For the Beauty of the Earth

Each week we discuss the sermon or lessons but oft forget the music that is very much part of our praise.

This week I would reflect upon some of the hymns we sang and the true value of the words of our music as part of the service.

One of the standout hymns was number 631, Jesus hands were kind hands.

We start by remembering the truth of Jesus and the kind hands and healing work of his hands. We rejoice at the strength of those hands, helping those who have fallen and blessing and keeping the children small. Such gentleness and yet such strength.

How do we honour and keep this faith?
We ask the following

Take my hands, Lord Jesus, let them work for you;
make them strong and gentle, kind in all I do;
let me watch you, Jesus, till I'm gentle too,
till my hands are kind hands, quick to work for you.
Take my hands, Lord Jesus, let them work for you

Can there be more hopeful request?

My favourite of the day was 434, For the Beauty of the Earth

On such a day as today can there be better praise and thanks than

For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,

We oft forget as we revel in the day that this land is brought to you by God.

Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light,

Can there be a better way to celebrate that which is given than by seeking the glory of that given?

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild, [Refrain]

For yourself, best gift divine,
to the world so freely given,
agent of God's grand design:
peace on earth and joy in heaven.
Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.

May we relish the music and words of the day together on Sunday to reflect, rejoice and recommit to that which we believe, lets us remember and say thank you for the words or the lessons, teaching of the sermons and blessings of the music.

Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.

Noral R.

Bent Out of Shape

“When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. ”

— Luke 13:13

How do you see the world? The woman in the synagogue likely saw only Jesus’ feet. She was freed from her physical affliction but we all know people who live difficult lives and whose spirits are crippled.

Many people carry these heavy burdens which can hunch them over with a loss of hope. God noticed this woman in the synagogue. As Rev. Karen stated that is how God works - with compassion. Perhaps our challenge this summer will be to seek out those who are weighed down with life’s burdens, recognize this and offer compassion. It may be hard for someone to shed their emotional armour and reach out to others.

Let us hope we see the world as Jesus did, recognize those who are burdened and offer a healing hand.

Jeanie H.

Resurrection/Rebirth/Renewal

God is in this place, continuing to form and re-form all creation.
The Holy Spirit is in this place, infusing us with new hope and energy.

This first Sunday after Pentecost was dedicated to resurrection and renewal.

Our reading was from 1st Corinthians 15:50-58.  With Jesus the perishable is made imperishable the mortal made immortal. In a twinkling of an eye we will all be changed. It is such that each time we speak of him we are renewed, resurrected in our faith.

Today was however the ultimate renewal of our faith family the addition of a new member. For it is that growth that adds to what we are and changes and renews who we are. It is our tradition when a new member joins to join them as they renew the covenant with God of their Baptism.
From the prayer of question.
In that covenant God gives us new life.
When we stand as one and welcome our new member we swear to God our support, guidance and nurture.
Then we together renew our vows by reaffirmation of our faith in reciting the Apostles Creed.
Thus with each new member we invite a resurrection of Jesus and of our faith as we make larger our family in faith.

With trepidation and some awe that I watch each new member take that tentative step in to their new church home. Yet by that very trepidation we are all renewed in our first steps when we became members, our faith strong and our hopes renewed.

The cycle of renewal of a Church is the most blessed thing we have where the continuity of our faith is reaffirmed not just for the hereafter but for the here and now. The chain of belief held together as each new link is formed. As we look to 150 years of Confederation, 500 years of reformation and next year 190 years of Christian witness at this site we can look proudly at the chain of renewal that started with the first member and adds to the strength of that chain with each new link that comes from each new member.

Let us celebrate that continuity and strength. Let us thank God for the resurrection of faith with each renewal of our membership.

Noral R.

Celebrating St. Andrew's Christian Education Ministry

 “Yes, I want to help people through our church’s Christian Education Ministry”

On June 18, you will be invited to celebrate and give thanks for Christian Education Ministry, a vital aspect of worship and community at our Church, by making a special financial offering that will go directly towards this Ministry’s operating costs.

At St. Andrew's, we are blessed with an outstanding Sunday School, Confirmation Program, and interesting and inspiring studies for adults and children alike. We are also blessed with our Wednesday evening studies, congregational retreats, and Lunch and Learns. The list goes on! In 2017, this ministry is supported by a budget of $11, 250, gifts countless volunteer hours, and the dedicated efforts of Huda and Maureen.

