The End Times

One of the themes the church reflects on in the early weeks of Advent is “watching and waiting for the coming of the Lord” at the end of time. Daniel 12:1 says “At that time…there will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.” We are culturally living in a “time of distress.” The rate of cultural, institutional and ecological change and uncertainty is mind boggling. There is loss of trust in every form of institution: religious, social, political, and economic. Even our ecosystem is on the precipice of collapse. We are living in a time of great cultural anxiety. And on the margins of a society that is in disarray, the Church is in the “end times” of decline and change. But because of the Incarnation that we celebrate at Christmas, that Christ is in our lives, we have every reason to hope for a new tomorrow. 

Institutions and individual lives ebb and flow with rise and decline. There is a universal pattern that we can notice and apply to our lives and cultures: Order - Disorder - Reorder. You may recognize this pattern in your own life: when things seemed to be going along smoothly (Order); and then you were dealt some great loss (Disorder); and then in time, a new normal emerged for you (Reorder). This same pattern happens historically in the rise and fall of civilizations. And the same has happened and is happening in the church. As a church we are in a time of decline and Disorder. But underneath the surface chaos there is the incarnated Christ, our life, and we will trust in a Reordering in a new and emerging Church. 

We are constantly evolving and changing, and God’s incarnated life in the world is evolving and changing. Ilia Delio encourages us with these words: “On the whole we are not conscious of evolution, and we do not act as if our choices can influence the direction of evolution. What will it take for us to realize that we are unfinished creatures who are in the process of being created? That our world is being created? That our church is being created? That Christ is being formed in us? . . . The good news of Jesus Christ is not so much what happens to us but what must be done by us. The choices we make for the future will create the future. We must reinvent ourselves in love.” 

Let us not fear the times we live in, but let us trust in the Incarnation, that God is in our lives and unsettled society as it is. Let us go a little deeper into our Spiritual Hearts, and notice our Original Goodness, the emerging Spirit that is Creative Love, and let us choose and create a more compassionate, loving and inclusive tomorrow.

It is You that I desire

It is 

you

that I 

desire,

always 

and forever.

You are

a constant 

friend,

always 

with me,

always

deep 

within me.

My desire

for you

draws you

to the 

surface

of my 

awareness,

and there 

you are,

within 

me,

within 

the face

of the other,

within 

everything created

that emerges 

before

my eyes.

19 September and 2019

Summer Closes her Wings

Summer’s warmth

has begun 

to cool.

The forest’s leaves

are beginning

to turn.

Fall is opening 

her arms,

as summer closes

her wings.

The spirit

is still resisting 

the annual

and familiar

letting go

of the vibrancy

and rest

of summer.

Such resistance 

is futile.

Let go

dear spirit,

and lean in

to the ever new

and emerging,

cycle of life.

22 September 2019

Come to the Table

There is

one God.

There is

one Table.

All

are invited,

All

are welcome.

There is 

One Source,

One Giver,

One Host,

One Banquet.

Come

to the Table,

Come

as you are,

Come

as your life is.

Come 

with your brokenness.

Come

with your pain.

Come

to be fed.

Come

to be made

whole. 

31 August 2019

Spiritual Guidance

We all recognize significant change in the structures and institutions in the 21st Century. Dr. Rick Singleton, provost of Queen’s College says, “The challenge in this time of change, is to be prophetic … we must do our best to determine how to prepare for the future.  At Queen’s College, that means ensuring people going into leadership must have spiritual resilience. They need to be grounded in spiritual practices that will sustain them in times of challenge but also equip them with spiritual skills and practices that will guide them in their ministries.” This approach at Queen’s mirrors some of the recent invitations of Bishop Geoff Peddle. 

Clery Conference 2017

In response to the Spirit’s promptings, Bishop Geoff, in the fall of 2015, invited leaders from the Shalem Institute of Spiritual Formation (based in Washington DC) to come to the Diocese of Eastern NL to lead a clergy conference on contemplative spirituality. After that initial positive experience of contemplative teaching and practice, the Bishop invited the Shalem Institute back to the diocese again in the fall of 2017 for more practice and encouragement on the contemplative path. Consequent to this conference, and noticing that if we were encouraging the church to deepen in contemplative prayer, we would need to instruct and form local qualified spiritual directors that can companion others. So Carole Crumley, Winston Charles and myself met with Dr.Rick Singleton of Queens, and began discerning the possibility of a Spiritual Guidance Program. Noticing the Spirit’s invitation to further exploration, the circle of discernment widened and we clearly heard the call to move forward with planning and preparation for a Spiritual Guidance Program at Queens. 

