Friends,
As I continue a bit of vacation time, I’m grateful that worship this Sunday will be led by the Rev. Canon Donald Lawton—a friend and colleague known to many of you. Donald brings a wise and thoughtful presence, and I’m glad he’ll be with you this week.
The readings he’ll be preaching from are ones that don’t back away from hard questions.
In Amos 7, we meet a prophet who speaks an uncomfortable truth to power—and is pushed aside because of it. It’s a reminder that sometimes faithfulness means standing firm, even when the ground beneath us shifts.
In Colossians 1, Paul opens his letter not with warning, but with gratitude. He sees the hope and love already growing in the community, and prays for more—for wisdom, strength, and the courage to walk with joy.
In Luke 10, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. It’s a story many of us know well—but it still finds new edges every time we hear it. A man is left wounded on the side of the road. And the question Jesus asks, through the story, is simple but searching: Who was a neighbour to him?
Maybe the deeper question underneath it is this:
What keeps us from seeing the people in front of us?
And what helps us stop, when we’d rather keep walking?
Even while I’m away, I’ll be holding those questions close. They’re not easy—but they matter. Because the kind of neighbour Jesus describes isn’t someone with the right answers.
It’s someone who sees. And stays.
Blessings,
Alex+