At some point, will I stop being surprised by how the Holy Spirit works? I think not. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job, to show up in ways we could never have imagined, to place us in awe and a state of incredulity, our jaws dropping to the floor. What I’m talking about is how this Sunday is the second service in our series called “Sacred Space,” and how this Sunday we’re exploring the idea of the sacred space of the natural world, and how our text is about the sacredness of the

I was driving home from a meeting in Pike Bay on Tuesday evening, when Martha Aitkin called me. “Have you heard,” she said, “that there’s been a fire at the Brad Davis apartments?” “No, I have not,” I replied. “The folks are gathered at the Community Centre,” Martha said. “Everyone’s safe,” No injuries.” Thank goodness. The people who live at what most people just call “the apartments” are a stalwart bunch. Dislocated, having to leave their homes in a moment’s notice, and yet

Many thanks to everyone who filled in for me in any way while I was away last week. I had dear friends visiting from Pittsburgh, so I got to be tourists with them. We hiked, went on a boat tour, ate ice cream, and it was so much fun! It was also an opportunity to see my life and the community in which I live and work through my friends’ eyes, and wow, I am blessed. It was good to step away for a week. It’s good to be back. This Sunday falls exactly on National Indigenous Peop

The Pride flag is flying brightly above the entrance to Tobermory United Church. It will stay there for the month of June, its rainbow colours a visual symbol of what Jan Mac Donald’s hand-painted sign already communicates: All are welcome in this place. Tobermory United’s annual Pride service is something that we take seriously. Preparations for this year’s service have been happening over the past many weeks. It all began with a conversation that occurred at the Jeff Bird c

I just looked at the forecast for Tobermory. There appears to be sun and double-digit temperatures forecast for the upcoming week. Hallelujah! It still seems unusual not to find a weather alert, after so many days this winter with sometimes multiple alerts on the same day… The birds, the green, the flowers, it all seems somewhat miraculous. In fact, even though I’m not a birder, there have been birds of such beauty in my backyard this week that I had to find their names. It w

I almost always write the word Pentecost followed by an exclamation mark. It’s because it was just that kind of day. There Jesus’ followers are, having a meeting (this practice began early) when the Holy Spirit shows up with wind and tongues of fire! See, the exclamation mark is needed! Suddenly, everyone can understand one another, no matter the language. Suddenly, it is obvious that Jesus’ followers are to boldly take up his mission, though Jesus himself is no longer with t

Many, many thanks to all those who helped with the Spring Chicken BBQ on May 13, and especially to the 402 people who purchased dinners! When I tell folks that we served 400 dinners on Wednesday, if they are people who are not familiar with the process, they gasp. But for those who are familiar with the process, the ones who fill the sour cream containers or run the dinners out to the cars or sell tickets to everyone they know, it’s just what we do. Everyone does their job, a

Have you ever read about the origin of Mother’s Day? It is actually the brainchild of feminist social activist, author and poet Julia Ward Howe, back in 1870. The carnage of the American civil war was still fresh on everyone’s mind at that time, then the Franco-Prussian war began. Howe and many others had had enough of war, so Julia Ward Howe wrote the Mothers’ Day Proclamation, an appeal to women around the world to unite for peace. Believing that women had a duty to use pol

This Sunday, we celebrate Mental Health Sunday. This is a relatively new celebration on the liturgical calendar, but important, indeed. I have come to believe that mental health is like physical health, it ranges on a continuum on any given day for every person on the planet. Celebrating Mental Health Sunday, as the worship page on the United Church of Canada states, “is part of the church’s effort to create communities of radical belonging for all people, including those li

Has Spring actually arrived? Has it? There are daffodils blooming in Owen Sound. Not quite here yet, but at least it is now reasonable to believe that it’s a possibility! My goodness, Spring seems like an absolute miracle when it’s been such a long winter… It seems appropriate that we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday this Sunday, as lambs also are a sure sign of Spring. Did you know that the most-painted depiction of Jesus in the catacombs in Rome is of him carrying a lamb on h

