A Letter from the Rector - Lent 2009

My dear friends,

Last summer, when I was with the youth group on Iona, I had a startling experience in the ancient stone abbey. One night with the youth community from around the world, were sitting in silent meditation in this ancient stone building lit only by flickering candles. There was total silence. Suddenly it hit me that to sit in silence in an ancient building doing nothing was a very dangerous activity. Why dangerous? Because it called into question almost everything that the world thinks is important. The world encourages us to Buy, buy, buy! Rush, rush, rush! Be utterly dis-satisfied with what you have! Grab as much as you can! But that's a formula for disaster – personal, environmental and economic.

To sit in a silence in a stone building lit only by candle-light and to think it is important enough to travel half-way around the world to do, is to pull the rug out from beneath our culture. And to substitute some sanity, some Godly peace, and to receive a deeper and more satisfying life through the Holy Spirit.

That’s why it’s dangerous. Such a practice could turn the world upside-down.

So did we return to Victoria without rushing? By quiet sailing-ship? Of course, not. We went through bone-crunching crushes and mind-numbing waits and the usual delays at airports and got back to Victoria utterly exhausted. But even though much was the same, everything had changed. Just ask some of the young people. All of us had tasted sanity in that stone silence, and none of us will ever forget the taste. The quiet, the peace, the groundedness of that evening in the Abbey, of experiencing another way than the mindless self-serving of our world, is an experience which will never leave us. It is an experience which continues to make us free at every moment.

That's what Lent is for.

In Lent we deliberately turn off some of the craziness. We deliberately give up some comforts. As the youth did in the dark in a chilly medieval stone church. By giving up something, no matter how small, every day, we are turning off the death-dealing spiral of

endless self-centeredness. If it is marmalade we give up, we return to marmalade when Lent is over, but we have discovered in the absence of that satisfaction the presence of a greater satisfaction than we could ever have guessed. If we take on some special study, or become part of a Lenten program, we give up some leisure time and find ourselves blessed with the goodness of time more than we could have imagined. If we undertake some special kindness in a special relationship, or in a sacrifice to serve others close at home or around the world, we find our effort re-paid with a generosity that startles us.

Yes, it's dangerous to do Lent. It could open us to the power and mystery of God and we might become aware of a love and power beneath and within us which can change our lives. It's that journey on which you are invited this Lent. Make good use of the various opportunities in special liturgies and events this Lent to open yourself to that deep peace and power that is God.

You will find a variety of opportunities in the attached calendar. May I draw your attention to several.

I will be leading a Lenten series, recommended by our Primate, on “Dreaming the Church for the next 10 years: Engaging God's Mission” – it’s about what sort of church we are being called to become – a good topic for us at St. John’s. Since we've had such acceptance of the post-service time for Divine Brunch, I am going to try a new time and format for this series – we will meet Sundays shortly after coffee hour at 12:15 in the lounge on non-Divine Brunch Sundays, we will disperse before 2:00 p.m., and I will make sandwiches available for a nominal cost. Materials for this course are provided by our National Church and include both Bible Study and third-world Anglican partners.

I will also lead an evening series on “Christ and the Celts – the Healing of Creation” following a book of that title by Philip Newell – it envisages a gentle and inclusive style of Christianity. Buying the book will be helpful, but not essential. Wednesdays 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

You will see details about the Lenten Noon Forum on Wednesday noons during Lent, this year on the subject of “‘Speaking of God....’ naming the divine in an un-churched age” – speakers include Herb O’Driscoll, Bruce Sanguin (writer on faith and the environment), Charlene George (First Nations’ artist), Alasdair Smith (Deacon & Business Chaplain at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver), Paul Bramadat (Director of the Centre for Studies in Religion at UVic) and myself.

Tristan is providing a concert series on Sunday afternoons at 3:00 pm beginning March 1.

May I especially commend the Ash Wednesday services and the special liturgies in Lent and Holy Week for your deepening experience of God's underlying reality.

Sincerely,

Harold Munn

The Rev. Canon Dr. Harold Munn

Rector