Friday, July 20, 2012


One day I shall write in this blog about the spiritual life of a church bureaucrat… but not today.
Today, as I prepare one of the rare sermons I preach each year, I am recalling how central sermon preparation was in my spiritual life as a preacher/pastor.

I did not do it as a spiritual discipline; I did it to have a good sermon ready by Sunday. But that weekly discipline of reading, reflecting, researching, considering the lives of the congregation members, delving deep into my own soul, and finding words to share that might be more than mere reflections or good stories or heartfelt advice – that seems to me to be, perhaps, the most profound way my own spiritual life was shaped and nurtured.

It was both task and gift, discipline and joy, struggle and (from time to time) liberation.

For most United Church ministers it has to happen almost every week; it is part of the job; it is what we are paid to do. It might not always feel very “spiritual.”

Sometimes we do not consider ourselves engaging in a “spiritual” life unless we are doing something unusual and, perhaps, even strange: not talking for 48 hours; walking in circles through a labyrinth; sitting in front of candles; writing poetry.

The life of Jesus, though, reminds us that while “the spiritual life” is sometimes retreat to the mountains it is most often being surrounded by the mundane, by life with its challenges, by those making demands, by breaking bread, eating… by preaching in the synagogue.

It is one of the many bonuses in the life of preachers that a significant part of their paid work is to engage in such a deep, weekly, life-changing spiritual practice as sermon preparation.

It is hard, but I hope preachers can accept that unwarranted bonus as a gift… and not neglect it.
Posted by Doug Goodwin

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.   Dag Hammarskjold 


Posted by Sally McShane



Monday, July 16, 2012

Mix and Faith

If someone could write
a cookbook on prayer,
every recipe would conclude
with these words:
"Mix and faith"

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

                                                 Sea of Galilee

I am the vessel. The draft is God's. And God is the thirsty one. 
       Dag Hammarskjold 


Posted Sally McShane

Friday, July 6, 2012


The garden is rich with diversity
With plants of a hundred families
In the space between the trees
With all the colours and fragrances.
Basil, mint and lavender,
God keep my remembrance pure,
Raspberry, Apple, Rose,
God fill my heart with love,
Dill, anise, tansy,
Holy winds blow in me.
Rhododendron, zinnia,
May my prayer be beautiful
May my remembrance O God
be as incense to thee
In the sacraed grove of eternity
As I smell and remember
The ancient forests of earth.

Chinook Psalter