Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, October 9, 2016 Hockey Night in Canada! Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, October 9, 2016

Thanksgiving Message Such a volatile world and yet so much to be thankful for Reflection at end of module: Deep sense of being loved Fresh sense of emptiness in prayer (lots to pray for; not feeling as though my prayers are making much of a difference) Yet, thankful for this package, too (when we are weak, then we are strong; I do believe that my emptiness can make room for God’s fullness)

Struggles in Sermon Prep . . . Woke at 6 with ideas about hockey Wrote them down Went back to bed Let’s see whether or not they make sense!

Life is like hockey! Sometimes you get a breakaway and go it alone; more often you move forward as a team Sometimes you sail forward with the wind in your face; sometimes you get crushed into the boards by something you didn’t see coming Sometimes you try really hard and win; sometimes you try really hard and lose No matter, nothing feels as good as having a beer or a coffee afterwards with your mates

But it’s all about skating . . . You can’t stand still You need to keep up with the flow of the game Most of us learn how as children There comes a time, for many of us, when we stop and the game goes on without us It’s the same in life . . . We can stop trying, stop lacing up the skates, wonder where the magic went

Why do we stop? Tiredness Pain Not feeling as though we fit it Not wanting to play on a particular team Also, perhaps, because we had the wrong goal in mind . . . Make it to the next level (if not the NHL!), win all the time, find our identity in how people see our game-face

Jesus said . . . Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

How do we get stuck in life in general? Perhaps we do have the wrong goal in mind We are trying to gain the whole world in some distinct way and we haven’t realized that we have lost our soul in the effort

How do we get stuck in religious life? I think it’s most often because of a bad view of God that has involuntarily become part of our worldview We see God as critical, distant, more harsh than kind Even though many of us know better, we revert to this kind of thinking We feel guilty, losers at life, unworthy, as though we have very little to offer Finally, we hang up our skates . . .

Richard Rohr has a new book

From Bono . . . Humanity, says Richard Rohr, is a perfect rhyme for what Christianity, trying to express the inexpressible, calls the holy trinity. This human dance we’re all in reflects a mysterious divine dance, one that we notice on our best days. Finding the sweet spot where contemporary science meets ancient mysticism, and theology meets poetry, The Divine Dance sketches a beautiful choreography for a life well-lived. In our joy or our pain, true life is always relational, a flow, a dance. (And was always meant to be.)

We participate with God Who flows in and through all of us and all things Who welcomes us at His table whenever we come, in whatever condition Who brings life through us to those around us Even seniors play hockey—it may be time to lace up the skates