Theology

There was a time in my life when I arrogantly decided that Psalm 23 was so overused that it had become a Hallmark card cliche. Then I realized it embodied a deep and profound call to seek justice. 

Here is my own paraphrase of the Psalm written as a prayer that attempts to highlight this beautiful call.

Shepherd me, Lord, through all my longings and wants. So much seems so broken, and without your shepherding, I am often left exhausted, drained of hope.

Good Friday is a day for the church to remember that, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it so well, ‘when Christ bids us ‘come’, he bids us ‘come and die’.  Despite all of our attempts to construe Jesus’ death as a comforting and comfortable way out of pain and suffering, the reality is – to steal a line from my friend and biblical scholar Andrew Rillera – “Jesus does not die instead of us.  Jesus dies ahead of us.”  We who embrace and are embraced by Jesus are invited to follow Jesus on the way of the cross.  Walking the way of the cross with Jesus is where we learn to suffer for a suff

I started a new job as an Art Teacher at a Juvenile Detention Center in August of last year. Prior to teaching, I volunteered at the facility through my church. As you can imagine teaching justice-involved youth comes with a unique set of challenges. I’m at the center of a lot more angst and less excitement than I ever was as a volunteer. I also know a lot more about the residents– now my students.  Their stories are more pronounced in their daily classroom behavior. It can be a hard thing to carry.  I can’t imagine how hard it is to live the stories. 

The Do Justice editor has invited me to contribute to “Do Justice” every three months, and this post marks the launch! This week I’m retiring from regular employment, and one of my post-employment goals is to live out Micah 6.8 more intentionally with my wife Evelyn in our local context here in Hamilton, ON:  “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

One thing I have learned as I prepare for this transition: seeking justice requires CPD oil.

When I worked in the corporate world, I asked one of my outdoorsy work friends if he attended church. His response was “nature is my church.”  I perceived he knew about church as he spoke in a church lingo sometime; however, he chooses not to go to a church as an adult. Since then I have met numerous persons who have abandoned conventional Christianity, including Indigenous people who have said “nature is my church.”

On the first Sunday of Advent, our pastor spoke on the first eighteen verses of the gospel of John. It has many intriguing references to light and encompasses creation, the new creation and the source of life.

I am a strong believer in the amazing and complex interconnectedness of our life here on earth. For that reason, I sometimes have a difficult time analysing the challenges of creation care without trying to see how it fits together with things like material wealth/poverty and racism.

I’m both a person with multiple disabilities, and a good worker. The problem with holding those two concepts in tension is my distinct lack of efficiency. I can do the things I’m skilled at regularly – in church contexts, I can pray, preach, receive and count offering, sing, and not only assist in but help to celebrate the Eucharist – but, when I do them, all those tasks are slower and more deliberate than they would be when done by able-bodied people. Moreover, all those tasks may have small pieces missing.

Recently, I had an opportunity to meditate on Luke 10:25-37, the passage on the Good Samaritan. Since I was commemorating the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I read it from the Indigenous people and white settlers' relational lens instead of the first century Samaritans and Jews relational lens. When I read it through this lens, the parable spoke so much truth to our current reality and through this blog, I am sharing three insights that I was able to glean.

Recently the vehicle I drive ran beyond the recommended service schedule for its mileage plan. This compromises the expected maintenance standards of the vehicle and a tests its durability and the comfort and safety it provides on the road. The delay was due to factors beyond my control and emergency calls where I had limited alternative options.  How often have you found yourself under difficult situations that lead to similar kinds of compromise on the resource entrusted in your care and responsibility?

“Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:16b-19)