With guidance, assistance and classroom contributions from Shalem leaders such as Tilden Edwards, Margaret Benefiel, and Shalem graduates of the Spiritual Guidance Program, a three semester/one year program was put into place to start in the fall of 2018. Students could do the course for credit towards their degree, and/or they could do the three semesters and complete a Certificate in Spiritual Guidance. 

The first semester focused on the foundations for spiritual formation, and the introduction and practice of contemplative prayer. The second semester centered on the practice of spiritual direction, and, in addition to deepening the practice of contemplative prayer, each student entered into a one to one spiritual direction relationship with a trained spiritual director. And the third semester was a practicum in which students, in addition to continuing in the above, took on two spiritual directees themselves, and began the process of Peer Group Spiritual Direction.

It has been an amazing journey to witness these students deepen in their conscious union with the Divine, and also to deepen in their capacity to listen for and assist the Spirit’s emerging in others. 

2019 Graduates of Queens Certificate in Spiritual Guidance Program

Although this contemplative listening is in the art form of one to one Spiritual Guidance, it is the very same deep spiritual heart listening that the Spirit is inviting the Church as a whole to do in this time of great change and transition. The Spirit is calling us to go deeper into the Heart. Each and every one of us needs a companion or guide along the Way.

Our Love Self

Jesus,

You are

the Way,

the

narrow

Way,

the Way

of denying self,

of dying to self,

the Way

of opening

to our 

True Self,

our 

Love

Self,

our

Self 

in

Love

forever.

22 August 2019

Christ my life

Christ

my life.

Christ

who is life.

Christ

who always was.

Christ

who always is.

Christ

who always will be.

Christ

who awakens my soul

to Christ’s coming

in 

every

moment

disguised

as

my 

life

as 

your 

life.

6 August 2019

An Ancient Imprint

An ancient

imprint,

a fossil,

on the 

edge

of the 

continent,

a silent

witness

to evolution’s

unfurling,

evolution’s

becoming,

emerging

from the 

heart

of the 

planet,

awakening

in my 

heart,

the same

heart,

the One

Heart,

fossilized 

and

breathing.

26 July 2019

Reveal Yourself

Reveal yourself

and save us

from ourselves.

Reveal yourself

in every 

face,

in every 

body,

in every 

mind,

in every 

heart,

in

every

thing.

For You Are

Presence

waiting

to be 

noticed.

My Love,

the more

I notice

You,

the more

I Am

saved

from myself.

23 July 2019

Rector's Report for 2018, Parish of the Resurrection

Rector's Report for 2018, Parish of the Resurrection

Dear friends in Christ, friends who are sharing in the Great Love together, 2018 has been a great year for our spiritual community in many different ways. God continues to bless us, and God continues to bless others in and through and as us. Thanks be to God.

For the Parish of the Resurrection, 2018 has been a healthy year for us. As individuals and as a community, we continue to deepen in faith and love, in diversity and inclusion, in care of each other, and in reaching out to the larger community and those on the margins. 

2018 has brought new participants into our community of faith. This includes new pilgrims to our Sunday liturgical community, but also new pilgrims to the other spiritual communities within the circle of the Parish of the Resurrection. The Parish of the Resurrection is much more than the total of those who participate in the Sunday liturgy. The Parish of the Resurrection has become a collection of communities within a community. We have spiritual seekers who are seeking their Higher Power, who are seeking to connect in meaningful ways with others in ways other than the liturgy or religion per se. 

In addition to our ongoing communities that gather at the Resurrection for Yoga, Saturday Brunch, Seniors Cafe, Bereavement Support, Knit Wits, Scones and Tea, three new and very exciting communities have emerged at the Resurrection over the last year.

So many of us and our families are effected by drug addiction and the mental illnesses that are part of addiction. With no resources in our immediate region, we discerned and formed a Narcotics Anonymous Group in the parish that I, as the pastor, am directly involved with. This community has taken root and is growing with the need for addiction recovery support in our region. Our Tuesday night meeting is called the Baccalieu Trail Recovery Group. As this community has taken root, and as relationships of trust have been built, we have also discerned and formed a Recovery Peer Support environment on Wednesdays. The Parish of the Resurrection is being established in our region where those struggling with drug addiction can come for compassion, inclusion, and support. Thanks be to God.