Many thanks to all who filled in for me while I was away last week, I haven’t watched the service on Youtube yet, but I hear through the grapevine that Holy Humour Sunday was well celebrated! I was told one of the jokes today, and I’d include it here, but I never remember jokes, so I can’t. But, it was funny! This Sunday, we celebrate Earth Sunday, in honour of Earth Day, April 22. It’s so appropriate to celebrate Earth Day at this time of year. I’m not even a birder, but it

This is the week when it all begins… Palm Sunday on Sunday morning; an early celebration of Good Friday on Sunday evening, with the Community Easter Cantata Choir service, “In Calvary’s Shadow;” followed by an intimate service of foot washing and Communion on Maundy Thursday; and then a celebration of the miracle of resurrection on Easter Sunday! In this one week, as we accompany Jesus to the cross, it’s possible to feel a whole range of human emotions, from expectation, to t

Apparently “Jesus wept” is the shortest verse in the Bible – the King James version, anyways. This brief sentence appears in the account of the raising of Lazarus, which we will encounter on Sunday. In this account, Jesus is summoned because his friend Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha, has died. Upon coming to the place where Lazarus’ body has been put to rest, Jesus, surrounded by a weeping Mary and other friends, begins to weep too. This says a lot. It reinforces the ide

Sometimes the Holy Spirit just drops things into your lap – like the fact that this Sunday is International Women’s Day and the lectionary Gospel scripture just happens to be Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. There are so few accounts of women in the Bible, so I’m really glad that the lectionary served one of them up for us on this important day. Did you know that Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman is the longest sustained conversation that he h

The lectionary Gospel scriptures for the season of Lent are all about encounters -- Jesus having surprising encounters with people who are transformed because of it, and who become – overtly or covertly – his disciples. Sunday’s lectionary passage tells us of Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who visits Jesus late at night. The passage lends itself well to dramatic images – Nicodemus stealing silently down a dark street, a single candle burning in a window, a gentle but firm knock on a

A thousand thanks to Heather Munn and her amazing team for a stellar pancake supper last Tuesday. After so many years coordinating this endeavour, Heather knows what she’s doing, so feeding more than a hundred people pancakes, sausages, ham, homemade baked beans, devilled eggs and desserts went off without a hitch. The best part was hearing the blessed clamour in the Community Centre as folks chatted, visited and laughed. It’s been a long winter, and I think everyone was glad

Well, hello. I’m back. I have good news and bad news about my vacation time. We’ll start with the bad news: A three-day train trip from Toronto to Jasper, sadly, is not a good experience for an 85 year old with mobility issues (my mother). What started as a highly anticipated bucket-list experience – my mother, my sister and I travelling west by train – turned into a very difficult time for all of us, as my mother’s walker would not fit in the passageways of the train and she

Well, it’s been a week… One of those weeks where the weather dictates our activities, a week of cancelling, rescheduling, shovelling, shifting meetings to Zoom, but in the midst of all that, also gratitude. Gratitude for warm shelter, for the people who plow the roads and the ones who show up in emergencies even in a blizzard. The key to winter in Tobermory seems to be flexibility. As I said in a Zoom meeting on Thursday, “Blessed are the flexible.” We are in the middle of th

It’s a powerful question. Powerful now and powerful in the Gospel of John when Jesus asks it of two of John the Baptist’s disciples. The disciples answer, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” And so it begins, the teaching relationship that unfolded over three years and countless miles and the witnessing of miracles and the authorities always hovering in the background, ready to shut things down. A relationship that begins here and will end at the cross… Each of the Gospels has a

This Sunday, January 11, we celebrate Jesus’ baptism. The Revised Common Lectionary provides a quick shift. Just last week, Jesus was still a baby with the magi coming to offer gifts of frankincense, myrrh and gold. This week, he’s an adult, having grown up, been taught, and now ready to commit his life to the revelation of the kingdom of God. It’s interesting to think of those years that aren’t covered so much in the Bible. What was Jesus like as a child? How was his wisdom