The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
July 1, 2007
Vol. 10 no. 25

Everything But...
           A little bit of Canada Day conversation. I attended a conference at the University of Toronto and experienced again what it means to be a multi-cultural society at its best. Not only is this considered very Canadian, it is also very much the Christian aspiration, for from the day of Pentecost the Church has striven to include all of God’s peoples and languages and cultures under one tent. Both in Canada and in the Christian Church we have been able to accomplish this multi-culturalism only imperfectly, gaining only glimpses from time to time. This week I caught a glimpse.
           What struck me was the incredible ecumenical mix of people at this meeting around the ancient and modern Syrian Christian Church. At various points I found myself engrossed in conversations on Christian authors and ideas that transcended all our current ecclesiastical affiliations. Where does a United Church of Canada talk about the deep matters of faith with a conservative evangelical professor, a Carmelite Roman Catholic priest, a Greek Orthodox, a Mormon, a member of an Anglican communion that has separated from Canterbury, a priest of the Syrian Orthodox church which does not commune with the Greek Orthodox? Maybe not where, but when? When we find our faith stronger in how it unites than in the dastardly ways it divides, then at least briefly we are One in Christ.
           Invited to the Assyrian Church of the East for a remarkable, but quite different vespers service, then a grand dinner in a huge spacious and elegant new church, I knew we were in the Canada where such a building and congregation is not only possible, but a reality.
           Now for Elijah and his chariot of fire, here are fitting fireworks for Canada Day.