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Blog Archives: January 2020 — December 2020
There's Something You Should Know Before you Decide
May 20, 2020
You’re doing it!!! Congratulations is in order. You’re surviving a global pandemic, and that’s no small thing!
Everything depends on how you look at it! Like your hair, for example. You can look at it and say I’m struggling. Or you can say, I’m overcoming some serious challenges. By God’s grace, I’m growing; personally, emotionally and spiritually.
If you’re like me, this season of upheaval has left you craving certainty. When is my area reopening? When will there be a vaccine ready? When will life resume some kind of normal?
The truth ...
The Son Run Isn’t Cancelled
May 13, 2020
For the first time in Tap Nights albeit brief history, we were going to participate in the Vancouver Sun Run. And oh, let me tell you—we were pumped. We came up with a team name: “Nights in Tights” (…don’t ask). We began to regularly train together for the run. And why did we want to do this? Because, it was a fun thing to do! And I know that for some running 10K is not your idea of fun, it sounds more like torture. But we thought it was a nice way to get out there with 60,000 other people, to be active and involved in a Vancouver-y thing to ...
Breath Prayers are for the Weak
May 06, 2020
This poem was written as a reflection on my attempts at pausing for prayer this week.
Karen Schaffer is the pastor of spiritual formation for The Tapestry Richmond Photo by Amaury Gutierrez
Compline Prayers
April 30, 2020
If you're like me, the moment you wake up in the morning, life finds a way of crashing in with a hundred things that need to get done. And while some of it may be exciting and motivate you to jump out of bed, others might cause you to pull the covers over a little tighter and push snooze. Getting up and facing the day is not always easy.
Lately, I've been finding great solace, sanctuary and strength through the practice of morning prayers. These quiet mornings before my children and spouse wake up are precious times when I'm able to sit ...
He Sneaks Through Locked Doors
April 27, 2020
We are now fully in this season of Eastertide (the 50 days between Easter Sunday and Pentecost), where the church is called to rejoice and reflect on the reality-altering good news of the resurrection of Jesus.
But this good news never sandpapers over our grief and disappointment, but speaks in the midst of it. For example, I’ve been sitting with that story of Jesus appearing to his disciples who are hiding in a locked room (this is from John 20:19-23) Here we see what the resurrected Jesus is up to. He pursues the very people he called ...
Arts and Crafts
April 24, 2020
As for many of us COVID has completely changed the landscape of work life and home life amongst the staff at The Tapestry Richmond. It has caused us to wrestle with questions like: how do I know if I'm doing a good job in this time? What is being expected of me in this time of ministry? What am I expecting of myself? What makes me look back at the day and say this was a productive day? Am I still feeling God's love and acceptance in the midst of it all?
After a Zoom meeting discussing this topic I wrote this letter (mildly ...
"An Ode To Looking Up"
April 22, 2020
This past January I flew to Taiwan to visit my family. And as I was walking in the neighboured that I had lived in for about six years of my life (from 2003-2009), I saw something that left me shook. As my wife, Kristi, and I were walking, I looked up and saw this massive five-story mural on the side of a building in the neighbourhood. It beautifully depicts the famous parable of the sower and the seeds from the gospel accounts (you can read that parable in Luke 8 for example). If I had been wearing socks at the time, this would’ve blown them ...
Warp and Weft
April 21, 2020
The phrase “warp and weft” kept coming up one night as I went to bed. Everything was feeling so uncertain, so insecure – from my parents’ health to the pandemic situation to figuring out my role at work. Oh, Lord! What am I to do? How would I do it? “Warp and weft.”
The next morning as I sat with God in silence, the phrase jumped back. I googled it. To my surprise (relief) - “warp” and “weft” are actual words that actually go together - words related to weaving. Unless weaving strips of paper for a Valentine’s heart in preschool ...
How to Find Purpose in a Pandemic
April 16, 2020
In John’s gospel, there’s a story of Jesus whipping around to ask two excitable and possibly over-eager followers, “what do you want?” They reply, “Teacher, where are you staying?” In other words, where are you coming from? What are you all about?
I’ve been thinking about what I want a lot, lately. Mostly, because I can’t have it. I can’t have a drink with friends on a patio, communion with my church, coffee with a new friend, live worship, a bear hug . . . a haircut.
But I can go a pretty long time without these things, truth be told....
Lord Speak
April 13, 2020
Since February, my discipleship group and I have been trying to incorporate a time of silence into our daily rhythm. We find a quiet spot, get comfortable, start a timer and give 10 min to God, in what Robert Mulholland calls, “patient, open-ended yieldedness.”
But let’s be honest, it often feels more like a frantic, whack-a-mole of pop-up thoughts in my head.
As I was sitting in silence one day, my mind (as usual) kept wandering to all the things I had to do and situations I needed to deal with that day. I tried to think of a verse to ...
Holy Saturday
April 11, 2020
The big weekend is here: Easter! We start off by remembering Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday, and then a big celebration for Resurrection Sunday.
