Opinion

 Travelling the Lenten Journey

I wonder how many of you have seen the film Les Miserables? I’ve seen it twice-once with family and once with a close friend. I’d be only too happy to see it again and will undoubtedly purchase it when it comes out on DVD. 

Les Miserables is about a man who is sent to prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving child. Many themes arise from this one story, and I for one was crying as the movie unfolded.

The characters sing all of their lines, and they do such a good job that I felt that I could see into their very souls.

Les Miserables is about power perhaps gone wrong–oppression, pain, and what some people have to do to stay alive. It is, however, also about light triumphing over darkness, forgiveness, redemption and hope.

In this Lenten season, we can remember that every individual faces both good and bad times in their livers. We rejoice at occasions which call for celebration, but we sin against God and against one another. We sometimes cause pain to others but forgive people when they hurt us.

We are imperfect men, women and children. Yet God continues to love us and calls us to be the best that we can be. As His faithful followers we are to place God at the centre of our days–we are to reach out to our neighbours with compassion and mercy. We can seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our Lord.

As we travel along our Lenten journey this year, let us take moments for prayer, for discernment, for seeking the peace which passeth all understanding.

May we walk in the paths which Jesus has put before us–let us remember that Jesus will ever be our guide, our inspiration, our example, our teacher, our friend.

Jesus challenges us to build a better world, but He promises to love and cherish us, this day and in all years yet to come.

Rev. Janet Evans, 

Iroquois United Church

[…]

Actual snow this winter has brought happy skiers swarming to area slopes and chalets. These enthusiasts do not include me.

Frankly, I still experience flashbacks of my one and only attempt at skiing. I was told it would be memorable. It was.

Our destination was the TNT Lodge in Michigan (motto: Explode on to the Slopes! In my case, an unfortunate bit of foreshadowing). 

Already a little edgy in my rented skis, boots and poles, I came out on the main hill, crisp and snowy, fringed at the bottom with scrub trees and bush. I looked at this winter vista and made my first important discovery: I hate heights. 

My next determination: no way am I going down this precipice strapped to two flimsy boards.

But the other girls had already headed out. And they’d left me with the rather cryptic comment, “You’ll be fine. Just watch out for the moguls.”

There I was, pondering why a group of business tycoons out for an afternoon ski should be of concern to me, when I spotted it: The Bunny Hill.

Very low incline, very short distance, tow rope at knee level. I struggled over, and got into the line. Eventually it occurred to me that my fellow Bunny Hill skiers were looking at me oddly. Their average age appeared to be seven. And it didn’t help my credibility that I fell several times. Unfortunately, my red mittens even came off and travelled up the tow rope alone, giving the impression that a pint sized invisible man was enjoying a day on the slopes.

My friends found me on the BH several hours later and insisted that I try one run on the ‘real’ hill before we left. I knew it was a mistake the instant I pushed off. I hit light speed. 

The world became a blur. All I could do was scream “Look out! Look out!” as I caught fleeting glimpses of people in my path leaping like fleas madly in all directions. 

At one point, I realized that many of them were shouting the words “Snow plow! Snow plow!” Under the circumstances, however, I failed to understand why they would be warning me to watch for a large slow moving vehicle with flashing blue lights.

One man in bright orange was, I recall, a tad slow getting out of my way. I ran over his skis.

Ahead, at the base of the hill was the packed line up for the T-Bar. People were standing stock still, simply staring as the Gibb train wreck hurtled toward them.

Then at the last minute, the line  miraculously parted like the Red Sea, and I shot through and into the bush.

I can to rest over a small frozen creek. It was really quite peaceful. I thought I’d just stay there.

I heard the swish of skis. The man in orange came up beside me. Now that I was no longer moving at Mach 3, I could read the large badge fastened to his jacket: Ski Patrol. Sigh.

Have fun on the slopes, folks. I won’t be joining you.

[…]

 

Handiwork

A few years ago, I decided to take up knitting. I had tried it a couple of times before and had disliked it. But I also hated being mastered by anything, and decided to try again.

It gave me a great feeling of accomplishment as I handed the finished project of a beautiful sweater to my eldest daughter. Then, feeling much more confident, I knit the same pattern over for my next daughter in another colour. 

Two sweaters under my belt! I was no longer a novice. Into the wool shop I went and bought a much more difficult pattern. The first time I chose a pattern, I had asked for help. This time I did it on my own.

Hours later, I knew that I was in way over my head. I asked advice from a neighbor, an expert knitter. I kept on. Stuck again, I sought more advice. I ripped out and re-knit enough times to knit a few other sweaters. At last the masterpiece was finished. When my youngest daughter put it on, I almost strutted.

