Smelling the Roses

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

Happy Anniversary to Rev. Irwin and Diane on Thursday, Aug. 1.

This week was the monthly Friendship Coffee meeting. Normally, we hold it in the hall at the church, but this time we met in the rose garden beside the Sidney library. That tradition started with COVID when indoor meetings were not allowed. The rose garden visit proved so popular, our hosts have maintained the tradition during the good weather months.

The lovely weather -- warm but not too hot -- seemed to bring out the loveliness in the folk gathered in a corner of the garden. In the church, we have two host couples, the Lawrences and the Krahns. 

Outdoors bins of cookies appeared from many households.

 The rule is "bring your own coffee" but urns and paper cups were there for sharing.

  

 

When I arrived there were about twenty-five people present but within the hour there must have been close to forty. A stroll among the flowers and a leisurely chat with friends proved an irresistable combination.  

Of course, this fluffy little dog drew chuckles and pats from everyone present. 

It was a lovely morning with a real summertime vibe.

He hath made everything beautiful in its time. Eccl. 3:11

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Gn 8:11

And God saw everything that He had made and, behold, it was very good. . . Gn 1:31

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, regoice. Phil. 4:4 

Bloom where you're planted

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

While weeding in my flower bed, I came across a vigorous little plant that had "volunteered" in a poor setting. It grew in soil that was heavy and didn't receive much water. It was crowded in amongst other plants, inhibiting its own growth and theirs.

I wanted my little volunteer to thrive, so I dug it up, with a good root ball, and set it into a different spot, one where it got light and air and water. 

In the way of transplants, my little seedling drooped its head, let it's branches brush the ground and generally behaved like a toddler having a tantrum. It did not trust the gardener.

The next day, however, my plant stood up straight, fluffed up its

leaves and took a deep breath. Now it is coming into bloom. At last it knows that the gardener's plan was meant to prosper it and give it hope.

When I watch the news today, my world seems uncertain and troubled. I worry. I feel overwhelmed. I am fearful. Sometimes I wonder if God knows what He is doing. But my little green plant reminds me that the Master Gardener has a plan, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The quote comes from Jeremiah 29:11. 

The prophet wrote those words to a nation in exile. King  Nebuchadnezzar had carried off the leaders and artisans and prophets and nobles from Jerusalem and held them captive in Babylon. If ever a people were entitled to question God's plans, the Hebrews of Jeremiah's day were justified in their despair. Yet God did not leave them alone in their exile. He sent prophets like Isaiah. He protected faithful servants like Daniel, and, with the fall of Babylon to Cyrus the Great, the exiles were allowed to return to Israel.  

In their most troubled times, God was faithful to His people. 

My little plant cannot know me or trust me, but we know God. We must trust Him, believe His plans for us are to do us good and not harm. We can flourish in His care.

Ed. Note:  This post grew out a conversation with a friend. Thanks Diane, for planting the seed.

For Want of a Comma

 The link to this week's live-streamed service is here.

Rev. Irwin's reference to L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables sent me to my "keeper" shelf to browse my collection. I chose Anne of Avonlea for a re-read. To my surprise the story contained a theological lesson. Davy Keith, an orphaned scamp that Anne has charge of, declared that there would be lots of jam in heaven. When questioned, he explained that his catchism declared that "God makes preserves, and redeems us." 

If you've ever considered dropping the commas in your writing, that statement should give you pause. For the grammatically and/or the theologically challenged, the line should read "God makes, preserves, and redeems us."

We don't hear much about catechisms these days, or memory work in general. Perhaps Google makes it too easy to "look it up" without having the words in your heart, although in Deut. 11:18 we are commanded to "lay up these words in your heart."

If you don't have a copy of a catechism in your home or church, there are many examples on the internet. Follow this link for the "The Westminster Shorter Catchism" which is one of the founding documents for the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Question 11 does mention "preserving" so maybe that's where Davy got confused.

People often ask where I get blog ideas. Sometimes it seems like serendipity or, to use a phrase popular in L. M. Montgomery's work, Divine Providence. This week was one of those. I began to write this post on Wednesday but hadn't developed a satisfactory ending for it. Then, on Sunday morning, Rev. Irwin preached on creeds, or statements of faith. If you want to explore the subject further, I recommend listening to the Sunday sermon. The link is at the top of this post. 

♰♰♰♰♰

When we celebrated our grads at the end of June, Quinn was unable to attend. However, he has sent along his graduation picture for the blog. Congratulations, Quinn. Best of luck in the coming year.

Summer Suns are Glowing

 The link for this week's live streamed service is here.

It may be summer and many church programmes are in hiatus, but we still gather to worship on Sunday mornings at 10:00 am. Visitors are always welcome. During these hot days we are grateful that our new heat pump keeps the sanctuary at a comfortable temperature. Come and refresh your spirit -- and your body.

