Merry Christmas from Guyana

Merry Christmas from Vivian & Eric in Guyana

[Shots on the street are from 24 December; we worshiped at St. Thomas, LochAber on 25 December]

God bless us, everyone.

 My son, Christopher, was the only person I knew who had actually read Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  I am happy to announce that I, too, have now read it.  The story is familiar to nearly everyone, since it has been adapted to film with such persons as Jim Carrey and Patrick Stewart taking the lead role,as well as a bunch of British guys I can't name off the top of my head.
   And a lot of people can quote Marley's ghost saying, 'Mankind was my business.'  But the novel is a bit harsher than just that.  The Spirit of Christmas Present speaks thus:

"There are some upon this earth of yours," returned the Spirit, "who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived.  Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us."

 While Scrooge's greed seems to be motivated by the desperate need not to be poor, those mentioned above are more like some today - if I may be so bold - who are willing to do many things in the name of progress or of helping the poor or of returning to traditional values, when their actions look more like selfishness and bigotry.  It seems to me that helping the poor by removing the safety net that was built by a previous generation is very little help indeed.  Identifying poverty as a moral failing ['those lazy bums'] seems not to fit with reality very well.  Bob Cratchit was poor for all his hard work, and there were poorer still who worked just as hard - and so it is today.
   Yet, when speaking of Scrooge, his nephew says:

I am sorry for him; I couldn't be angry with him if I tried.  Who suffers by his ill whims! Himself, always.  Here, he takes it into his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine with us. What's the consequence?  He don't lose much of a dinner.

So we go on, making merry in our various ways, yet remembering those two children - Ignorance and Want - and trying as we can to make their lives a bit better.

Thanks to my Son who inspired me to read A Christmas Carol.  I encourage you all to read it.  It is short and can be found online in several free versions.

And may the Spirit of Christmas Present descend on you this Holiday season.  God bless us, everyone.

~Eric Roberts
feeling warm in Guyana

Magnificat & Pope Francis

Even though this is not the Lukan year in the Lectionary, Pope Francis has made me think of that wonderful song in Chapter 1, the Magnificat, which is often sung during Advent. The news has been full of Francis' elevation of the poor as our proper concern.  Yet the Holy Father only reflects the Magnificat.  Everyone knows the first part: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.[Lk 1:46-47] But the part that connects with Pope Francis is further on: He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,  and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things,  and sent the rich away empty.[vss 52-53]
   The interesting thing about Francis' EVANGELII GAUDIUM - The Joy of the Gospel is that the part everyone is talking about ["Money must serve, not rule!" etc.] is in the first few pages of a work that goes to 85 pages [111 pages on my Kobo]. As one might think from the title, the Holy Father says a lot about the joy which should be ours in the Gospel, and the things that keep us from that Joy.  
  In this Advent season we need to remember that "True faith in the incarnate Son of God is inseparable from self-giving, from membership in the community, from service, from reconciliation with others." [¶ 88] And again, "The Son of God, by becoming flesh, summoned us to the revolution of tenderness."
   {There are so many good quotes in this work that I may mention others in future posts.  If you would like to read the entire 'Apostolic Exhortation' you can find it here.}
Let me take this chance to wish all of you a Blessed Advent and a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday. "God bless us everyone."

Sing to the Lord of Harvest

In Guyana, we do not celebrate Thanksgiving.  But in November, churches at least, celebrate Harvest festivals.  The church is decorated with local produce, and the theme of the day takes a break from the long sundays of Pentecost to give thanks for the Lord's bounty.  The timing of the celebration in this land of near perpetual harvest seems to come from the North American and European connections that most of the Christian Churches have.  Also there is an ulterior motive by way of a special collection that rivals Christmas or Easter in size.  Still, as one of the Caribbean hymns proclaims:

 The fields of sugarcane and rice are ready to be reaped.

 We'll thank the Lord, in him rejoice, for food galore now heaped.

 And in a country where poverty and hunger are never too far away, a harvest festival becomes important -- a chance to see abundance in the context of our worship, when more often we see the struggle to make ends meet and keep food on the table.
   Harvest is not the festival of homecoming that Thanksgiving has become in North America.  There are no Pilgrims or Turkeys [unless you count the turkey hot dogs for sale in the Supermarkets].  It's not even the same Sunday in every church.  But it is a festival anticipated and enjoyed by everyone -- a festival of thankfulness that goes beyond mere survival -- a time to know that no matter what our circumstance, we are blessed.

Something worth celebrating.

The new car

The Parish has a new car.  New means something a bit different in Guyana.  This is a 9 year-old car imported from Japan.  The good news is that it comes from Japan, so the steering wheel is on the proper side [the right side, in fact], the mileage is low [though odometers are often rolled back even before leaving Japan], and it has been well-cared-for.  Unfortunately, the Owner's Manual is all in Japanese, but most bits are intuitive or have pictures.  In light of what I mentioned before - this being the land of seconds - a 9 year-old 'new' car shouldn't be a big surprise.  It is inexpensive, and in this climate will last a long time [the retired Parish car is 23 years old and was sold on to another person who won't be taking it on long trips].  Currently, everything works in the car - all the windows go up and down, the A/C works, and the power door opens and closes!  I think of the car we drove in Saskatchewan that we kept for 11 years - far beyond when most North Americans are ready to get rid of a car just because it is old.  This car is already 9 years old and could last another 14 years or more.  Of course, the weather and the miles [km] put on a car in N.A. do take their toll, but how many of us trade our cars just because we want something shiny?
  So, along with our T-shirts, and our plates, and our pots and pans [ours came from J.C.Pennys, even though there is no store around], we buy used cars that look and feel new, and carry on with our lives.

