This Sunday marks a significant milestone in the life of our Clearbrook MB church family. This is the first Sunday after the caring and compassionate ministry of Pastor Scott and Miriam Tolhurst. As a church, we have very much to be grateful to God for.

We walk into the unknown every day. No one knows what the next 24 hours will bring. Every moment that meets us is a mystery. So why doesn’t it drive us crazy? Because we have history, expectations and assumptions.

We go through our entire lives unable to see ourselves. I don't mean that as a metaphor (not yet anyway) but quite literally. No one can see themselves directly. Unless you can take out your eyes and turn them back to yourself from arm's length, you depend upon reflections and images. 

I am waiting for spring. The calendar says it’s here, but the weather denies it. The temperature isn’t as high as I want it to be. Thick clouds clothe the sun, and rain promises blossoms - but for now it is just damp and cold. Driving home through the puddles, I thought, “This is miserable!” That started a word safari.

I usually don’t read cookbooks. I’m not anti-culinary - but I prefer the product rather than the process. So, I have only one cookbook on my shelf. Still, I’ve found it to be worth all the others I could buy. Robert F. Capon was an Episcopal priest, a theologian, a Biblical author, a New York Times food critic and a chef. Those are not ingredients easily blended but Capon whipped them together for a prolific and flavourful career.

This page of our bulletin is usually focused on our common experience of following Jesus. We are pilgrims, trying to keep in step with our Lord. Today, I use this space to inform you of my own pilgrimage. God is taking Miriam and me in a new direction. It is an unexpected turn in the road for us - but we have no doubt about His leading.

In her book, “Prayers in the Night” Tish Harrison Warren writes, “The Christian life is more like a poem than an encyclopedia.” It has definition that can be articulated. You want an answer - look it up. It has mystery that allows for multiple understandings. Two opposing understandings can be correct. We are prone to push the Christian faith into one of those two labels. Literalists wave the Biblical encyclopedia. Mystics proclaim riddles from the Biblical poem. But both approaches need to be held together, despite the tension. How? Maybe the means is in a song.

Carnival, Pancake Day, Mardi-Gras, Ash Wednesday - you recognize the words, but may struggle to explain their significance. They all have to do with Lent. Lent is a 40 day preparation for Easter. Since Lent is a period of restraint, some use Carnival as a final party before the disciplines begin. 

Isaac Newton was right. Movement is the consequence of outside forces - a push or a pull. So, bowling balls move by being pushed. Apples fall by gravity’s grip, pulled to the ground. Without this push or pull, everything and everyone would be stationary. We need a push or a pull to overcome inertia. Mr. Newton noted this as a physical law, but it is a dynamic for us emotionally, mentally and spiritually as well.

Jesus never sugar coated anything - not for anyone at any time. John 15-16 is proof. The disciples were overloaded by hard news. One of the twelve is a traitor. Jesus would die and leave them. Just when their hearts are stunned with grief and confusion, Jesus adds this news. It is going to get worse! You will be hated by the world and chased unto death. (15:18,16:2) You will weep with sobs of sorrow. (16:20) In this world you can expect trouble and never be disappointed! (16:33) So, as I said, Jesus did not pamper His language with bubble wrap. He spoke iron words, sharp and penetrating - but true.