The Jesuit priest James Martin tells of his drive near the Rift Valley in Kenya two decades ago:
“I was transfixed by the verdant green grass that carpeted the hillside”, he writes. “Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, a lone white sheep clambered down the hillside and darted in front of my car. I swerved to avoid hitting it… Then I watched the sheep gingerly climb down into the valley on the right side of the road. Just then, from my left, a figure darted across the road. It was a young Maasai shepherd… The shepherd dashed in front of my idling car. Barefoot, he smiled and waved to me as he passed. He scrambled down the side of the hill in pursuit of the sheep, raising clouds of dust, calling loudly all the time… Then I looked up and saw the rest of the flock, about twenty or thirty sheep, up the hill on my left. How stupid! I thought. He’s leaving behind the whole flock for that one sheep. Then something dawned on me, and I laughed out loud. It was the Parable of the Lost Sheep in action!”
June 10, 2018 – Church of Holy Trinity, Trinity Square
Our sisters and brothers at the Corrymeela Community, Northern Ireland’s longest-serving centre for peace and reconciliation, begin their day with these words:
“We resolve to live life in its fullness:
We will welcome the people who’ll be part of this day.
We will greet God in ordinary and hidden moments.”
What a remarkable story from the Book of Samuel. The elders of Israel complain to Samuel about the judges who were the government of the day. Israel was a group of scattered tribes under attack by the Philistines. The elders wanted a strong man for protection.
Mother’s Day 2018 finds me in a militant state of mind. And if we go back to the origins of the celebration, that’s actually very appropriate frame of mind to be in.
As you may know, Mother’s Day began not as a celebration of a woman’s personal devotion to her family but as a holiday that commemorated and fostered women’s civic and international activism.
Rob Shropshire, who is a member of the Holy Trinity Refugee Committee, emailed this to members of the Committee and posted it on his Facebook page, has given permission to share his mindfulness here as well:
Many of us feel shaken by the events in Toronto today. For those we have sponsored, the incident may raise anxiety for a number of reasons:
– it may be a trigger for trauma given what they experienced before coming to Canada;
– it may create fear or a sense that Canada is not as safe as hoped;
– it may spark fears of being blamed for what happened
– indeed, it may lead to incidents where newcomers find themselves accused of being at blame.
I encourage you/us to reach out to those we have sponsored. Urge them to share any feelings of insecurity them may have and please reassure them that you care for them and they are welcome here.
This is a time for us to stand in solidarity against those who would hurt or divide us, to love our neighbours as ourselves.