Another exciting community that has emerged in 2018 at the Resurrection is what we call an Alternative Spiritual Community. With so many people today indicating no interest in religion, but having an interest in spirituality, we have discerned and formed an alternative community at the Resurrection where people can come to explore spirituality and spiritual practices, without the obstacles of doctrines, creeds and religion. This community continues to meet and continues to slowly grow, meeting a spiritual need for a segment of our population. Thanks be to God.

The beautiful truth is that God is in God’s world doing what God is doing, with or without the church. The church has no monopoly on God (though the church tried teaching that for 1700 years). The new and emerging church has to learn to listen with its spiritual heart for how God’s Life is emerging in our communities and the people around us, and we have to simply join in, in new and creative ways. The future church will always have the Eucharist and the Sunday liturgy. But the future church will have to be much, much more than that. We have to have the courage, trust and love to know that God is life, and to invite and welcome that Life in its ever new and emerging forms.

The Diocesan Synod in the fall of 2018 has given direction to the people and parishes of this diocese to find new ways of being church into the future, and to give more attention and energy to being mission focused. The parish of the Resurrection is well away along this path, and we will be looking at new ways to partner with neighbouring parishes in mission objectives into the future. 

2018 has been a reasonably good financial year for our parish. Although we have met our budget projections, it has been done with fairly heavy reliance on fundraising. With more people less regular at the Sunday liturgy, our free will offering continues to be in a slow decline. If you are someone who is not at the liturgy every Sunday, and if you are someone who loves your spiritual community, in whatever form that is for you at the Resurrection, please consider automatic deposit. Regular monthly offering to your parish would greatly help our mission objectives and making positive contributions to our common life together and to the life of our region. 

The Parish of the Resurrection received a number of fairly large donations in 2018. A $5000 donation was gratefully received from the Brigus Blueberry Committee (who disbursed funds to large number of charitable organizations in Conception Bay North). This very generous donation was used to install a much needed wind break at the entrance to our House for the Church. 

The other area of donation was for the paving of our parking lot. We received very generous donations from Floy Doull and the family of Fred Andews. It was their desire that these donations be used to provide paving for the parish parking lot.

These donations are wonderful examples of how people can support this parish through financial bequest. 

Remembering the Parish in your Wills: Floy Doull has included the Parish of the Resurrection in her will, and she has done it in such a way that she can see its benefits to the parish while still living. 

Remembering the Parish with Funeral Memorials: With the passing of Fred Andrews, the family’s wish was that all funeral memorial donations to be made out to the Parish of the Resurrection.

Remembering the Parish with Family Memorials: One of the wishes of Fred Andrews, a supporter of the parish and a believer in our evolving mission, was to see the parking lot paved. With Floy Doull’s willed donation toward paving the parking lot, coupled with the funeral memorial donation, the Andrew’s family, in memory of Fred, have made a memorial donation to help complete the paving project.

We, as a parish family, are thankful for the generous donations from these two families, to pave the parking lot, and to support the rebuilding of the church both materially and spiritually. 

On a final note, and with reference to the wider church, noting that your rector continues in the role of the Diocesan Canon for Spirituality, encouraging the deepening of spiritual practice in our diocese; that I continue my role as Adjunct Faculty at Queens College teaching Pastoral Studies; and that I’ve been working with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in the discerning, designing and leading of a contemplative pilgrimage to our Southern Shore in 2019.

For all of you who love your church, and contribute to our shared life together in so many and varied ways, thank you. It is because of your ever depending hearts in God that we are IN Love with each other, and delighting together in the Lord’s School of Love.

In the Great Love,

Father Gerald+

Meditation as the Path to Universal Love

Twenty five or thirty years ago (I am getting old) when I heard the word “meditation,” I understood it to mean something that only Christian or Buddhist monks and nuns did. I didn’t know of anyone who meditated, and if there was someone around who meditated, they probably would not admit it publicly. The practice of mediation was far from mainstream in our culture. The value and practice of meditation has thankfully come a long way from the hidden fringes of our society and much more into the mainstream.

