Wednesday Wonder – November 1, 2023

Great expectations. While the book of this name is a classic, it is those things we, and others, put upon ourselves that I am thinking about this week. From the moment we enter this world, someone has expectations for us. From what we might be or do, to how we will live our lives. Expectations are always there.

Growing up in small town Ontario great expectations were easy to see. It was a town crazy for hockey, as so many small towns are. Every little boy who stepped on the ice was going to be the next big thing in the NHL. Well, a few of the boys actually made it there, however briefly, most did not. The same expectations happen all across the country every day though.

I tend to put many expectations on myself. My mother always told me I had to lower my expectations of others, because no one would ever measure up to the standard I tried to set for myself, including me. And yet, there are many throughout our lives who have expectations for us. There was even a time I expected to forge a career that would see me become the first elected female prime minister of Canada. Kim Campbell got the job by becoming a party leader, she never won an election, so there was always still time to make it happen. But, God had other expectations.

And just what does God expect of me, of you, of us? The prophet Micah tells us: “what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” That is what God is expecting. People who are actively seeking to make the world a better place for one another and who do so not to show off, but because it is God’s way. Easier said than done some days.

When God created, God said, “It is good.” That means everything created was good. All of it. Our New Creed states: “We believe in God, who has created and is creating.” What continues to be created is therefore good too. How do we continue to be that good thing? What does that look like?

As Remembrance Day approaches and ours is still a world at war in many places, it gives one pause about our goodness. So many expectations were extinguished by war in the past, and continue to be extinguished by war in the present. How we remember wars of the past tell us something about what we hoped they would do for our world perhaps. There was the Great War. I always wondered what was so great about it, beyond the pain and suffering to a whole world. It showed how devastating war can be. Then, only a couple of decades later, there was the war to end all wars. While it was a great dream for the world, we know it wasn’t to be. Somewhere in our world there is always a war. Did you realize that the Korean War has never ended? There was never a treaty to end it! We need only to turn on the news to know that war is always with us. Can we ever expect that to change?

While God may have had great expectations for us during creation, we have chosen other paths. The Old Testament tells us of war after war, many of which God supposedly condoned. What are we to make of that?

So, let’s set some new great expectations for ourselves. We do not have control over the rest of the world, but we do have it over ourselves. Let’s expect ourselves to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God. Let’s expect to live out the faith we have that God wants better for each of us, and for our world. Let’s expect that love, compassion, kindness and justice are our top priorities.

Let’s expect that if we each do our part, the world will become a better, brighter, safer and more harmonious place. Let’s do that one day at a time, each person in their own way until the world can see and feel the difference. What a world we could expect then.

Peace,
Rev. Mary-Jane