Opinion

 

What will I write this time?

Have you ever wondered how those of us who write pieces for the Leader manage to come up with something that might be of interest to the readers? 

I know that I marvel at those who are expected to write weekly. Every time it’s my turn to submit something for Perspectives I ask myself what will I write this time.

Over the past three weeks my mind has been fully occupied with family matters. When I am called to be with a family during a time of trouble or sadness I am always amazed at the peace that I get from God so that I can fully attend to their needs. I have discovered that it is very different when I am in the midst of the family needing to be cared for.

As I searched for the peace, I found only lament – lament for a child who none of us would ever know; lament for those of my family who are so engulfed by the pain and the loss. 

But as I ponder this lament, I realize that it can be a healthy place. It can challenge one’s faith in so many ways.

Look at Job. His lament went on for chapter upon chapter. Yet in the end his faith in God never wavered. 

His friends scorned him, asking him why he would ever continue to have faith in a god who would let such devastation happen. Job never lost sight of God during his time of despair. Job knew that the only way back to health and wholeness would be through the loving grace and mercy of God. 

I know that the same is true for my family. Through the tender mercy of God, we will once again find health and wholeness in the end. 

Our relationship with God will be stronger, and we will be better for it. Our lamentations will lessen as we gain the strength to move forward in our life’s journey and our faith journey. Thanks be to God.

Hmmm. . . .I guess I’ll write about life this time.

Cheers, Sue+

Rev. Sue McCullough

Anglican Parish of 

Morrisburg, Iroquois & 

Riverside Heights.

[…]

 

God walks with us through the changes

This is the final time that I will write this Perspectives column as the minister of Iroquois United Church. Due to restructuring issues in the United Church of Canada, I find myself saying good-bye to a group of people I cherish and respect.

The past months have been emotionally and physically draining for me. Change is often not a welcome thing, and it has been difficult for me to realize my life will never quite be the way it has been.

Change, however, advents into all of our lives. Our children grow up and move away. Our parents die. We look in the mirror and realize we weigh a little more than we did on our wedding day.

We cannot stop some of the changes that are part of life in the 21st century. Whether you like them or not, computers and other “tech” items are here to stay. 

Churches hold Sunday morning worship services, yet many young people are playing soccer at the very same time. Travel to exotic destinations is a reality for many people.

I think we need to remember that God is walking with us through all the changing seasons of life. When we despair, He can bring hope. When darkness threatens to overwhelm us, Jesus offers us light and love. 

When we are ill, He grants us comfort and when we mourn, He gives us His promise of eternal life in His arms.

God cherishes us and challenges us to follow in the paths He sets  before us.

He asks us to reflect upon the questions: “What does it really mean to live in abundance and to share what we have?” and “how can a little bit of love go a long way to make a difference in our communities and in our world?”

May we pass Christ’s love on to others, may we give thanks that we will never fall out of our Saviour’s compassionate embrace.

We can trust in God–for He continues to shed His grace upon us.

I write this Perspectives Column and say good-bye to my parishioners at Iroquois United Church. I will be staying the area however, and will soon write as part of another congregation. 

Yes, life changes, but God continues to support and sustain us.

Our Creator blesses us and His mercy endures forever! 

Rev. Janet Evans, 

Iroquois United Church

[…]

 

There are very few sports that I am even tolerably good at.

If you eliminate the television remote control five yard dash, or the get-to-the-buffet-table ahead of everyone else marathon, or even the 50-per-cent-off-sales wrestlemania, the list is actually very short. 

It follows, then, that there are sports I am not good at.

I’m banned from ski lodges in one province and two states because I endanger other skiers. I don’t do water skiing either, since that unfortunate episode at the family cottage when I attempted to take off from a wooden dock. (Getting the splinters out was not a task for the faint of heart.) Basketball demands that one actually jump…repeatedly. 

I once took some lessons at a local golf course. The pro tried. He really did. And the first time I ventured out on the course, beautifully located alongside the river, I was really excited.  I eagerly stepped up to take my shot. (Couldn’t see the flag or anything, but I didn’t let that stop me). I swung a mighty swing. Missed the ball completely. In the heat of the moment, I also let go of the golf club. That club sailed, in a fairly impressive arc, directly into a deep part of the cold river.

The clubs were borrowed. The owner, who had to dive into the water to retrieve his property, had some interesting and colourful things to say, which did discourage me a little.

