The city of Toronto is the most diverse city in the world. In fact, “Almost three-quarters of Torontonians aged 15 or older have direct ties to immigration. About one-half (52%) are themselves immigrants while another 22% are 2nd generation immigrants with at least one parent born outside of Canada. (Source: Immigrants in Canada’s Census Metropolitan Areas – Grant Schellenberg, Statistics Canada).
We pride ourselves on our multiculturalist outlook in Canada but when it comes down to day-to-day living we have become “a community of communities,” as former Prime Minister Joe Clark called us.
That means in Toronto we have enclaves—Greektown, Little Italy, Little India, Chinatown, and the list goes on. Having the opportunity to explore different cultures through food, shopping and festivals is part of what makes living in Toronto so wonderful.
But can we go beyond that? Can we imagine what it is like to live out Paul’s vision in Galatians 3? There he says “in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Surely this vision travels against the flow, against our natural inclination to find people like ourselves with whom we can feel comfortable. Surely it calls for radical change in our thinking and actions—that we take the high road, not the easy road.
Does this mean leaving behind our differences and coming together into a bland, middle space? Not at all. It means coming together in all our diversity, with all that we have to share, and together in Christ becoming something greater, something reflective of his love and joy, into the picture John paints in Revelation of every nation, tribe, people and language praising God together.
At St. Luke’s that’s what we’re striving to become. You have to love that line in the 1997 movie As Good As It Gets, where Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall, a man who struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, who is as disagreeable as they come, says to Helen Hunt as Carol Connelly, the server he falls in love with, “You make me want to be a better man.”
At St. Luke’s, Jesus draws us further along the road, out of our comfort zone. He makes us want to be a better congregation, a better people, with his heart, living ‘Love,’ the other name for his Father. Are we there yet? No. Do we need your help? Yes. Imagine with us moving beyond a community of communities to a community truly united in the Christ we serve, bearing with one another in love as we grow, as we stumble, as we journey with him.
Here in imagine, you will find art, poetry, and music that reflect the great God we serve. We invite you to leave comments, participate, and imagine with us the way ahead.
Debra Mathers
Lumembo Tshiswaka
Who Am I?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
like a Squire from his country house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
freely and friendly and clearly,
as though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
thirsting for words of kindness, for neighbourliness,
tossing in expectation of great events,
powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
faint, and ready to say farewell to it all.
Who am I? This or the Other?
Am I one person to-day and to-morrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
and before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army
fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine!
The Cost of Discipleship
Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was part of the resistance movement against Nazism. He was arrested in 1943 for his part in a plot to assassinate Hitler and hanged in 1945.
Debra Mathers
Ravine
the moon outlined in early morning light
from deep quiet with
running water incessant
traffic already begun
up top and
unbeknownst to timebound
drivers underneath wheels some
modern marvel of
engineering
covers the
vagaries of
winding
creek
that has no place in the
business of the
city
Sunday morning revisited
Say the words that wield and wind
Sing the words that lilt and dip
Recite the words bitter and sweet
that rise through bent back time
habituated, resented
Probing necrotized space.
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
Depart in peace
According to Thy Word.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Spring Song
I heard a spring song
outside my window
and my first thought was
spring is a month away
but I heard the song
different from winter sounds
I don’t know what bird awoke, came back
but I heard a song today
with the stream as backup
and the path still packed with winter footprints
Just for a minute
just for a minute
in the wide open windowed
rustle of tree leaves
and summer scents
an echo of sounds
remind of freedom
awakening
on sun blessed day
where breeze is a touch
and it is possible to believe
everything is possible