HELLO!

As I am sending this blog to all 450 of our Woodlawn email subscribers I share this recording of yesterday’s funeral service for Judy Chaulk: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZVLdr5ZGKfpaeS2BhVNT5nDPYvOz8Ap75Xk Please keep Derek and his family in your prayers.

Also, please keep the Curl family in your prayers. You have likely met Richard, Melissa and Ian, they have been attending Woodlawn United for several months. They are very friendly and mix well at coffee hour. Ian and his mom Melissa fly on July 21st for an important medical appointment (Ian). Melissa asked me to share, “We will be traveling on 4 planes and 2 ferries in 102 hours, 38 of that being active travel. The exhaustion and stress that come with this (mentally, emotionally, financially, and physically) feel extra stressful this time. Richard will be solo for a week. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. See you Sunday!”

On Sunday, July 19^th we focus our attention on Psalm 139, the Inescapable God. We remember God is always with us, even when we are mad enough to run away or feel like we need to hide. God made us. This Psalm says, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” The speaker knows every part of them is beloved by God and made by God. God made you and you are wonderful. No need to run off or feel like you need to go away. You can stay with God and God will stay with you. God knows you. This is the God whose, “Eye is on the sparrow”. This is the God who took out divine knitting needles and crocheted you together, stitch by stitch, in your mother’s womb. This is the God for whom there are no anonymous sheep, to whom nobody is a write-off, for whom no one is lost in the crowd. This is the God who loves: one lost sheep, one missing coin, one lost and found. How wonderful it is to be known by God.

The Psalmist marvels -- or is it laments? -- “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” The Hebrew word for “hem in” doesn’t mean, cuddle. It doesn’t refer to a protective embrace, a great big bearhug, or to being wrapped in Bubble Wrap. The word for “hem in” is the word used when a city is laid under siege. “You besiege me, O God…You hem me in. You encircle me. You beleaguer me, behind and before. You will not leave me alone.” The truth is we do not want to be known through and through -- by anybody. We want to maintain strict control over who knows what about us and how much they know and when they know it. “Come and see” the Samaritan woman said, “who told me everything I have ever done.” The Psalmist: “If I top the clouds and mount up into the stratosphere -- You. If I roll out a sleeping bag down in the lowest basement -- You. If I catch a pre-dawn flight over the farthest ocean -- You.” We cannot escape the God who made us, loves us. And we can celebrate how our God “fearfully and wonderfully made us” at the Pride Parade on Saturday, July 18^th 12-3 pm. Starting at Cogswell St. the parade will head east turning south onto Barrington St. then west onto Spring Garden Rd, then north onto South Park St, and end on Bell Rd/Ahern Ave, at the Garrison Grounds. Peace Kevin