However, there is one sport I understand, one sport that I enjoy, one sport I know how to play. Baseball.

I come from a baseball minded family. My dad played organized ball. My uncles all did. My brother played himself, then coached a young men’s hard ball team. My sister is a powerhouse player as is her daughter. 

Baseball gets to you. It doesn’t have to be professional or semi professional ball.  Just a pick-up game on a regulation diamond or even a grassy field with a couple of cows wandering third base.

I like the stomach tightening tension on the field, the determination of the player in the batter’s box, the steely look in the pitcher’s eyes, the obvious and powerful sense of camaraderie in the dug outs. And there really is a kind of magic the moment a person whacks one ‘out of the park’, and gets to make that exhilarating run around the bases, to the excited shouts of team mates. It’s a golden moment, long discussed, never forgotten.

I know what it is to stand in the batter’s box, trying to stare down the pitcher, trying to guess what she’s going to throw, praying that I don’t swing like “a rusty gate.” 

And if you do connect with the ball, and see it soaring away and away, well, it kind of makes up for the splinters. Really.

[…]

 

Growing Time

The time in church after celebration of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit is called growing time. We use green as a worship colour. 

Growing is what we do every day, bit by bit.  Some of us grow up and some of us grow old.  But all of us grow in some way or another. We also talk about growing in faith.  

We have stories in the Bible of how people grew in their faith in God.  Abraham and Sarah grew in faith and trust when they became part of a covenant with God. They moved with family, flocks and herds to new land.  They were tested in their faith as they wondered over time if God was going to keep the part of the covenant about descendants.  Sarah laughed.

Then there are the stories of Moses leading the people out of the land of Egypt to the promised land. If one looks on a map of the area of the wilderness and the wandering route the Israelites took, one asks why it took them 40 years to get to their destination. Well, they had to learn to trust God. They were growing in their faith, generation by generation.

Jesus’ disciples followed him as their teaching rabbi, learning and growing in their faith.  They learned that true discipleship was always about growing in their relationship with God.  They learned disciplines like praying and searching out folk in the margins of society in need of healing. They learned that a simple lifestyle and hospitality are part of growing and sharing their faith.  

Where do you grow in your faith? Does your faith provide the good soil for growth? Do you use your faith as the foundation for making life decisions?  Does your faith inform how you act every day of your life or is it reserved for Sunday only? Do your practice mercy and justice? Are you growing up in faith or are you just growing old in faith? There is a difference.

Faith needs to be used and nurtured. It needs to be able to vision as Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Paul, Priscilla, and Mary came to understand.  Faith needs to move you to a new place, a new reflection of where God is active in your life today. Faith opens your eyes to the opportunities that God places in front of you.

I was watching a baby bird at the base of one of the maple trees in the front of the house.  Its mother was close by.  I began to mow the lawn, keeping watch on the base of the tree as I rolled by. I did not want to frighten the little fledgling. I didn’t see the little bird after finishing the lawn. I didn’t know what became of it until I saw it again today.  The mother was close by to the fledgling on the ground.

I think God is like that when we start out in faith, close by and keeping us safe.  We slowly take a few flights, gather strength, and learn to fly.

We pray that our minds are fresh and open to growth; we pray that we can use each new day to explore new ways to grow in faith; we pray that we are able to nurture hope and humility to trust that God is always doing a new thing.  Let’s pray for eyes to see it and lives to live it.  We are not alone, God is with us, thanks be to God! 

A prayer shared, credit to its writer

God of new beginnings, 

we are walking into mystery. 

We face the future, not knowing what the days and months will bring us 

or how we will respond. 

Be love in us as we journey. 

May we welcome all who come our way. 

Deepen our faith to see all life through your eyes. 

Fill us with hope and an abiding trust that You dwell in us amidst all our joys and sorrows. 

Thank You for the treasure of our faith life. 

Thank You for the gift of being able to rise each day with the assurance of 

Your walking through the day with us. 

God of our past and future, 

we praise you. 

AMEN 

Thank you for your holy hospitality, comments and conversations generated over the nearly four years that I have served at Lakeshore Drive United Church, Morrisburg.  

As of July 1st, I will be growing by serving an interim ministry at Ashton-Munster Pastoral Charge. I have grown in my faith through service here and through the generous collegiality of the South Dundas Ministerial.  

