Psalm 98

O sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvellous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
    have gained him victory.
The Lord has made known his victory;
    he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
    the victory of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
    let the hills sing together for joy
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
    to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.

I am the true vine

This morning during the sermon, Karen told a beautiful story about a little girl who wanted time alone with her new baby brother.  As her parents listened in on the baby monitor they heard her say "Tell me about God.  I've almost forgotten."  

I can relate to that little girl.  It's how I felt when I first started coming to St. Andrew's.  I had moved back to Ottawa after several years in Halifax and had been sporadic about church attendance for quite a while.  At the time St. Andrew's was in between ministers and many of the sermons were being preached by Huda.  I can't remember the first sermon I heard here at St. Andrew's but I do remember one sermon Huda preached very soon after I started attending.  She told a story about a man walking along a beach littered with hundreds of stranded starfish.  The man was throwing as many starfish back into the sea as he could and someone came up to him and asked, "Why are you doing this?  How can it make a difference?"  The man replied, "It mattered to that one."  This story moved me so profoundly that it has stayed with me all this time.  I began to attend church more regularly and to get a glimmer of what it is like to live a life in Christ, to live on the vine.    

It was an emotional day today at St. Andrew's as we said farewell to Huda and thanked her for all she has done for St. Andrew's.  Listening to the stories during the reception it was clear how much she has shaped the life of St. Andrew's and how much we will all miss her.  It was also clear that whatever her future endeavours entail she will continue to change the lives of those she meets. 

Melanie A.           

A Lament for Yonge Street

Mangled
Crumpled
Twisted
Bloody
Screeching
Silent weeping
Hands clasping
Hearts racing…

Knees bent in service to comfort the wounded
Knees bent in prayer to summon peace

Sitting on my couch,
the news is on,
a curtain torn in the temple of my heart
admitting the world’s pain.

Death has its own schedule
A withered hand reaching in to steal away life

But you,
you are the giver of life

Therefore, we lift up to you those who have died on this day when violence erupted.
There is no making sense of their death, there is no justice available in this moment.

Yet may those who love them be comforted.

There will be no raising today as for the sons of the widows of Zarephath and of Nain. Yet we are a people who know about Death. All our hope rests in Christ, the first fruits of the Resurrection.

We lift up to you those whose lives have been disrupted, shattered, with broken bodies and bruised minds. Life will not be the same yet may they, like Jacob, find new life even as they limp forevermore.

We lift up to you those who were there first. The passersby, the lunch mates untouched, the strangers standing nearby who first witnessed the horror. We lift up to you EMS personnel, the vanguard of those rebuilding lives. We lift up to you fire crews and others who secured the area. Finally, we lift up to you the police, 32 Division who responded first among many; we honour the officer who disarmed the attacker with the power of words and conviction. May they all be healed of their own wounds from today. As the years go by and images flood back, may all who need help seek it, may all who seek it receive it, and may all who receive it be made whole.

Finally, we pray for the man. The man beyond comprehension yet one we know too well. The man who drove the truck and took those lives. May your Holy Spirit convict him so that he may repent, and in so turning to you find new life.

Lord, may everything we do be pleasing to you.

~The Rev. Matthew Sams, Willowdale Presbyterian Church, Toronto

Visit to First Baptist with the children's choir

This Sunday, we attended First Baptist Church with the Children's Choir, who did a wonderful job singing with the children's choir from that church.  It was heartening, on a gorgeous spring morning, to hear and see the great energy of the two groups of children working, singing, and then playing, together.  The subject of the sermon there today was "The Good Shepherd", and it was a good reminder, for me, of that Psalm.  I remember well having learned it in Sunday School in grade six, which is about the age of my kids now, and this inspired me to order it as wall art.  It has been one of most significant parts of the bible to me on my faith journey. I have often said it softly to myself in times of trial, like long journeys on dark highways, or bumpy flights in heavy air.  Fun fact: on reading The Survivors Club, a book about how to live through worst-case scenarios, I learned that this Psalm, and a personal faith in accompaniment by a higher power who is acting as a "good shepherd", has a statistically proven benefit to those who hold the belief.  Regardless of whether or not it is true (and we have to take a leap of faith to share in the belief), the belief itself is protective. It gives people confidence and strengthens their resolve, cultivating resilience where, as is often the case, some determinants of survival depend upon individual choice.  So, it is an important Psalm.  I reproduce it here as a gesture to any reader that I hope it helps them. A blessing.

Rebecca B.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

"Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you..."

I found myself getting stuck today between Karen's description of Jeremiah's guidance to those in exile - to "seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile... for in its welfare you will find your welfare" - and the comparison with the early settlers of Ottawa coming together in the midst of much hardship to start our city. Where do Indigenous people fit into this narrative?

I'm not sure that early European settlement in what we now know as North America is the best example of Jeremiah's message to those rebuilding lives in new places. I don't deny that it must have been hard for Europeans to leave everything they had known, to travel across the Atlantic, to make a new home in present-day Ottawa. But did they "seek the welfare of the city" where they had been sent? They might have thought so - they came together and built a new place... but did they pray for those who were already here? Or did they seek their own welfare at the expense of Indigenous peoples? We are now having to backtrack, to apologize, to work for reconciliation.

I like the image of heaven as a city, of all peoples coming together and of God dwelling with us. And we all need to work together to live in communion - those of us who have been here for generations and those of us who are more recent arrivals. I pray that we would first seek the welfare of others and, in so doing, find our own.

"I've been considering the phrase "all my relations" for some time now. It's hugely important. It's our saving grace in the end. It points to the truth that we are all related, that we are all connected, that we all belong to each other. The most important word is "all". Not just those who look like me, sing like me, dance like me, speak like me, pray like me or behave like me. ALL my relations. That means every person, as every rock, mineral, blade of grass, and creature. We live because everything else does. If we were to choose collectively to live that teaching, the energy of our change of consciousness would heal each of us - and would heal the planet." Richard Wagamese, Embers

Laura S.

Remembering… Our hearts and prayers are with the Humboldt Broncos, their families and friends

A prayer from our Moderator , Reverend Peter Bush
 

I am waking up to the tragic news out of Saskatchewan about the accident that took the lives of 14 people on the Humboldt Broncos (Junior Hockey team) bus and injured 14 others. So this is raw and quick.

God your Son wept over the death of his friend, Lazarus, we weep over the Humboldt Broncos team members and coaching staff who died in the bus accident yesterday. 
We lift up before you family and friends, the community of Humboldt, the other teams in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, be the God who sees and hears their cries of sorrow and loss. We lift up before you first responders, doctors, nurses, others who were at the scene or are providing care to the survivors, be the God who guides hands and calms minds in the midst of crisis. We pray for those who were injured that they would be healed of their injuries both physical and psychological, be the God of healing and hope. God, we do not have words to adequately express the ache in our hearts.
These things we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Reverend Peter Bush                                                                                                                  Sunday, April 8th

Our friendship with Jesus

A full and blessed service it was this morning! We gave thanks to God for the beautiful music that the handbell choir has provided to us over this past year, and we celebrated God’s love as we welcomed the communicants.

In a novel format for the sermon, we had Huda and Karen talk about Jesus as our friend and the peace that can embrace us as we let him in. It can be scary to be so vulnerable. It can also be a challenge when things happen in life that make us question our friendship with Jesus. As I sit back and reflect on this following the passing of a loved one this weekend, I know that regardless of all the questions and sense of loss, it is Jesus’ friendship and love that provides the most comfort and solace.

Jesus died and has risen to continue to walk with us on this journey — regardless of whether it is in life’s joys or sorrows — His love and friendship are never-ending.

Colleen G.