The Joys & Suffering of Our Community
This week’s gathering of Little Flowers Community, our inner city church plant, was a real reflection of the unique life of our group. First, our wandering homeless friend Chris was back in town. It was his birthday on Friday, so I told him that I would get him a big cake with candles. He was so excited he invited a group of his buddies to join us (convincing them that we weren’t some creepy cult). When several of his friends agreed to come, he ran out to buy groceries to make his famous “Poor Man’s Soup”, as I wanted to contribute to the potluck. Amazing guy. With these fun loving guys added to the potluck, the language was a lot more colourful, which we are hardly notice, but our other guests had to adjust to. It was really neat to see such different people enjoying a meal and each others company. After the meal, we sang Happy Birthday to Chris. He & his buddies decided to take off before worship, but they said they might join us again. I guess we weren’t too cultish after all! I put aside this week’s planned sermon/discussion and had a time of community sharing. We centered it around James 5. Are any of you happy? Sing songs of praise! And so we celebrated and prayed blessings on Andrew & Rachel, newlyweds in the church who have been part of Little Flowers since before we officially started. It was good to commit to them as a couple to stand with them as a community, even in the face of many challenges. Are any of you sick? Lay hands and prayer for them. The evening became a little more somber as Delia (who with her husband have been a huge support to Kim & I as leaders) shared that she had been diagnosed with the early stages of cancer. While the prognosis is very good, it is nonetheless scary for them and all of us. Delia shared this with the group:
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For the past several months—more specifically weeks, I’ve been walking under a somewhat overcast sky. Not that there hasn’t been bright sunshine. Sometimes conditions have been so beautiful I could almost convince myself there were no clouds overhead, ever. But the clouds were never far away. A month ago as I looked ahead down my road, I pondered those clouds, noting: What will be is not yet clear but sometimes taunts me from the shadows of worry taking shape as clouds of reality blow overhead and block the light. Those clouds are clearer now. Indeed, they contain the feared letters C A N C E R. Although it is in the beginning stage, I still don’t like this word so close to me! My mind recalls the words from Scripture: “Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12) Yeah, I know. I am fully aware that I am one of thousands who have dealt with cancer. I know it isn’t anything unusual. I also realize that countless numbers of them have survived. I know, too, that everyone, at some point, gets one illness or another And my intention is not to get stuck in a “woe is me” ditch. And although there is a great measure of comfort in the fact that I am not alone in the world of sufferers, there are feelings and events, and decisions that are specific to my particular situation. Therefore, I feel I do need a bit of time to ponder the implications of this new reality, even sitting, for a time, in the sadness it brings. I invite you, if you wish, to ponder also, with me, how this news impacts you. As we ponder we will pray for balance so we allow ourselves to be real and admit our true feelings, while not allowing the negative ones to grow too big and take over. I don’t so much think of this as a battle with cancer as a battle to “Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5) I want to keep in mind that illness is not our enemy. Our real enemies are fear and worry. We are encouraged not to “be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, to present our requests to God.” Then, we are promised, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6&7) At this point my main prayer request is that I will be ruled by God’s peace and not by fear, and that this thing won’t become too all consuming. There is still a lot of other stuff to attend to and living to enjoy.
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While not nearly as devastating, Kim & I also learned some disappointing news this week: the adoption process is slowing down, making the likely time that we will bring our child home from Ethiopia closer to October 2010. It was comforting to sit together with John & Delia last night sharing our mutual struggles, encouraging and praying for each other. Last week also saw the closing of The Dusty Cover. For those who missed the Winnipeg Free Press story, it was online in Fredericton (no idea), found here. While we are sad to see it close, we also know it will be reborn into something new in the year to come. As a community we continue to share life together, both the joys and the suffering. I love our community, even though there are times of heaviness and frustration. Keep us in your prayers!