For those of you who are interested, here's the description:
This is a Toyota Raum - A Japanese car with a German name. Raum is often translated as 'room' but is more accurately, Space.  The Raum is so named because it is spacious for its class.  Besides its roominess, it affords easy access to both front and back seats, making it ideal for a Parish car which often transports folks to and from distant events.  The power door [sliding door on the passenger side] is handy as long as you can convince passengers that it is a power door and keep them from trying to manhandle it.
  It has been duly blessed, complete with cross and Bible in procession.  I have to say that we will enjoy the car during our time here.

270 Years

[Part of the congregation]

On October 16th, we celebrated 270 years of Lutheran ministry in Guyana.  Ebenezer was the first congregation, so the celebration happened here.  It was a sea of red [the colour for festivals of the church] in the assembly and a joyous time for all.  The history of Lutherans in Guyana has been a checkered one - nearly dying out or becoming dependent on others at times.  But it continued, and we celebrated together, filling Ebenezer and spilling outside.

[The Canadian High Commissioner and her family;
Pastors from Suriname - Lutherans all.]

President of the church, Moses Prashad, preached not only of history but of the future.  In our history, there were those times when we persevered rather than give up, when we struggled back from the brink to become stronger.  And we move into the future, not just holding on, but proclaiming the Gospel in all its fullness, not what we want to do, but what the Gospel compels us to do.

Vivian and I come new to this Church, having come from the oldest Lutheran Church in Canada which is only 241 years old this year.  But the history is not as important as the ministry.  We celebrate the past, but we must live in the present and look toward the future.  Our message is the same one that was proclaimed 270 years ago, or nearly 500 years ago when the reformation started - or even from the beginning as St. Paul writes --

2 Corinthians 5:17-18

17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

We proclaim the Gospel, through Word and Sacrament, word and deed.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Sacred to the Memory of 'Pastor Gus'

['Sacred to the memory of . . . ' is a phrase found on many of the (older) grave markers in Nova Scotia.]

2 Timothy 4:7

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

We mourn the death of Pastor William Gustafson, known to all as Pastor Gus.  I only knew Gus for a short time, since we moved to Nova Scotia, but we had much in common.  We shared a birthday - March 14 - with Albert Einstein, but I only found out this past year, too late to celebrate jointly with Gus [or Albert].  We both grew up in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and both left as our understanding of the Gospel began to diverge from that of the LCMS. We both were born as Americans, but found a home in Canada.  Gus' trip to Nova Scotia was a bit shorter than mine - he coming from Mass., I from Saskatchewan.  We both enjoyed single malt Scotch, though unfortunately, never together.  He was an avid hunter, which I am not, but as a camper I enjoyed hearing his stories of his woodland exploits.  Though I consider myself somewhat a computer geek, he never used a computer, nor, I suspect, even a cell phone.

   Gus retired only a few short months ago, and came to worship at Zion in Lunenburg before we left for parts South.  We would often eat lunch together at Tim Horton's along with others recently come from worship, sometimes talking till late into the afternoon.
   Gus was known as an expert of sorts on some topics - of note recently was his understanding of the papacy.  One of the last conversations with him that I was part of was when he was asked at the last Bishop's Conference what he thought of the prospects for the new Pope [the conclave was yet to be commenced].  Though he did not predict the 'winner', I do not think he would have been displeased with Pope Francis.

   Gus was a quiet man.  Not that he didn't talk; he did that quite freely, but he seldom raised his voice.  Though he was quiet, that did not mean he wasn't passionate.  I recall a time at Camp Mush-a-Mush when someone said that there were no good Advent hymns: both Gus and I started naming hymns that we knew and loved and spoke to us both of the joys of Advent.  Passion was there if not volume.
   And so Gus has joined the Church Triumphant: He has fought the good fight; he has finished the race; but most importantly, he has kept the faith.

God, the generations rise and pass away before you.  you are the strength of those who labour, you are the rest of the blessed dead.  We rejoice in the company of your saints.  We remember all who have lived in faith, all who have peacefully died.

We remember Pastor Gus.

Even we care

OK, so I'm an American by birth, and a naturalised Canadian [sounds like it means 'organically-grown' but it doesn't] who is living in Guyana, South America.  That doesn't mean that the US government shutdown and possible default will not affect us.  It will likely have ramification for the entire world.

At times like this, we often want to blame all politicians, like they are all equally to blame, and all reprehensible to boot.  But as the USA Today article points out, it's not about two uncompromising parties, but only one -- the GOP [known now as the 'Get Obama Party' - just a little racism behind that, I think].  And I have a feeling I know why they are so uncompromising about the shape they think government should take.  The Republican Party has become the political arm of the Christian Right ['Evangelicals' though I think they abuse that word when they apply it to themselves], and so they see anything other than their vision not just as a bad idea, or one they could fix up a bit with a little compromise, but as heresy punishable by death in everlasting hellfire.  The situation reminds me a little of Martin Luther vs. The Roman Catholic Church -- at least everyone agreed that the debate in Luther's time was primarily religious, though with some political implications.  The problem in our time is that we have one political vision being set forth by a political party and one religious vision being put forth by the other political party.

And all this difficulty caused by ObamaCare - a piece of legislation that, on its face, most Christians would seem to want to accept.  Certainly most Western governments have accepted universal healthcare for decades.  Back in 1992, even Ross Perot, the Independent candidate for President, thought universal healthcare was a good idea.  I remember at the time hearing him say in one of the debates something like every western democracy has a system in place; we don't have to invent a new one, just pick one we like and go with it. [a paraphrase].  I know that universal healthcare has not caused Canada to default on its obligations, or caused government disruption. Though there certainly was opposition to it when it came into effect, not even the current Conservative government would think of trying to get rid of it.