It was not until Dallas Seminary when a classmate of mine opened my world to embracing and remembering Holy Saturday. When he mentioned it, I remember vividly responding, “What on earth is that?!”
What is Holy Saturday? It is that day in-between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Not much is said about this day… this in-between day. Luke tells us that the women returned home and prepared ...
Our Laggy Broken Hallelujahs
April 10, 2020
We’re about a month into this new reality, and the truth is we’ve never done this before––as people, as a church, as a city, a country, a world––this type of withdrawal and distancing. We’re all trying to figure it out. And therefore it continues to be messy, we’re going to keep making mistakes, and we must learn to practice forgiveness—“forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12)—as Jesus taught us. But there is a lot of grace. A few weeks ago, my small group met for the first time on Zoom. And we always close ...
Need For Speed
April 09, 2020
I like to drive fast! I’m a speed fanatic. Once a year, my gracious wife, Joanne allows me to go track racing with my car. She reluctantly turns a blind eye, but knows it’s the only thing she can do for me to get it out of my system…once a year…legally. To be clear, on the streets of Vancouver, I rarely drive over the speed limit. I do however like getting to the speed limit as quickly as I can. In my mind, going from zero to the speed limit should be done as fast as possible! You have to work within the parameters you are given right? Well, ...
I wasn’t planning on giving up quite this much for Lent
April 07, 2020
Recently a friend shared in our small group WhatsApp a picture of a cookie decorated with the words: “To be honest, I wasn’t planning on giving up quite this much for Lent.” That sums up a lot of how myself and others I’ve talked to are feeling. It’s almost as if we’re in a deeper and expanded season of Lent. It’s as if our whole country, our world almost, is being forced into a time of Lent.
Lent, for those unfamiliar, is one of the major seasons in the Christian Church Calendar. The focus is on Jesus’ journey towards his death on the ...
Prayer by Henri Nouwen
April 03, 2020
Have you felt at loss for words to pray? I have. The current needs of our city and our world is so great.. so heavy. Some Most times, I find myself loss for words.
I came across Henri Nouwen’s prayer posted below. It is not one of those poetic prayers that rhymes (oh how I am thankful for those!). But in his honest prayer, Nouwen reminds me that prayer is simply going coming to God. He ends his prayer with “Teach me to pray.” I am encouraged. We all need help from God, even in praying.
Interestingly, in a much different time than ours, ...
Wilderness
March 31, 2020
Wilderness’ is the word I have for these times of social distancing and quarantine. In the wilderness the way forward is undefined, no clear path seems ‘right’. In wilderness no one can say how long I will experience this suspended unsteady-ness of not knowing. In the wilderness, familiar markers appear unfamiliar then fear creeps in like weeds in my spring garden choking the bloom. Going to the market, the bank, or the coffee shop all requires extra vigilance. Many medical supports are being re-purposed to focus our collective efforts on ...
Best Laid Plans
March 30, 2020
Last May, the Tap began a partnership with the modular residence. We started by helping to garden their outdoor space. Then, as the weather got cooler and the evenings darker, we were invited in for weekly art evenings - eventually expanding to two evenings a week just hanging out with these friends we had made over time, playing Jenga, sharing jokes and stories - our lives - over hot cocoa and cake.
Early in March, we began to excitedly vision this year’s garden with the staff and residents there. I put a call-out for cuttings, and my ...
Living in Apocalyptic Times
March 25, 2020
Well friends, it’s official, we are living in apocalyptic times.
I’m not talking about I Am Legend, Mad Max, or the Left Behind series (which let me be clear: is a poor theology of the “End Times.”)
But I mean “apocalyptic” in the truest sense of the word, in its actual New Testament usage. The Greek noun apokalypsis means “revelation, disclosure.”
Truly truly, we’re living in revealing times aren’t we? It seems like the veil or curtain is being pulled back: on our culture, countries, churches, and our hearts. We are starting to see ...
Living Out Of An Abundance
March 24, 2020
It seemed like just weeks ago we were coming out of the new year. We had plans and goals and were excitedly looking to what the new year will bring. Who would imagine that the words ‘global pandemic’ would be in the forefront of headlines and news, and all that we talk about? Uncertainty surrounds us.
Just recently, I found myself also getting caught up in ‘panic buying’. Do I have enough food stocked up? In fact, I caught myself worrying, not just about basic food, but making sure my pantry and freezer were well stocked up with nutritious ...
Spring Thoughts
March 22, 2020
“Where the world sees impossibility, God sees potential. Where the world sees insecurity, God sees occasions for faith. Where the world sees death, God proclaims life.” – Parker Palmer
The world seems to be in the hopeless mire of viral (literal + figurative!) fears.
Yet this broken earth holds wildflowers patiently awaiting their time of glory, and things sitting dormant tremble in expectation of awakening and revival.
How can we remain attentive to the signs and stirrings of life, buried as they may be?
1. Remember:
...
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