He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

I've been reading a lot of books lately. Picture books, mostly! Last trip to the library I picked up one that piqued my interest - He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadir Nelson. I sang this hymn when I was a boy and have sung it many times since. Reading the picture book gave me a different perspective on it, though.

When I sang that hymn as a boy I sang it in a mostly white congregation and didn't understand the origin of the hymn as a black spiritual. Seeing the black family of the book and thinking of the origin of the hymn made me think about the words. Instead of being an innocuous hymn about our Creator God it is a hymn of defiance to earthly authority. The slaves or oppressed who first sung it did so in defiance of the power of their earthly masters. For them, ultimately all authority rested in God's hands--a God who loved them and would free them one day.

White Canadian born people are not oppressed in this way but when we sing this hymn it can still be a hymn of defiance. Instead of earthly corporations putting a cost on everything in life (think buying seeds from Monsanto, buying land that was taken from the First Nations, buying health from the drug companies) we know that ultimately God is in control. He's got the whole world in his hands, and one day he will bring an accounting to those who abuse the world. Amen!

Peace

Driving up to Prince Albert today I heard on The Current an interview with Ursula Franklin. There was a lot of good thoughts in that interview but the most compelling comments I heard were about the nature of peace. She said that "peace is not a commodity" and that "peace is indivisible." Peace is not something that can be bought by some and withheld from others

We can see in North America that some have tried to buy peace by moving to expensive suburbs or gated communities to remove themselves from the unrest of impoverished areas in the inner city. The United States and Canada have used tax payer dollars to create peace for our countries by fighting in areas where terrorists are thought to make their home. Concrete results of this "war on terror" are yet to be seen. If we want peace for the world we must make peace available for everyone. Peace is not indivisible.

By the way, though I am generally not supportive of Canadian troops in Afghanistan I must say that our armed forces are determined and conscientious to do the job that they have been ordered to do and they are doing it well.

The times in the United Church are a changin'

I just read the General Secretary's Triennium report. With that title you might be forgiven for thinking that this is another sleeping pill from the church. Nora Saunder's report on the next three years is anything but business as usual. Several times she cites the appetite for real change in the church and offers four options for the General Council (national church) level. The General Council Executive this last weekend approved the recommended changes. These include a $1 million New Ministries fund for creating new churches and communities of faith and cutting 15 to 20 positions at the General Council offices. It remains to be seen what these changes will mean but it seems that people in the church are ready for a change.