So let us all hope that things work out in the USA.  There are moderate Republicans that are willing to compromise.  There are Democrats willing to look at corrections in an admittedly complex law.  From the point of view of other democracies, the US Constitution is an awkward document that will naturally lead to the sort of stalemate we are now experiencing, but with people of good will, it has worked in the past.  Let's keep a good thought and see if it can work again.

The front porch

I mopped the veranda today - veranda and steps and railings, actually.  It could be called a porch, but here it is a veranda.  This is an important part of the house.  It is a shared space, a meeting place.  Vivian often sits out to drink her coffee and feel the gentle breezes to greet the day.  I usually at least look out to check the weather.  But the veranda is much more than that.  It is an extension of the house, of our living area.  People we do not know will not even come up the stairs, let alone come onto the veranda; even parishioners are cautious until given permission to 'come up' onto the veranda.  My sandals sit outside the door, as no one wears shoes in their or others' houses.  But most visitors will not even come onto the veranda in their footwear, leaving them on the stairs. This is also a roosting place for birds overnight, and the sugar cane ash [they burn the cane fields before harvesting] collects here, hence the need for frequent mopping.  .  We frequently invite visitors to come up, but the number that have gone past the veranda are few indeed. No one expects to enter the house proper, and frankly, with any sort of breeze, the veranda is more pleasant.  

The veranda does not have an equivalent in North America as far as I know -- a space shared by so many for such purposes, a space outside the house yet incorporated into it.  I keep thinking there should be something theological that can be said about such a place. Is it like the church on earth - still part of the Kingdom, but also a gathering place for members, seekers and strangers alike?  Holy ground for which we remove our shoes?  [Interestingly, we don't take off our shoes when we enter the church.]

Or maybe it's just a handy place for people to be and feel welcome.  Sorta like the church after all.

Am I a Keeper?

Recently, I have heard several mentions of the phrase 'brother's keeper' in one form or another.  It is unfortunate that we so often get it wrong when it comes to the original story, and hence, give the wrong impression when we reuse it in another context.  So, here goes:

Most people know the original story - In Genesis, Chapter 4, we have the story of Cain and Abel, the first two sons of Adam and Eve.  Cain gets angry with God and by association his brother, Abel, because Abel's sacrifice is acceptable and Cain's isn't.  There isn't much detail in the story, but Cain and Abel are walking in the field, and Cain kills Abel.   Later, in verse 9 we read: Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother ?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper ?"
The work keeper here is important.  The meaning of this word is the same as it is in modern English, that is, a keeper is someone who tends, as in 'gameskeeper, ' or anyone who has charge of or guardianship over something or someone.  It is the same word that is used earlier in Chapter 2:15, where God puts Adam in the Garden to keep it.

The problem with the way this passage is generally used is that we accept Cain's definition of his relationship with his brother, Abel, that is, we accept the word used to define it: keeper.

Cain asks the cynical question, "Am I my brother's keeper?"  to which we suspect his own answer is a resounding NO.  The danger is that we often think that the correct answer is the negation of Cain's, namely YES.  Yes, we are our brother's keeper. Yes, we should be concerned about our brothers' [and sisters'] welfare, and especially not murder them in a rage.

The issue is not with the sentiment, but rather the word.  Are we to be our fellow's keeper?  Are we to keep our neighbours as we do animals in a zoo?  Are we to be their caretakers?  Too often that was the understanding of colonial powers toward the indigenous people.  They were seen as somewhat less than human, people who needed to be taken care of by their masters.  We do a disservice to the intent of Scripture when we allow Cain to frame the question.  We must answer with Cain: No, we are not our brother's keeper.  But Cain has asked the wrong question.

Then what word should we use?  Like the famous game show, what question do we ask to which the answer is YES?  Fortunately, Jesus gives us the question in the Parable of the Good Samaritan [Luke 10:25-37].  In this passage the question is asked, 'Who is my neighbour?'  But at the end of the parable, Jesus reframes the question: 'Who acted as neighbour to the man?'  So, we can ask, 'Should I be neighbour to all?' to which we can finally answer, YES.  

Land of seconds (and overstocks)

We went shopping for casual clothing today.  When you change T-shirts twice a day because of the hot weather and [dare I say] sweat, it's good to have a few in the drawer.
   What is interesting is the selection of shirts available.  Pictured here is a good quality shirt from  The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association,  2011 Football Champs, the Montclair Mounties.  The fact that we bought this shirt [and other much like it] in Guyana says alot about the goods available in the country.  I can only speak about what is available in stores and the market in New Amsterdam, but here it seems most of the goods are either manufacturers' seconds, overstocks from other countries [primarily the USA], and discontinued items like the clothes washing machine which the church bought for us that was so discontinued that the manufacturer didn't even list it on their website [not to mention that it only came with Spanish or Portuguese instructions].  One of the things that was stressed to us before we came here was not to bring too much clothing with us so that we could buy 'local' products so that we fit in and didn't look like tourists.  Little did we know that to fit in was to wear T-shirts from undefeated New Jersey high school football teams, complete with member names on the back.

This situation brings up several thoughts all at once:  First, it's good that we can purchase clothing that is already made that would otherwise go unused or simply sold as rags.  Second, the price is right, having purchased 3 or 4 T-shirts for the equivalent of $5.00 [USD or CAD] total.  Third, it answers the question, 'Where do all those unsold tees go?'

And this sort of 'off quality' does not end at clothing - our dishes show smears in the glazing and other flaws that makes one think they were rejected by more affluent buyers, to finally be shipped to Guyana - as they say, the last stop for the boat where everyone and everything that's left gets off.

