Message from the Pastor
Hi everyone! I hope you’re having a wonderful week, in this last week of June.
This morning as I brushed my teeth, I found myself humming O Canada. I was a bit surprised when I realized it—I’m not aware of singing our national anthem to myself very often. I probably did it more as a young person. When I was a child we had weekly school assemblies where we would belt out O Canada together. And there have been periods in my life when I attended more sports events that began with the anthem. In those days, the music and lyrics for O Canada played over in my mind quite often. Not so much now. (We don’t sing the anthem in the church office every morning, and I confess that I usually PVR sporting events and fast-forward through the preliminaries to the opening face-off.)
I’m not entirely sure how to feel about all this. Perhaps I should hum the melody more frequently than I do. In any case, those familiar lines caught me by surprise this morning. No doubt they were prompted by thinking about this week’s church service, the upcoming long weekend, and the various Canada Day celebrations that are ramping up.
I don’t think we’ll start singing O Canada at the beginning of every workday, but it has been a source of healthy reflection today. It’s always good to pause, remember, and give thanks for the many blessings that come as a result of living in this wonderful country. In a world where far too many people wonder what they will eat at dinner time, I have never once felt the slightest concern that there would be no food to buy at our local grocery store. I don’t think about dry wells; I can turn the tap and get fresh, clean water anytime. I can go anyplace I want, whenever I want, without getting permissions or crossing checkpoints. I’m not afraid that a police car will stop me on the way home for no reason, demanding money before they will let me go. Whether or not I like our current government leaders, no one expects me to worship them, and I’m pretty confident they aren’t skimming hundreds of millions of dollars from the national treasury to line their own pockets.
I sleep in peace at night. There isn’t a single person living in our land today who can remember a time when a war was fought within our borders.
Canada is a pretty good place, and we’re very blessed! There is much for which to be thankful, and good reason to be in prayer. God, keep our land glorious and free….
Now, having celebrated God’s goodness to Canada, I should say that in true Canadian style I am not going to do a patriotic sermon on Sunday. (We will express thanks and pray for our nation, of course! But for any newcomers, you should know that Canadians are generally a little soft-spoken about our patriotism, even though we’re proud to belong here.)
This week we’re going back into Proverbs. We’ll do 3 more messages in that wonderful book before we turn a different direction for the rest of summer. On July 7, I’m going to try something a bit risky by inviting us to think a bit about “hard proverbs.” July 14 we’ll do a wrap-up to the series. First, this week we’re going to look at another theme threaded through the entire book: the matter of getting along with each other. It’s another of those aspects of wisdom that seems super-obvious, but which we don’t talk about enough. As always, Proverbs offers us some good advice for our life together in church, in our families, our community, and as fellow-citizens of this country.
If you’re wanting to read ahead this week, I suggest taking a look at Proverbs 26:17 through 27:18.
In the meantime, have a great week, and God bless you all richly!
P.S.: A little late-breaking news. Between the time I started this note and finishing, I received a phone call from Don Hill to say that Lynn passed into the presence of our Lord earlier this morning. Please be in prayer for Don and family as they grieve and make the transition into a new phase of life without partner and mom. Many of you are aware that Lynn has battled cancer for some time. We take comfort in the knowledge that she is free from pain and more fully alive than ever thanks to the resurrection power of Jesus. Still, loss is painful for all who remain behind. Thank you all for standing with the Hill family in prayer and support in the days to come.