottage next to you. Or it might be on an airplane, as you travel to a place that is on your bucket list.

I invite you to find God, however you define that existence beyond ourselves, this summer. Listen to the Word, listen to the clouds and listen to each other. You will find something beyond yourself that will change you being. Enjoy the ride this summer.

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The Bible is Hard to Understand

Here at Floradale Mennonite, we are reading through the Bible this year. We are reading both the Old and New Testaments. As Christians, we share part of our holy writing tradition with Jewish and Muslim believers. We share the Noah, and Abraham and Moses parts of our history. The New Testament is specifically about the role of Jesus of Nazareth/Christ Jesus in our faith tradition and practice.

So, I have found the Old Testament hard to read, and harder to understand. There are many stories of the people of God who say that God told them to do violence to other people. There is one story, where a man goes out into the desert to pick up some sticks. He was told not to do it, and is killed by others because he picked a few sticks. What does this mean about God, and about me, and about anything? Does every story have to mean something, or can it be a story unto itself?

Though, in the Old Testament we also have the wisdom writings. I really like to read the Psalms. They seem to speak to every emotion in the human condition. Then there is the book of Proverbs that gives out small pockets of wisdom about the world. There is also the book called the Songs of Solomon. These are the most sexual parts of the Bible. The book talks about the relationship between a man and a woman, with the idea that it may mean also the relationship between God and the people of God. The people of God are referred to as a “she“. It is beautiful language between a woman and a man.

The New Testament is the book of Christian holy writings. There are the four Gospels, the many early church letters, one history book, and a kind of science fiction book to end the story. For me, it is much easier to read. All the writers are biased, so that I will come to believe in Jesus Christ as the Saviour and Lord of the world. As with all good writers, they invite you believe from their point of view. Margaret Atwood wants us to believe her view of how the world works, through her marvelous gift of fiction.

As a Christian, I believe, that I read the Bible to understand God better, and to act with justice and peace. This is a hard thing to do, for me. As a human, I get set in my ways, and so to open my mind to a new reading of the Bible is hard. The New Testament was written about 2000 years ago to specific concerns to real people about real life. How do I translate the words and meaning to my life today? At times, it is an impossible task.  And when we open it up for meaning to the other 300 people at Floradale, how do we come to an agreement?

When I am reading through the Bible this year, I am looking for passages that speak to my soul. I am looking for words and sentences that I can say, “YES” I want to know what to do with my life. I want to a faithful follower of God. The words of Jesus of Nazareth seem to be my guide. There are some hard sayings, like “sell everything you have and give it to the poor”, or “it is harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom than it is for an elephant go through the eye of the needle“ or “unless you become like a child, you will not enter the kingdom of God.“

What words of Jesus, speak to your life of belief and activity? For me, I am committed to walking with the Bible, so that I might act and believe that I am following the way of Jesus Christ, even when it is hard to understand.

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