From the pastor…
Sometimes I still can’t believe the Scottish Canal Authority allowed us to navigate a rented, 54-foot-long canal boat through the multi-million dollar Falkirk Wheel! Who am I? A sea captain? There’s over 8 stories of height difference between the Clyde-Forth Canal and the Union Canal. This rotating boat lift was a Scottish Millennium Project and has received numerous engineering awards. Shawna and I rented a Narrow Boat for a week to tour the Union Canal and visit Edinburgh, but we had to go through the Falkirk Wheel at the beginning and ending of that tour.
I had never driven a diesel powered boat with a tiller, rudder, and throttle like that boat had, until that very day. Any number of things could have gone wrong in terms of “operator error.” Yet, captain the boat, I did! Navigated into the lagoon, maneuvered into the gondola of the Falkirk Wheel, tied up to the side; we did everything we were told in our brief orientation and all in view of many tourists taking pictures and videos from the dock of this World Heritage Site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tBH9SE-Kw8 is a link to a You Tube video that shows eight minutes of the wheel in action. This video features one of the tourist boats with seating. Our boat was more like a floating RV, complete with kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, dining, etc. Another difference is that the video features a sunny day. We were in the wind and rain, which complicated the navigating, but didn’t dampen the spirit of adventure.
At one point, as we were powering across the lagoon, approaching the entrance to this boat lift, the chatter in my mind came to a peak. That is when I told myself to stop questioning my commitment, that ready or not, we are moving forward! I decided that the only way driving that boat correctly was going to work was by having confidence in my abilities, in fully committing to the process. A little throttle, forward, then reverse, move the tiller, toss the rope, cut the engine. I actually made it look easy, and it was amazing to be entrusted with such an endeavor.
This adventure is a good metaphor for our spiritual life. So many Christians, especially during Lent, cut themselves short and focus on the “woe is me” aspect of faith we’ve been taught through the church using a sin/redemption model. “Penal Sacrificial Atonement Doctrine,” for the last few centuries, has perpetuated the belief that we are separated from God through our sin. But sin can also be defined as the illusion of separation, and being unwilling to change. In fact, we are never separate from God, and no thing could be a thing without God to sustain it’s being.
We are, according to some, in the midst of a new reformation, where the internal chatter of our faith is getting challenged. With a similar dynamic to life on the boat that day, Christians are invited to move from asking, “But who am I?” to “But I am!” as we claim the human-divine connection as the Living Christ is embodied in our lives.
This emerging sense of original blessedness links us to ancient and deep wisdom, which the Gospel message has proclaimed in plain sight but has largely been overlooked by institutional religion and belief systems, shadowed by doctrines of original sin, guilt, shame, and the judgments of a wrathful God. Where is the good news with a God like that?
Thankfully, the creative power of God is raising awareness throughout the world to the transforming presence of Christ incarnate, of God with us. Church forms are emerging where Christians are invited to take to heart the Eucharist’s Sacramental equipping to become the body of Christ in the world. It is through the heart that this is perceived.
Even when the storms come and the sailing isn’t exactly smooth, the great I AM is living and calling us forward. And even when I’m not so confident, it is Christ within me who is. May God bless us as a church as we seek, celebrate, and reflect God in all things, and all things in God.
Peace,
Pastor Andy