She told everyone that her Mom had made her sweater. It was difficult to get it off her to wash. The second time I went to wash it, I was horrified.  Right on the front of this beautiful, pastel sweater was a large, horrible, red spot. It would not come off. My youngest told me that it was red paint from a pottery painting set. 

My work was destroyed. For weeks, the sweater just sat in the laundry room. I did not have the heart to throw it out.

The Bible tells us that we are made in the image of God. How sad God must be when He sees His handiwork marred by sin. God expects to see His own reflection but so often, He sees big globs of ugliness. 

Thank God the story does not end there. The Bible says, “The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin” (I John 1:17).

We need to apply the blood of Jesus to our lives. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).

One day my daughter was visiting in a friend’s home. While there, she heard them speak of a cure-all substance for paint stains. She asked if she could take some home to her mother to try on her ruined sweater.

The request was granted and I was under pressure to try this substance out on the sweater. 

I could have chosen to leave the paint remover where it was saying that such a thing was impossible. Perhaps I could have put things off until another day. But, at the insistence of my daughter, we quickly tried it out. It worked. The sweater was as good as new.

We sometimes treat the Lord like that paint remover. We are skeptical. Or, we put Him on a shelf, planning to try Him out in the future. But, those who take the time, find that He does remove the sin and frees us to be God’s handiwork again. 

The song writer, John Peterson, put it so aptly:

In the image of God, we were made long ago

With the purpose divine, here His glory to show;

But we failed Him one day and like sheep went astray

Thinking not of the cost, we, His likeness, had lost.

But from eternity, God had in mind

The work of Calvary – the lost to find.

From His heaven so broad, Christ came down earth to trod

So that men might live again in the image of God.

Rev. Lorna Casselman

Interim Pastor

Morrisburg Pentecostal 

Tabernacle

[…]

 

Men's Practical Guide to Valentine's Day!

No need to panic. February 14 is tomorrow. There’s still time to locate the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your significant other. 

However, I should point out that, fair or not, the onus for creating a perfect romantic Day, falls squarely on men’s shoulders. Sorry, guys, but that’s just the way it is. It’s up to you to make this whole hearts and flowers thing work, at least on this one day of the year.

On the bright side, somehow get the right gift, and you might just be able to slide on all those past forgotten anniversaries and birthdays. Choose the wrong gift… well, you recall those -25 C nights this winter? Think colder. And longer.

Practical Rule One: Flowers are always nice. However, you may have waited a little too long to pick some up. The flower shops could be cleaned out. This may, therefore, necessitate an emergency run to the grocery store. 

Under no circumstances, pick up a bouquet that is marked “50 per cent off. Priced for quick sale,” and then forget to take the tag off. And let me emphasize, that if you are trying to “say it with flowers,” presenting her with a cactus is always a mistake.

Practical Rule Two: Never give a woman something she needs on Valentine’s Day (exceptions, a pass to an exclusive spa, a Caribbean cruise). Now you may think a new dish drainer and a scrub brush are just the thing. Wrong. A friend of mine once presented his wife with a sander for Valentine’s Day. He honestly thought she needed one.

He earnestly assures me that he spent about a month, rather worried about just what she was planning to…sand.

No, your gift must be something she wants, something she dreams of. Good luck.

Practical Rule Three: Giving your beloved tickets to a very special event, one that she might even share with you, has potential. However, you need to think this through. Handing her an envelope with “Honey, I got us the last two tickets to Fuzzy McBeard’s seminar, Ripping Tales of the Moose Hunt,” might be a mistake.

Practical Rule Four: Chocolate. Not the ‘three bars for a buck’, but something European, decadent. Do not, however, under any circumstances, jovially remark, as you present the candy, “A few extra laps on the old exercise bike will soon get those extra pounds off.”

Practical Rule Five: The romantic, candle-lit, home-made dinner. Make certain that pizza delivery boxes and/or crumpled fast food bags are not on the counter. Get down the cook book your grandmother gave you 20 years ago (still in the original wrapper) and puzzle out one of the exciting recipes, written in a language with which you are completely unfamiliar.

This could be the evening your beloved and you will never forget. Especially if the two of you get to spend it with the local volunteer fire department. 

Still, as a consolation, now, at least, you will know what the term flambé means.

[…]

 

February 2nd-At Last

It has come and it has gone; that day in the year that many of us look forward to without our even realizing it. 

February 2nd is known in the church as Candlemas or the Festival Day of the Candles – the day that all the candles that are used in the church for the coming year are blessed. 

