The Role of the Holy Fool ...

I've always loved comedy.
I remember as a kid watcing shows like Carol Burnett and rolling on the floor laughing. To put it in context, as a kid we had tv pillows made by our neighbour Mr. Baumbach that we laid on on the floor right in front of the old console Zenith in the living room. So, rolling on the floor was just part of a normal night of tv viewing.

Having said that though, comedy has been an important ribbon running through my life since childhood. I love to laugh, and I love to laugh at the comedic genius of anyone from Laurel & Hardy through to modern comedians like Russell Peters, George Carlin, Ron James and the late great Bill Hicks.

I'll openly admit that I had never heard of Bill Hicks until Katie (of the blog At the Half Note) suggested then sent a cd of his comedy to me. I was awestruck ... I listened to the cds of this comedic genius over and over and over ... I searched out a book of his musings, and I managed to find a dvd of his routines. I've referenced him numerous times around here, and I'll even proudly proclaim that I've referenced him in my sermons on several occassions.

Most recently was today ... I used Bill's wise statement about the world being nothing more than a ride, as the opening salvo in my 9/11 Anniversary Reflection.

My motivation was and remains simple - I wanted to use something that challenges us to look beyond the fear and insecurity that grips our modern era, and instead hear words of HOPE that challenge us to move PAST our fear and embrace more positive feelings and thoughts like love ... and Mr Bill Hicks, a man who harshly (and perhaps rightly) criticized the Church, offers those words for us ...

So, I quoted from him, and celebrated the necessary role of 'The Fool' in our midst, particularly in times when we seem intent on other things ... The role of the Fool in Shakespearean literature is that of the wise man speaking the truth that no one wants to hear ... Today in our post-9/11 world I would dare to suggest that Bill Hicks represents such a Holy Fool who speaks the truth we need to hear.

I'll be posting my sermon shortly over at my blog "United Church in the Grey Highlands" ... let me know what you think ...

In the meantime ... thoughts and prayers for our troubled world today and always!
Shalom,

Call to Worship for Today's Service ...

Our worship services began with our organist/pianist playing the hymn "O God, our help in ages past" in the background as I shared the following Call to Worship/Act of Remembrance that ended in the lighting of the Christ Candle in the front of our Sanctuary:

Call to Worship/Lighting of the Christ Candle:

One: It happened on a Tuesday. The sky was clear and blue. The smoke was thick, dark and ominous. Images are now forever etched in our minds, losses forged into our souls, and fear made real.

ALL: O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come.

One: We remember the moment. We remember flames, explosions, falling debris, tumbling towers, wailing sirens, crying voices, and the still silence of death.

ALL: our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.

One: They say the world changed, yet in our world of violence this moment is far from unique … the change is in us … realizing violence can happen here and not just somewhere else.

ALL: Under the shelter of thy throne, they saints have dwelt secure.

One: We remember the dead. Those who died that day, and the soldiers and civilians who have died since. We remember the dead and we continue our prayers for the living …

ALL: sufficient is thy arm alone, and our defence is sure.

One: We pray for peace in a world rife with violence and strife. We pray for Shalom in a world enveloped in darkness. We pray for Salaam in a world filled with fear …

ALL: O God our help in ages part, our hope for years to come.

One: It happened on a Tuesday. The sky was clear and blue. The world changed because for the first time we came to see it as it is …

ALL: be thou our guard while troubles last and our eternal home.

One: Be with us in our memories O God, and send us forth as a people touched by our past, but motivated by our future to recreate what is into a place of abundant Shalom …

(Lighting of the Christ Candle)

One: We light this candle remembering the words of the prophets who boldly and audiciously proclaim their sure and certain hope that the light will shine in the darkness: (Isaiah 9:2-3)

One: As this light glows we pause to remember … we remember the dead, the broken, the wounded … and we remember the Living

Observation of a Moment of Silence in Remembrance:

*Hymn: Make Me a Channel of Your Peace. VU 684

Eight years ago today ...

I remember eight years ago today, hearing the news that a jetliner had flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Centre ... I went to the tv and turned it on ... the image was stark and startling ...

I called Noahkila to come and see the dramatic image of the World Trade Centre with a gaping smoking hole ... he arrived just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower ...

"Oh my God," I gasped, "these are intentional crashes ..."

Noahkila went back to his cereal ... my heart fell ...

I remember over the day watching ... praying ... weeping ... and fearing not further attacks by the unknown terrorists, but fearing the response by the Bush Administration ...

But what I remember most of all was driving south on Hwy 10 and seeing a CLEAR BLUE sky with no jet contrails ... only blue and white ... I remember thinking that for the first time in decades the sky world wide was clear of jet contrails, as flights were grounded and countless travellers were taken in to private homes in far flung corners of the globe like Gander ...

I remember ... and today, continue to pray for peace ... a lasting and just peace for our world and for ALL its citizens ...

Maybe one day it will come to pass ...

Six Years On ...

Today, Six years later

we remember!!

We remember:

those lost that day,

those who've died in combat

since that day,

and

ALL those who have perished

since that day

at home and abroad.

.

Today, six years later,

WE REMEMBER.

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Today, six years later

we prayer for peace.

.
Today, six years later,

we pray that maybe one day:

.

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me;

Let there be peace on earth,

The peace that was meant to be.
(copyrighted lyrics for "Let There be Peace on Earth"

by Jill Jackson & Sy Miller)

The WTC Memorial at the Peace Gardens ...

Tucked under some trees on the American side of the Park at Peace Gardens is a pile of rusty, twisted, battered old iron I-beams ... Today as my kids and I stood looking at them an American tourist came up and loudly (too loudly) said - "What are those rusty old things doing here?"

