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| The Grand River at Paris, Ontario. Image by Bill Badzo |
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A GREETING
Let my whole being bless the Lord!
Lord my God, how fantastic you are!
(Psalm 104:1a CEB)
A READING
Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound, of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, “This perfume was worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.) Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.”
(John 12:1-8 CEB)
MUSIC
This selection is part of a special gathering
in support of refugee resettlement in Kingston in 2016. It is sung in English and French.
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
God made streams flow from the rock,
made water run like rivers.
(Psalm 78:16)
A STORY
For a season, an artist seeking a new beginning hung around St. Marks and came to our weekly church hall suppers. Like all of us who were on our way to somewhere else –- whether we knew it at the time or not -- the artist briefly meshed with our community life and then moved on. Before doing so, she set something beautiful in motion. She persuaded the nearby flower shop called "Mostly Roses" to set aside their leftovers every Wednesday afternoon to dress up our supper tables. Suddenly there was an abundance of fresh roses! Roses in full bloom, destined for the compost heap. Now, roses redeemed. Lively roses in red, pink, orange and yellow. Expensive carpe diem roses on the edge of their best before date...
Someone heard that the church at the corner of King and Green next to the hospital might be a healing place, a forgiving place, a place with a heart. Someone else experienced a longed for flash of faith and hope. After all, such things had happened before, long ago: a dinner invitation, a crashed party, a jar of expensive perfume, and some kisses. And for a few months many centuries later, it happened again, this time with roses. It happened among a diverse and unlikely gathering of people, each individual a consequence of God's love.
- from "Something Like Roses," a story found in
Here Be Wonders by Nancy Vernon Kelly
A POEM FOR THE DAY
all life is pointing
colours,
patterns,
vanishing ink
visitations
realizations
conversations
catastrophes
serendipities
synchronicities
all life,
even the wreckage,
is kindling
for goosebumps
and sighs
and all life is signing
pay attention
pass the word
- "Signage," by Nancy Vernon Kelly,
found in her book Here Be Wonders
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| The Grand River near Belwood, Ontario. Image by Sara Hannaford/Grand River Conservation Authority. |
The Grand River has its source near Dundalk, Ontario and runs in a wavy circling pattern southward through farmland, small towns and modest urban areas to empty into Lake Erie. Among the many Indigenous nations and communities who have been its stewards over time, the Haudenosaunee were promised the land by treaty in 1784, when the Haldimand Proclamation protected six miles on both sides of the Grand River for their enjoyment forever. The very existence of the towns and urban areas is proof that the treaty was broken. Today, the Six Nations of the Grand River retain only 46,500 acres of the 950,000 acres that was originally granted. While the Six Nations include many Haudenosaunee people, they also live throughout upstate New York and southwestern Ontario. Rather than identify with a particular country, many just think of themselves as Haudenosaunee.
In today’s reading, which many might have heard in church this past Sunday, Mary's anointing of Jesus expresses a profound faith and commitment in who he was. The moment foreshadows Jesus’ death, and the anointing of his body that the women would perform then. We hear Jesus himself make that connection when he defends Mary to Judas.
In its own way, the encounter of Mary and Jesus in the moment of her lavish care of him, is like a covenanting. In chapter 11, Mary was hesitant to greet him when he first arrived at Lazarus’ tomb, but much has happened since then, and she has perhaps been influenced by Martha's understanding of Jesus as the promised messiah. At the same time, she senses what is coming. The anointing is a form of promise to him to never abandon him, even after death.
Throughout this week we are looking at the problem of treaties and covenants and their ongoing vulnerability. When the responsibility for upholding promises passes down among many generations, the original commitment and purpose can become distorted or lost. Personal need and/or greed begins to wiggle into the mix or are outright and unabashedly asserted.
The hope lies with us. In her book, Here Be Wonders, Nancy Kelly shares her stories of serving as a pastor in a Kitchener, Ontario parish in Block 2 of the Haldimand Tract. Many of the stories, including the excerpt above, describe moments of unexpected grace as those who come and go through the doors find ways to offer abundant service to each other, often without even knowing it. Similarly, Inshallah, the singing community based in Waterloo, often sings in events that help to uphold contemporary justice initiatives. Lavish love takes shape whenever we offer the whole of ourselves to God, in service to others.
As Lent comes closer to its end, how can we shake off our half-baked commitments to our faith and find again that place of extravagant commitment to Jesus and to God, in our outward service to others? What is the nard that each of us will bring as we enter Holy Week?
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A STORY OF LEADERSHIP
Made by a Canadian/U.S. public broadcaster, the film New York Suffrage Stories describes how much the American movement for suffrage among women was inspired by the matrilineal leadership of the Haudenosaunee. Here is an excerpt from the film. You can watch it in its entirety here.
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Resources in today's devotion:
Scripture passages are taken from The Common English Bible.
To learn more about the Haldimand Tract and subsequent land rights claims, go here.
To learn more about the Six Nations of the Grand River, go here.
To learn more about Inshallah singing community, watch this short video made in 2014 and/or go here.
Nancy Vernon Kelly is a Waterloo, Ontario-based writer and pastor. Her book Here Be Wonders is a collection of short stories inspired by her life as the pastor of St. Mark's in Kitchener, Ontario.
Find out more about her here.
Martin Luther University College, home to Lutherans Connect and Inshallah, is situated on the Haldimand Tract. Two of the devotional team members, as well as Nancy Kelly and many members of Inshallah, live on this territory. We are grateful to the Haudenosaunee, the Anishnaabe and the Neutral peoples who have cared for this land since time immemorial.
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LC† Streams of Living Justice is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!