Candles were used in the church in times past as a method of lighting but people also believed that they gave protection against illness and famine. For Christians candles are a reminder that Jesus is the light of the world.

Candlemas is also associated with the prediction of weather. If the weather is bright and sunny, more wintery weather is on the way. If the day is cloudy, the worst of the winter weather is behind us. 

In Canada and the United States we attribute these predictions to ground hogs – Wiarton Willie in Ontario and Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania, hence Ground Hog Day being celebrated on February 2nd.

February 2nd is the day of winter that marks the midway point between the shortest day of the winter and the spring equinox! 

So, my friends, it is now a downward slide to spring! 

The number of hours of sunshine is increasing noticeably and the “normal” temperatures should now be on the rise. We have made it better than halfway!

But as I rejoice about the coming of spring, I must keep in mind that through the coming days, beginning on February 13th we will find ourselves observing Lent once again. 

We will walk that journey together again as we prepare ourselves for an exceptionally early Easter this year.  

As you give some thought to the coming of spring also give some thought to what your Lenten discipline will be this year – “self-examination, penitence, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, reading and meditating on the word of God.” However you choose to observe

Lent, remember the “Light of the World” and how he has made a difference in your life.

Cheers,

Sue+

Rev. Sue McCullough

Anglican Parish of Morrisburg, Iroquois & Riverside Heights

[…]

 

When one is on the far side of 50 (sliding downhill even), it’s a bet that reasonable people might be forgiven for asking, “Why on earth did you ever take up tap dancing? Aren’t you the person who thinks using the television remote constitutes a full upper body workout? At your age, what the heck possessed you?”

To them all I say simply that I decided to take up tap dancing because I needed to get involved in some form of exercise, and no one wanted me on the Olympic Ski Team.

I enrolled in adult tap.

The other women in my tap class are perhaps a little younger than me (about two and a half decades). And they are each a little, shall we say, smaller, than me (about the size of my left thigh.)

They have all taken tap for some time, and most come to class in form fitting tights and tops. I tend to appear in those elasticized, ‘comfort-fit’ pants and men’s extra-extra-large t-shirts. 

Nonetheless, I am determined to get into shape through dance.

Actually, just bending over to try and get the tight buckles on my tap heels done up equals a full pre-class warm up for me.

Each week for months now we have extensively worked on steps like the frappé, shuffle ball change,  the brush, cramp, buffalo and Susie Q. And you know, just as soon as I can remember what any of those terms actually means, I’ll be fine. Currently, I struggle along about two taps behind everybody else in the chorus line: I would like to point out, in my defense, that it used to be four.

What I have primarily learned about tap recitals (yes, a recital!) is that you have to wear a costume. Recitals are an important high point of the dance school year, and hundreds of family and friends fill the hall to watch the performances.

Now that my teacher has firmly established that I must actually dance in front of the back drop curtain at the recital, I find I must also wear a costume. My class mates were very keen on the dance catalogue selections: short, strapless, backless frocks with lots of ruffles and glitter. Their suggestions were eye-catching. Youthful. Small. I mentioned that the last dress slacks I purchased carried a label that said ‘House of Omar the Tent Maker.’

We’ve actually compromised on a kind of 1920’s look for our recital number, complete with plenty of fringe. Still, in idle moments, I find myself imagining what the audience will be thinking if I get all that fringe swinging and swaying on stage, still two beats behind everyone else. Perhaps prairie wheat fields in a gale? Sigh.

The thing is, I like tap dancing. Really like it. I intend to go on.

Still, if I can’t get the choreography in the adult number down a little better by spring, I  secretly fear being ‘sent to the minors’ as it were: i.e. the junior tap class. 

This class is made up of five-year-old girls, with pig tails and pink tutus. 

I might stand out.

[…]

 

Transformed in Love

We are coming up to the last Sunday before Lent which is known as Transfiguration Sunday.  Then Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 13.  The next day is February 14th.

Have you either seen or purchased for your children or grandchildren, nephews, nieces, or just other children, those figures called transformers?  

With a flick of the hand and wrist the transformer can change from a vehicle into a human figure or any combination of figures.  

Some of the time the transformers according to popular children’s culture do good or sometimes the transformer is a destructive one.

When we read the story of Jesus and his disciples going up the mountain to pray and get ready for the journey to Jerusalem, there appear Elijah and Moses, perhaps in reference to the Law and Prophets of Judaism.  Jesus is transformed before the eyes of his disciples.  The glory of Jesus and Elijah and Moses is grand enough that disciple Peter wants the whole tableau to be housed in dwellings.

Each day we may be open to transfiguration through Christ as well. 