This could be a depressing story, except that despite the difficulties, people here find their own style, find their own fashion [and there is high fashion here, indeed] and get on with their lives without worrying about what NJSIAA means on their T-shirt, or that the dish the put their cook up in isn't Wedgwood china. Maybe it's a good thing that people here can use what others reject and that they have the resources to think about other things.

So, congrats, Montclair Mounties, and thanks for the shirt.

Hazards of Ministry

In every ministry situation there are hazards.  Some are larger than others.  Some are easily seen, whereas others stay hidden for a long time, until they leap out full-blown.

Here is one that was certainly unexpected, though not surprising when discovered -- a 6-foot Anaconda in the ditch in front of Ebenezer, found by the workers cleaning the ditch.  The parsonage is directly behind the man's left shoulder.  

One can only wonder what it's been eating that allowed it to get that large in the location where it was found.  There are always animals on the roads in Guyana - but usually they are donkeys and goats and cows.  The anaconda brings to mind the fact that we are not in some rural place in North America, but we are truly in South America.  The ministry is much the same as it would be anywhere, but some of the hazards are a bit different.

Still, the Pastor is expected to conquer all. 

Everything you wanted to know about life in Guyana

My sister emailed me to mention that I have not done any blog posts in August, so I figured I should do one right away.  Although I have thought of several to write, life here does not include the incessant internet use that made so much of my life in North America.  This is said to cover any lack of initiative or laziness on my part, and sounds so much better - noble even.

Sister did ask some questions which will be the basis of this blog.

The Rain -- We are moving into the 'hot' season [everything is relative] so it does not rain every day like it did when we came, but today we had what they call a 'white rain.' I think because it is heavy enough to make the air look white, not to mention that the whole sky is white as well.  Since most places on the coastal plain are barely above sea-level, and some not quite above high tide, a heavy rain means flooding.  The city is full of ditches which they call gutters, and like any gutter, they are intended to take the rain away.  But when it rains heavily, the water stretches from the one gutter to the other on the sides of  Lutheran Courts - surrounding the church with water and generally making a mess for about half a day or more till it subsides again and you can distinguish the gutters in isolation.

Gutters are not only the storm sewers, but they are the 'grey water' sewers as well.  While the toilets go into a septic system, the sinks and shower and laundry go directly into the gutters.  Gutters are often filled with weeds, grasses and even larger aquatic plants.  Surprisingly, either they don't smell bad or we have gotten used to the smell, because although the one gutter runs directly behind the house, we don't smell it.  But with everywhere being so close to sea-level, the water must run very slowly.

The Fresh Water system is quite simple:  Water flows by gravity from the 400 gal. black tanks (B) into the house [and, in our case, the church] for domestic use. The concrete reservoir holds about the same amount of water as the two tanks.  It is filled by rain water from the eaves of the house - much like prairie cysterns once were - and/or by the city water that comes in via the pump and pipe system (C).  The pump also allows for filling the tanks from the reservoir.  This is all a manual operation in that someone [that is, me] has to set up the pump and plug it in  properly either to pump from (A) to (B) or from the city main to either place.  City water runs three times a day for one to three hours each time.  Although 'natives' can generally drink this water, visitors can't and some natives don't, so there is quite a market for bottled water.  We use bottled water for drinking, but the piped water can be used for most cooking and washing.

What came as a bit of a surprise is that there is no water heater - other than the kettle on the stove.  Early morning showers can be quite cold, but by afternoon water sitting all day in a black tank can be quite warm.

Food -- The fruit pictured at the top of the page is Breadfruit.  It is cut from the tree by using a hook on a stick or a machette in the hand of a climbing person.  The hook is an iron knife on a long pole.  Since breadfruit trees can be 30 to 50 feet tall, with a long pole you can at least get the lower ones without climbing.  One of our favourite new foods is breadfruit. Not native to this part of the world it was brought to the Carribean as a cheap food to feed slaves.  It turns out that it is also easily grown, nutritious and tastes good.  There are many ways it is prepared, many of which are similar to potatoes.

Beside breadfruit, several fruits that are not exported and a few that are expensive in North America, are also available for reasonable prices at the local market, stores, or from street vendors, as are ones you would know like bananas, mangos, limes [usually key limes], oranges, etc. Many fruits and vegetables that are available here are not actually grown here.  Most root vegetables are difficult or impossible to grow here because they would rot in the ground, but you can find potatoes and carrots in the stores and markets.  In the Lutheran Courts are several trees and fruit bearing bushes.  In our garden [about 50' x 65'] we have two coconut palms, one mango tree, two pomegrate bushes, a guava bush, a 'five-finger fruit' tree [known to you as 'star fruit'], an orange tree,  two stands of banana trees, and a stand of 'soft' sugar cane [not the same variety that commerial sugar comes from], a passion fruit vine, and three pigeon pea bushes [a bean similar to navy beans], three different kinds of Thyme, plus a variety of flowering plants.  And the garden isn't half full.

Any of the items mentioned here can be further researched on the internet, but if there's some clarification needed, I am always here - leave a comment.

I'm ending here so as not to be overly boring.  Bits and pieces will continue to unfold about life in Guyana.

Peace.

