From Paul Turley

Alexei Navalny is in jail.

He was sentenced last week by a Moscow court to serve a three-year sentence for allegedly breaching the terms of what had formally been a suspended sentence.

The sentence came as no surprise to Navalny or his supporters. A prominent opposition leader in Russia, leader of the Russia of the Future party, lawyer and anti-corruption activist, Navalny had been in detention since returning to the country a little more than a month ago. Navalny had been in Germany where he was treated for a near-fatal nerve agent attack on him in August of 2020. Navalny blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for the attack and, in court, called Putin a “poisoner.” He also rejects his latest arrest and sentencing as “fabricated.”

Addressing the court before the sentencing, Mr. Navalny said the case was being used to frighten the opposition: “This is how it works: they send one to jail to intimidate millions.” 

Thousands of Russian citizens have taken to the streets in protest against this latest crackdown by the Russian government with upwards of 4,000 people being arrested at protests last week.

Last week, our scripture reading was a promise encompassing the whole world. Today’s reading is a promise encompassing, in the first instance, the lives of two people. The promise of a new life and a new world rests in Abram and Sarai. In Russia, for this moment, the promise of a new life and new world seems to be contained in the life and fortunes of Alexei Navalny and his courageous stand.

While there are questions around Navalny’s nationalism and some of his party’s statements that seem to border on racism, and while his view on the Crimea and its status as part of Ukraine are at best ambivalent, there is no doubt that Navalny is a lightning rod for government attacks and a rallying point for disgruntled Russians.

As Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion said in an opinion piece, “Navalny knew what awaited him in Russia before he left Berlin, and yet he chose to return. He knows he can be killed at any time, but felt he had no choice but to make a stand with the only weapons he has left, his body and his spirit. After his sentence was read, he drew a heart to his wife, Yulia, on the glass of his cage and shouted, ‘Don’t worry. Everything will be OK.’”

While, as of this writing, everything for Navalny seems far from okay, the promise of a new Russia, which he currently embodies, is what many hope will endure and come to fruition.

Explore… Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16

• In what ways can we, in reading the story of Sarah and Abraham, see them as exemplars or signs of the wider promise of God to a whole people?
• What do you think it means that Sarai and Abram are given new names derived from their original names?
• How do you understand the promise to Abraham and Sarah impacting in your life today?

Prayer…

God, promises and dashed promises litter our personal and collective histories. Help us to see clearly your promise of personal and community justice and peace and to live in hope and expectation for your kingdom present and still arriving. Amen.

Learn more…

• Putin critic Navalny jailed in Russia 

• Alexei Navalny: Russia’s vociferous Putin critic 

• The people who let Putin get away with persecuting Navalny 

From Paul Turley

Great promises have been made by the world community since the end of the Second World War. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1951, the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992, The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007 and now, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which came into force on January 22, 2021.

With the world consumed with COVID and COVID news, some of us might have missed this new promise that the international community has made to safeguard our future.

In 2017, according to the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs, the UN General Assembly convened, “a conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.”

ICAN, the organization and campaign focused on prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons – and the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winner – said, in response to the entry into force (the official designation of the enacting of the treaty), that this is, “the first treaty to comprehensively ban nuclear weapons and provide a pathway for all nations to outlaw and eliminate nuclear weapons. It is a crucial piece of international law that puts nuclear weapons in the same illegal category as biological weapons, chemical weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions.”

Article one of the treaty lists the treaty’s prohibitions:

Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to:

(a) Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;

(b) Transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control over such weapons or explosive devices directly or indirectly;

(c) Receive the transfer of or control over nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices directly or indirectly;

(d) Use or threaten to use nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;

(e) Assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty;

(f) Seek or receive any assistance, in any way, from anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty;

(g) Allow any stationing, installation or deployment of any nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices in its territory or at any place under its jurisdiction or control.

While the entry into force for this new treaty is a promise in the right direction for the international community, there is still some distance to go. The major nuclear powers – the USA, the UK, France, and Russia are yet to sign.

Explore…Genesis 9:8–17

• How do you think the international promise of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons compares to the divine international promise in our text?
• The promise that God makes in this story is a promise made to humanity and “every living creature,” between God and the earth. What might this mean for us today?
• Why do you think, in the ancient time from which this story comes, God needs to be remined of God’s covenant with the earth by means of a bow?

Prayer…

God of the earth, the sky, and all they contain, remind us today that we are all your creation, that we all come from your life and love. Help us to know our place and our role in the cosmos and the live rejoicing on your good earth. Amen.

Read more...

• ICAN: The treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons 
• U.N.: Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 
• Global nuclear weapons ban begins – without the world’s nuclear powers 

From Paul Turley

In episode one of the television drama World on Fire (BBC, PBS, SBS), the German army invades Poland, and the lives of our main characters are changed forever. 

Rather than follow the movements of troops, great battles, or the actions of those in power, this television series follows the lives of ordinary people who try to find ways to live in a world on fire.

While we, the viewers, know the horror and the devastation on its way in what will become the Second World War, our main characters must react moment by moment with very little information about what is happening around them, and even less about what will happen next. Their desire for things to be as they have been is palpable. Their determination to live as they have lived in hopes that it will all go away, that it is all just a misstep or mistake, drives them all in the beginning. Douglas, a World War I veteran who suffers from shellshock, campaigns for peace and conscientious objection out of his own experiences of war. Webster, an American surgeon living and working in Paris, can’t compute that the life that he loves (and the man that he is falling in love with) can be under threat from military and political events nearly 2000 kilometres away. Kasia, a Polish waitress in Warsaw, continues to arrive at work and serve customers at her café even as her father and brother leave the city to fight in the defence of the free city of Danzig and when most of her customers are now Nazi officers.

