The Spirit of the Time – A Reflection by The Rev. Alisdair Smith

It is with a certain excitement that I write this note. This Sunday, the 29th, will be my last Sunday at the Cathedral for a little over a month. It will be my last Sunday before my great adventure to the South Seas, and I wanted to let you know a little about what I’m going to be doing while I’m away. I also ask for your prayers for me and for the folks with whom I’ll be working.

A family wedding takes us away for Sunday the 5th in Summerland. That will be a great deal of fun. And on the 7th of August, I leave for Honiara, Solomon Islands. (Click Here for a google map view.)

Located about 3.5 hours north east of Brisbane by air, Solomon Islands has a so called emerging economy. I’ll be working,  facilitating a strategic planning session with church and community leaders, politicians and educators exploring the building of a university there.  The idea, born out of the church leaders there, (Anglicans make up about 1/3 of the population of the country, and the Church of Melanesia is an important foundation for the country) is starting from two identified needs; first, the enhancement of a local theological college to train lay and clergy, and secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the creation of a local teachers’ college. The vision is that if this generation of the teachers is trained and taught at the university level, the next generation  school kids will be that much better educated and more likely then to go on to tertiary and even graduate level education. And that will be good for the whole country. I’m really looking forward to the work, and to supporting the leaders there in crafting a compelling story to seek funding for this important initiative.

While there, I’ve also been asked to preach at the St. Barnabas Anglican Cathedral in Honiara, and will of course be bringing greetings from CCC to that community.

And the adventure continues. Many of you know also of my work with Karen Armstrong, the people at TED and the Charter for Compassion, through the Greater Vancouver Compassion Network www.gvcn.ca That work (and a Facebook connection) have lead to an invitation to Christ Church Cathedral in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.  http://christchurchcathedral.org.au/ Now, frankly this is kind of like “while you’re in Halifax, why not stop by Winnipeg”!  Bu given that life is a grand adventure, from Honiara, I’m going to head to Darwin to preach and lead a workshop with the congregation there on “Compassion as a Dangerous Idea”. I’ll also be bringing greetings from our community to theirs. I told the Dean there, Jeremy Greaves, that I wanted to see crocodiles. He replied dryly, “that won’t be difficult.”

And then from Darwin, I fly north to Bali, where I’ll spend a week on the beach, snorkling, reading and resting. A little gamelon orchestra music will be much appreciated as well! I return to Vancouver on the 30th of August.

So, a couple of things, please keep me in your prayers on these adventures, especially for my work in Honiara and Darwin. And if you haven’t already, find me and/or Christ Church Cathedral Vancouver on Facebook, as I’ll be posting pictures and some updates at both spots. I’ll also be preaching here at home on Sunday the 9th of September, and hope to have some updates and ideas to present at that time.

In the meantime, we might all reflect on the words of the late American peace activist; “the world is now too small for anything but truth and too dangerous for anything but love.”