Here’s something new. You can give your gift today or on any day using your mobile device, tablet or home computer to make this gift by visiting our church’s giving page on CanadaHelps.org

Your financial gift would make such a big difference in the life of our community, which is why you are invited to prayerfully consider this opportunity to help people through our Church’s Christian Education Ministry.

Click here to donate.

A week of stories…

It has been a full week, and it culminated for me in two events on the weekend…both affiliated with St Andrew’s. The first was the Kairos Blanket ceremony on Parliament Hill, wherein people gathered to learn through interactive story telling, the history of aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples of Canada. Participants are led through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance periods.  Blankets play the role of the land while we standing on them, played the role of the Indigenous people. Waves of settlers and the influence they brought to bear on the native people of Canada was impactful when you play the Indigenous role, and watch as people are led away (off the blankets) because of a handshake or brushing of a Hudsons Bay blanket, that (inadvertently or deliberately) caused their death (smallpox, T.B.) or as others are led away to residential schools or reallocation sites,  leaving you (if you are not yourself led away) on a much reduced blanket.

We hear of our 150th birthday for Canada, and recognize that for ten thousand years our Aboriginal brothers and sisters have lived here on this land. And our thinking about the celebration shifts a little.

On Saturday St. Andrew’s hosted the Dr Bryce exhibit. A man of conscience who, in addition to his leadership in the field of Public Health (writing Canada’s first Health Code for Ontario, serving as president of the American Public Health Association and founding member of the Canadian Public Health Association) also worked as Chief Medical Officer for the federal government.  He played the role of “whistleblower”  and documented evidence of the rate of Aboriginal children who were dying in residential schools.*  (First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada).

He reported the schools overcrowded, poorly ventilated and made it clear to the churches and Canadian government that children were dying at an incredibly high rate. He demanded a remedy, which sadly never came. His own career jeopardized and positions in the civil service blocked for him,  forced Dr Bryce into early retirement. He wrote in 1922 a book “The Story of a National Crime: An Appeal for Justice to the Indians of Canada” outlining the government and churches’ roles in creating and maintaining conditions that led to the death of large numbers of students.

Dr Cindy Blackstock spoke on Saturday to Dr Bryce’s courage and his own inspiration to her as an Aboriginal woman and Child Health advocate. She told us that she looked purposefully for a good person. She felt there must be good people in the world and if she could find one, there must be more. People who have the moral courage to stand up for justice for the oppressed when it is unfashionable and potentially self-sacrificing. Dr Bryce was such a person and she encouraged those of us attending, to unlearn or to relearn what we have been told about Aboriginal peoples and to learn the truth about injustices that still afflict their community and ours. (ie. the underfunding of Aboriginal children’s health care (compared to the average Canadian child) which insidiously in its inequity, intimates a lesser value/importance of the Aboriginal child. How knowing this, should incite us, as good persons, to fairness and to stand up for all children in our country. We recognize too,  the ongoing effect the residential schools and the forced assimilation of culture still has on the Aboriginal people today and their need for healing/health care, cultural renewal and ‘just’ hope.

Of course there is so much more to both of these events than I can write here… but on Sunday the sermon was about Pentecost.

James M. spoke at the Children’s hour and told us his story, about a moment in his young life when time ‘stood still’ for him and he felt touched / directed by the Holy Spirit to work with refugees. A story of mission.

Karen spoke about how stories make meaning for us in our lives..and  how who tells the story and how it is heard, matters.  That stories are powerful and some stories are hurtful to others and damaging beyond generations. That our words are gifts to be used wisely and carefully.

Unintentionally and intentionally our stories shape our thinking. Often another person’s story (perspective) can cause a shift in our thinking…and open our eyes to a truth not previously recognized.

Jesus used stories, like the Good Samaritan, to cause a shift in thinking of the people in his society to illustrate who in fact, is their neighbour. His uplifting of the Samaritan and his not uplifting of the priests who passed by, shifted the perspectives of the listeners, who may have had their own stories (stories that defended their priests’ actions to avoid the robbed man who had been left for dead on the road to Jericho. (ie. To touch a dead person could render the priest unclean and unable to serve his congregation in the temple). It was a shift in perspective to see themselves (as chosen people of God doing what they though religiously correct), being the unjust and the Samaritan as being the ‘good’ in God’s eyes.  

It was a week of shifting stories… of which I personally became more aware of how stories I have been told have stuck and have never been challenged. Stories that raised my society or family, or self…and perhaps inadvertently belittled another.  I am humbled by how powerfully these stories can limit and dictate my interactions with fellow humans (and creatures) and undermine both my and my community’s ability to love fully and justly in the world… .and I am glad that God’s story shifts the context and opens the mind to an alternate truer reality.