Gradually, in different ways our main characters, adjust to their new reality. Or, at least, they operate in the new and shifting reality even if, at times, their desire for what is now gone has them doing things and saying things that no longer fit in the new world. Douglas continues to try to sell “Peace News” at the factory gates in Manchester, as if the dangers of the Second World War can be responded to in the way Douglas feels the Great War should have been responded too. Webster sits on the banks of the Seine river in Paris with his lover and wishes it could always be like this, while the Nazis are pushing their way through Belgium on their way west toward France. Kasia tries to ignore the lewd and racist comments of her Nazi customers.

Is the Transfiguration this kind of world changing event for those involved? One of the structures proposed for Mark’s gospel has this event as the central element of the whole text. It is from this point that everything changes. Either side of our text, Jesus speaks about his death and his resurrection. The first time he does so, Peter takes him aside and “rebukes him” (8:32). You rebuke someone when you are certain of the way things are and the way things are supposed to work; you rebuke from certainty. The second time Jesus speaks of death and resurrection, in chapter nine, Peter and the other disciples say nothing. The text says that “they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.” They no longer lived in certainty. What they had known about the world and how it should work was now obsolete. The transfiguration had changed everything. 

Even though we read the Transfiguration as a glorious and literally luminous event, is it too much of a stretch to compare it also to Hitler’s attack on Warsaw in September 1939? That event, as World on Fire dramatizes, made the world a strange and dangerous place for each character. The Transfiguration, for all its glory, makes the world, for the disciple and for Jesus as they move toward Jerusalem, a strange and dangerous place.

Explore…Mark 9:2–9

• Why do you think Peter, after experiencing the Transfiguration, responds to Jesus by saying, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings”?
• Why do you think Jesus “ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen”?

Prayer…
God of all, we long for certainty but live in a world where few things are certain. Help us experience the certainty of your love and presence, and to have the courage to live in your love in a world of change and danger. Amen.

Learn more…

• World on Fire (BBC) 
• World on Fire (PBS): cast, air date, trailer and more 
• Meet the women fighting on all front in World on Fire (SBS)

From Sandra Rooney

In February, the U.S. observes Black History Month, a time to celebrate achievements, but also a time to remember. At the memorial service the evening before President Biden’s inauguration, he stressed that “to heal, we must remember.” He was referring specifically to remembering those who had died from the COVID-19 virus this past year, but he also talked throughout his campaign about “healing the soul of America.” Black scholars, historians, and clergy have been reminding us that we cannot heal our society’s longstanding ills without first remembering. To start, we must remember the tragic 400+ year-old legacy of slavery in this country, and elsewhere. Add to that the legacy of the abhorrent treatment of native peoples in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Indeed, it seems that the sins of the fathers have passed on to our sons and daughters.

Analysis of the remarks during and after Biden’s inauguration and the articulation of the challenges facing the new administration continue. It is often noted that if Biden’s choices for his cabinet and other senior officials are approved, many will be firsts – first Black, Latino, Native American, female, openly gay and transgender – making his cabinet the most representative in American history. We celebrate firsts because they signal progress and representation for people who have not had power in the past. Role models are important but political scientists remind us that for true change you have to change structures at all levels.

Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents, noted in a recent interview that after the January 6 riot at the Capitol Building, after everyone else had left the scene, the cleaning crew came in, most of them Black, “the people assigned to the subordinated caste for 400 years, since before there was the United States.” To heal the soul of America requires first that we recognize the whole of our history and remember. Wilkerson added, “There’s no single pill that you can take for something that is this longstanding. It’s on the systems level at multiple levels. It’s economic. It’s social. It’s political. It’s labor. And it’s employment. It’s health care system, criminal justice, education, law enforcement. It’s everything.”

The United Church of Christ in the U.S. is urging congregations to use a new adult curriculum, “White Privilege: Let’s Talk,” designed “to invite church members to engage in safe, meaningful, substantive, and bold conversations on race.”

Explore…Mark 1:29–39

• What did the “miracles” described in Mark’s gospel mean for the lives of those he “healed”?
• What are the ills that need healing where you live?
• What remembering needs to happen?
• What is your nation doing to right wrongs of the past to promote healing?
• In what way might you share in such remembering and healing?
• What is your faith community doing to contribute to the healing needed today?

Prayer…

Merciful Creator, in the words of an old Methodist hymn, “Where cross the crowded ways of life, where sound the cries of clan and race, above the noise of selfish strife,” may we hear your voice of grace, and be strengthened to do the hard work of remembering and responding. Amen.

Learn more…

• Biden at ceremony for coronavirus victims says, “To heal we must…” 
• Why Kamala Harris and “Firsts” matter, and where they fall short 
• America’s caste system is 400 years old. That doesn’t change overnight 
• White privilege: Let’s talk – a resource for transformational… 

From Sandra Rooney

“To teach as one having authority.” The matter of who has authority is clearly an issue in society today. There are many disparate voices and the proliferation of media providing information, disinformation, news, analysis, political rhetoric, and so much more, can make discerning the truth difficult.

The actions and those involved in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol are still be examined and investigated, and arrests made. The voices identified as part of that disturbing event are many and varied. There are Evangelical Christians led by people like Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. There are staunch Republican loyalists still claiming that Trump won the election. Some Republican leaders have condemned the violence, others have spoken out boldly affirming what happened. There are white supremacists, Neo-Nazis and the QAnon believers, those convinced the world is run by a satanic cabal that must be defeated. Those who have studied QAnon say believers are “young and old, male and female, educated and not,” from all walks of life and that every community in America has them. Mike Rothschild, a conspiracy theory researcher says, “QAnon gives you a target to point your anger at, and it gives you something to do about it. That’s something that can appeal to anyone who is disaffected in any way.”

During his four years as president, Trump had what is known as the “bully pulpit.” He railed against his opponents and rallied his supporters with promises and his own truths. He was their voice of authority and is expected to remain so for many, if not most, of his supporters, some of whom have been elected to public office in states across the country and even to the U.S. Congress. They are seen as speaking with authority. The chair of the local Republican Party in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, openly wondered “why violence is unacceptable.” The Republican chair of Nye County in Nevada posted a conspiracy-theory-filled letter on the local committee website. Amanda Chase, a two-term Republican Virginia state senator running for governor, says she’s been called “Trump in heels,” adding that the regular grass roots of Virginia who are not part of the Republican establishment elite support her.

Explore…Mark 1:21–28

• Why do you think those fishermen responded to Jesus as they did?
• What are the disparate voices of authority you’re hearing today?
• What are your concerns about truth and disinformation, radicalization and possible violence where you live?
• What do you consider reliable sources of information? Why?
• What are you and your faith community called to do today?
• What might “driving out demons” look like in today’s world?

Prayer

Oh God, these are troubling times. We pray in the words of the World Peace Prayer, “Lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth, from despair to hope, from fear to trust…let peace fill our hearts, let peace fill our world, let peace fill our universe.” Amen.

Learn more…

• Abandon Trump? Deep in the GOP ranks, the MAGA mind-set prevails 
• Capitol attack could fuel extremist recruitment for years, experts warn
• How Republicans are warping reality around the Capitol attack
• A QAnon ‘digital soldier’ marches on, undeterred by theory’s unraveling

From Sandra Rooney

Remember the insults hurled at San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick in 2016 when he refused to stand for the national anthem, in protest of police shootings of African Americans? That act cost him his NFL career. African Americans have long understood they live in a society where they have to be twice as good to succeed in the face of persistent racial discrimination. They also understand what Cornell West meant when he said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Such activism goes way back. There was the June 1967 “Cleveland Summit,” when Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown presided over a meeting of top African American athletes to show support for Muhammad Ali, stripped of his boxing title for his refusal to fight in Vietnam. There was Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf’s boycott of the national anthem to 1996. Though his career suffered, “You can’t be for God and for oppression,” he said. Looking back, he adds, “I stood on principles. To me, that is worth more than wealth and fame.”

Kaepernick’s “taking the knee” in 2016 appears to have triggered a reawakening of athletes’ social conscience. Hundreds of athletes in nearly every sport have stepped up in various ways to address social injustices, including, but not limited to, the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police. Women’s National Basketball Association players formed a Social Justice Council last June to dedicate their season to Taylor and Black Lives Matter, while Kelly Loeffler, co-owner of the Atlanta Dream, spent much of her Senate campaign lashing out at BLM.

Shaun J. Fletcher, assistant professor of public relations at San José State University School of Journalism and Mass Communications, puts it this way: “These Black athletes don’t see themselves as merely performers but as leaders…they accept this responsibility, aware of the resistance they’ll get from booing fans or disapproving team owners…” He adds, “Let’s be clear about what this is – added work, added pressure and added risk to career.” He says that while it is emotional labour freely taken, it is a weight nonetheless. They know that racial and social justice work is too important, the consequences of inaction too great, and they see activism as part of their job.

Explore…March 1:14–20

• Why do you think Jesus chose to call fishermen to join him?
• What were they giving up to follow Jesus? What did Jesus offer?
• When have you experienced a call that took you out of your comfort zone?
• During this year of the COVID-19 pandemic, where have you seen people answer the call to justice and compassion?

Prayer…

Persistent God, prick our conscience. Empower us to answer the call to be people of your way of justice and compassion. Even as we “shelter in place” and “physical distance,” may we speak out for justice and support the work of those on the front lines of this important work. Amen.

Learn more…

• When Black athletes protest their doing emotional labor 
• Athletes have taken social stands before 
• The Cleveland Summit and Muhammad Ali 
• Kelly Loeffler Is Done in the Senate. But What About in the W.N.B.A.?

From Joan Kessler

At time of writing, the news of the day circles around Canadian politicians returning from vacations spent out of the country. Media outlets have covered the return of government representatives in Ontario and Alberta who defied public health advisories and made decisions to travel. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney defended the actions of his municipal affairs minister, Tracey Allard, and other political staffers, but also admitted that his directive around travel rules was less than clear. Public trust has been noticeably shaken as Canadians were asked to spend the Christmas season at home and to refrain from travelling for non-essential purposes.

This story highlights the importance of leadership and the need for clear communication when it comes to helping citizens understand and cooperate with public health directives. With the vaccine program being rolled out, we begin to see a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, but in the meantime, we must remain vigilant.

This Sunday we hear the story of God’s call to Samuel, in the middle of the night. How different this story might have unfolded had it happened during the light of day with so many things to distract to Samuel. Darkness in this story serves as a place of deep listening and thoughtful response. Samuel’s willing “Yes” despite the many unknowns is our epiphany for this Sunday.

Coming through the night, darkness leads to light. Our call to leadership has inevitably been changed and reshaped during these Covid times. Our communication and actions are, like those of politicians, held to a higher standard. As we come through the darkness of virus and isolation, may we take solace in the reminder we do not have to have all things figured out, but consistency is a good and worthy objective. May we experience a renewal of our desire to serve, perhaps in the quiet of the night, and respond with our lives, “Here I am.”

Explore…1 Samuel 3:1–10, (11–20)

• What has been your experience of darkness this past year?
• How has your sense of call been affirmed or challenged during the pandemic?
• How can we help our faith communities maintain patience for public health restrictions?

Prayer…

Calling One, do not give up on us if at first we do not respond. Seek us in the darkness that surrounds us and awaken us to that which you have called us to do. Amen.

