Dear Friends,
This week, Bishop Riscylla and I (Bishop Kevin is enjoying the last few days of his sabbatical) joined the fall session of the House of Bishops at Mount Carmel Retreat Centre in Niagara Falls. The centre sits on the table just above the falls. And while the trees, still laden with leaves, obscure the water flow, the sound of the rushing water is ever present. Like the water, it is always powerful to be together – to share, lean on and learn from one another – and to enjoy some time away at this beautiful time of year.
In this Sunday’s reading from Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people of Israel that it is God who has brought them into the good land – a land of flowing streams! – a land where they may eat bread without scarcity and where they will lack nothing. And indeed, in this land of plenty that is Canada, there is so much to be grateful for. We are blessed beyond comprehension with the goodness of creation in this country.
Gratitude is the acknowledgement that all we are and all we have is a gift from God. And because it is a gift, it is not ours to hoard or exploit, but to be respected and shared. As Toronto-based theologian and social justice activist Mary Jo Leddy puts it, gratitude “awakens the imagination to another way of being, to another kind of economy, the great economy of grace in which each person is of infinite value and worth.”
What could that “economy of grace” look like? This year’s diocesan Outreach & Advocacy Conference, coming up online next Saturday, Oct. 17, addresses that question. Keynote speaker Dean Detloff will challenge participants to think beyond the model of unfettered economic growth that requires the continued exploitation of human beings, other living creatures and the planet. In the afternoon, a slate of workshops will show how Anglicans in our Diocese are working alongside others to be a catalyst for liberation from the dynamics of exploitation and marginalization – in the context of relationships with and reparations to Indigenous people and communities, in ministry with street-involved people and in resisting their dehumanization and further marginalization, or in the context of protecting the environment for generations to come. There will also be opportunities to build up that “economy of grace” in networking with participants from other parishes over lunch, and in gathering for reflection, discussion and prayer at the close of the day. All sessions are online and free of charge, and you can register at www.toronto.anglican.ca/outreachconference.
This Thanksgiving weekend, as we gather with loved ones to rejoice in the goodness of God’s creation and the bounty of the earth, let us remember and bless the Creator who so graciously provides it all – and then in God’s name let us find ways to share those gifts with all.
Yours in Christ,
The Right Reverend Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto
