HELLO!

Please keep the family of the late Tony Harding in your prayers. Tony is a long-time member of Woodlawn United Church. Tony’s funeral: Friday, May 8th at 11 am at our church. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/en-ca/obituaries/halifax-ns/anthony-harding-12864582

This Sunday, May 3^rd our focus is Peter 2:1-10, specifically finding ourselves as “living stones”. The photo on the cover of our Sunday bulletin comes from Jerry Jackson, “I saw this stone wall while Donna and I visited on St. John Island in the US Virgin Islands”. These newly baptized Christians have in many respects taken on an identity as resident aliens, people outside the dominant culture. Despite their dire situation, Peter offers his readers the assurance they, like the wandering Hebrews before them, can derive comfort from the knowledge that eventually the old “house” from which they have been exiled will be transformed completely into the “home” for which they have been longing.

Though they are presently suffering the injustices of a world that they once claimed as their own, they must nevertheless be aware that the Spirit of God is even now working in them collectively to usher in the heavenly kin-dom. Peter affirms they have been accepted into a new family. As God’s own people, they can find refuge and strength in the nourishing, formative, living, and evangelical household of God.

Faith is a way of life. Peter calls us living stones. Living stones are rooted in God's ordinary yet magnificent creation. This is not a mentality of escaping the real world, it is a theology of getting down in the dirty, daily stuff where we live. We are not waiting on the sweet bye and bye and pie in the sky, this is holiness that values the stuff of daily life. The living stones are built into a household of God where abundant life can grow and are sent back out into the world to bring new life, light in darkness, and hope in despair. Once we were not a people, but now we are God's people. The church is a meant to be a sign of Christ's presence in the world. No one of us can be the good news all the time, but we are stronger together. Just like character is caught not taught.

Peace, Kevin

PS I may see you Saturday at the Fish Chowder delivery door in my Habs attire, a first for me (long-time Bruins-Penguins fan). Note to chowder fans who did not place an order, you may be able to secure a meal Saturday, but without an order, you are taking your chances. People do show up-ask, and often Ralph can find extras but there is no guarantee.

PPS A reminder about our May faith study on the first three Tuesdays of the month (5^th, 12^th and 19^th) at 7 pm in the Sams Room. Our focus is Henri Nouwen’s short and accessible book, “Return of the Prodigal Son”. No expectation participants will have read or own the book, I will offer a summary at the beginning of each session, then everyone can share their questions and comments. Invite a friend, everyone is welcome to join.