In my first full time semester at Queens College as a young seminarian in 1993, Sister Anitra, a nun of the Anglican Sisters of St.John the Divine in Toronto, led the very first retreat that I was ever on. During that time, she introduced us to a little book titled “Seeking God” by Ester DeWaal, and with that, an introduction to Benedictine spirituality and the Christian mediation practice of Lectio Divine (Holy Reading). Lectio Divina is an ancient form of Christian meditation, but not the only form of Christian meditation. With the growing interest in Eastern Religion Spirituality (Buddhism and Hinduism) in the second half of the last century, Father Thomas Keating, a Cistercian monk in the USA, in 1975 emerged as one of the principle developers of what is known today as Centering Prayer - another form of meditation found within the Christian tradition (in the Christian Spiritual classic “The Cloud of Unknowing”). 

Since that time a number of Christian schools for meditation have emerged including the Shalem Institute for Spiritual formation and the Center for Action and Contemplation. Again, over the last fifty years, the Buddhist practice of Mindfulness has become mainstream, being used in Health and Education institutions to promote mental health and wellness. 

The practice of meditation crosses all religious and cultural boundaries, and it has everything to do not only with the universal evolution of the human consciousness as a whole, but it has everything to do with the evolution and deepening of every single person’s consciousness. 

In the Christian tradition, to follow the Way of Jesus is to die to self - die to self consciousness in order to open up to and live out of the deeper Mind of Christ, the Love that is Christ. Meditation is the universal spiritual tool used to empty our selves of the prison of the unrelenting and repetitive thinking mind. Much of the rampant anxiety of our day comes from people being stuck in the cages of their thinking minds. In the Christian tradition, Jesus tells us that there is more to being human than the thinking mind. We have a soul. We have a spiritual heart, a deep treasure in the soul waiting to be discovered. Meditation is the path that will lead you from the prison of self consciousness to the open, spacious freedom of Love Consciousness. Too much of public and cultural life is lived at the self conscious level only, full of fear and division. As we learn to walk the meditative path, we will discover a deeper Unitive Consciousness, and we will have eyes to see the Oneness of all of life in every person and in all of creation. We will learn to be IN Love (In Christ) with all of life. What a world it would be.

12 Step Spirituality: A Spirituality for Everyone

In the spring of 2018, and in response to the number of people in our region living with substance addictions, the Parish of the Resurrection in South River initiated a Narcotics Anonymous Group. The intention was to form an NA group in which the priest could be pastorally present and available as a form of outreach to the region. Since June of last year, what is now called the Baccilieu Trail Recovery Group has emerged and continues to take root. 

There are pastoral and spiritual benefits to my presence in the meetings each week, but mostly I am a listener, learning from the wisdom of those who are walking the difficult path of recovery. In addition to the regular meetings, Twelve Step Spirituality is also part of the NA AA program. Twelve Step spirituality is not just about staying clean or sober, but even more importantly it is about spiritual enlightenment. One of the many things that I have learned from the weekly meetings, is that twelve step spirituality is not just for recovering addicts. A member pointed this out to me when he said that twelve step spirituality is a spirituality for everyone because it is a program for life. And he is right. 

The word “addiction” is only used in step one, with the truth remaining that we are all powerless over our lives and that we need to believe in a Power greater than ourselves in order to be restored to sanity. All of the twelve steps are spiritually relevant to all people of our culture today, but two in particular stand out for me. The first is step two, the invitation to believe in a Higher Power, whatever that may be for you. This is brilliant. The Twelve Steps is not telling the seeker what to believe in. The invitation is one to spiritual exploration and discovery. When someone is intentional in seeking God or your higher power, God always shows up. “Seek and you will find.” So religion or creeds or doctrines are not obstacles to be put in the way of someone beginning to seek out a spiritual path to wholeness. 

The other step that stands out for me is step eleven, the use of meditation to improve our conscious contact with God. The various forms of meditation, across traditions and cultures, are pathways for us to deepen our conscious sharing in a Larger Life, our higher power. The path to enlightenment or spiritual freedom is learning and practicing how to get out of our addictive thinking minds. All of us are addicts, minimally to our own addictive thinking patterns. Step eleven invites us to go deeper than our thinking, to discover a deeper conscious contact with our Higher Power, where we are liberated from the prisons of our thinking minds. For the Christian, to follow the Twelve Step Spirituality is to put on the Mind of Christ. Twelve Step Spirituality is worth a try. In case you or someone you know  were interested, on Sunday nights at 7pm at the Resurrection, we offer an Alternative Spiritual Community where we gather to learn about Twelve Step Spirituality and to learn and practice meditation.