Learn more…

• Two more MLAs returning to Alberta from trips abroad 

From Joan Kessler

The week before Christmas, a First Nations community in northern Ontario returned home following a two-month stay in a Thunder Bay hotel because of an unsafe water supply. The Neskantaga First Nation has lived with a Boil Water Advisory for the past quarter-century, the longest of any First Nation in Canada. Long-awaited federal government funding saw upgrades to the water treatment plant begin, but there are ongoing issues related to chlorine and while the water appears cleaner, according to local residents, the Boil Water Advisory remains in place.

Moved by the desperate situation of the Neskantaga people, a Grade 4 student in Etobicoke, Ontario, decided to take action to show her support and make sure their voices calling for safe water were heard. Dawnie Codina Langschmidt turned to her school to help spread messages of care and support for the remote First Nations community. A Christmas card campaign was launched through which students across the Toronto Catholic School District were invited to send messages to youth from Neskantaga. A second letter-writing campaign is being planned for the New Year. The letters, which will call for clean running water for all First Nations communities, will be sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller.

Coming through the waters is a powerful image this first Sunday of Epiphany, when we read the familiar story of Jesus’ baptism. We hear John the baptizer’s call for a new beginning, to take some time in a new year to reflect on where we have been and consider where our baptismal journey will take us. A voice calls to us from the waters of the wilderness; may we hear the plight and take action on behalf of those who do not have access to clean drinking water in 2021. 

Explore Mark 1:4–11

• What do you know about the quality of water in local Indigenous communities?
• How does this Sunday’s reminder of baptism call us to a new beginning?
• How can our faith communities be a voice for those experiencing lack of access to the basic necessities of human life?

Prayer…

Refreshing Spirit, we are thankful for water and for young voices that call through the wilderness. A gift of Creation, water is the essence of our very lives, physically and spiritually. May we honour and protect this gift always. Amen.

Learn more…

• You are not forgotten 
• Safe water for First Nations 

From Ray McGinnis

The Prom is a film based on a Broadway musical that adapted the true story in 2010 of Constance McMillen, who had plans to bring her girlfriend to a senior prom at their Fulton, Mississippi, high school. But the school banned her from attending the prom. When she successfully challenged the school board’s decision, the board decided to cancel the prom entirely. News coverage brought James Bass of boy band NSYNC, rock band Green Day, and other celebrities to champion McMillen’s cause. The celebrities worked with social media to create a Second-Chance prom that the female couple could attend.

In The Prom, four narcissistic Broadway stars struggling with their careers discover a senior prom in Edgewater, Indiana, has been cancelled because the PTA has objected to a lesbian student, Emma, wanting to attend with her girlfriend.

The actors decide to take a bus to Indiana to help with the cause and get some positive publicity. Meanwhile Emma is also being bullied at school because she is being blamed for the cancellation of the prom.

Emma appreciates but finally turns down several of the actors’ pitches to help her out. She decides to stream her story live, in part by singing a song detailing her coming out story. This soon results in over eight million views.

Emma’s girlfriend, Alyssa, lacks the courage to tell her mother about her relationship with Emma. But she finally tells her mother, and the two girlfriends dance together at the prom. Alyssa and her mother have some tense moments, but they too end up re-establishing a solid bond.

Explore…John 1:10–18

• Why does it matter that God’s son shines forth with grace and truth?
• Why did Jesus’ own people not accept him?
• Why do people in the film The Prom not accept Emma?
• What is it about Emma’s live-streamed story that touches viewers and causes it to go viral?
• Are there people you can think of who are not accepted and who need those rejecting them to seek common ground?

Prayer…

God of love, as we become acquainted with the One who you have sent at Christmas, may you help us shift our approach to others we are not in right relationship with, so that we may find places of common ground, for the sake of the world you are bringing to birth. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Learn more…

• Green Day hope to “force change” by sponsoring prom for gay teen: Lance Bass will also pitch in after a Mississippi high school barred Constance McMillen from her prom 
• The Prom rings out with good songs, strong voices and a warm spirit 
• The Prom review: Ryan Murphy’s Netflix musical is winsome and wonderfully ridiculous 

From Paul Turley

Perhaps our reading for this week can remind us that wisdom is a shared enterprise – wisdom grows from our collective thinking, listening, and learning. Perhaps there are no wise individuals, only wise communities.

In first-century Palestine, that wisdom was named Simeon and Anna; two people who had dedicated their lives to seeking truth, a truth that came to them in the midst of their work in the centre of their culture – the temple.

In 21st-century Europe, that wisdom is named Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci two people who have dedicated their lives to seeking truth, a truth that came to them in the midst of their work in the centre of their culture – the lab.

Sahin and Tureci are the directors of BioNTech, the company that, working with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, has developed the first proven vaccine against COVID-19.

BioNTech, a German company, has shown in phase 3 trials that their vaccine is 90% effective against the virus. As of this writing, the vaccine is already being administered to people in the United Kingdom and is about to be administered to people in Canada and the United States.

This married couple, who began their company in 2008, are both children of Turkish migrants who moved to Germany in the late 1960s. The couple met at university and have been married since 2002. They have spent their careers in cancer research and, reading early news of the pandemic coming out of China, recognized that there was, as Sahin put it, a “small step” from the anti-cancer mRNA drugs on which they were working to mRNA-based viral vaccines.

Wisdom, in this case, is truly a shared project. Sahin and Tureci assigned 500 of their staff to work on the project and then formed a partnership with Pfizer. Pfizer is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and has expertise with mass-market vaccines.

After receiving the news that their vaccine had received approval, Sahin, BioNTech’s CEO, and and Tureci, its chief medical officer, “celebrated a little.”

“My wife and I sat down,” Sahin said, “talked to each other and made cups of tea. The relief was a very good feeling.”