Peace and Blessings, 

Rev. Arlyce Schiebout,

Lakeshore Drive United,

Morrisburg.

[…]

 

Welcome Home

If you’ve ever been away somewhere for a long time and come home, you will know what it’s like to have that “Ahh… I’m finally home!” feeling. 

I really enjoy getting away with Sarah, and it’s always nice to visit somewhere different. We have taken different holidays over the years and visited a number of places. Sometimes places that actually aren’t far away at all, but it always feels good to get home.

It was about eight years ago now that we were talking about getting a pet, and a short time later we came home with a little puppy named “Molly”. That puppy grew into a full sized dog. Who would have guessed that was going to happen? 

The joys of that dog besides the walks, picking up the left behinds and finding piles of golden retriever fur everywhere, is that we have a great family friend. 

It didn’t take us long to discover that Molly loved to have us home, and hated to see us leave. When we would leave the house she would sit by the door and wait for our return. 

Naturally, over the years she got used to the idea that if we left, we would soon return. The assurance Molly felt allowed her to live out her day, and do whatever dogs do while everyone is away. 

When we would return from either a day away at work, or even a vacation over a number of days, the response from Molly was always, and has always been the same. She would rush from whatever part of the house she was in, and greet us at the door with her tail wagging her whole body.  You don’t think twice about that greeting, until it doesn’t happen. 

There is something wonderful about being greeted when you arrive at a place and are made feel welcome. 

Sarah and I are thrilled to make our new home in Iroquois.  It didn’t take long for our neighbors to come and give us a warm welcome to our new community. 

Sarah and I have also been blessed by the kindness and love shared by our new church family at Morrisburg Pentecostal Tabernacle (M.P.T.). 

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to you to come and visit us on a Sunday morning. When you arrive, I’m sure you’ll be made feel right at home. 

Rev. James Tripp

Morrisburg Pentecostal 

Tabernacle

[…]

 

Do you know what actually proves spring is here? It’s not the robins, or the dandelions, or the leaves on the trees. 

It’s all those ambitious people, inside and outside of their homes, up to their elbows in that ritual known as “spring cleaning.”   

Actually to my mind, that’s really a misleading description. It seems to imply that people only scrub out their homesteads four times in an entire year: spring, summer, winter and fall. 

Oh, wait a minute. 

That is how I do it. And I may have inadvertently overlooked winter this year.

However, like everyone else, I do have my cleaning rituals. 

First, I line up all the magazines I have purchased and carefully pull out those cardboard “subscription” inserts either stapled or tucked into them. Then I throw them all out. Task done.

Second, I go through the refrigerator and decide what needs to be cleaned out. I always try to toss those products which have a “best before” date prior to the First Gulf War. I move from those to  containers filled with whatever I was trying to cook last week and also dump those into the garbage. Generally, I can’t identify the remains anyway. Task done.

I do dust. However, I must admit that the messages visitors regularly write on my tables and chairs are usually really amusing, and it seems a shame to use furniture polish to remove them. 

I tried cleaning the oven once. It was not a particularly successful undertaking. I won’t go into a lot of details, but that smell like charred tortoise lingered in the house for days. 

And really, I don’t cook that much anyway. Tasks done.

I painted the spare bedroom one spring in a poorly conceived plan to brighten up the walls. I dropped the gallon of paint, which wouldn’t have been that much of an issue had the can not been open at the time. I also had a little trouble with the ceiling. Seems that paint will splatter if you are using a long handled brush and I soon found myself trying to work through a confetti screen of paint dripping on my face and glasses. Consequently, I may have missed a few spots here and there. But if you put furniture or pictures over them, hardly anyone notices. Task done.

Yes, I think the Canadian ritual of spring cleaning is a wonderful one. 

When I see people scrubbing barbecues and patios, staining decks, beating rugs, painting walls, washing windows,  emptying the garage, weeding and hoeing and planting, I find it truly inspirational.

I go straight to my front porch.  

I find that after two hours in my deck chair, and maybe a drink, that urge to roll up my sleeves and get busy always passes. 

[…]

 

Putting a Face on God

Did you hear the one about the little girl busy making a picture? 

Mom asked, “So, what are you drawing?” 

“God,” she said. 

“How can you draw God? Nobody knows what he looks like” was mom’s reply. 

“Well, they will in a minute,” said the daughter. 

That may seem silly, but in reality this is what churches are called to do every day. 

