"there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in" from "Anthem" by Leonard Cohen

two most visited posts

Over the years there have been two posts on this blog which have consistently been visited most often. They are titled "Chististus Paradox" and "Spirit or The Holy Spirit". You can use the search option at the bottom of the page to find them. I am always glad for comments.

unexpected news

It has been awhile since I have posted. My struggle with dementia includes difficulty with the computer. In addition a recent diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia has come as a shock and challenge. In the future I will post as I am able. In the meantime thank you for your care and prayer.

more to read

I am excited that today's mail brought a copy of my friend Martin S. Cohen's new book. It is entitled
"To Speak the Truth, Stories 2011-2023" on first glance it looks amazing. I will tell the story of how Martin and I met each other some twenty-five years ago. That friendship was probably the last thing that the ansti-semites who desecrated the Beth Tikvah synagogue in Richmond, B.C. imagined would result from m spray painting horrendous threats on the exterior of the synagogue. There is more to the story of our friendship. Suffice it to say that even though Martin, is now a rabbi in Roslyn, New York while I remain near Richmond in South Surrey, B.C. We enourage and support and learn from each other via email that helps us span the continent and the years. In the  process we had team taught courses that explored Christian Jewish dialogue through the lens of our friendship.

on to reading adventures

As I continue to struggle with memory issues in daily life I also continue to be able to enjoy reading as an ongoing adventure. I have started in on the collected works of Flannery O'Connor, renowned for her fiction that is labelled as "Southern Gothic". Flannery writes as a southerner and a Catholic, and of a world haunted by outbreaks of grace. I had been a fan of hers years before I found myself a student at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. There I discovered that my room-mate  could recite my favorrite O'Connors' short story - Revelation - by memory.

This journey along my bookshelf brings me to a collection of the writings of Joan Didion. I know her book "The Year of Magical Thinking" but I have not read many of her other writing - through which she became known as one of the founders of "new journalism". Feel free to send me a note recommeding other authors I might add to to my reading journey.

frustrating

 I am just back from another stretch in hospital.  Pneumonia struck witrhin hours and I was taken by ambulance for a week long stay in the hospital. I guess rhis is what can happen when one if immuno compromised. It is frustrating and scary. I made it  through thanks to such care at the hospital and he prayers and words of so many of you. I made it home in time to celebrate my 70th.  Now to continue with masking and hand washing as we have been doing for years now. Thanks for your kind words posted here. Take care, Ed.

Well that came out of the blue

A year ago when we wished one another Happy New Year to welcome in 2023 little did I know that in 2023 would bring a diagnosis of Alzeimer's Disease. When that news was delivered it came as a shock but by then it didn't come as a surprise given the symptoms I had been experiening (such as the hard time I am having typing and posting this update). It is very scary (even terrifying) when you find yourself lost in your own home. Amnesia ( continues) to be a powerful metaphor for the situation that the church find itself in ... lost in our own home. One of the gifts that I have experienced in this Alzhemer's journey so far is that I am able to enjoy reading and to comprehemd the texts. These have iave included biographies of Abraham Lincoln and of John Brown, also a Journal of the Plague year by Daniel Dafoe as well as a fascinating history of 17th Century England.(titled "Rebellion: The History of England from James 1 to the Glorious Revolution" by Peter Ackroyd. Such a fascinating history that is easily lost to our collective memory. Now 1 am on to rereading the Brothers Karamazov. I also read "God's Secretaries" - A beautifully written story of the creation of the King James Bible, the continuing good news is that targeted oral chemotherapy continues to keep multiple myeloma and amylodiosis at bay, Now its a matter of coming to terms with two incurable diseases. I am not sure how long I will be able to keep blogging about this experience, but I am going to try. Maybe I will surprise myself.

Thanks for your supportive and encouraging comments. They mean a lot to me.

myeloma and amyloidosis update

It has been quite awhile since my last update ...

seed stump ... a sermon on Isaiah 6

This coming Sunday's lectionary text (for the fifth Sunday after Epiphany) from the Old Testament is Isaiah 6:1-13. Here is a sermon I preached on this powerful and yet painful text - "Seed Stump". I  remember this sermon but have forgotten that it can be found posted along with others from years ago at Little Well (with big thanks over the years to Jason Carlson for the site).

love is patient, love is kind ....

This coming Sunday brings us back in the three year lectionary cycle to the famous and well worn verses from the apostle Paul's first letter to the quarrelsome congregation in Corinth. The last time I had the privilege of proclaiming this text came nine years and three cycle ago at University Hill. The text can be found at "In a Riddle".

preaching ephesians

Those who are following the Revised Common Lectionary have an opportunity to preach from the Letter to the Ephesians on successive Sundays this month. Here are preacher's notes on the readings from Ephesians this July ...