The 'true' Christian and the other

I was at an auto mechanic shop, getting the very old Parish car looked after.  Another man who was there asked me if I was the Pastor at Ebenezer - he had recognized the car [they have had it for 11 years and it was used when they got it].  I told him that my wife was the Pastor, that we had recently come to Guyana, that we would be staying here for two years.  He asked if I were a Pastor, also; no, I am not.  'But you are a churchman?' he asked.  'Yes, of course,' I replied.
  I felt like I should have been on the dark side of a confessional, because he proceeded to tell me that although he was 63 years old and had five children, that he had never married.  If he thought that might surprise me or produce some stronger reaction, it did not - absent fathers are a fact of life everywhere, even if they are perhaps more prevalent in Guyana than in North America.
   Then he told me that he had a girlfriend [a Christian girl], but that they were having some difficulties.  I listened:  He is a Christian - he believes in God and attends church, but she is a 'true' Christian, he said, and she seemed to speak a lot to him about such things as 'fornication.' I'm guessing she was not in favour of it, but considering his history, that he was of a different opinion, hence, the 'difficulties' in the relationship.  
   I didn't want to get into a theological/ethical debate over what constituted fornication, or whether there was a way out of his difficulties with this woman.  I suppose that marriage might have been the solution she was looking for, but certainly didn't seem to have much appeal to the gentleman.
   But it struck me that although he referred to himself as a Christian and even gave evidence that indicated he knew what that meant, he referred to the lady in question as a 'true' Christian. I assumed he meant that her strict moral code made her somehow more of a Christian than he. 
   We often hear the word Christian used with qualifiers: true Christian, born-again Christian, Bible-believing Christian, Evangelical Christian, Lutheran Christian.  But there are only Christians.  Now, don't get me wrong - I am a Lutheran and proud to be; whether Lutherans have a more correct notion of Christian doctrine than others might is a debatable point.  But the debate is not about who is a Christian and who isn't, or which is somehow more Christian than another.
   This brings me to the point that I find increasingly important in my life and my faith, namely, that there is one ministry [mission] for the Church [that would be the one, holy, apostolic Church] ---- Proclaim the Gospel in word and deed, or as the old Augsburg Confession says - preach the Gospel in its purity and rightly administer the Sacraments [it's from memory, so correct me if you need to, or call it a paraphrase, if you like].  
   One important thing to note in that phrase is what it does not say - it does not say we have to decide who are the true Christians and who are not; who are saved and who are going straight to Hell.  Or as I am wont to say, we are not about the business of sorting potatoes.  The mandate at the end of Matthew is to go, preach, baptize.  In John, the new command is that we love one another.  Neither of these say anything about dividing people into catagories, identifying the true Christians, or assigning eternal destinations for people.

Lutherans have often been seen by conservatives as part of the 'other' sort of Christian, because we do not have a strict moral code.  But I would submit that there is a difference between proclaiming the Gospel and teaching moralism.  But that is the topic of another posting.  For now, just know that Christians are Christians without need of qualification.  We debate morals, we debate doctrine, but it's not our job to sort potatoes -- unless, of course, you are cooking them for dinner.

Mosquito netting

I planned to write this blog right after worship on Sunday.  In the Caribbean, this is right after - so I'm good.
  Vivian delivered her first sermon on Sunday past.  She talked about mosquito netting, and sleeping under them.  It did take us awhile to get all the nuances straight - people who have lived with something all their lives sometimes don't cover all the salient points on the first go round.  By now we are doing everything properly, I think, and the number of mosquito bites is greatly reduced.
  The point of her mention of same was to point out that to the uninitiated, sleeping under a net seems to be a sort of captivity.  You are trapped inside this net in fear for your life [which considering the various sorts of infections mosquitoes carry, is no exaggeration], not being able to move or especially get up to go to the bathroom without risk.
  Galatians 5 1 For freedom Christ has set us free.   Just as the net encloses us in a freedom - freedom from mosquitoes, freedom from threat, so that our night can give is peaceful rest, so Christ encompasses our lives in freedom, so that we can serve God and neighbour.  To the uninitiated, that freedom to serve might look like slavery, but to those who are in Christ, it is true freedom.  
  So we live here, sleeping under our net - 'safe and secure from all alarms.'  We are free from mosquitoes [mostly] and also free from the need for blankets.  And secure in the Freedom of God's love.

Here and Blogging

So, we have now been in Guyana for two weeks.  I figured it was about time I started blogging - especially since the title of the blog is literally true now.  There were a few internet issues like they couldn't find the modem they knew they had, and a few other housekeeping issues like a fridge that broke soon after we arrived and had to be taken away to fix.  Driving on the other side of the road from the other side of the car is, as many said, not that hard.  Knowing where to buy the things we needed when we got here, some of which we didn't know we needed, was a greater challenge, but we have managed as we always do when moving to a new place.

It is too easy with this sort of blog to spend most of the time talking about the differences in culture, social standing, economic levels.  But as my son pointed out to me it is important to see the similarities rather than the differences first.  Of course that will not stop the occasional cultural reference such as how to make a good Guyanese 'cook up.'

This blog is the reflections of a Lutheran in Guyana, not a Canadian or North American in Guyana, so while it is true that some of my musings will be thoughts I might have anywhere, they will often be about the Lutheran Church in Guyana - its worship, its mission, its heritage, and what our place in that might be.

For this first post in our new home, let me end with the National Anthem of Guyana.  I find it moving [as my wife pointed out I mention frequently] because it is not about bombs or banner or standing on guard, but rather about the struggle to create a nation out of divergent groups most of whom were brought here by the British to work the sugar cane fields.  That is an ongoing struggle in a country the size of Colorado with a population slightly smaller than Calgary, Alberta.  We join with them for the next two years.

Dear land of Guyana, of rivers and plains

Made rich by the sunshine, and lush by the rains,

Set gem-like and fair, between mountains and seas,

Your children salute you, dear land of the free.

Green land of Guyana, our heroes of yore,

Both bondsmen and free, laid their bones on your shore.

This soil so they hallowed, and from them are we,

All sons of one Mother, Guyana the free.

Great land of Guyana, diverse though our strains,

We're born of their sacrifice, heirs of their pains,

And ours is the glory their eyes did not see,

One land of six peoples, united and free.