Explore…Luke 2:22–40

• How did Anna and Simeon recognize the infant Jesus as God’s chosen?
• What do you think Simeon meant with his words, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too”?
• What might it mean for us today?

Prayer…

God of all time and history, our small lives are over and done in a flash and we barely perceive the great sweep of your story through our stories. May we today, at the end of another year, pause, search for a deeper understanding of the year passed, and together seek your wisdom for the year ahead. Amen.

Read more…

• Scientist behind BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine says it can end pandemic 
• Scientists who developed the Pfzer/BioNTech vaccine are Turkish-German powerhouse couple 

From Paul Turley

The purpose of Lection Connection is to find resonance between the scripture reading for the week and the news of the day. But how do we do that with this text?

The story of Mary’s visitation by an angel is as ordinary as ordinary can be. A young woman is engaged to be married, a time-honored scene as domestic and as ordinary as any life. We won’t find this story in the news…

At least, you wouldn’t in normal times. Usually the news is filled with the stories of the powerful and influential. But during the worldwide pandemic, we have begun to see stories of ordinary people who, in the course of their ordinary lives, are making the functioning of our societies possible.

“I start at 6:45 in the morning, and I usually get off around 6:30 p.m. Before 12 o’clock, it’s like a ghost town. But after 12 o’clock, people start coming out. I greet almost every passenger that comes on. Most people are going to loved ones’ houses to check on them. There’s a few people that might be going to the grocery store. And some people have essential jobs they have to go to.” That’s bus driver Andre Anglin in Columbus, Ohio. He is profiled in Time Magazine.

Time, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, the Metro (a free newspaper on British public transport), the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, China Central Television, and countless other news outlets are turning their news pages over to stories of ordinary people – some simply going about their ordinary lives of caring for the elderly, healing the sick, picking up rubbish or stacking supermarket shelves, and some finding ways of doing things that they haven’t done before.

Julia Camilleri, who runs a skin clinic in Essex in the UK, posted a note through the doors of some of her elderly neighbours offering to shop for them during the lockdown. People responded and from that simple start she now coordinates 85 volunteers who are helping 800 people in their local area.

Ordinary people responding like Mary in the gospel story – sometimes tentatively and sometimes in trepidation – are, as we have know for a very long time, the heart and soul of what it means to be human and to live in community together.

Explore…Luke 1:26–38

• Why do you think that Mary, given the affirmations by the angel Gabriel, is perplexed?
• How do you bring the promise of verse 32, which seems so specific to an ancient Jewish context, into our experience today?

Prayer…

God, in extraordinary times you call on ordinary people to live in hope and expectation. In this last week of Advent when the surprising and disturbing events of that first Christmas are soon with us again, give us hope and courage to live as sisters and brothers to each other. Amen.

Read more…

• UN Argentina highlights everyday heroes spreading solidarity amid pandemic 
• The country won’t work without them 
• Meet the everyday heroes of the pandemic 
• Pandemic reveals our everyday heroes 
• Ordinary heroes on the small screen 

From Fraser Mcnaughton

The UK is finding itself swinging in the wind at present as the government tries to decide how to tackle the coronavirus crisis in the lead up to Christmas. Despite having a large majority in Parliament, many in the governing party are rebelling at the prospect of stricter lockdown measures, which they claim will affect the country’s economy to an unacceptable degree.

The government’s controversial tier system by which different parts of the country would have different restrictions depending on infection levels had been met with fury with large numbers of MP’s concerned that their constituents were being targeted unfairly. Some complain that areas with tiny infection rates have been unfairly lumped in with others where cases are sky high.

The prime minister said he accepted many people felt they had been unfairly put under higher-than-necessary rules, often tighter than those in place before the four-week lockdown.

Conflicting advice from ministers is adding to the confusion, with one suggesting, for example, that some hospitality venues may insist on proof of vaccination in order for someone to be admitted to the premises, while another claimed there were no plans for the government to have a vaccination “passport” once vaccines become available. Meanwhile, Conservative former health secretary Lord Lansley said the prime minister was “wrong” to relax coronavirus restrictions over Christmas. He said, “We’ve got to protect old people. And it really is difficult, I think, to suddenly say Christmas, well, let’s not do that. Let’s allow people to mix. Why would we do that?” The Prime Minister responded by encouraging people planning to celebrate Christmas with elderly relatives to get a coronavirus test over the coming weeks, despite the fact that testing is not available for people without symptoms in much of the country.

With such uncertainty it is becoming clear to the nation how difficult it is going to be to refocus after Christmas, let alone restore life to any degree of normality. It is dawning on people just how far away any chance to rejoice still is.

Explore… Psalm 126

• What a parallels can you draw in terms of expectation management between the promise of the Messiah and a coronavirus vaccine?
• How do you react to the possible restoration of “normal” after the Covid-19 pandemic and is that something your community is looking forward to?
• What are the priorities for your faith community in terms of re-focussing as the world looks forward to a coronavirus vaccine?

Prayer…

In a world of so many conflicting opinions and viewpoints, may we always stay open to re-building right relationships where they have broken down, and to helping others to restore relationships, so that there may come a time when we can all rejoice in our common humanity as children of God. Amen.

Read more…

• Boris Johnson climbdown after he offers to end lockdown tier system  

From Fraser Macnaughton

One of the issues surrounding the recent U.S. presidential election for the international community is waiting with bated breath to see what Donald Trump will do to America’s international relations in the dying days of his administration. There is felt need to temper any relief or enthusiasm for a more engaged U.S. president in the near future.

