VERY REV. LOGAN McMENAMIE
On an Easter Sunday morning when it was still dark, a group of men, women and children gathered in the churchyard in Quamichan, looking toward the sacred mountain of Tzouhalem which rises from the estuary of the Cowichan River. In the cold, as they waited for the sun to rise over the mountain, they prayed and sang hymns.
Just as the sun burst over Mount Tzouhalem, as if choreographed by the Creator, a single wild goose flew from west to east toward the sun, honking. It was as if creation itself was joining in the chorus of celebration.
The symbol of the Spirit in Celtic Christianity is that of the wild goose. The goose was chosen because, like the Spirit of God, the goose is annoying, irritable and invasive. As humans, we need to challenge ourselves to discover new ways to perceive ourselves and our world.
One of the great inspirations for both C.S Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien was a man named George MacDonald, an author and Scottish minister. MacDonald said that the highest condition of the human will is sight.
The sight he is speaking about is the ability to perceive and identify God in action in our world. The resurrection invites us to look at humanity and the world through new eyes. The word that we use during Lent as Christians is metanoia, which means news ways to see and think.
As Christians celebrate the holiest time of their year, Holy Week concluding with the Sunday of the Resurrection (Easter), many Christians are asking the question: Does the resurrection mean more than just an escape from this world into a paradise beyond?
In the Christian Church, up until the 10th century, the dominant theology was that of the resurrection creating and bringing into fulfilment the promises of the prophets of a paradise here on this planet.
In Mark’s story of Jesus’s resurrection, the risen Jesus instructs his disciples to go and preach to all creation. The resurrection informs us that all of creation is holy and therefore this planet is a holy place and sacred.
During this season, when we celebrate life’s victory over death, we must ask for new ways to see our planet in relationship to the new life, which comes through the resurrection. We are faced with very serious questions about our planet. Science has told us that, in many ways, we are in danger of destroying life on this planet before the end of this century.
The resurrection is not an escape from this planet but a new relationship with God’s creation in which we ensure it is not crucified — abused, defaced, or destroyed by exploration and exploitation — but continually restored. Let the resurrection be real for each of us as we are given new sight and new ways to live in relationship to the creation and the Creator.
As dean of Columbia and rector of Christ Church Cathedral, Logan McMenamie fulfils roles in both the parish (the congregation) and the diocese (the wider Anglican community spanning Vancouver Island).