To portray God. To show the world what he’s like. How good, loving, and kind he is. How big, wonderful, and powerful he is.

We try doing this as we serve the poor, as we work for justice, as we bring healing to the hurting. It’s all meant to mirror God.

One unique way that the churches of our area try to reflect God is by joining together in something called Love South Dundas. 

It’s two weeks (June 9 to 23) of doing service projects like washing cars, visiting seniors’ residences, doing chores for those in need, and handing out baked goods. 

Church members are also encouraged to do random acts of kindness. Things like cutting someone’s grass, paying for a stranger’s coffee, baking cookies for a neighbour or whatever.

Love South Dundas closes with a huge event on Sunday, June 23, at Earl Baker Park in Morrisburg. 

Beginning with a Children’s Fair at 2 p.m., there’ll be bouncy castles, clowns, and other fun stuff. New this year will be an amazing petting zoo and free pony rides. Then the kids and adults will be entertained by Michael Bourada, a magician and illusionist. 

At 4:30 p.m., it’s supper with barbequed burgers and hotdogs. It all ends with a huge outdoor worship time at 7 p.m.. 

Our guest speaker will be Ken MacLaren from Ottawa Inner-city Ministries.

All of this it to ‘put a face on God.’ Partly by saying that God is much more fun and full of life than some of us may think. 

But it’s also to show a bit of love, to serve, to give, and to do it all for free. We think that quite nicely reflects God. 

The Bible says he loved us and gave his only Son for us to die on a cross for our sins. 

It says Jesus came to serve us and to give us salvation and life all for free. And all of this is ours all for the asking. Simply by receiving it by faith.

More information will follow about Love South Dundas.

We do hope that you’ll come out and take advantage of our service projects, be blessed by some random act of kindness, and will join us at the Closing Event on June 23. 

We also hope that through it all you do get a glimpse of God. And that being loved and blessed you are drawn to him.

Pastor Clarence Witten

Community Christian 

Reformed Church

Dixon’s Corners

[…]

 

Impossibility does not validate unbelief

As Christians we do not reason that if something is naturally impossible it should not be believed. Indeed one becomes a Christian by believing that which is naturally impossible; and the promise and hope of Christianity is focused on that which is naturally impossible.

Nature itself is not naturally possible since it did not become of itself nor can it continue of itself. In this we understand that there is something outside of nature to which nature owes its existence and continuance. (Hebrews 1:2-3; 11:3)

The Gospel concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, which must be believed to become a Christian, is a naturally impossible proposition based on a naturally impossible claim. 

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, was born of a virgin; He is God, possessing all the qualities necessary to being God; while at the same time being a man and possessing all the qualities natural to man, yet without sin (having original righteousness). 

This Jesus died for the sins of His enemies and was raised from the dead after having been in the grave during three days. If you do not believe these things you are not a Christian in the Bible sense. (Matthew 1:23; Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-20) As Christians we believe these naturally impossible things.

Throughout the History of God’s dealings with mankind, God has made promises to men that could not be fulfilled naturally. The promises God has made to us as Christians are of the same sort. 

Jesus Himself promises and queries us saying, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) Here Jesus is asking Martha, and consequently us, if we believe this naturally impossible proposition and promise.

Every proposition of truth made by God in scripture, though it be naturally impossible, is to be believed. This is the beginning of having faith in God.

To compare these propositions with natural possibility, and then choose not to believe them, is a non-Christian paradigm that separates a person from the promise and hope of Christianity.

During Jesus’ lifetime on earth He encountered a Jewish religious faction called the Sadducees, who did not believe in anything that was naturally impossible. 

Once when arguing with some of them about the reality of the resurrection, Jesus said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29) In this statement Jesus identifies the Sadducees as religious unbelievers. (2 Timothy 3:5) As genuine believers we study to know the scriptures and the power of God. (2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 11:6)

 Natural impossibility does not validate not believing God and His word, because neither God nor His word are subject to nature, since they rule nature. 

Our trust in God must not be naturally qualified, but rather qualified by God; who is before and outside of nature, as revealed in Scripture.

At this point we come to realize that such trust in God, is itself something more than natural, and we are thankful to Him for such a precious gift. (Ephesians 2:8; Romans 12:3)

Rev. George T. Frey, 

Faith Christian Center 

Morrisburg 

[…]

A Week of Sadness–Thank God for Prayer

This past Friday evening I was sitting in the kitchen having a cup of tea when it occurred to me that the week had been one of great sadness.

