Note from Nora: We are in God’s presence

October 30, 2020 We are over seven months into the pandemic lockdown. This is the longest I have gone in my life without entering a church building. I suspect that this is true of many of us. We have kept on worshipping, but in different ways. The electronic tools we have today have given us options. Worship has been possible. Community has continued… and sometimes even grown. Those of us not back in our church buildings look forward to being back, but maybe we will see our buildings in new ways too. Maybe we will broaden our view of what church looks like. Many people are speaking these days of discovering anew, the beauty of the world outside our doors. When I am out with the dogs or on my runs, I find that the landscapes (and I am back in the landscape familiar from my childhood) let me shift away from focused thoughts and open up to a sense of deeper connection.   I love the Celtic concept of “thin places”, the idea that there are places where the earthly setting – whether so majestic or so bare – lets us feel closer to the Eternal. Sometimes they are described as places where the space between earth and heaven collapses. You don’t have to be on a Scottish moor or a mountain top to be in a thin place. I believe that thin places can be found where each of us lives, wherever we can set aside the things that distract us from the God’s presence. I have been thinking recently of a conversation that my sister and I had many years ago, one that I have thought of many times since. She was excited about a workshop she had taken, and shared with me what she had learned. The way I have always remembered it is that when you are in a time of turmoil or uncertainty or just a time that is overly busy, you can find peace by going, in your mind, to a place you have been where you felt at peace. Take the time to let your mind take you to that place, that cathedral, that sanctuary, where you felt the grandeur of God or felt at one with the earth, and rest there for a bit. You might be in the middle of a big city but you can go in your mind to that place in the forest where the trees grow so tall and where you sat amongst the flickering shadows of the light filtering through the branches. You might be in the midst of an impossibly frustrating piece of work, but you can take a moment to go to that place by the river where you watched the water flow past and felt your spirit renewed. Or maybe the place your mind takes you to is that moment on the lake just at sunset when you set down your paddle to lose yourself in the shimmering colour of sky and water.   During these days of pandemic church closures, maybe you will go in your mind to the actual cathedral, the sanctuary, the church that you call home, and feel yourself sitting in the pew, your head bowed as you remember the sense of being part of a congregation joining together in prayer to the eternal and mysterious one that we call God. We will be back in our buildings, and we will be so happy to worship there some day without restrictions. But we can be grateful for being reminded in this pandemic time that we can feel the presence of God wherever we are. God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. Blessings, Nora

Note from Nora: We give thanks.

October 9, 2020 Fall is in the air these days. In this part of southern Ontario the leaves are changing but not yet at their peak. The weather seems to shift several times a day, the winds are gusty, and the apples, squash, and pumpkins are all ready to eat. In other parts of the country the season is more advanced... I know from my friends in Nunavut that the berry picking is pretty much done because the snow has arrived.     There is a predictability about the change of seasons that is especially welcome this year, when so much of what we are experiencing is not predictable. We didn’t expect to be experiencing life in a pandemic. We didn’t expect to be celebrating Thanksgiving without getting together with groups of friends and family. We kept thinking that this will all be over soon… and now that “soon” has long past we realize that we don’t know when it will be “over” or actually what things will be like when that time comes. And yet… we give thanks.   Thanks for the winds and erratic weather and for the yellow, orange, and red leaves that tell us a new season has arrived, as it always does at this time of year. Thanks for our communities of faith that gather for worship and connection through the amazing electronic tools we have… and for the ministers who lead them. Thanks for those who work to provide the essential services that the rest of us depend on. Thanks for the opportunities that the months of social isolation have given for many of us to share more time with those in our own households, and perhaps to pause and think about the things that give life value. Thanks for the small things that people do for one another in this time, to offer something special or to reach out to someone who is alone. Thanks for the opportunity we have through Mission & Service to share with those whose needs are greater than our own. Thanks for the leaders in government and the public health officials who have been working so hard to bring in measures to protect the safety of Canadians and see us through this uncertain time. Thanks for the funny moments that make us laugh in the midst of it all. Thanks for good books and streamed movies and yes, even for video games. Thanks for long walks (especially with dogs). Thanks for a special meal some time this weekend, even if it is shared around a smaller table. We give thanks!   O give thanks to the LORD, who is good, and whose steadfast love endures forever. May God bless you and yours and may you find joy at this Thanksgiving time. Blessings, Nora   Nora Sanders is General Secretary of The United Church of Canada. Subscribe to the General Secretary's letter, "Note from Nora."

