Stain Glass Lens of the 21st Century

Category: Thanksgiving

  • Saucer Moments!

    Saucer Moments!

    Photo by solod_sha/Pexels

    He was sitting in the dirt, covered in his burlap cloak with his hand out stretched hoping someone would drop in a coin, a piece of bread or in the very least acknowledge his presence. Then he heard the name being spoken. The Healing Rabbi was finally walking past and without hesitation he yelled, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

    “Oh, you just quiet down.  Jesus doesn’t want to hear from the likes of you!” They hissed at him.  Ignoring their taunts, Bartimaeus shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

    All the footsteps stopped, silence.  One singular voice spoke, “Call him.”

    A chorus rang out, “On your feet! He’s calling you.” 

    Throwing his cloak aside, Bartimaeus jumped to his feet and reached out.

    “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.

    “Rabbi, I want to see.”

     “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately Bartimaeus could see.

    It is written that once receiving his sight Bartimaeus “followed Jesus along the road.” But I imagine he didn’t follow quietly and sedately but instead twirled, danced, and sang all the way to Jerusalem.   

    What joy and gratitude must have filled his soul!  The sheer exhilaration and celebration! 

    Have you ever experienced this kind of joy?  Perhaps at a new baby’s birth?  When you were told the cancer was gone?  Holding the winning ticket? Or, that moment you looked up at a tree ablaze in autumn finery?

    These are saucer moments; moments when we drink from our saucer because our cup runneth over.    

    That is what I imagine Bartimaeus sang as he danced behind Jesus, he sang about drinking from his saucer because his cup runneth over!

    May we all have countless saucer moments this coming week and may these moments open our eyes with such vision we see clearly the presence of the divine in our midst.

    Blessings,

    Rev. Heather McCarrel  

  • Grateful Reverence

    Grateful Reverence

    Photo by Pexabay/Pexels

    I was run over by the Holy Spirit this past week, it was a most disturbing experience!  One minute I was going about my business and the next I was left a speechless mess fully aware of God’s amazing presence.

    It happened while out walking my dog, Abigail, one warm afternoon early in October.  I looked up to the Canadian Geese who were practicing their V formation overhead when it happened, a humility so overwhelming I felt light headed with awe.

    I will never be able to fully understand or articulate the grandeur of God in that moment. As I looked around God’s glory shone through the salmon noisily splashing up steam.   To think God created something as remarkable as a salmon whose instincts know to return home every autumn to propagate the next generation or butterflies who began life as caterpillars are now winged beauties prepared to fly south.  This same God put into the hearts of birds to gather on hydro wires so together they may migrate and also instilled within the Canadian Geese to fly in perfect formation.  And then, one final touch God decided to have all the bushes and trees burst into celebratory colour!  

    If all of this wasn’t enough, God also created me, and you, so we can witness this beauty; an audience to God’s amazing creative genius.  The profound awareness of God’s closeness stunned me into a deep humility and gratitude that could only be expressed through reverence; a reverence for something much bigger, wiser and deeper than I could ever perceive.

    As John Milton, English Poet, wrote, “Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”

    May your Thanksgiving be so full of gratitude that it results in a deep reverence that tunes you into God’s closeness.

    Happy Thanksgiving,

    Rev. Heather McCarrel

  • A Determined Hope

    A Determined Hope

    Photo by Maria Orlova/Pexels

    (Hello everyone, this is the second time you have received this BLOG this week. When I reread the original BLOG I noticed a big mistake. It is amazing how the positioning of two words can alter the meaning entirely. Perhaps you will notice the change….maybe you won’t! Thanks for joining us at Stainglass Lense!)

    When hiking the trails through Grey-Bruce Counties it is likely you will come across one of the most hope filled images in all of God’s creation, a tree growing out of a rock. With its roots stretching over the sides of the rock and sinking deep into the earth while its limbs reach up to touch the sun, each tree seems to embrace these large rocks.  This image has always encouraged me and I have pondered, is this an image of hope or is it an image of determination; perhaps, a determined hope?

    This is the image that pops into my mind each Advent when the words of the Prophet Isaiah are read, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit (Isaiah 11:1).”  In other words, out of a seemingly dead tree new life will emerge with a determined hope.

    Isaiah is speaking of the kingdom which began with Christ and continues to be realized through the Spirit of God. In this kingdom the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, justice will cover the earth as water fills the sea and peace will be maintained between all the nations (Isaiah 11:1-10). 

    Isaiah is speaking to those who know how to deepen their roots around hardship, embracing change while reaching upward.  He is reminding us that with God there is always hope for new life to emerge.

     This coming Sunday we begin our Advent journey.  And, as is tradition we will begin by lighting the candle of Hope.  I cannot imagine a better way to start any journey then with hope.

    Blessings,

    Rev. Heather McCarrel

  • A Kernel of Gratitude  

    A Kernel of Gratitude  

    Photo by Priscilla Du Preez/Unsplash

    Every year at Thanksgiving, whether there are only two around the table or twenty-two, each plate has 3 small kernels of un-popped colourful dried corn placed upon it. Before the meal is served we each take our place around the table and together share three things we are thankful for in the past year.  Then we place the kernels in a glass bowl which is placed in the middle of the table.  It is a thing of beauty to see the many different coloured kernels knowing each represents gratitude. 

    Tevye the Dairyman in the play Fiddler On the Roof sings a ‘tongue–in-cheek’ song about the importance of traditions and he concludes that without traditions life would be as shaky as a “fiddler on the roof.”  I tend to agree with Tevye; traditions help to steady us in an otherwise unstable world.

    It is important to me that my children witness traditions that tether them to faithful living and teach them to find hope in a difficult world.  By demonstrating gratitude we are living what the Apostle Paul teaches, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (Thessalonians 5:16-18)

    This year, as my family gathers for Thanksgiving we do so with three less family members; it has been a difficult year.  And yet, we will keep the Thanksgiving tradition of ‘Counting the Kernels of Gratitude’ because each small kernel reminds us of God’s presence, providence and promises.  As Henri Nouwen writes, “Gratitude goes beyond the ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift.”

    May everyone take time this Thanksgiving to pause and count enough blessings until you too are confident that life is pure gift!

    Blessings,

    Rev. Heather McCarrel