Who can explain the actions of the people responsible for the deaths and injuries that happened when two bombs exploded in Boston during the running of the annual marathon? Our lament of “Why?” can be heard around the world with no answer coming – at least not as soon as we would like. 

Yet through the tears and the pain we are called, by Jesus, to pray for those responsible and their families just as we are called to pray for the families of the people who died and who were injured. That is definitely not an easy thing for us to do.

That was Monday. Then there was Tuesday. 

Ironically, I was in Winchester when I heard the news of George Beverly Shea’s death. When I first moved into the area, many people told me about Winchester being the birthplace of George Beverly Shea with great pride. You can imagine the looks that I received when I asked “Who’s George Beverly Shea?” I was not long in finding out! 

A man of great faith; a man with a gentle soul; a man with a powerful voice that brought joy to the hearts of so very many people throughout the world – that was George Beverly Shea. The people of not only Winchester, but all of Dundas County claim him as their own. He will be missed and we pray for his family and friends as they mourn their loss.

On the drive home from Winchester I was listening to the radio and heard the report of the untimely death of Rita MacNeil. One of Canada’s rare gems, Ms. MacNeil sang her way into the hearts of many of us. 

She was a woman of faith. Her music came from the very core of her being and you could tell that about her.

I had the privilege of seeing Rita in concert in Kitchener several years ago, and I left the concert smiling, refreshed and ready to meet whatever came next – not something that happens regularly, I think. I know that I am truly saddened by her death as are the people of Cape Breton. Rita, too, will be sorely missed and we pray for her family and friends as they grieve.

And then there was Wednesday.

You never know when your world will rock. The people of the small community of West, Texas had theirs rock when a fertilizer plant exploded after a fire had started. The numbers of casualties from that horrible event numbers in the hundreds. The loss of life is staggering, not to mention the injuries sustained by people who live near the plant. People’s lives have been overturned in so many ways and yet they speak of when they will go back to their homes and do what they can to get their lives back to some sense of normal, grieving their dead and praying for the injured. 

We, too, pray for that community as the people struggle to come to terms with such an overwhelming disaster.

“Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord. And let light perpetual shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”

I wonder what next week will bring.

Blessings,

Sue+

Rev. Sue McCullough

Anglican Parish of Morrisburg, Iroquois & Riverside Heights

[…]

 

There was an alien substance on my living room floor this week.

I studied it intently, puzzled; deep down I had the feeling that I had seen something exactly like it once. Only that occasion had been months and months ago. The puddle-shaped outline was frustratingly familiar, yet it had been so long that I just couldn’t quite place it. 

I noticed the substance was coming through the window and actually beginning to spread. That’s when I had my moment of blinding revelation. I did know what this was!

It was sunlight.

Officially in Canada it has been spring for some weeks.

You could have fooled me.

With the plummeting night time temperatures, the downpours of ice rain, the sporadic snowfalls, the cutting, constant wind and the relentlessly grey skies every day – well, it’s felt like mid February for months.

Why just the other day I glanced out my window and spotted a robin, bundled in a wool scarf and toque, and the Mrs., loading three blue eggs into the back of a minivan with “Returning to Florida” plates on it. A couple of Canada geese were trying to hitch a ride.

I’ve put my winter coat and ear muffs away, then taken them back out of the closet again, six times. My lawn furniture remains tucked away behind bags of Ice Melt. The heating bill has not gone down.

I recently stumbled on to a website calling for the lynching of Wireton Willie and Punxsutawney Phil…and I didn’t report it.

We need spring. We really do. Physically and psychologically. It’s time already. After all, only spring can  trigger those special, experiences that we dream of in the deep, snowy depths of winter.

We crave the chance to once again spend hundreds of dollars buying flowers, with exotic names, that last about two months. We yearn to spend long sweaty hours scrubbing barbecue grills, picnic tables, driveways and patio sets. We eagerly anticipate the ritual of discovering the holes and brown patches under the melting snow where skunks and grubs have torn up our lawns. 

We thrill to the return of Kamikaze mosquitos.

Frankly, many of us are simply anxious to swing our golf clubs without wearing Arctic parkas; taking chip shots, not chips of ice off the greens.

Spring, it’s time to spring!

(I even found myself thinking nostalgically of shad flies last weekend. Scary.)

[…]