Note from Nora: The unknowable mystery we call God.

 

September 25, 2020   Walking the dogs early on a windy morning, I look up and see about twenty-five large birds gliding in big circles without moving their wings as they ride gracefully on the air currents. Such a beautiful sight.   On the ground, turkey vultures are far from beautiful. They are big, ungainly, almost menacing looking birds. Even less attractive when they are observed on the ground feasting on roadkill. You would never recognize them as the ones who soar so gracefully high in the air.   Appearances aside, turkey vultures play a beautiful role in the world. They get their sustenance by feasting on the carcasses of animals that have already died. Their food is what would otherwise go to waste. They are true environmentalists. We are in the midst of Creation Time in our liturgical calendar, a time to both celebrate the natural world that God has given us, and to speak out about the way that humankind is damaging our precious planet. When I was growing up, my parents and many of their closest friends were members of both The United Church of Canada and the local Field Naturalist Club. Their faith was interwoven with the way that they lived and participated in the world. I was fortunate to have that example growing up. I grew up thinking it was normal… and actually somewhat boring. Now I wish it was normal. I no longer think it is boring. It is a common thing in our church, and I think in society generally, that many of us feel close to God when we are out in the natural world. We find moments of peace, of power, of beauty, awe, and even of challenge… All of these, and more, give us a sense of the unknowable mystery that we call God. Some see the natural disasters that seem to occur so frequently today—raging fires, melting glaciers, hurricanes and typhoons—as acts of God to punish the world for our sinful ways. I see them as evidence of how we have betrayed the sacred gifts we have been given by God. Evidence of God’s pain at the state of our world. As I write I am sitting on my front porch, which has been my office, as well as our dining table, all summer. As the days get cooler, I sometimes have to move inside these days. As fall drifts towards winter, the porch will be left vacant for a few months. From this vantage point, I feel the breeze off Lake Erie and hear the sound of the waves on the shore down below, and I remember these words from Psalm 24: "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters."   Blessings, Nora   Nora Sanders is General Secretary of The United Church of Canada.

Note from Nora: Looking back, moving forward

 

September 11, 2020   The Wednesday morning chapel services are one of the things I have treasured in my time at the General Council Office. Different staff colleagues, or sometimes visitors from elsewhere in our church or ecumenical partners, take turns leading worship. Each week is a little bit different, and each chapel service is nourishing to the soul. Since our office has been closed because of the COVID-19 restrictions, we have been gathering weekly by Zoom, and like the rest of the church, we have adapted to worshipping electronically. Although normally we don’t have the chapel services over the summer, this year we continued straight through. It has been an important point of connection for us during this summer when we have been unable to be together in person in the office. This week, something unexpected happened with our chapel service… at least for four of us. A new Zoom link had been posted but not all of us saw the posting. So there we were, the four of us, initially waiting for the others – including the worship leader – to sign on, and then wondering for a few minutes about what to do, as someone tried unsuccessfully to contact the worship leader. After a little time we located this week’s lectionary readings, chose the one from Romans (14:1-12), shared rich time together using the Lectio Divina process (or some approximation of it), and finished with prayer. We were four who had never sat together, just the four of us, before, and yet that brief time of sharing our thoughts about a piece of scripture felt like such a wonderful blessing. Such a good reminder of how simple it can be to worship and deepen our faith together. Was it coincidence that our chapel theme last week was, “Where two or three are gathered, I am there...?" Maybe I am just getting sentimental. These COVID times can be anxious times, but I am also finding that they are times for deep appreciation of small joys. The sharp taste of fresh blueberries, the warmth of a dog lying by my feet, a brief outdoor visit with a cousin… when I stop to notice, there are so many things to be grateful for.   And of course it is natural to get sentimental when preparing to retire. It was such good news when the Executive approved the appointment of Michael Blair as my successor as General Secretary. He brings great vision and wisdom to the role, and more importantly, love of God and of our church. Now that Michael has been appointed, I have an actual retirement date – the end of October – and the transition has begun. In these days, I find myself noting the many things that I have enjoyed so much while in this role, things like Wednesday chapels and time together with colleagues. Blessings, Nora   Nora Sanders is General Secretary of The United Church of Canada.