Perhaps there is no better example of the reason for this restraint than the White House, State Department and other agencies who have been working overtime to produce new policy pronouncements on Iran, Israel, China, and elsewhere that aim to lock in Trump’s vision for the world. Some have attracted significant attention while others have flown largely under the radar. In many ways this has been planned from a long way out with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declaring in July that the United States would now reject virtually all of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Since blaming China for coronavirus, the administration has steadily ramped up sanctions against China over Taiwan, Tibet, trade, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea. It has also moved against the Chinese telecom giant Huawei and sought restrictions on Chinese social media applications like TikTok and WeChat. U.S. investment in a further 89 Chinese companies has now been banned.

More alarming are reports of plans for what could be called serial provocations of China, with the aim to destabilise relations for the in-coming president. According to Natasha Kassam, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute, “I think Trump is [now] shoring up a legacy of having decisively shifted Washington’s policy towards China.” The deployment of a U.S. Navy admiral to Taiwan and the not-so-subtle belligerent action of selling billions of dollars’ worth of arms to Taiwan, rile the Chinese, who see the island state as part of a “greater China.” The international unease arises, as Kassam points out, because much of the U.S. policy on China in the past four years had been “scattergun,” but at no point had there been “a coherent vision for what role the U.S. sees Taiwan having in the region.”

The hope, for many, revolves around the new president’s experience of foreign policy, that he will indeed drop the unnecessary, reveal a new approach to international relations, while reinforcing the rule of law and consensus politics.

Explore…Isaiah 40:1–11

• In what ways has your community been affected by the endless election cycles and adversarial politics that seem prevalent in much of the world?
• What can we learn from the story in Isaiah in terms of acknowledging our past and looking forward to a more hopeful future?
• How is promoting hope different than being “hopeful” passively, or “hoping for the best.”

Prayer…

God shows up in us, so may we prepare this Advent to examine ourselves, and our attitudes to others, that we might be more inclusive, more empathic, and more Christ like to all we meet this Christmas and into the future.

Read more…

• Trumps U.S. investment ban aims to cement tough-on-China legacy 

From Sandra Rooney

The coronavirus pandemic has caused us to reshape our lives in myriad ways over the past many months. It continues to dominate the news globally as the numbers of those testing positive, those hospitalized, and those dying continue to rise across countries around the world. There are implications both for how we live our lives now and in the future.

A recent New York Times headline read, “With 11 million Cases in the U.S., the Coronavirus Has Gotten Personal for Most People.” As Covid-19 cases surge across the country, most Americans know someone who has been infected, and estimates are that a third of the population knows someone – a relative, a neighbour, or a friend of a friend – who has died from the virus. But that experience is affecting behavior in different ways. Some are taking the virus more seriously, taking extra precautions and applauding the government’s efforts to contain the virus. However, as Nicholas A. Christakis, a Yale sociologist says in his new book, Apollo’s Arrow, “the effect of knowing people who survived it [the virus] may lead people to misread Covid as not being as bad as it is.”

On the one hand there are people like April Polk, a young woman in Memphis, who is urging young people to follow restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, since her 24-year old sister died this summer. She says, “I was one of the ones that didn’t take it seriously, and it took for me to lose my little sister to realize how real this virus is. Every day we’re suffering, and we have to be reminded of what happened and how it happened to her.”

But then there are those like 77-year-old Dennis Rohr, who has not changed his opinion that the disease is relatively benign even though an acquaintance died from Covid-19 a few days after sitting beside him at a dinner table and members of his own family have been infected. He contends that “fear and hysteria have created more problems than the virus itself.” Mr. Rohr is a city commissioner in Mandan, N.C., the state with the highest rate of known cases in the country, as of November 16.

Not surprisingly, research shows that for the millions who have lost a close family member there are lingering and troubling emotional and financial effects for children, widows, and parents. Research has also shown that the lessons people draw from their social networks, including the church and their faith, can be more powerful than what they see on the news or receive from governmental or educational institutions.

Explore…Isaiah 64:1–9

• As you read this passage from Isaiah, how did it speak to you today?
• How has your life been reshaped by the corona virus?
• How do you see the pandemic reshaping the wider community?
• How are your social networks shaping your response to the pandemic?
• What role do you see your faith community playing in response to the virus?
• What do you want to remember especially during this Advent season?

Prayer…

In the midst of grief and loss, we pray for a sense of your presence with us. As we adapt to changes that may mean separation from family and loved ones, may we learn to live in the moment as small joys come our way. In the experience of living in new ways, may we also experience a new depth of believing, and be empowered to be your people in the world in new ways. Amen.

Read more…

With 11 million cases in the U.S., the coronavirus has gotten personal for most people

From Sandra Rooney

The United States has just come through a very tumultuous election. It has been a very fraught time, with feelings on both sides high. People have expressed fears and anxiety and there has been much harsh rhetoric. There is still harsh rhetoric, but there are also words of compassion and hope. With President Joe Biden, not only will policies change, but tone as well. We anticipate there will be more effort to address the needs and concerns of those on the fringes of society, those bearing the brunt of today’s economic circumstances as well as the corona virus, and a recognition that, indeed, Black Lives Do Matter. Biden won in an election with more votes ever cast on a presidential ticket in the history of the nation, 74 million, but it was not the landslide some had hoped for.

In his acceptance speech, Biden said, “It is time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again, and to make progress; we have to stop treating our opponents as an enemy. They are not our enemies: They are Americans – they are Americans.” He listed the “battles” the country faces: to control the virus, build prosperity, secure health care for all, achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism, save the planet, restore decency, defend democracy, and give everyone in this country a fair shot. “It’s time for our better angels to prevail,” he said.

Political commentator Van Jones wiped away tears when CNN called the U.S. election for Joe Biden. What he said underscores the significance of this election, especially for people of colour. “It’s easier to be a parent this morning. It’s easier to be a dad. It’s easier to tell your kids character matters.” “‘I can’t breathe,’ isn’t just George Floyd,” he said, “but a whole lot of people.” People who have “just been trying to hold it together.”