Dear land of Guyana, to you will we give,

Our homage, our service, each day that we live;

God guard you, great Mother, and make us to be

More worthy our heritage, land of the free.

God and Tragedy

 The devastation in Oklahoma is horrifying.  We look at it and weep.  At least most of us do.  Being far away from the Christian Right theologically and being somewhat removed from their US base physically, I usually hear about their machinations later.  Apparently some are already blaming the OK tragedy on the victims for their godlessness, etc.  For more on those specifics, read the article by Rachel Held Evans on Abusive Theology.

Tragedies like the OK tornado always bring up questions about the nature of God.  'If God is good, then why do bad things happen?' This and similar questions abound.  I have often been asked this question in smaller context about things like a family member dying unexpectedly, or some other personal tragedy.  
  The easiest, simplest, and most direct answer is 'I don't know.'  But that is the beginning of a conversation, not the end to it. Though the above answer is literally the truth, it is very unsatisfying for the victims or bereaved. What we [The Church] do know is that we are to stand with those who suffer tragedy and to help them heal physically, emotionally and spiritually - to help them to continue to experience the Love of God or to introduce them to it.  As I have mentioned before , Jesus gives one commandment in the Gospel of John [13:34]: Love one another.  At a time of tragedy this commandment is important for what it doesn't say, too -- Do not seek explanations, do not blame victims, do not blame God.  Just love, help, comfort.  This is the Ministry of the Church.  For those of us far away, we help by helping the helpers with donations and prayers.  There will be a time for explanations, for prevention, for assessment, but that time is not now.  Now we help heal.

Forgiveness

First, let me say that it has been a long time since I last posted, which you already know if you have followed. [Are you following?]  I [we] have been busy packing and sorting and then resorting to get down to a manageable size to be able to store a few things while we are in Guyana.  We have had to rethink what is 'essential' several times, but I think we are getting there.

But that is not the topic that is pressing on my mind at the moment.  Forgiveness as a topic has come up several times in the last few days.  We have finished our Bible study of the Gospel of John.  In the second appearance of Jesus after his resurrection [and ascension] he meets the disciples and says, 'If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.' (John 20:22-24)

As the Pastor pointed out, this is the 'great commission' in John - not to go, teach and baptise,  but rather we are told to forgive.  The last bit has bothered me since I was a young child - being able to retain sins at a whim.  But it is not a club we hold over others, rather it shows the power that has been given to humans, and the consequence if we fail in our mission.  If we do not forgive, we miss the opportunity to show God's love. ' For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn [retain the sins of] the world, but that the world might be saved [forgiven] through him.'(John 3:17)

I have been practising to sing Malotte's Lord's Prayer for a funeral which will happen soon.  While going over the markings in the sheet music with the accompanist, we noted that 'Forgive us our debts' is sung a bit faster than what comes before and then 'as we forgive our debtors' is slower.  The accompanist's comment was 'that's because we are slow to forgive.'  Though the comment was humorous, it was nonetheless true.  We are too often slow to forgive, but quick to want it when we err.  A pastor of my youth once told me that 'unfortunately we live in a world where forgiveness is neither understood nor practised.'  It is sad to realise that, since Forgiveness is the heart of the Christian message - not just to forgive when wronged, but to live lives of forgiveness, to have a forgiving spirit, to know that the same forgiveness that God gives to us, we can share with others. 

Lord, give us this spirit always.

Easter image crisis

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Happy and Blessed Easter to everyone.
So as has been my wont for the Lenten season culminating in the Three Days, I have been changing my Facebook cover photo to reflect the various events - Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and even Holy Saturday.  Finding an appropriate photo amounted to simply Googling images for the day.  -- Until Easter.
   Suddenly, I am confronted not with pictures of the open tomb or a sparkly, risen Christ, but rather with dozens of images of Easter eggs and Easter bunnies, interspersed with family pictures that were taken on some Easter of the past, and of course, Easter Island.  I got to the bottom of the page and clicked on 'view more images' only to get more eggs and bunnies and families and Easter Island.
   Scrolling back up, I did find an appropriate picture amid all the others, which I finally posted.  I had to ponder for a while to come up with an answer as to why it was so easy to find an image even for Tuesday of Holy Week and yet so hard to find a Christian expression for Easter.  Finally I realised that while the Lenten Season and Holy Week are only religious in nature, Easter is as secular as Christmas for the majority of folks in North America.  There is something safe and cuddly about Santa Claus and cute bunnies.  There is nothing safe about the Incarnation and the Resurrection.  The babe in the manger might be cuddly, but shortly after the birth, Herod slaughters every male child in Bethlehem under two years of age.   We might be happy about new life in resurrection, but not so much about the pain and anguish and the crucifixion that goes before it.  The mandate that Jesus gives us to love one another is not often warm and cuddly - more likely difficult and painful.  The servant does not pick the master.  We serve as Christ served; we love as Christ loved.  It lead our Lord to his death on the cross; it has lead many Christians to death for witnessing to that Love. 

Chocolate bunnies and jelly beans are eventually all eaten, but Love remains.

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday is the quintessential day of waiting.  After two days of special services and special meaning on Thursday and Friday, we come to the day where nothing much happens, except waiting.  When I was younger, Holy Saturday was the day we coloured our Easter eggs and got our Easter baskets in order, though we still weren't allowed to eat any of the candy.  In some churches there is an Easter Vigil service, but that starts very late in the night and carries on till early morning on Easter Day.
   So we wait.  We anticipate Easter; it's right there; we can just about reach out and touch it, but not quite.  Holy Saturday could be a great day of contemplation and meditation, a bit of a lull in the Great Three Days.  But for most of us it's simply the day to get ready for Easter.  It is after all, a Saturday much like any other, a chance to go to the store which was closed yesterday, a day to watch sports, a day to catch up on things around the house.
   But always in the back of my mind, there has been the sense of great things to come.  And so they are.  Blessed Holy Saturday.