Note from Nora: Where are you finding joy this summer?

August 7, 2020   Just before 5:30 on Monday morning, in the pitch dark, my son and his partner headed out of our driveway with the canoe on the roof of the car and their camping gear carefully stowed. I am thinking about them now, paddling between campsites in Algonquin Park. I am worrying about all the normal things you worry about with a camping trip this time of year. Will they get some good weather after the wind and rain we have had? Did they take enough food? Warm enough jackets? Were the portages too challenging? Will they remember to bring the paddles home this year? It feels good to worry about the normal things. Not much has been normal this year. It was also good to have them planning for this trip over the past weeks, carefully plotting the route and the menu and organizing the gear. This summer canoe trip has become an annual tradition, so the planning and preparation were not something new… but that was part of the joy of it this year. In a year when the usual visits with family from the States cannot happen, and so many summertime activities are restricted in one way or another, the camping trip could still happen. I so look forward to hearing the news of all the adventures they are having… and even to the big appetites, damp gear, and loads of laundry that come home later this week. I wonder what things you are finding joy in this summer. What things have NOT been cancelled? What things have you had time for that you sometimes have been too busy for? What have you found time to appreciate in new ways this year? Are there habits that you have continued, or new ones that you have begun, that are helping these times feel “normal”? Is there particular wisdom from scripture that you turn to in these times? Here is a passage that I share with you, from 1 Peter 5: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you… And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you." Peace and grace to you, in all that is normal, and all that is new, this summer. Find some fun and share some fun. Blessings, Nora Nora Sanders is General Secretary of The United Church of Canada. Subscribe to the General Secretary's letter, "Note from Nora." Share Tweet Forward to a Friend Subscribe This message has been sent to subscribers to the General Secretary's Letter, "Note from Nora."

Copyright © 2020 The United Church of Canada. You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to a United Church of Canada e-newsletter. Our mailing address is: The United Church of Canada 3250 Bloor Street West Toronto, Ontario M8X 2Y4 Canada

Note from Nora: Glimpses of God's Kingdom

July 24, 2020   This week’s lectionary passage from Matthew offers several different examples of what the kingdom of heaven is like. The tiny seed that grows into a tree. The yeast that expands the grain to create bread. The treasure in a field or the one pearl that are so precious that they are worth exchanging for everything else that one owns. The net that catches the fish that are then sorted into the good and the bad. These images give us much to ponder, and yet any one of them seems incomplete, inadequate. They are glimpses of what we seek to understand, even as it is beyond our comprehension. I don’t read the range of images that Jesus offers here as a complete list, but as an invitation to gain insight through these, and through others that we see around us in the world that we live in. I hear this passage as an invitation to stretch our imagination and our understanding, not to confine it. There may be a glimpse of the kingdom of God in the creative expansiveness of what it means to be church that has emerged so quickly and so forcefully since the COVID-19 pandemic intervened to make so many of our accustomed ways impossible. Surely learning new ways to experience our relationship with God deepens our understanding of the complexity of God’s kingdom (or, as some prefer, “kindom”). And opening virtual doors rather than the big oak doors of many of our beautiful edifices seems to be inviting to some who for whatever reasons may not have felt welcome before. Maybe another way we see God’s kingdom emerging is in all the efforts to acknowledge and work to eliminate racism in our church and our society. As August 1 approaches, may I draw your attention to the United Against Racism website, created by members of our church to promote understanding of the significance of that date as Emancipation Day, in recognition of the British Commonwealth Emancipation Act of August 1, 1834, which formally abolished slavery in Canada. If you want a way of publicly supporting this work, you can download a logo to be made into an iron-on transfer and make your own t-shirt for August 1. Emancipation Day may not be well known across Canada, but Owen Sound, here in Ontario, hosts the longest continuously run Emancipation Picnic in North America. (I  hope this year will still count, since their events have been moved to a virtual format in respect of COVID-19 requirements.) The British Methodist Episcopal Church, which is part of the Canadian Council of Churches table with us, provided a strong base to the early settlers in that area. I might not have known about the Owen Sound event except that my neighbour, whose late husband was descended from slaves who came to Canada on the Underground Railroad, has made the pilgrimage there with her children and grandchildren for many years.   A plate belonging to my neighbour I wonder where you are seeing tiny seeds grow into big plants, or yeast expand the flour it is kneaded together with. Where do you see the kingdom of God emerging these days? Blessings, Nora Nora Sanders is General Secretary of The United Church of Canada. Subscribe to the General Secretary's letter, "Note from Nora." Share Tweet Forward to a Friend Subscribe This message has been sent to subscribers to the General Secretary's Letter, "Note from Nora."

