In an earlier column, I wrote about five years of effort by the Rotary Club of Lake Country to provide the Lake Country Food Bank with a permanent new home. The ceremony for turning over the keys to the new building took place on Wednesday. Like many things, the planning started so simply. The ceremony was originally scheduled for December 23, as a Christmas present for Food Bank founder, Phyllis MacPherson. That plan got abruptly postponed when Phyllis died four nights before. “How about January 6th?” someone suggested. “Over lunch? In the afternoon?” someone else asked. Just like that, the decision was made; the die cast. From that moment on, life felt like paddling a canoe at the top of a waterfall, trying not to get swept over the brink. Over 200 donors to invite by phone. Caterers to call. Sandwiches to make. Dignitaries to contact. Media to co-ordinate. As the river ran faster toward the falls, previously unidentified needs emerged. A PA system. A guest book. A slide show of construction progress. Even then, crucial details got overlooked. Mayor James Baker and Rotary club president Monika Jatel prepared to hand over the keys to the new building to representatives of the Food Bank. Keys? What keys? Where? With great presence of mind, provincial MLA Norm Letnick slipped his car keys into Monika’s hand. Monika passed them along without losing a beat. Without blinking, the two Food Bank representatives graciously accepted symbolic ownership of Norm’s Smart Car – a space even smaller than what they currently work out of! Everyone applauded. The whole experience makes me realize how complicated any event can be. Even for something as simple as a transfer of authority, there are an incredible number of details to take care of. Which is why people who do the same thing over and over again develop routines and templates, of course. Like the “roadies” for a rock tour. And bureaucracies -- they have a system; they have defined duties; they resist unexpected changes. But for a one-time event like ours, everything is new. And in the real world, every moment is a one-time event, never to be repeated. The experience makes me skeptical of those who insist that there must be an intelligence of some kind shaping the universe. The world is too complicated to have evolved by chance, they argue. The similarities between a human eye and an octopus eye cannot be coincidental. Such similarities could not have evolved separately; there must be a common mind behind them. If it’s difficult to anticipate every detail in something as simple as handing over a set of keys, can you imagine working out every detail in anything as complicated as a single moment in the life of the world? Let alone the universe? And then to know how that moment will transform into the next moment. And then the next. All the way into infinity?
If you can imagine it, good for you. I can’t. Either your imagination is much more fertile than mine. Or – my suspicion – you actually can’t imagine it at all, but you’re content to assume that it’s happening, because you can’t imagine anything else. The Food Bank transfer worked, not because we had someone in charge, but because everyone contributed to the outcome. Everyone pitched in, to the limit of their abilities. In the same way, it seems to me, the real world’s continually changing kaleidoscope can only happen symbiotically. No one directs every detail. Rather, every element plays its own part; every component influences every other component. Even mistakes help to shape the total outcome. I believe that God – however you may define God – doesn’t plan each moment. To mix my metaphors a little, God is not the author of a play. Nor is God the director, rehearsing actors around in predefined roles. God is the play itself, the performance that enchants and captivates. And that involves all of us, for good or ill.

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 Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca
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YOUR TURN
Most of the mail about last week’s column consisted of congratulations on completing the Food Bank building. One example – Tom Watson wrote, “Hearty congratulations regarding the food bank. Reminds me of the old song ‘High Hopes.’ Who knows what can be done if you just keep at it!” Laurna Tallman had a similar comment: “This is a touching and inspiring story for a reader who aspires to be indomitable.”
John Hopkins added a little additional comment: “You have succinctly described what one individual can achieve. As Jane Goodall once said: ‘Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.’ “Phyllis MacPherson wanted to help others, and by doing so she set off a spark of inspiration among many. Phyllis made a significant difference by playing her role and showing us that every individual effort matters.”
Cliff Boldt, who has bashed his head against apathy a few times, found it encouraging: “That is a good story, a wonderful anecdote about resilience in communities when the need arises. We need more stories from and about our communities -- because unlike statistics, graphs and charts, they resonate, stick, and last. “My only concern about stories about food banks is that they are like the weather -- everyone talks about them and poverty, but no one seems to be able to take the business end of the political process and elect people who know and want to act.” Cliff included a quote from Pete Seeger: “The key to the future of the world is finding the optimistic stories and letting them be known.” “Thanks for this story,” Cliff ended his e-mail. “Pete would agree.”
Finally, Marguerite Irvine noted that there are two sides to the food bank coin: “While I commend Phyllis MacPherson for her compassion and persistence, I deplore the fact that Food Banks were necessary in the first place, and that they have become accepted. This is happening in a rich country. Shameful.”
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TECHNICAL STUFF
This column comes to you using the electronic facilities of Woodlakebooks.com.        If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the “Reply” button.        To subscribe or unsubscribe, send me an e-mail message at the address above. Or subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message) to sharpedges-subscribe@quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at sharpedgesunsubscribe@quixotic.ca.        You can access several years of archived columns at http://edges.Canadahomepage.net.        I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly, at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedges-subscribe@quixotic.ca
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PROMOTION STUFF…
Ralph Milton has a new project, called Sing Hallelujah – the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.com Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up,  http://www.hymnsight.ca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)

Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca>

Alan Reynold’s weekly musings, punningly titled “Reynolds Rap” -- reynoldsrap@shaw.ca
Isobel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com

Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town – not particularly religious, but fun; alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.

Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” – ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatso@gmail.com or twatson@sentex.net

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