It is Jesus’ love for God that moves him down the mountain to begin the long road to Jerusalem. 

 It is God’s love for us and our love for God that prompts us to pray and seek the counsel of others as we begin difficult and happy journeys.  

The voice that the disciples heard concerning Jesus includes us.  You are God’s beloved, and God’s ever abiding presence will be with you this day and always.  

As we are transformed in God’s love then we can share that love transformation with others, and so we will all be about a new heaven and a new earth.  

Blessings for Lent and Valentine’s Day.

 

Rev. Arlyce Schiebout

Lakeshore United Church

Morrisburg

[…]

God is always present

In 1984 there was a primetime television show that aired that captured audiences attention. Perhaps because the family scenarios that took place were familiar patterns of conflict in any family.

The Bill Cosby Show demonstrated to us how to resolve family tensions through the portrayals of the characters on view. Humour was a large part of the scenes, and as we look back at those shows now, we see other dimensions of “family life”. 

We sometimes neglect or forget altogether, when trying to resolve conflict, that we all need to have some elements of patience and trust, mindfulness and flexibility.

Another modern philosopher, Erma Bombeck, in her column, “if I had my life to live over again”  wrote words like; “there would have been more I love yous, more I am sorry, but mostly, I would seize every minute, look at it and really see it, live it and never give it back.”

I believe that God calls each one of us by name. God always calls us in love, even the times when we have made mistakes or done something we shouldn`t have done. 

God always says I love you   . . . . . . (insert your own name.)  we are claimed by him as part of his family  –  his sister and brother and mother, part of the kingdom, drawn into the inner circle of the mystery of the grace and love of God.  

During difficult times in family life, we need to remember that God is always present to love us and guide us and make each day of our lives count for something good in His kingdom.

Pastor Norine +

Rev. Norine Gullons  

South Dundas Evangelical

Lutheran Parish

Morrisburg/Williamsburg

[…]

 

Depressed, You Are Not Alone

My heart aches for people who are depressed. I’ve been there. It’s no fun. 

Actually, it was easily the worst experience of my life. It was like living in a black hole. I felt helpless and hopeless, pretty much hating life. All my buddies were having the time of their lives (or so it seemed), and I was living in this dark world on my own.

The sad thing was no one had a clue what I was going through. I didn’t think anyone would understand, and I probably didn’t think they’d really care anyway.

What made it worse was that I didn’t know what in the world I was going through. Nor did I know what to do about it.

There were times when I was tempted to just end it all. It was probably a good thing that the small college I was studying at only had low buildings. I realized that jumping from them probably wouldn’t do the job.

Looking back, I still don’t understand why I went through what I did. 

Doctors talk about depression being caused by chemical imbalances. They say they can be triggered by everyday stuff like stress and tiredness. Or by going through other tough things. Me, I can’t pinpoint what made me so depressed.

What I have learned since is that I’m hardly the only one who’s struggled this way. 

I’m told that about one out of every five young people will suffer from depression. Many of these will have suicidal thoughts. Far more will attempt it than most of us realize. And what’s so desperately sad are the numbers who will succeed.

Considering what I went through myself, I now know that there were better ways of handling it. I wish I would have had the courage to talk to others and would have realized that there were people around who cared. And I wish I would have asked for professional help. I regret that I went through it alone.

Likewise today it breaks my heart to read of the Amanda Todds and all those who go through awful times or severe depressions. I ache for those who think there’s no way out but to end it all. 

The truth is that for all of us there are people who will listen; there are those who care, and there are qualified people who can help like doctors and guidance counselors.

One other thing that kept me going in my own dark tunnel was that I always had a vague sense that I wasn’t completely alone. I knew that there was a God in heaven who still loved me. 

Sure, I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t just make my sadness go away. I wondered why he didn’t answer my prayers just to make me happy again. But I did feel that there was hope. That someday the sun would shine again. And thankfully it did.

Depression is common and more so at this time of the year. So let’s be caring and sensitive to those around us. 

I love the quote attributed to Plato: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” 

Let’s also listen carefully and ask questions of our loved ones. Look and listen for changes in sleep patterns, eating habits, withdrawal, and sadness. Follow-up when they talk of suicide or death, when they get rid of their things, or when they quit stuff they used to enjoy.

And if it’s us who are depressed… wondering if we can go on, please talk. Please don’t go it alone. 

Know there really are people around who care and that can help. And know that God does love you dearly. With help, with him, you do have a brighter future. Better days will come. 

Like me, you’ll look back one day and say, “Whew. Thank God I got through that.”

Pastor Clarence Witten

Community Christian 

Reformed Church

Dixon’s Corners

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