Copyright © 2020 The United Church of Canada. You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to a United Church of Canada e-newsletter. Our mailing address is: The United Church of Canada 3250 Bloor Street West Toronto, Ontario M8X 2Y4 Canada

Note from Nora: A Time for Listening

June 26, 2020   Some people have questioned the phrase, Black Lives Matter with the retort, “all lives matter.” But that misses the point. The need is to proclaim what is not apparent in the way our society works. The way our society works reflects a reality that White people’s lives matter the most. That White people are the norm. We might feel inclined to defend the principles of our democracy and our justice system, which lift up fairness and equality to all. Well, except maybe those who fall under the application of the Indian Act. But it isn’t enough to look at the intent: full analysis requires looking at the outcomes too. To mention just a couple of statistics: 27% of Black children live in low-income situations, compared to 14% for the rest of the population. And incarceration rates are significantly higher, with Black people making up 8.6% of prison inmates while they are only 3% of the overall population. The statistical imbalances are also there for Indigenous Canadians. Our journey towards reconciliation in Canada reflects a different – but in some ways similar – need to address a colonial past that has left many biases built into our systems of government, of justice, of education… and yes, even of church. A whole set of systems that have benefited White people, whether we knew it or not, has at the same time, disadvantaged others. What does this mean for us as Christians? Isn’t it obvious? We follow Jesus, who saw through the false distinctions of the social norms of his time, and lifted up the essential humanity – and godliness – of everyone. We profess to a faith based on compassion, on the simple direction that we are to love others as ourselves. When we fail to recognize that our acceptance of inequality in our society, of inequities in our society, is a form of racism, we fail to live up to our basic Christian commitments. These days the social isolation requirements of the pandemic have most of us living very insular lives. We hardly see anyone beyond our own households. Hard as this is for everyone, the reality is that the impacts of COVID-19 are not evenly distributed across all racial groups. Nothing in the pandemic response singled out racial differences, but the differences are there in the results. Although the general statistical reporting on the pandemic in Canada has not included a race based component, analysis of the Toronto neighbourhoods most affected by COVID-19 shows that these are also the neighbourhoods with a greater proportion of Black residents. It’s a good example of how pre-existing social inequities provide the foundation for even greater disparities in times of crisis. Many people may feel overwhelmed by the weight of all this, and be wondering what they can offer that would make a difference. This isn’t a time when everyone needs to have all the answers. It may be that the best approach is to begin by listening, by caring, by hearing what is asked for. If you haven’t yet seen the worship service led by the Black Clergy Network of our church recently, I recommend checking it out on YouTube as a good place to start your listening. We also need to act, in big ways and small, but for those of us whose life experiences have not included being the target of anti-Black racism or any form of racism, we need to bring an element of humility into our impulse to name the solutions. A colleague shared a video that I thought offered that reminder quite graciously, which I have linked to below, in case you want to watch it too. Peace and grace to you. Nora Nora Sanders is General Secretary of The United Church of Canada. Subscribe to the General Secretary's letter, "Note from Nora." 'There is a Time for Silence' by Gwen Reiser Share Tweet Forward to a Friend Subscribe This message has been sent to subscribers to the General Secretary's Letter, "Note from Nora."

