June 23… “and what is truth”

une 23, 2020,

Good afternoon,

" Submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore , under God's mighty hand, so that in due time , he will exalt you. Cast all your anxieties upon God because he cares for you.         I Peter 5:5-7

There are a lot of important voices out in the world these days. There are political people, health care persons, and economic soothsayers trying to tell us what the truth is. " You should wear masks in public " , and " there will be a vaccine by September " and  "our economy will come back strong in 2021 ".  We did not see the pandemic coming, and we are just guessing at how it is going to play out. One person told me that he wonders if he has had his last handshake. I have not shaken a hand in over four months.

Now, people are saying we should take down this statue, and that monument, as we try to deal with racism. If someone had put up a statue of me, they would probably take it down now, because I am not perfect. They would find someone from my high school, and he/she would say that " Fred does not deserve it and take it down now. " How do we honour the good things that people have done ? Sir John A. was our first Prime Minister. He was the great compromiser to bring the places/languages together to make Canada . But he had a problem with his drinking. And he said some things about assimilating all the Indigenous people that were racist.

Peter ( Jesus' best friend ) invites the community to be humble when we are with each other. Try to be humble especially when we are working for justice and peace in our world. Peter and Paul had different ideas about the Gospel. Humility and politics, and humility and church, and humility and power usually do not go well with each other. I know I might be wrong about Sir John A., and I might be wrong about opening or not opening the church for worship. How do I decide what is true, and what is fake, or maybe slightly true.

Prayer

You are the great God,

of the universe.

You know everything,

I do not.

I want to be faithful, to your Being

And follow the ways of love and grace.

I ask the same question,

as the nasty Roman politician, Pilate, asked at Jesus' trial,

" And what is truth ?"

Keep inviting me to be a humble prophet of peace,

and justice.

So we can find a more excellent truth.        AMEN.