Her companion, in an equally loud tone said - "I dunno, but it looks awful ... lemme read what it says ..."

I said softly with my teeth clenched and a tear in my eye, "They are beams from the World Trade Centre ..."

The two women gasped and assumed a reverential demeanour ...

I still remember vividly the morning of September 11th 2001 ... I was getting lunches ready while Noahkila, Ms H., and Beetle were getting ready for their day ... on CBC Radio, the special announcement music broke in and a voice said "a plane has flown into the World Trade Centre in New York City ..." I gasped, dropped what I was doing and dashed into the living room. I turned on the tv and was struck by the visual image of the first tower smoking ...

I called Noahkila to come and see ... He arrived just as the second plane slammed into the second tower ... My heart stopped ...

I remember ALL of my conversations through the rest of the day ... the common theme was shock, bewilderment and confusion ... then later in the day fear started to set in. Not fear of the terrorists and what they might be capable of doing, but fear what would happen now as President Bush prepared to respond ...

I believe that it has been a fear that has been warranted and justified ...

Today as I stood again gazing at the steel girders that were once a piece of New York City's skyline, I thought of those who died that day ... then I thought of all the Afghani and Iraqi citizens who have died since ... and all the soldiers, Canadian, American, and others who have fallen in a war few of us want ... and I thought of all the conflicts in the world ... and with tears in my eyes I could utter only one prayer:

May we one day have a real and lasting

peace in our world ...

and may we have it soon ... Amen.

And the sky was blue ...

One of the vivid things I remember about September 11th 2001 was the vivid blue sky that served as a background for the horrific events unfolding half a world away ...

Had it been cloudy or foggy ... had the towers been obscured by rain, or a low ceiling ... the visual image of the explosions, the fires, and the collapse followed by the clouds of dust and smoke would not have had the same impact ...

It was the deep blue sky of a perfect fall day in New York City that provided the dramatic backdrop for the events that unfolded that day ... It was, as disturbing as it may be to say - picture perfect ... Hollywood techno-geeks doing special effects could not have provided a more perfect tableau ...

And so as we watched horrified ... mesmerized ... shocked beyond words the perfect blue sky provided a backdrop for events that shook us ...

The next day, driving across the flat bald prairie I noticed something I had never noticed in my life before ... The sky was perfect ... there were only clouds and blue and sun ... there were no jet contrails ... there was only the sky as the First People had seen it a Century ago before our silver birds arrived and began to change the world ...

I stopped and stared ... it was a perfect blue sky ...

From the hurt and horrors we emerged, blinking in the sunlight, praying for the families, praying for the neighbours, praying for the people of New York who one beautiful fall day watched horror on an unimaginable scale unfold before their eyes ...

The word WHY? rose to our lips ... we looked up searching for answers ... searching perhaps for God ... we looked up and on September 11th and 12th and 13th, the sky was still blue ... the sun was still shining inspite of our pain, our fears, our sorrows ...

We looked up and say above us a perfect, beautiful, blue sky ...

The world changed ... but life rolls on ...
and we remember ... still standing under a perfect blue sky ...

A Lament for the 9/11 Anniversary ...

They were buildings I always wanted to go and visit:

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I wanted to stand at their top

and be thrilled by the wave of vertigo that always comes ...

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They were buildings I always wanted to go and visit:

... but then one morning fall morning as

I was getting the kids ready for their day ...

... the radio broadcast said "a plane has hit the World Trade Centre in New York"...

... Details were sketchy ...

..."What?" I asked aloud ...

... curiousity got the better of me ...

... I strolled into the living room and switched on the tv ...

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... I remember the striking image ...

...the impact point that looked like the outline of a plane ...

... I called my 7 year old son to come and see ...

... he walked in the room as the second plane hit the second tower ...

... "OH MY GOD !!" I cried ... "can I finish my breakfast?" he asked ...

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... In that moment we knew the world was changing ...

... and it seemed unlikely that that change would be for the better ...

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Before the day ended ...

... thousands were dead ...

... skyline was altered ...

...two buildings ... two landmarks were gone ...

... two other planes ended thier journey in a crash ...

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Before the day ended ...

... the world began a slow descent into the madness of war against a ghost ...

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... Today ... Five years on, we pause to remember ...

... we remember the dying ...

... we remember the collapsing ...

... we remember the clouds of choking dust ...

... we remember the sounds ...

... we remember the lines of airplanes sitting, waiting ...

... we remember a world caught in the moment of grief and sorrow ...

... we remember the families who continue to mourn ...

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... Today ... Five years on, we pause to remember ...

... we remember, because those who saw it, even at a distance, can never forget ...

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... Today ... Five Years one, we pause to remember ...

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They were buildings I wanted to go and visit one day ...

... that day has come and gone ...

... I never made it ...

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... I never stood and looked across one of the greatest cities of the world ...

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... One day I WILL go to visit where they once stood ...

... One day I will go to the place they once reached into the sky ...

... One day I will stand where their shadows once stretched across the land ...

... One day I will go to visit the buildings I always wanted to go and visit ...

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... They will be there only in our memories ...

... But as I stand in that place, like countless others before me ...

... I will pause to remember ...

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... I will pause to remember and never forget ...

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... and may the lasting legacy of 9/11 be simply this...

... that one day the ancient words will finally come true...

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"and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks:

nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more.
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree;

and none shall make them afraid ..."

- The Prophet Micah

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... Today we pause to remember ... and pray that maybe one day ...