The analyses of this election will go on for a long time. Rob Gleason, a former chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, who lives in Johnstown, PA, once a steel-making centre that is now “bleeding population” and struggling, expresses how many Trump supporters feel. “The people here still feel forgotten,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many people are saying, “Trump’s saying what I’ve been thinking all my life.”

Explore…Matthew 25:31–46

• How do you respond to rephrasing today’s familiar scripture passage as “Do you see me?”
• Who are the people today who are asking, “Do you see me? Do you hear me?”
• Are there ways that you individually, or your faith community, might respond to those whom Jesus described as “the least of these”? Those asking, “Do you see me?” “Do you hear me?

Prayer…

In the words of a familiar hymn we pray: Open our eyes that we may see, open our ears that we may hear, open our hearts that we may serve the lonely, the lost, the hungry, the thirsty and the sick, those in prison, those left behind in our societies. Amen.

Read more…

• CNN’s Van weeps after Biden’s win 
• Transcript of Biden’s acceptance speech 
• In Pennsylvania, Trump voter fury foretells a nation still divided 

From Ray McGinnis

Hocus Pocus is a Disney film that was originally released in 1993 but re-released in theatres in October 2020. The movie begins on October 31, 1693, in Salem, Massachusetts. Three sisters who are witches – Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson – lure a young girl named Emily Binx to their house. They draw life from her with the promise that they will regain their youth. They make a potion for her to drink. But her brother, Thackery, tries to stop the witches who turn him into a black cat. The townsfolk sentence them to be hanged for the murder, but the witches cast a spell that brings them back to life in 1993.

Max Dennison, and his 8-year-old sister, Dani, are recently moved to Salem from Los Angeles. While trick-or-treating, they hear about the legend of the Sanderson sisters and break into the abandoned house. Inside the dark house, Max lights the black flame candle. This resurrects the witches. They escape, together with Thackery Binx – who continues to exist as a black cat for eternity

Type: Comedy, Fantasy

Director: Kenny Ortega

Film company: Disney

Release date: October 2, 2020

Starring: Bette Midler (Winifred Sanderson), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah Sanderson), Kathy Najimy (Mary Sanderson), Omri Katz (Max Dennison), Thora Birch (Dani Dennison)

Focus:

Max takes the book of spells from the witches’ house. The witches discover that Halloween has turned into a festival where everyone wears a disguise, which makes it more difficult for them to reclaim the book of spells. At one point, the witches successfully capture Dani and take her back to their house. But Max, knowing they don’t know what daylight saving time is, and tricks them while it is still night by shining a high beam lights on the witches. This makes the witches afraid the sun is rising and think they will consequently die (as they are creatures of the night).

Later, the witches catch up to the youngsters in an old cemetery. Dani is taken up on one of the witches’ broomsticks and about to be forced to drink the witches’ potion. But Max, together with Thackery the black cat, gets the potion. By drinking it, Max forces the witch to try to draw life out his soul, instead of Dani’s. Just then, the sun rises and the witches turn to dust.

Explore…Matthew 25:14–30

• How do each of the three servants use their talents?
• What kind of “spirit” do you think motivates each one’s choice?
• What kinds of choices does Max make to save his younger sister?
• How is Max’s ability to thwart the witches plans a use of his talents?
• How do you use your talents to help others? To bring God’s reign closer?

Prayer…

God of the coming Kingdom, we are given this life to follow you and to use our talents. May we take the risk of living and make a difference in the world through the choices that we make. Help us to move away from fear and to embrace the power of love. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Learn more…

• Review: Hocus Pocus 

From Ray McGinnis

The Personal History of David Copperfield is based on the novel by Charles Dickens published in 1850. The film, like the novel, is narrated in the first person by David Copperfield. The film describes his life from his birth until middle age. Given the novel is over 1,200 pages long, spanning 64 chapters, the film does well to select certain adventures Copperfield has with numerous friends and enemies he meets along his life’s path – from neglected child, abused boy, child factory worker, to accomplished writer.

In the film, Copperfield’s personal growth is spurred by his encounters with the people who enter and leave his life as the years pass – the wicked and thieving Uriah Heep, the aristocratic James Steerforth, and the penniless Wilkins Micawber. Throughout it all he lives in optimistic expectation of better fortune and makes observations about the human condition, people’s foibles, and their cries for justice.

Type: Comedy-Drama

Director: Armando Iannucci

Film company: Searchlight

Release date: August 28, 2020

Starring: Dev Patel (David Copperfield), Ben Whishaw (Uriah Heep), Aneurin Barnard (James Steerforth), Anthony Welsh (Ham Peggoty), Peter Capaldi (Mr. Micawber)

Focus:

David Copperfield meets James Steerforth at the Salem House boarding school for boys. For Copperfield, Steerforth represents everything Heep is not. Steerforth is born a gentleman. When he walks into a room, people are captivated by his presence and charisma, which advance his connections and power. Copperfield imagines Steerforth is capable of doing great things. However, Steerforth ultimately shows himself as he truly is: brutal, condescending, selfish and cruel towards those beneath his station. When Copperfield takes Steerforth to meet his friends in Yarmouth, Steerforth woos Little Emily on the eve of her wedding to Ham, her cousin and fiancé. Steerforth takes Little Emily to Italy where he abandons her. The paradox is that even as Copperfield comprehends Steerforth’s infamy, he remains dazzled by Steerforth’s aristocratic ascendancy.

Explore…Matthew 25:1–13

• What is the importance in this parable about lamps and oil?
• What does it mean to “keep awake”?
• How does David Copperfield keep awake?
• When have you experienced being unprepared for what is unfolding in the present moment? How do you keep awake? How to you keep the door open to God’s presence?

