Isn’t the google doodle cute this morning – capturing the image of the masses looking at the sky into the gathering darkness and returning light… it gets me to wondering of the experience before there was scientific knowledge of what was happening.
There is a fascinating article by Leo Deluca in Scientific American that ponders this very topic: How Ancient Humans Studied – and Predicted Solar Eclipses. The article ends with a beautiful and heartfelt caution that might be appropriate to many other facets of life too:
“We must be very careful about treating all cultures that came before us as capital-O ‘Other… they traveled a totally different road from Western eclipse science. Sometimes our questions can be misguided. Did they know the Earth was round? Did they know about the galaxy?” Those aren’t the right questions to ask… They didn’t live in our world. And we don’t live in theirs. With our ultraprecise clocks and compasses, we can often choose to forget the sky altogether—something unthinkable for many peoples of the past. When it comes down to it, other cultures didn’t do things the way we do them…”
There is always room for us to learn from one another – the first task always is to be open and ready to listen. Listen more. Ask questions out of curiosity rather than judgement.
And may you practice this listening and curiosity as you engage the Collaborative Ministry Pilot Project proposal in preparation for the Congregational Meeting on April 28th. Direct your questions to Luc or Chrystal and members of Working Group will respond to them to the best of their ability April 19th.
Faithfully,
Lloyd
PS: If you are going to be looking at the sky today make sure you have the correct eyewear!!
Looking Ahead
Today I have three meetings and four pastoral visits scheduled. My day will end at Dorchester Institution (Medium Sector) attending a rescheduled gathering of the LGBTQ2S+ group that I have been supporting there.
I will gather with the Lectionary Study Group on Tuesday morning and spend the rest of the day sketching out a preaching plan through to Pentecost Sunday as I respond to the suggestions to continue to follow the story of Peter.
On Wednesday my day will begin and end at the office with lots of encounters and meetings in between. Plan now to join the folk from Open Sky for coffee at 10AM – the days are getting short on this as they will soon be returning to working on the land on Wednesday mornings! Wednesday afternoon has two other meetings scheduled and I am certain that the other blocks of time will fill up as the week progresses.
Thursday will see me back at Dorchester Institution, the Minimum Sector where I have two pastoral visits scheduled. I’ll work from home for the rest of the day – likely wrestling with Peter in preparation for Sunday. Thursday evening I hope to get to the screening of 5 Broken Cameras which is a fundraiser for Gaza refugee support.
And it doesn’t look like there’ll be any full days off this weekend…
To accommodate another person’s schedule, I have a meeting scheduled for Friday morning and a pastoral visit for Friday afternoon. On Saturday I am attending the Flourishing Congregations Workshop in Bedford, NS as being offered by the Moderator of the Church. Unfortunately, the two people from the congregation who had indicated that they would attend with me are now unable to attend. Anyone interested??
And on Sunday we will gather in community and ponder that Peter might have been up to in the early days of the Forty Days following the resurrection. Have a look at the text and see if you can discern what might have been happening: Acts 1:1-3.
