Sister Doreen’s Reflections
The Anglican Canadian Church Calendar 2024 has as its overall theme this year “All Things Created”. The March Scripture Theme is Amos 9:14:
“I will restore the fortunes of my exiled people. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.”
This is a wonderful combination of images in Amos, images of deep longing, in describing God’s longing to bring Israel (meaning all humankind, everyone, me and you) back home to God’s heart where we belong on our journey in life. We can hear God throughout scripture speaking to us, “ I will take you as my people, my own possession, and I will be your God.” The February theme was about finding God in all of creation and in everything and everyone. This March reflection is about God finding me, and you, and all of creation stuck in exile. I think that we have all felt from time to time like outsiders, experienced exile. And from time to time, we have all known the feeling of rescue, freedom, renewed purpose, and acceptance and joy.
Amongst the many parables that Jesus told, there are three that stand out for me as opportunities for finding deeper meaning in our experiences of ‘being lost and found”. One is about the lost coin that represents for me a feeling of losing all that I have, the other about the lost sheep that wanders away into situations that are dead ended, and the other about the lost sons, one who alienates himself by behaviour that is self-seeking and the other who alienates himself by behaviour that is self-righteous. In all these parables there is celebration and joy at being once again ‘found’. I know, and I am sure that you also know, that when we are in an experience or time of feeling lost, the natural response of being ‘found’ and experiencing rescue, freedom, purpose, and loving acceptance is joy.
God so longs for us to draw close, to take God seriously in the offer of an intimate and amazing relationship. And God will do whatever it takes to get our attention. Often if we’re feeling displaced, or not where we want to be, having someone tell us to essentially “get on with it and flourish” … well, it seems to me that most of us would at first not find that helpful, it wouldn’t go down so well. However, it is the hard road walking out of our exile into our own quality of life: facing each painful moment so that the moments to come can be better ones.
God always asks us to go another step, to work to make holy the place that we find ourselves in, to rebuild our ruined cities, to plant vineyards and drink the good wine, to work in our gardens and eat the fresh vegetables. When we can walk the hard road of responding to God’s loving call to come home out of our exile – when we can take the time and do the hard listening to hear God’s loving, longing call, God’s promise is that God will plant us, plant us on our own land once again – rescue, freedom, purpose, and loving acceptance: at home with God, with ourselves, with others, and with all of creation. Such joy.
It was Julian of Norwich that gave us that wonderful description of God who meets us in our most dark places with “God sits waiting for us, smiling, God’s face completely relaxed, looking like a marvellous symphony – radiating immeasurably love.” One of the profound truths is that God not only knocks on the door of our hearts and waits for us to open, but God also stands within, at home in our heart waiting, offering peace, love, joy and acceptance, unlimited and unconditional.
Psalm 16 is often referred to as a Song of the Refugee as it begins with “Protect me God, keep me safe for I have fled to you for refuge – a refugee.” It expresses a passion for God, a longing to come home to God, even as we have also noted in the reading from Amos that God’s passionate longing for us is also reaching out and creating our own longing for God.
In a very real sense we are all refugees, we all know or have experienced exile. We all long to feel home wherever we are, where indeed we can rebuild the ruined cities and live in them, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens, and eat their fruit and vegetables.
There are many refugees in the world today, heart breaking numbers of homeless and landless people, whom God longs for and who long for God and a better life. How can we reach out to them, even as God is reaching out to them through us? We recall Micah’s challenge to us: What does the Lord require of you? God has already made it abundantly clear what ‘good’ is, and what God needs from you: simply do justice, love kindness, and humbly walk with your God. (Micah 6:8 Inclusive Language translation). We live in the pain of our broken world – God lives in the pain of our broken world – and in loving compassion and active concern we are called to offer trust, hope and love. This seeming paradox and impossible task is made possible with God, perhaps best expressed in the following hymn from Common Praise #548:
Eye has not seen; ear has not heard what you have ready for those who love you.
Spirit of love, come, give us the mind of Jesus: teach us your wisdom, O Lord.
When pain and sorrow weigh us down, be near to us, O Lord:
Forgive the weakness of our faith and bear us up within your peaceful word.
Eye has not seen; ear has not heard what you have ready for those who love you.
Spirit of love, come, give us the mind of Jesus: teach us your wisdom, O Lord.
Our lives are but a single breath; we flower, and we fade.
Yet all our days are in your hands, so we return in love what love has made.
Eye has not seen; ear has not heard what you have ready for those who love you.
Spirit of love, come, give us the mind of Jesus: teach us your wisdom, O Lord.
To those who see with eyes of faith, you, Lord, are ever hear.
Reflected in the faces of all the poor and lowly of the world.
Eye has not seen; ear has not heard what you have ready for those who love you.
Spirit of love, come, give us the mind of Jesus: teach us your wisdom, O Lord.
We sing a mystery from the past in halls where saints have trod,
Yet ever new the music rings to Jesus, Living Song of God.
Eye has not seen; ear has not heard what you have ready for those who love you.
Spirit of love, come, give us the mind of Jesus: teach us your wisdom, O Lord.