Prayer…

God of the coming kingdom, we are often drowsy and prone to sleep; help us keep awake so that we can do what is necessary to prepare for the arrival of your kingdom. We do not know the day or the hour when our world will be transformed; help us wait with confidence that the day is coming. Help us keep our lamps lit so that we will be ready to enter the banquet. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Read more…

• A Dickens of a David Copperfield 
• Horror, history and big-city brutality 

From Paul Turley

The Beatitudes are a strange collection of blessings. In our culture, we are very keen on “blessing” individuals who have achieved something notable or become well known. The Beatitudes speak of ordinariness. In our culture, we are keen too to make it sound as if those “blessed” individuals have achieved success only as individuals; they have done it all by themselves. These things make the Beatitudes or blessings strange to us.

But not to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. They awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), an organization that does the most ordinary and basic of human activities and without needing notable or famous individuals.

The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization focused on hunger and food security. In 2019, the WFP provided assistance to close to 100 million people in 88 countries who were victims of acute food insecurity and hunger.

The WFP, while it offers a huge range of programs and works in a complex world political environment, has one simple guiding idea, which is encapsulated in the moto of its U.N. sister organization. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO): “Let there be bread.”

The FAO was established in 1945 in the aftermath of WW2. The WFP was founded in 1961at the urging of U.S. Senator George McGovern, then director of the U.S. Food for Peace Programs. The aim was to establish an international, multilateral food aid program.

The WFP was first put to the test in that year (initially on a three-year experimental basis) when it mobilized in support of the Nubian population of northern Sudan. Also in 1961, the WFP started its first school meals program in Togo. The WFP is now the largest single provider of school meals around the world.

The main donors to the WFP’s budget are governments with the U.S. and the European Union being the two largest donors respectively. The WFP also receives donations from corporations and individuals.

While the annual budget for the WFP is more than US $7.5 billion, by necessity it gets focused on conflict-driven hunger crises, leaving less to address lower-profile emergencies, or for strategic work.

In the Nobel committee’s address when awarding the Peace Prize, they highlighted the coronavirus pandemic saying that it “has contributed to a strong upsurge in the number of victims of hunger in the world. In countries such as Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Burkina Faso, the combination of violent conflict and the pandemic has led to a dramatic rise in the number of people living on the brink of starvation.”

Explore… Matthew 5:1–12

• Each of Jesus statements in this reading begin with the Greek word makarios. This has been translated into English as “blessed,” “happy,” “spiritually prosperous,” “to be admired.” How do each of these words open up different shades of meaning in the text?
• Jesus uses makarios in a way likely to have been a total surprise to his hearers. Rather than a term to connote the good fortune of the gods or the rich and powerful, Jesus uses it to refer to their direct opposite; the poor and the oppressed. What does that mean for you and your faith community today?

Prayer…

God, you turn the world upside down in the life of Jesus. You put the last first; you lift up the poor and give power to the powerless. Teach us constantly to live in your turned-about world that we might be people of faith and the community of God. Amen.

Read more…

• Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 
• World Food Programme awarded Nobel Peace Prize 

From Paul Turley

For Moses and the people of Israel, it was 40 years of waiting until they were able to enter the Promised Land. For the people of Somalia, the wait has been, to date, 51 years. While what they wait for might not be a promised land flowing with milk and honey, it is an important move toward making their country free and democratic.

The last time the nation held a one-person one-vote election was in 1969. Since that time, a complex system of special delegates has chosen politicians who then vote for the country’s president.

The United Nations had described the pursuit of one-person, one-vote elections as an “historic milestone” on Somalia’s path to full democratization and peace after decades of war and violent instability.

The Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi has named Mohamed Hussein Roble as prime minister, pending approval of parliament. The president said Mr Roble was selected on the basis of “his knowledge, experience and ability to move forward with state-building efforts and the development of national plans.”

The president has been under increased pressure to name a prime minister facing accusations from within the parliament that he is, according to former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, “openly disregarding provisions of the constitution and showing dictatorial tendencies.”

The opposition have recently stepped up their criticism of the president over his inability to reach a consensus with regional states, clans. and other political stakeholders on an electoral model for the upcoming elections.

Currently, the president favours an interim proposal that would allow twice the previous number of delegates to vote in presidential elections.

The former prime minister, Hassan Ali Kheyre, was sacked by the president for, as Kheyre believes, insisting that “elections be held on time... to avoid a political, security and constitutional crisis.” Kheyre says that the president is unnecessarily delaying the election by refusing to reach an agreement with the political stakeholders on an agreed-upon solution to the electoral process.

Meanwhile, the Somali people wait and hope…

Explore… Deuteronomy 34:1–12

• Why is it important in the Hebrew story for Moses not to be the one who leads the people into the Promised Land?
• What can the way we read about the transfer of authority in this text teach us about the transfer of authority within our faith communities and within the wider community?

Prayer…

God of all hopefulness, so often the psalms cry out, “how long?” and that cry echoes down through the centuries. May we have the compassion to join with that cry. May we too experience the hope you call us to, and may we have the courage, tenacity, and patience to work for justice. Amen.

Learn more…

• Somalia names new prime minister 
• Ex-Somali leader accuses President Farmajo of flouting constition 

• Can you think of ways to remind your faith community of the host of diseases and viruses that affect community life beyond the immediate focus of Covid-19. 
• Can you highlight some of the dangers of over-consumption of 24-hour rolling news during this pandemic? Or are we so addicted to it?
• How has the current pandemic brought your community closer together?
• In what ways can you explore the interconnectedness and shared experience of this pandemic amongst so many different communities across the world?

• Malaria campaigns fight off Covid disruptions to deliver programmes