Speaker: Peter Fitch

Today Peter followed on from last week where we mourned together about the invasion of Ukraine, but instead of horror we focused on beautiful things. For instance, we showed the video of Aretha Franklin singing “Natural Woman” in honour of Carole King as she received a Presidential Award at the Lincoln Center. Then we showed a video of “All Who Are Thirsty, ” sung by Sarah Kroger, to remind us to open our hearts to the Lord. Then, after some prayers, Peter spoke about leaders that do monstrous things and we read some passages from the Book of Daniel that promise “a little help” in desperate situations. This led us into discussions about how we might best pray for Ukraine. We finished the service with Joe Cocker singing “A Little Help from my Friends.”

With so many strong and polarized feelings around the Convoy Protests in Ottawa, Peter Fitch thought it was a good time to reflect together on the meaning of Jesus’ words about loving our enemies. Jacob Rose and Rick Coates, who played songs before the talk, had the same idea as they started the service with a song by The Brilliance called “Brother.” It begins, “When I look into the face of my enemy, I see my brother . . .” There were many great insights from the crowd around the various Scripture passages that we looked at. Peter made mention of a Daily podcast last week, An American-Style Protest in Canada where he thought that both sides would be able to hear some things that they appreciated. Near the end of the time, Rick Coates, shared some insights from a TED talk, I grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church. Here’s why I left, by Megan Phelps-Roper.

Peter Fitch shares the first part of a lecture on ancient-future orienteering. The focus of this part is the way that Jesus treated people. This leads to a discussion about whether or not “the arc of history is bending toward justice” in terms of abolishing prejudices based on ethnicity, economic status, and gender. The whole talk also relates to the expression, “Anchored with Wings.” Peter thinks that it’s possible to honour people who want to stay closer to the anchor of a tradition and, at the same time, to honour people who want to fly forward with progressive thoughts for their generation.

At the end of the talk we listened to “Apostles’ Creed” by Third Day and Friends and then to “Imagine” by Pentatonix because, together, they represent elements both old and new.

Peter Fitch shared ideas from a chapter in a book by Thomas Merton called “Tradition and Revolution.” Merton thinks that there is a form of traditionalism which is not helpful, just as there is a form of revolution which changes things only in appearance. And yet, there is something priceless, given by God, in the heart of tradition, and there is such a thing as a true revolution, which continually renews the heart as we turn back again and again to the revolutionary message of Jesus.

Peter Fitch shares some thoughts about a subtle distinction that divides Christians, as well as others, into completely opposing attitudes toward social issues. Behind the obvious differences that come with being Orthodox, or Catholic, or Protestant, there are very different attitudes and practices in relation to power. Some individuals and groups have chosen coercion over a form of self-emptying, co-suffering love. Many have flipped and flopped from one kind of power to the other, at times looking like Jesus and at other times looking like His opposite. Understanding this may help us avoid manipulation and the temptation to oppress others in various ways.

Peter Fitch spoke today about C. S. Lewis, telling some of the stories about complications that he faced in his life and career. Through it all he became a treasured writer who helped a great many people around the world. Even after his death, the complications continued as people dealt with his literary legacy. Before the talk we watched a video by Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton called “Say Something” as it speaks about the feelings we have in the midst of life’s complexities. Then Michael Leung shared some music that he created on the piano. After the talk, we watched a video of Leon Bridges called “River.”

Today’s talk was all about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Peter Fitch shared a timeline of Bonhoeffer’s life that he has been working on for his work at the university, and he also focused on a recently-found letter that Bonhoeffer sent to Mahatma Gandhi in 1934, asking if he could come to visit in order to finally see what a community based on the Sermon on the Mount would look like. We finished with one of his poems from prison, “Who Am I?” The gorgeous musical set before the talk was done by Raymond Funk and Haydn Wiebe.

Peter Fitch reminds people about the different characters in Jesus’ story of The Good Samaritan. Then he shares ideas from Martin Buber about a sliding scale between ego and personhood. Some people are so detached from others that they are almost all the way over to the ego side, while others are so connected that they are almost all the way toward personhood. This leads to the question, “What is a person like?” Many responses from the people gathered help to answer this question and give insight about how to get there.

Rick Coates and Jessica Williams shared music/poetry.

Peter Fitch read Psalm 34 and asked what a naive interpretation of this psalm might indicate. Then he showed a talk by Kate Bowler called “Everything Happens for a Reason, and Other Lies I’ve Loved.” Then he read Psalm 34 once more and asked people if they saw any deep truths within the psalm that still rang true after Kate’s talk. There were many rich comments. Music today was by Jacob Rose, including 3 original songs, and a couple of the songs were accompanied by Sarah MacPhail as she and her husband, Tim, were visiting from Germany.

Peter Fitch read Psalm 34 and asked what a naive interpretation of this psalm might indicate. Then he showed a talk by Kate Bowler called “Everything Happens for a Reason, and Other Lies I’ve Loved.” Then he read Psalm 34 once more and asked people if they saw any deep truths within the psalm that still rang true after Kate’s talk. There were many rich comments. Music today was by Jacob Rose, including 3 original songs, and a couple of the songs were accompanied by Sarah MacPhail as she and her husband, Tim, were visiting from Germany.