Dear friends,

In this Sunday’s Gospel, the evangelist Mark discloses a conversation between Jesus and his apostles who are jockeying to ensure a place of ‘greatness’ for themselves.  Jesus responds to this human tendency to satisfy one’s hungry ego with the declaration: “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.”   YIKES!  Imagine the internal dialogue within the minds and hearts of

these followers...or listen to our own!  Surely, this was not their (our?) expectation of gaining a place of honor in the “kingdom.”   Yet, there it is. Jesus goes on to say: “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”   Whom have you/we served...been the slave of... or ransomed recently? 

Each of us has a unique gift that we are called to ‘spend’ in the service of others. We are blessed at The Spirit of Life this weekend, to have as our guest, Bob Hoatson, a man who has truly lived this directive of Jesus. In his ministry as founder and director of a program of support for persons who are survivors of sexual abuse and their families, Bob has put his life story at the service of others.  Please come and join us in experiencing the words and wisdom of Bob this evening (Sunday, October 18th) at The Spirit of Life. Details are below. We hope that you can join us to meet and hear the story of Bob Hoatson, and his work with survivors of sexual abuse and their families. It promises to be an engaging discussion.  All are welcome!