Mandatum

Today is Maundy Thursday.  Not all Christians use that term; Lutherans, among others, do.  Today we remember the institution of the Holy Communion [Eucharist] by Jesus at the Last Supper.  But interestingly, the term Maundy does not come from the Synoptic Gospels [Matthew, Mark, Luke] where the Last Supper is described in detail - including the Words of Institution of the Eucharistic Prayer.  Rather, the word derives from the Latin mandatum which is usually translated command, but it also the root for the English word 'mandate.'  In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, 'A new commandment I give you: Love one another.'  This is one of two mandates that Jesus give his followers, and the only one in the Gospel of John; the only one given before his resurrection. [The other is the Great Commission: Go, preach the Gospel to all the world.]
   In this simple sentence, Jesus sums up his entire ministry, his entire Gospel -- Love one another.  There is no other requirement for the Christian Life; there is no qualification in the statement.  The followers of Jesus are asked to do nothing else. The rest of the Gospel, the rest of the New Testament, the rest of Scripture refines that statement, explains that statement.  It is not something to which we are forced to subscribe, not a legal requirement.  It is the mandate of our Lord: to follow Jesus is to live the life of Love, to live the life of service to others.  As Jesus, our Master, washed the disciples' feet on that Thursday in humble service to show his Love, so we are to serve and to love, to love by serving.
   Some have wondered openly about our choice to do ministry in Guyana:  To move there on our own dime, to be paid the same compensation as the other Guyanese Pastors, to rely on local healthcare, to forego pension contributions.  But we find ourselves in a situation where we can do this.  For Vivian and I, at this time, this is the way we serve, the way to love one another - not just that circle of folks in North America - but to stretch our love to those further from us, fellow travellers who share the mandate to Love.  Today we celebrate and remember the giving of that mandate to everyone.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday.  Vivian [the Rev] pointed out this morning that it is the only church festival that is named after foliage.
   It was only a few years ago, while reading a novel that takes place in roughly the same cultural setting that I realised why the palms and robes were placed on the road -- to keep down the dust, making the trip more enjoyable for both the crowd and for Jesus.  I'm sure the robes were also symbolic of service to the personage who walked or rode over them.


In many churches, they have pretty much given up on Lent, in terms of extra services or giving up things for Lent.  Most folks are too busy to spend the extra time for additional services in the middle of the week, or so they say.  I remember coming home from school and having to jump into my homework right away because we had to go to church on Wednesday nights during Lent.  Now some churches don't bother, but they try to get people to come out for Holy Week services - Thursday, Friday, and maybe a special 'sunrise' service on Sunday, after which breakfast is served.  

But in this modern day when we don't want to have any negative feelings or experience any sadness, many skip right from Palm Sunday to Easter ... good feelings all around and no extra services to contend with. 

But now that I have a choice, I find I need Lent to properly understand Easter.  Not that I have ever been big on giving up for Lent, but a time for introspection, for thinking about the Law and the Gospel, for considering God's plan for the world from a different angle -- these are all important for the culmination of the celebration which is Easter.  In the Gospel of John, the crucifixion reveals the glory of God, but it takes the validation of Easter for us to see it.  It is Lent that reminds us that to follow Jesus is to live a life of service; it is Easter that gives us the strength to do that.  Knowing the ending helps us live the middle. 

Hosanna in the Highest -- Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Big week

Big week or so [why I haven't been blogging].  My birthday - picture taken at the pub by friend and colleague Grant Dixon
 [http://sideways-glance.com/].  My brother Kent and family [minus one adult child] came calling before we depart Nova Scotia.  My [and Vivian's] son had his birthday [just 30 years and a week younger than myself].  Brother and family departed [not as in departed this mortal coil, just left for home].  And now today, our wedding anniversary [Vivian and I, just in case you have lost track of who's who by now] - our 38th.  I don't suspect we will do much for the grand event -- it being a Saturday [day before Sunday] when the wife is busy, not to mention that we need to start the big push to get ready to depart [again, not this mortal coil] for Guyana via Saskatchewan.  New passports have arrived, and Vivian's official Call from the ELCGuyana to make her an official member of that church.
  I have marked my calendar with count-down days so that I can keep track of how close we are to leaving; I need to keep my anxiety/panic level in mid-range so that we can get the work done, but the level doesn't rise too high so that it is incapacitating. Lutherans always live in a dialectic - Law and Gospel, Saint and Sinner.  I should be used to it by now. 

Today in history

The Papal bull Injunctum nobis (14 March 1543) - 470 years ago - removed the restriction that the Society of Jesus could have only 60 members.  Without that, we might not have Pope Francis today.
  But the day is significant in other ways.  One hundred Thirty-four years ago, Albert Einstein was born.  And in these last days - 62 years ago - I was born. 
  There are other things, too, of course, but you will have to look them up for yourself.  In our family, the 62nd birthday has special significance.  Both my father and one uncle died just before their 62nd birthdays, so it is a milestone of sorts to reach it.  For me personally, besides being alive, I have opted to take my US Social Security rather than wait another 4 years, though the first cheque doesn't come till May 3rd.  It will be the padding we might need while in Guyana, or just extra money when we get back.
  And the special things I'm doing today?  Vivian had planned to give me a pastry with a candle in it when we visited the Thursday Market, but before that we had an appointment for our final booster for childhood diseases.  The doctor was late [not in the terminal sense], so by the time we got to the Market, the group we hang with had already departed - alas and alack.  So we came home without our mini-celebration.  My older brother did call on Skype, so we had a short conversation. A friend sent an eCard.  Vivian said the watch we bought on Monday was my present. Our son sent a brief message on Facebook.  And tonight, there is a meeting of the Lunenburg Photo Club.
  I'm sure that Pope Francis is having a much more interesting and busier day.  Does he set his own schedule?  Does he know how many people work in the Vatican? [According to one estimate by Pope John XXIII, about half of them :-) ]  Does he know which path the Church of Rome should take? He might get the chance later today to unseal the Papal Apartments so the cleaners can get in to spruce the place up, but he still won't be moving in just yet.  With 1.2 Billion Roman Catholics and countless others watching, I'm sure he is very careful about each step he takes.