                July 11 - Ephesians 1:3-14
                July 18 - Ephesians 2:11-22
                July 25 - Ephesians 3:14-21

post-diluvian treaty #1

Once again the people of University Hill Congregation are creating a Lenten devotion. Each day through the season of Lent a scripture reading from the Lenten journey through will be accompanied by the response of a member of the community. Here is my offering this year ...

I don’t often use the word “antediluvian”. I know it refers to something really old. But once you think about it this old word is really two words meaning “before flood”. Now that is old. Here, in Genesis chapter nine, we are in the very first post-diluvian days. The waters have begun to recede. The dove has returned with an olive branch. 

the journey continues ... pomalidomide and more

It has been a year and a half since I posted an update on life with myeloma. I am aware that others with myeloma are interested to know how things are going with my cancer journey. So here goes ...

holy saturday as the fulcrum between cross and resurrection

On this Holy Saturday we remember that this hidden day is the fulcrum between Good Friday and Easter Sunday - Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Here is Keith Howard's post for Holy Saturday 2020 - Holy Saturday Life in a Time of Disruptive Uncertainty

sin the virus cured by grace

Once again this year University Hill Congregation is hosting forty seven texts on its Lenten pilgrimage to Easter. You can find the daily reflections here. I was assigned Romans 5:12-19. This is my witness:

Here’s the problem. The original earthling - “adam” (literally “made of earth”) - was infected with the virus of sin. This virus then spread to all. It works like a gravitational force that draws humankind away from God with tragic consequences. Shakespeare’s tragedies - like many contemporary novels and movies - portray the ways in which all human actors are captive to this destructive force.

knocking on the door of grief

It was 1980. At the ripe age of twenty-six I had been settled on a seven-point pastoral charge in southern Manitoba. Forty years later I am accustomed to being “the Reverend”. Then it was all new. Looking back what I remember most vividly are the deaths and the funerals. I had presided at a couple of funerals on a summer field. But this was of a different magnitude. Now I was on call to respond to grief in all of its manifestations.

The first phone call from Hugh at the funeral parlour came soon after I arrived in town. Two men had been killed in an accident on the highway. The driver had a heart attack and his passenger could not pull him off the steering wheel before they swerved in front of a semi-trailer. I was to preside at both funerals. I don’t remember what I said. I do recall the bundle of nerves as I gathered up the courage to knock on the door of each grieving family. Then and there I learned to pray on the doorstep of grief for the presence of the Holy Spirit in such a wounded place.

the time we wrestled with forgiveness

These days I am privileged to be a mentor for a group of seven lay worship leaders who are students in the Lay Worship Leaders Training program of the United Church. We meet online - two are in Ontario, three in Manitoba and two are in British Columbia. It is a remarkable group. This semester is focussed on prayer and music in worship. Tonight we discussed confession and forgiveness. It was a rich conversation.

I was reminded of the time at University Hill Congregation when we wrestled with the call to forgive that lies at the heart of the New Testament. It was seven years ago. At the time I posted an outline of those conversations. Here are links to those posts ...

Forgiven, Forgiving (1)

Forgiven, Forgiving (2)

Forgiven, Forgiving (3)

Forgiven, Forgiving - a sample of biblical texts

Forgiven, Forgiving (4)

Forgiven, Forgiving (5)

Forgiven, Forgiving (6)

a prayer of approach and confession based on psalm 8

Prayers of Approach and Confession

O LORD, our God
How majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When we look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established,
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
O LORD, our God how majestic is your name in all the earth!         (Psalm 8)

prayers after singing "come, o fount of every blessing"

Prayers of Approach & Confession

You … fount of every blessing.
You … everflowing stream of mercy.
You … mountain of unfailing love.
You … worthy of all our praise.

You and then us …
Us … pausing in our sojourn, grateful to be with You
Us … trusting You at every turn to guide us safely home
Us … tuning our hearts to sing and to live Your grace
Us … a people who rely upon You.

pomalidomide (year five)

With Holy Week falling in mid-April this year it brings back memories of my initial diagnosis with myeloma and amyloidosis. I went for a bone marrow biopsy on Maundy Thursday, April 15. That was the final test that led to the surprising news that changed my life. At the time I was in shock and wondered what the future might hold. Eight years have now passed. After a series of treatments with varying degrees of success (autologous stem cell transplant, lenalidomide and bortezomib) I am now in my fifth year on a combination of pomalidomide, dexamethasone and cyclophosphamide. This continues to be very effective in reducing my free light chains and keeping the myeloma and amyloidosis in remission. We have made a couple of changes this year that have been beneficial ...