through wind and rain

The picture says it all - Janice Love successfully completed the Ride to Conquer Cancer, raising $3,400 for research into blood cancers thanks to support from so many of you. It was a blustery weekend and Janice reports never having been so soaking wet in her life. Nonetheless, she persevered and logged 245.54 kilometres on the journey from Vancouver to Seattle. Perseverance in the face of bad weather, enduring through difficult circumstances - these are virtues that are always worth cultivating but nevermore so than when living with cancer. Thanks for the inspiration Janice!

vancouver to seattle on a bike

This is the weekend when my good friend and colleague, Janice Love, participates in the Ride to Conquer Cancer. And good news - Janice has met her goal of $3,200 for research into blood cancers (having now raised $3,225 in donations). Thank-you to all of you who have contributed. It means a lot to Janice and to me. Of course, this does not mean that it is too late to add your support. You can do so by visiting Janice's Ride to Conquer Cancer web-page. You can also follow the progress of the riders as they make their way from Vancouver to Seattle by visiting the Ride With Us page throughout the weekend (she is riding the classic course). Godspeed Janice!

so

Last Sunday I preached on II Corinthians 4:7-5:7. The sermon had the title "So". Originally I chose this title because it picked up on "So we do not lose heart" (II Cor. 4, verses 1 & 16). This seemed a good fit with the meeting of the congregation that was slated to occur following worship. The agenda of the meeting was to consider a question that sounds something like: "So, how will we best prepare for the year ahead, given the unknowns that lie ahead?" Then, late in time, I suddenly saw not one "so" in these verses from II Corinthians but ten - yes, ten. The text is looking forward to an uncertain future from a time of trouble and suffering, all the while using the little word "so". "So" is a word that keeps a sentence moving forward, keeps a reader and listener thinking of what is coming next. So the sermon became a tour through these ten "so then" moments in the text. Now that I am already looking forward to next Sunday's sermon (continuing on through this part of II Corinthians) there is not time to go back over all of that ground here. But one of Paul's metaphors from this passage, in particular, continues to inspire me to think about the days to come.

building up the church

The practice of preaching constitutes a people with a distinctive identity in the world. In congregations that suffer from chronic anxiety, apathy and fear as well as in those that are tempted by idols of success and security preachers glimpse symptoms of collective amnesia. Whenever the church is in danger of forgetting who - and whose - it is the vocation of the preacher is the building up of the church (I Cor 14:3-4).

Preaching that seeks to shape congregational identity invites the congregation into a world that is being re-described by the Bible. Hearing such preaching is akin to being immersed in a foreign culture. It assumes that the church exists to be a witness to the odd customs and surprising ways of life in the kingdom of God. Its central concern is how scripture intends to shape the people of God. The sermon that results does not ask what a text means to individuals or how it speaks to social issues. It is confident that a congregation that learns to live these texts will faithfully address the needs of individuals and the issues it faces in society.

life and death

I am not sure when or how it happened but somewhere along the line going to church on Sunday became more like attending a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous than, well, going to church. Raised in a preacher’s household and now a preacher myself for three decades my own conversion happened gradually. I didn’t even realize what I was going through until one of my parishioners told me that the congregation had been watching my conversion one Sunday, one sermon at a time.

the voice

The twenty-ninth psalm is a model of organization. It has been carefully, thoughtfully, precisely constructed in three sections. In the first section there are three ascriptions to the LORD. In the second there are seven thunders of the LORD’s voice. And finally, in the third section, are two affirmations paired with two blessings. In the first section the LORD - YHWH - is named four times, in the second named ten times and in the third, again, named four times. It is a threefold hymn about the LORD, fitting for the God we know as Triune: Three in One. Yet I confess it is not a Psalm that I know well, that I can recite by heart or that I have taken the time to host as holy guest, as holy stranger in our midst. Today that changes.

velcade - cycle one

Yesterday I received the fourth of four weekly injections of velcade - the chemotherapy treatment that I have recently begun. I also took a fourth weekly dose of the steroid dexamethasone. So far I have not had any noticeable side effects as a result of this treatment (other than the marks left on my belly at the injection sites - the redness turns to a blotch that remains as a souvenir - a map of where I have received chemotherapy). That's good news! This marks the end of my treatment during the first thirty-five day cycle on velcade and dexamethasone. I get a "week off" now (not required to receive any treatment next week) and return to the Medical Short Stay Unit at St. Paul's Hospital to begin the second thirty-five day cycle in two weeks. We will see the first test results that show what effect the velcade is having in slowing down the rate of multiple myeloma and amyloidosis in three weeks. That is when the next free light chain readings will be reported to me and my medical team. If the treatment is proving effective I will remain on it until it is no longer working (and not causing serious side effects). Eventually we will move on to another treatment, playing a cat and mouse game with the myeloma and amyloidosis for as long as possible.