The daily office has us reading through Exodus right now and Tuesday morning’s reading was such an encouragement to me. This is quoting from The Message as the Egyptians were coming up behind the Israelites by the Red Sea.
Moses said to the people: “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today... God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!” (Exodus 14:13-14) The NRSV says: The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.
I don’t know what salvation will look like for you or for me today. The Israelites and Jesus had plenty of suffering in their salvation experiences. But we know this: God is doing his work of salvation and we can rest in him. This is the good news we proclaim as Christians - God has done and is doing his work of salvation for us! There is nothing we can do to make it happen - it is for us to stand firm, keep still, shut our mouths and watch God do his work of salvation. Wow!!
Be Not Afraid - Fr. Dean
It's a year ago that Jeremy recorded and posted Fr. Dean's video entitled Be Not Afraid. Lots has happened and changed since then, and yet we find ourselves in a situation that is remarkably unchanged. It may be helpful to watch it again - you'll see that while the dates tell us we're a week away from the anniversary of the video, liturgically, it was a year ago this week.
Steve, Bruce and John - an important conversation
Recently, Steve Bell sent out a simple lyric video of his song "Dark Night of the Soul". It's an older song, but in preparing the video it re-kindled an interest in St. John of the Cross and the poem he wrote which inspired the song. Steve called his friend Dr. Bruce Hindmarsh who has studied and taught on both the poem and St. John's commentary at Regent College in Vancouver to take him deeper into St. John’s life and legacy. It's an important conversation - I commend it to you.
To watch, click on the image above.
In the News - Rhoda and the bells
Our very own Daniel McElroy wrote a Discover Moose Jaw article on the church bells that have rung out over Moose Jaw this past year. A significant portion is about Rhoda's bell ministry - including a couple videos. You can find the article here.
Grace and peace,
Michelle
