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I recently took one of those internet tests to determine my OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) quotient.  The test determined ability to see perspective, color saturation and general misalignment in three “equal” images.  I scored 100%.

I then went on to another test which determined my ability to see a letter hidden behind various strings of colour.  This one was much easier.  I again scored !00%.   I was told I had a 167 IQ – in the top 1% of the world.

So I’m brilliantly obsessive?  Or should that be compulsively intelligent?

And my OCD immediately kicked into gear!

I began to question whether the originators of these test had researched with due diligence (ie. – were obsessive compulsive) and were broad ranging in their research (ie. – were smart enough) to have truly provided an unbiased test.

Ah, such is the true burden of an OCD person!!

Our church has a fairly free form type of service order.  The general idea is laid out, the songs listed and perhaps a few special events.  We seldom have phrases or prayers recited weekly.

Perhaps we are the worst for this omission?

I have attended a church lately where they have a Christ candle.  This reminds us that God is with us during the service.  And the church attenders can say this phrase off by heart. 

Another phrase is “Lord, have mercy.”

At first I thought this was blasphemous.  My own background teaches that God has brought us mercy in Jesus.  As one phrase states, “Mercy kissed justice.”  And love was fulfilled – God has forgiven us and we are his children.

Until I realized that day-by-day the unfolding of life requires “existential” mercy.  We pray, not perfunctorily or out of only duty.  We pray because God hears and answers.  We pray because we recognize that, given our current circumstances, our stupidity would merit the consequence of punishment. 

And we want mercy.  So we pray for mercy.

A phrase to remember – “Love, have mercy.”

This morning, Perry died.  Ushered by God into a better place, yet we are still mindful of the loss.

Perry was a good friend for 41 years.  We had probably met years prior (we both attended the same church when we were babies and toddlers).

In 1976 I moved to Kindersley, Saskatchewan to take up an assistant pastor position at the Kindersley Alliance Church.  Perry, a year older than I, was an active member of the church.  He was also a good fit for a new young pastor that needed encouragement, support and words of wisdom.

In the fall of 1976 I headed to Ontario to get married.  Perry and a few friends decided to take vacation time (harvest was pretty well done) and travel the 1600 miles to witness the wedding.

For four years we worked together as friends, both in church work and as fellow journeymen on life’s path.  I watched as he courted a young lady and officiated their wedding in 1980.  Meanwhile, I returned to studies and ended up 25 years away from Kindersley.

Not that we didn’t converse.  We did.  Our children were close to the same ages.  Our ventures to Kindersley were often at the “Graham Hotel.”

And then we returned to Kindersley in 2005 to pastor once again at the Kindersley Alliance Church.  My first officiating of a wedding in my new/old place of ministry was for Perry’s son.

This past decade has seen shifts in both of our lives.  In the end, we both retired about the same time.  For me, Perry’s diagnosis of cancer was unwelcome news – I had looked forwards to coming years continuing to strengthen our friendship. 

His last breath was this morning around 7:00 am.

I will greatly miss a friend, a spiritual mentor, a loving father, a devoted churchman, and a friend of God.

Rest well in God’s hands!

Ever speak to, or listen to, those who were first adopters of a country?  By that I mean, those who are often called natives, aboriginal, or first nations.

I tend to think they are tied to the land.  To the dirt.  To the place that harboured them for centuries and even millenia.

This was, and is, their home!

We are a homeless generation.  Many of us, even the first adopters, are not people of the dirt.  “From dust to dust” – but we don’t want to be dust in the in-between time when our lives are lived on planet earth.  We would rather ignore the physical.  We are becoming people of the virtual. 

And yet . . . it seems our greatest sin relates to the environment.  We feel like we can’t do enough to preserve, restore or cradle the land.  In fact, as some point, we begin doubt the need for our existence, since we are taking up space, breathing air and even stepping where we should not tread.

Purity of life would be a desire to have dominion over the dirt that leads to the best for all that inhabits this earth. 

A purity that respects the sustenance that our earth provides us.  A purity that accepts with gratitude the gift of breath, the community of creatures, the interconnectedness of the food chain, the beauty of physical manifestations of life.