I would urge you to read up more about the Dr Bryce story on our St Andrew’s website and listen to the sermon from Pentecost Sunday and read about the Kairos blanket exercise on the Kairos website. I haven’t done any of them justice here…but if you read/listen to their stories, it may just shift your thinking about your own stories and those you have heard.

 Rev. Karen tied the Pentecost story (the infusion of the Holy Spirit on the people and the ability to speak in tongues recognizable to each other), into the idea of God’s story in the world. How barriers are broken through Christ’s death and resurrection so that we are free to be in the world and with one another in life and in hope.  And as was so eloquently stated in Vanessa’s post baptism blog (of a few Sundays ago): Jesus has freed us from cultural ties and has allowed us to all interpret love through His spirit.

I will continue to think on this… on my words and stories… and try to listen more carefully and intentionallyto other ‘tongues’, stories and perspectives.

Most importantly, I will immerse myself more fully in God’s Word and His story…and in it all, listen and pray for the Holy Spirit to make those appropriate shifts in me…that  move me forward as a Christian, responsive to God, in the world.

Diana B.

---

Please note the Peter Bryce Exhibhit will be on display again at St. Andrew's on Canada Day, 10am-2pm.

How do we do church?

How do we "do" church? How do we "do" Christianity?  These are questions I struggle with in a contemporary moment where a large number of community and social demands and opportunities offer potential for service, stewardship, and community building, outside of church on Sunday mornings.  This week, I missed Sunday service, and communion, to help plant the "healing garden" at CHEO.  An innovation by the CHEO Green Team led by Matt B., this garden is a wonderful space to contemplate and celebrate God's creation, where kids who are stuck in the hospital for long periods of time can enjoy respite and tranquility outdoors, and where kids and teens from the eating disorders clinic are taken to learn about good nutrition.  Vegetables from the garden are used in the hospital cafeteria's salads as well. 

So, this morning, I was planting seeds and seedlings, hands covered in soil and mulch, kneeling in the grass instead of sitting in a pew.  But it was a time and place to be grateful for, and steward, the natural world, and to serve the community.  I'm a committed and regular church attendee, but I do struggle, especially in spring and summer, with questions of where, in my life that is so full of work and family obligations, what activities and volunteer efforts best fit.  I'd be very interested in any comments about how and where we can "do" church inside or outside of sanctuary buildings.

Rebecca B.

Love, constantly.

I spent quite some time musing about what to write for this blog posting. I wasn't in the Sanctuary on Sunday as I had a Church School class to teach. On Saturday, before turning to my lesson for the week, I had a distinct thought that the message in 1st Corinthians 13:13 would make for a good class discussion - faith, hope and love, with the greatest of the three being love. It was just a thought, seemingly out of nowhere. Still, perhaps more appropriate would be to call it a hint.

That hint became a bit more pointed when I realized the Church School's "words to remember" for the week were from, well, 1st Corinthians 13:13! That really got me thinking about the interplay of faith, hope and love. They really are the grandest of themes, the ones we spend a lifetime grasping and parsing and framing. They are the themes that, at different points in time, we are either running from or running towards. As much by their absence as by their presence, they are the themes that animate us as humans, that keep us moving.

There was a lot of moving after church on Sunday - errands to run, food to prepare, play time, family time, planning time. An evening, a night, and Monday was upon me. Still, I mused about what to write. I got in the car musing, and turned on the radio. The program on all things music - Q - was on CBC radio. The host, Tom Power, was interviewing Roger Waters, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd. The words of Roger Waters as I turned the radio on were this: "... I am always ready to be wrong about anything and everything, but I do know what I feel and I do know that I'm right that the only thing we have to hold on to is our love for others, and the potential that we, all of us human beings, have to empathize with the predicament of others, and that we have to act upon it ..."

The words of Roger Waters brought back Sunday; brought back 1st Corinthians 13:13; and above all, brought back the hints about love - its ability to animate, its place as a constant within the human condition. 

In the midst of an imperfect world, our love is Christ in action. It is known within the Church, and sensed without it. It is everywhere needed and can be everywhere available. As Christians, we are called to that love, for Christ has rendered it familiar to us. Our faith in Him, and our hope in the resurrection, establishes a direct link to a love that knows no strangers, no others, no enemies, no foreigners. 

We are called to be present, to be animated and to animate, with that love. We are called to a love that can not only bind wounds, but can stop the wounding. It is a love without discretion. A truly radical love. A love unyielding. Love, constantly.

- Jidé A.