Copyright © 2020 The United Church of Canada. You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to a United Church of Canada e-newsletter. Our mailing address is: The United Church of Canada 3250 Bloor Street West Toronto, Ontario M8X 2Y4 Canada

Note from Nora: Celebrating the 95th Anniversary of the United Church in times of change

June 10, 2020   Happy anniversary to all of us in The United Church of Canada. Our church is 95 years old today! Do you wonder, like me, what those founders from 1925 would make of our church – and our world – today? So much that we take for granted would seem completely strange to them. On the other hand, so much of the way we are living today would have seemed completely strange to all of us just a few months ago. At the beginning of this year we would have shaken our heads in disbelief if someone what tried to tell us some of the things that we accept as part of our reality during this COVID-19 pandemic time. But here we are, living in a changed world. How much is changed for good, and how much is changed only temporarily, we don’t know. There is a lot we don’t know. It is an unprecedented time. Unprecedented in the lifetime of anyone living today, and actually a unique time in all of history. There has never been a time exactly like this, and we have been challenged to figure out how we are to live in this time. And yet change itself is not unique to this time. The current changes have been unusually rapid, but change itself is a constant in all times. We carry the stories of scripture with us through our lives, and yet we encounter them differently as we move through different phases of life. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus sends out the disciples, telling them (and us) to travel light. Not to take along a lot of baggage that could encumber or distract them. Today we hear these words in the context of a time when we can’t travel at all. We are told to stay home and not do any visiting.  Perhaps our very circumstances provide an opportunity – or actually force us – to examine what baggage we had assumed was essential, but was actually more of a burden. Or a distraction. What have we been carrying that was actually getting in the way of our connection with others? We have learned a lot in the past couple of months about how to go out into the world while staying in our own homes. Some of the those attending online worship services across our church are people who had not been worshipping in a church building for years… Or perhaps ever. [An anti-racism demonstration in Montreal. Photo: Canadian Press Images Credit: Graham Hughes] As we celebrate this 95th anniversary of the United Church, COVID-19 is part of our reality, and so is the turmoil about racism that has dominated the news media and social media since the death of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis. That incident occurred in the United States but it is painfully clear that anti-Black racism is very much part of our reality in Canada too, and part of our beloved United Church of Canada. In the same passage from Matthew that is part of our lectionary for this week, Jesus directs, “As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.'” It is a bit hard to think about proclaiming good news right now. In the midst of the anger and pain and fear and hatred and struggle… the kingdom of heaven does not feel near. Right at this moment, the Kingdom feels very far away. So much of our faith, and our lives of faith, rests in paradox. Things that stretch us. Things that go beyond rational understanding. Things that are hard to believe. I suppose that in times when the Kingdom of Heaven feels near, when its closeness is evident to all, there would be no need to proclaim it. One of the paradoxes of our faith may be that the very times when God feels furthest from us are actually the times when God is right here, here with us, here to guide us and accompany us through our anger and sorrow and fear. And maybe, too, these are the times when people most need to hear the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. On this day, as we celebrate the 95th anniversary of The United Church of Canada, I have been thinking of those founders back in 1925 and wondering what they would have made of the world that we face today. I don’t know what they would have made of going to church while sitting home in front of our electronic screens. I don’t know what they would have said about the racial tensions exploding across North America; possibly things that would make us cringe today. And yet I believe that they created this church as a place that would nurture coming generations in a courageous faith, a compassionate faith, to share in our times, the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven is near! Blessings, Nora Nora Sanders is General Secretary of The United Church of Canada. Subscribe to the General Secretary's letter, "Note from Nora."   Share Tweet Forward to a Friend Subscribe This message has been sent to subscribers to the General Secretary's Letter, "Note from Nora."

Copyright © 2020 The United Church of Canada. You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to a United Church of Canada e-newsletter. Our mailing address is: The United Church of Canada 3250 Bloor Street West Toronto, Ontario M8X 2Y4 Canada