Considering the alternatives, give me the quiet day.

Dad's tools

and then there were the tools.
  Since 1983 when my father died, I have had some of his tools.  I got more of them along the way at various times.  Dad was a machinist during WWII and then worked on building a house when they settled in Indianapolis.  And more than that, I think he just liked tools.  I also inherited some of Grandfather's tools and even, we think, some from Great-grandfather.  I was a cabinetmaker at the time, and so the tools naturally fell to me.  Even when I was doing other things, I still tinkered, moving all those tools, large and small, along with us across the continent.
  But now, we are moving to Guyana, storing our goods till we return.  Actually, selling or giving away nearly everything first, then storing just the essentials.  The big decision for me was the tools.  It was easy for me to give up the pots and pans and even the stereo and TV, but the tools were another matter.  These were, in a sense, heritage items, passed down for generations in some cases.  How could I part with them; what would my siblings think if I discarded Dad's Craftsman table saw?
  But over the years I have come to realise that Dad and Grandfather thought of these things as merely tools.  A lot of tools have already been disposed of in various ways, but somehow these remaining seem to be more connected to my image of my father.  I remember things he built with that table saw; I watched him use it.  But wouldn't he say it was just a tool?
  Maybe not.  I remember the pile of cherry lumber that Dad carted around the country for years.  Yes, he made a few things with it.  We have a bread board that he and I made from it.  But mostly it just sat there.  In the end, the moving costs for that pile of wood far exceeded the value of the lumber. 
  I learned from my father, and I also learned from Data:  'These are just things.' [Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 3, Episode 2]  And so I pass them on, not within the family, but to someone who can make use of them.  After all, that's what a tool should be -- useful.
 

Change in weather

So, yes, it snowed today, and yes, it's as bad as it looks.  I don't know what the final count is but it looks to be about 15 cm/6 in.  All the schools in the area were closed and 'most everything else was cancelled.
  It made me think about Guyana.  It's likely the first thing anyone thinks about when comparing this place and that - the weather.  No snow there, but floods; no cold weather, but high humidity.
  Vivian and I have lived in many places, and I moved around a bit before we were married.  Philadelphia in the summer is actually hotter than Guyana, and just a humid.  The fact is that humans live all over this planet, and they generally survive the experience.
  Wherever we have lived, we have always thought of the people first, and the weather second.  Guyana will be no different.  We only think about the weather now, because we don't know the people.  But that will change, I'm sure, upon our arrival.  We will enjoy meeting the people; we can get used to any weather.

My (crazy) Aunt Olive

As I was growing up, I heard about my Aunt Olive [actually my father's aunt, so my great aunt].  She was never talked about much, but she was always considered a bit odd.  I didn't know much about what this oddness was, but heard rumours of how my grandfather had to support her because she never made enough money to support herself.  My aunt [father's brother's wife] went to visit her once and told us she eat 'weird' food - things like stewed strawberry tops. 
  As I got older, I started to get a better sense of what Aunt Olive was doing:  she was doing mission work among the latino workers in Southern Florida.  She ate the 'weird' food, because she lived frugally and made use of everything she bought, even the strawberry tops.  When our first child was stillborn, she sent us a lovely card, one of the few my wife saved.  It was, I think, a recycled Christmas card, to which she had added Scripture verses and heartfelt greetings for a great-nephew and wife whom she had never met at a time of great loss.  At a casual glance, the card was 'crazy,' but if you looked past the format, you saw a true expression of Christian love.
  Sometimes in talking to people about our planned trip to Guyana, some do think it is crazy to go without prior experience to the poorest country in South America, to a church we know nothing about, except that they are Lutheran.  But as Vivian and I look at the situation, we feel compelled to seek an experience of the Church outside our comfortable North American context.  We may not know these people, but they are people, Christians, Lutherans with whom we share ministry, regardless of whether we have ever met them or not.  Why Guyana?  Because Guyana was the place presented to us at a time when we were receptive.  The next two years may not be authorized by the ELCIC, we may be moving outside the box, but those things do not make the ministry less valid.
  The theme the ELCIC has been using for the last several years is 'In Mission for Others.'  Wherever we go, we are in mission for others.  We look forward to be in mission in Guyana.

Peace like a River

At a recent conference we sang a hymn I have sung and loved many times before - 'When Peace like a River.'  What amazed me in this instance was the concept in the third verse:

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! 

The message here is that as I approach the cross with my sin, Jesus takes it from me.  It seems a simple and meaningful concept, but it is quite different from what I was told as a child - that my sin made Christ suffer more on the cross, that I was responsible for Christ's suffering, that every sin I committed drove the nails deeper. This is what Luther called the terror of conscience, giving the Christian an extra burden to which they have no solution.  But rather, the song talks about giving over our sin to Christ, that he can bear it and make things Right.  The latter is Gospel, the former is Law.  The great pity is that the club of the Law that Luther wrote against was perpetrated on me by a Lutheran body -- The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.  I have since connected with other Lutheran bodies that are more Gospel centered.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord.