"I Shall Not Hate", A Gaza Doctor's Journey

The public is invited to join Dr.Izzeldin Abuelaish, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and author or "I Shall Not Hate", as he share his story of loss, faith and forgivness.
Tues. December 7th
7-8:30pm
Theatre A, Tupper Link,
Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building
5850 college St. Halifax
Admission is FREE.

3:25 am

Those of you who know me know that I am not a morning person.
Those of you who know me know that I do not give out money to transients.
Those of you who know me  know that I do not have a medal in patience.

 Last night I was told a story.
 It was a continuation of a story I heard earlier in June; one a remember -kind of; from a person I remember -kind of.  It is a story that this morning has me reflecting on Joseph and Mary knocking on the inn keepers door in Bethlehem.

 I wonder what time of night they knocked. How gracious was the inn keeper?  How awake was the inn keeper?  At 7pm there is grace and patience.  At 1: 25 am there is a little less.  At 3:55am there really isn't much grace and patience went to dreamland hours ago.
 This was my night, or should I say early morning.  Yes I did help, yes with cash, yes with every ounce of patience I could muster (that means grace shown on the outside with the inside lagging far behind).


The experience did put me to sleep twice saying the Jesus prayer; "Jesus, have mercy", for all those who have no where to lay their heads, for those who have a place but choose not to stay there, for those who have a place but is complicated...Lord Jesus, have mercy.

Responsibility or Not

Today I am thankful for the way my life's journey has been and continues to be.  Along the way it has meant learning responsibility, being responsible, and sharing responsibility.  Now come to find out that contentment and sanity  -GRACE- is found in not taking responsibility.  I am not responsible for fixing everything that falls apart, particularly in the lives of those I love.  It would be less painful however, that would stunt their growth.

Note to self: current responsibity -love without fixing

A Christian View of Poverty

This piece was given at Dalhousie University Student Union Building, Room 224 on Nov.21: a panel on poverty.

Once upon a time, so the story has been told, God dreamed a dream. The dream was a dream that saw the people of the world distributing and re-distributing the world’s wealth.  It was idyllic: people were to live and move and be –enjoying life. It was a place where the law was such that it protected the marginalized: grain was left on the sides of the fields, vegetable and fruit crops were not picked clean –so that gleaners could help themselves.  The gift of law was full of love, to teach relationship, justice, equality.

 Every sixth year the people were to gather and put away enough of the harvest for the following year, for every seventh year was a Sabbath –where the ground would lie fallow, the people would enjoy leisure, people would concentrate on each other.

And every 50 years was a year of Jubilee:  where wealth and resources were re-distributed –family land was returned if it had been sold, slaves went free, debts were cancelled.  Everyone started again: a new beginning where none had too little, and no one had too much.

Although this dream was grand, the gift of the law was given such that it could come true, but perhaps the dream was too grand for the people. People set about living their lives.  It started small with a simple gathering of those things that were needed to survive –then a few extra pleasures; but it didn’t take long for people to start accumulating, saving, growing, investing, amassing, stealing, developing, hoarding,...  The world became full of those who had too little, and those who too much.

Centuries came and went, and God’s grand dream was forgotten.

God thought of a new way to share the grand dream with the people; so God came in person –to preach, teach, live by example.  This God-person, Jesus,

Welcomed the disenfranchised -women, children

Healed the sick –the leper, the blind, the paralytic

Brought hope to poor: “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven”

Those are the sayings, the stories that get told again and again, but this God-person, Jesus was about something quite different.  The mission was to wake the people up, particularly those with too much.  It was the teaching and answering questions that shared the dream; God-person, Jesus was found speaking to the authorities, the system, the religious leaders, the powers-that-be; and it wasn’t shake-your-hand-let’s-do-lunch politics, it was challenge, in your face confrontation. 

It was standing in the Temple watching the people come and give their required, prescribed, offerings to God. And in the moment when the widow came and placed all that she had –her grocery money, her rent, - her two mites; Jesus comments, not for the widow to hear but for the system and those running the system to hear; “She’s given all that she has”;  That wasn’t to built up the widow, to suggest that all should give all they have –it was God saying look this isn’t my dream; there is a systemic problem here when the powers-that-be require the poor to have nothing; don’t you see the grand dream, even an inclining of my vision?

Jesus speaks to the people, trying to ignite God’s grand dream: beware of those who teach and like to walk around in long robes and love to be greeted with respect in the market-place; who choose to sit in reserved seats and the best places at feasts; who take advantage of the poor and rob widows of their homes –and yet still go as if all is OK, to worship and pray with a big to-do.

Yes, your right the story is heard and told differently because many of those telling the story are now the ones with too much; too much to lose –too attached to lose – too overburdened too love.

But the story goes that after this God-person Jesus left, there was a small group of those whose eyes did twinkle with the grand dream; their hearts were one and they sought to love. Now some were poor themselves, others had walked with Jesus as he comforted the poor, still others came with wealth: men, women, children, slave, free, from all nations.  They saw the dream and thus shared their property and possessions, distributing to each according to their need. The big deals had trouble understanding and were less forgiving of the people who wished to dream God’s dream -to envision and work towards a new world; so the people were quieted –in conflict, by prison, through persecution.

As the story continued to be told, small groups throughout the history of the world caught the wind of the spirit who whispered the grand dream.  Those who kindled the flame of this dream offered food, charity – collecting alms; offered medicine, herbs, hospital care for little or no payment; the poor were offered school –the chance to read and write.  This was done for the love of the neighbour out of the love the people felt from God.

And the big deals kind of liked it –because they could give guilt money, feel they had done their part, work on behalf of the poor and never get their hands dirty, never change the way they lived.

As the story continues today, there is a group of people who have caught the winds of the spirit who whispers the grand dream; God vision is being painted through NGOs, food banks, shelters, non-profit housing...but the picture is constantly shadowed by graffiti –not the pretty bright coloured bubble kind, but the black ugly destructive sort.  The people who have vision never get anywhere, or so it seems.  The hope goes from one generation to the next in small patches here and there.  Alms are collected, charity given, but nothing really changes.

..it doesn’t change because we as Christians often fail to tell and listen to our own story; the one where this God-person Jesus confronts the powers-that-be, the law.

This is not the end of the story but a moment in the journey of people who wander seeking more, and the more is the grasping and living the grand dream; where none have too much, and no one has too little. 

a cup of tea

This has been a crazy day.  The third Wed. of a month is the day a group of ladies quilts at the church.  Generally I join them however, this afternoon I had a funeral to do.  The women, bless their hearts, waited 1/2 hr. at the end so I could sit down and have a cup of hot tea and a snack.  This was the best gift of grace.  I told them that they would be the subject of the blog for today:  my three graces.

crafts

Lots of head work and no creative work leads to a craving to let the inner spirit soar.  Yesterday was the day to get out scissors, paper, glue, and markers.  Yippy!  Grace came through the activity and the Christmas cards are almost being done is a bonus.

sunshine

It was warm today, not just kind of warm for Nov.13th, really warm.  At the local university football came the regulars came with extra jackets, mitts, and hats.  When one sits in the bleachers it feels cold after sitting there for a few hours.  Today I felt GRACE -imagine sitting outside in a t-shirt for 2 hrs, sweating.  My skin sucked up the engergy, my lungs inhaled deeply; I felt warm, alive, content.
Even better the team I was cheering for won - that's not grace though because God doesn't choose sides, particularly at sporting events.

All Saint's Remembrance

There is something to be said for remembering the people in ones' past and sharing those stories with others.  There are people in all of our lifes who have contributed to making us who we are.  Take a few moments and reflect on who these people have been in your life.

 Perhaps these people have given you hope, courage, taught you to love, to believe in yourself, shared faith, were a light in the darkness. 
Do you offer the same gifts to those around you?  This is the offering of grace.  This is offering and growing faith and hope for today and tomorrow.

 Today I remember the pastors in my life who are a large part of who I am today: Pr.Skinner who taught me about a love for nature; Pr.Linda -or Mrs.Minister was a model that women could be pastors; Pr. Mark Harris who tolerated questions, in fact encouraged them during confirmation, and instilled a love for liturgy; and Pr.Lloyd Wiseman who dedicated his life to serving in unique pastoral ways especially with disabled and aged living in facilities.
Thank-you for being Christ light, God's grace.

hospital

Grace today came after my husband's minor surgery.  No so much for me, but for him.  He has not been in any pain for the past 3 hrs.; a first in months.

a day off

Mondays have traditionally been my day off.  The past few weeks I have been sitting in class on Mondays; this also meant getting up early.  Today was pure grace -I did work on an assignment, but on my own terms, in my own time.  This morning I slept in, total heaven on earth.  I followed this with a leisurely run to work out the kinks from sitting in chairs for two weeks.  Then I worked on an assignment, taking breaks for tea, snuggling with Felix (my cat), sitting at the table with the kids when they came home.  And then to top it all off I had time to play Scrabble with friends all across this country.  Now it is 8:33pm...meaning there is 3 hours of grace left to be found before turning in to bed.