Since we're speaking of summer, I thought it a good time to publish Dr. Kirk's  analysis of a summer hymn. Although his book was never published, I'm fortunate to have a manuscript copy and happy to share it with you all on this forum.

Summer Suns are Glowing was written by William Walsham How. The recommended scripture reading is Ecclesiastes 11: 1-8.

Imagine a peaceful Sunday afternoon in the country. The sun shines down on quiet fields and gently rolling green hills. A congregation is at worship in a little church. If one were to gaze out through the windows it would be to see cattle grazing at ease in the surrounding pastures. There is a clearness to the light and a peacefulness of soul that evokes praise and thanksgiving to the loving God who has blessed with such an idyllic setting. 

 That, perhaps, is the picture suggested by the opening verse of Bishop How's hymn. We may be surprised that someone who had spent the greater part of his life ministering amid the grime of the East London slums should write these words, but such is the case. Even amid the streets of a great metropolitan area he could still picture the beauty of God's creation. Solomon spoke of God bringing him into 'the banquet house and his banner over me was love' (Song. 2:4) but here that banner of love is 'everywhere unfurled.' It covers the whole world and all its peoples. It is 'broad and deep and glorious as the heaven above.' That is the wonder of God's love. It cannot be measured. It is vast, unbounded, free, streaming to everyone who will accept it.

Human beings are not always prepared to acknowledge the goodness of God. We can be deliberately blind when surrounded with the blessings of life, accepting them as our due and refusing to return thanks to the Giver. We need help to love God more and so the prayer is offered that He will pour His 'pure radiance' upon us that our eyes may be enlightened. Not only do we not thank God for the good things of life but we also blame Him for the bad things that happen. . . . 'Where is God when I need Him?' The fact of the matter is that God is there all the time if we were only aware of it. 'When clouds are drifting dark across our sky' God is there behind the clouds, waiting and wanting to help us if we would turn to Him. God never forces Himself upon us. He waits in the shadows and if we would ask Him to lift the veil that hides Him from us, we would know His presence and we would receive the aid we need.

We are not always certain that God is with us. There are times when He seems to call upon us to live in the world without discerning His presence and we only recognize His nearness as we look back on what has happeneed. The important thing to remember is that He has given His promise to be with us and we should not doubt His willingness to keep that promise. At times God's apparent absence, the fact that He veils His light, may be that our faith may be tested. Struggle with doubt may be part of our Christian growth. Jesus accepted the man who prayed, 'Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." (Mark 9: 24). We long for the light that God's presence sheds 'on our pilgrim way' and we know that 'life is dark without Thee.' If He goes before us, however, there will be sufficient illumination to direct our footsteps and even the darkness of death will be brightened for 'death with Thee is bright." our God is the One of whom the psalmist said, 'darkness is as light with Thee." (Ps. 139:12). And at the last we will come through the bright and the cloudy days to 'the endless day' when the 'Light of light (will) shine o'er us' for all eternity.  

                                                                                       -- Dr. Cecil Kirk 

The hymn may be found here on hymnary.org  or listen to it here.

 

 

  

The Party Continues

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is 

more diners than singers

The party started in mid-June and it just went on and on. 

Thursday the choir celebrated the end of term with a very short rehearsal (we only needed to polish one anthem) and then a lovely dinner at Zanzibar Cafe. We ate well!

Sunday we celebrated big-time. First off, we honoured our grads -- two from high school, one from university and one with a post-grad degree. Talk about life-long learning. Congratulations to Will and Quinn and Sarah and Rebekah and Diane. We even got a bonus with Pressley also celebrating her graduation from high school. 

It was Blue Bus Sunday too. Thanks so much to Rick Wismer and his dedication to that ministry. Follow this link for background on the blue bus. Rick shared some good news with the congregation. One of the Reserves that had been on his route had dropped out of the ministry several years ago. They have now asked him to return because he made a difference to the kids. Tales like that keep Rick and his helpers "on the road."

working the grills

As though Sunday wasn't full enough, we also recognized the volunteers in our church. Since that is just about everyone, I won't name names. Suffice it to say that our congregation could not exist without volunteers. Everyone -- from Session to choir, from kitchen to grounds, from pastoral visitors to cleaners -- is a volunteer. 

At a time when all organizations struggle to find helpers -- who will organize kids' sporting events, or community suppers, or meals-on-wheels without volunteers -- our congregation is blessed with many willing hands and stalwart hearts. We're a bit short on strong backs but where there's a will . . .

Table setter-uppers

Instead of our usual coffee hour, we kept the party going with a BBQ. The weather cooperated and we enjoyed sunshine, cloud, gentle breezes and balmy temperatures. 

Gifts for the grads and a special hug from daughter to mother

seconds anyone?

Happy Summer to All.