Fall has returned, and with it, the things which we so readily associate it:  coloured leaves, cool mornings and evenings, the smoky smell of woodstoves and fireplaces as we pass along the roadway, and the return to activities like school and clubs and hockey practice!  Churches always gear up in the fall as well.  By Thanksgiving weekend, we are mostly going full-tilt, re-engaged in weekly worship, study, mission and fellowship activities, not to mention the meetings which plan and deliver all those programs.  Soon, we will be talking about Advent, and before you know it, Christmas will be here in all its beauty and power. 

For almost three weeks in October, I will be travelling with my wife and six other representatives of The Presbyterian Church in Canada to Lebanon, Jordan and Israel/Palestine.  As the Moderator of this year’s Presbyterian General Assembly which was held in June in London, Ontario, it is my privilege to lead this bright group on a learning, sharing and exposure trip to many of our partner churches and associated agencies where we will have the opportunity to see the reality of life in such a diverse and historic part of our world.  We will also be able to bring our own words of encouragement and solidarity to those many Palestinian Christians which we hear so little of, yet who are the legacy of “living stones” of faith who continue to follow in the footsteps of our Saviour Jesus Christ two thousand years after his resurrection.  I am prepared to be humbled by the many whose daily practice of faith calls forth a commitment and discipleship well beyond the level of personal risk which we experience here in Canada.  Most of all, I look forward to the inspiration which comes from spending quality time with brothers and sisters of faith who are truly passionate about what and in whom they believe.

These are interesting times in our world for the people of Palestine, regardless of the faith tradition they follow.  As Christians, we are called to lift up, care for and honour all people in this world, and to seek for them the justice which all humans are due.  I invite you to pray for our group as we make our way through such special places, and as we share conversations with peoples whose experience is so different from our own.  I look forward to sharing some of those perspectives upon our return near the end of October.  May the Spirit of the living God go before us in these exciting days