Advent 2 2022

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

This Sunday we lit the second candle of Advent, the candle of peace, and celebrated the Lord's Supper.

    Rev. Irwin was back in the pulpit (welcome home Irwin and Diane) and he spoke of how society doesn't really recognize Advent as distinct from Christmas. Coincidentally, I had been asked that question just a few weeks ago. "What is Advent?" inquired my interlocutor, who had already put up her Christmas decorations.

    "A time of waiting," I replied. "A time of quiet and contemplation." A very simple reply to a complex topic but it was the best I could do.

    We're not good at waiting. I have a friend on the waiting list for medical treatment. The wait is draining him of "life," as he avoids any activity that could aggravate his heart condition. I have every sympathy with him for disliking the wait. But that's a different kind of waiting than what we do in Advent.

    I remember an adage from my youth that said "anticipation is half the fun." Waiting was vital to making Christmas Day wonderful. We used the month of December to plot and plan and dream and imagine the perfect Christmas morning. There were events leading up to the Big Day -- concerts, and carolling, and baking, and decorating, and letter writing, and counting how many Christmas cards arrived in the mailbox. We counted the days of waiting as a blessing. 

    Sunday's scripture was about John the Baptist and his cry to "Prepare the Way of the Lord." There is no shortage of preparations taking place for the great unwrapping of gifts on Christmas morning, or gorging on a feast on Christmas afternoon. But John called on us to prepare our hearts too. For that we need inner peace. We need time to pray. We need a period of waiting.

   

Among the preparations for Christmas are opportunities to visit. Last month a couple of our elders invited their district members to an Advent gathering in the lounge. Thanks to Joan for sharing the picture. 

And here is advance notice for one of my favourite Advent activities, a Community Carol Sing, on Dec. 18, at 2:00 pm in the Sanctuary. Bring your friends and lift your voices in favourite carols. Refreshments will be served. Parking is free. The welcome is warm.

May your waiting this week be blessed.

Discipline of Celebration

 This week's live-streamed service can be found here.

 From Pam's Garden                

The last session of Bible Study was on the discipline of celebration, so this week's blog is all about celebrations.

~~ Max has returned from his travels and is starting his new job this week. The job grew out of his co-op program, but it is now a full-time, real life, first job.

~~Speaking of Max, his convocation ceremony is this Thursday at UVic. 🎓 He is graduating with a Bachelor's in Software Engineering. Well done, Max.

~~Congratulations to Peter and the whole Stelly's Rugby 7's Team. Last weekend they won the provincial championship at a tournament in Richmond. Way to go, Peter.

~~Kathy was well enough to come to Bible Study on Wednesday and she brought along her brother and sister-in-law. Good to see you up and moving, even if your gait is slower than normal.

~~As seen on CHEK News, Valerie and Cedric celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary last week. 🎉

~~Neill and Carla are celebrating their anniversary on June 15.

~~ On Friday, June 17, Elizabeth and Brian are getting married in the sanctuary of SPPC. The entire congregation wishes them much joy.

~~ Happy Birthday to Bin Sie, also on Friday.

~~ We are still getting good vibrations from the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. This lovely tea-set was loaned by Joan, a friend of the congregation, to suit the occasion, and we've received a thank you note from the local Commonwealth Society in appreciation of our efforts. 

~~ We had new volunteers in the kitchen for coffee hour on Sunday morning. Thank you Rosalie and Fred.

~~ On Thursday night, a newcomer to the church came to choir practice. Joyce is working on her English as well as her music. There was much laughter. 😀

~~ Finally, next Sunday, June 19, we will celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Ordinary

This link for this week's streamed service is here

   

On Sunday we celebrated the Lord's Supper. Such a joy to repeat the comforting words and practice the familiar rituals. With rising numbers of COVID-19 cases on the Island and throughout the province, we opted to use the little creamer-like cups rather than pass the elements within the pews. Still we enjoyed the privilege of gathering around the Lord's table and "doing this in remembrance of Me."  

    There were a number of newcomers to the worship service and we welcomed them at the door and during the coffee hour following. After so many months of "distancing" we now treasure these few minutes of greeting and meeting with fellow worshippers.

 

  Earlier in the week I took a walk in the Butchart Gardens, one of my favourite things, with one of my favourite people. We remarked that the beds weren't as pristine, the visitors as numerous, nor the flowers as exotic as in previous years. Like all the tourism business, the Gardens are operating with reduced staff and shortened hours. Yet what we saw was beautiful. Zinnias, marigolds, impatients -- homey flowers --not the grandstanding lilies, or the jewel blue delphiniums seen on previous visits.

     But these "ordinary" blooms brought "oohs" and "aahs" from the visitors and gladdened the eyes. They are a reminder that the "ordinary" in life is wonderful. Massed together they shimmer with colour, dazzling in their combined beauty. 

    With the news so full of the heartbreak in Haiti, Afghanistan, the Interior of B.C. and other disaster zones around the world, it is natural to think that one "ordinary" person can have no effect. But the zinnias prove that many "ordinary" blooms are powerful. 

    If we all give a little to disaster relief, if we all practice kindness, if we all speak out against hate, if we all "love our neighbours," what a marvellous difference we make.

I think one of the most encouraging and comforting passages of scripture is Romans 12: 6-21

None of us is so "ordinary" that God did not bestow a spiritual gift upon us. All of those gifts, when used together for the glory of God and for the furtherance of His Kingdom, lead us to join that great cloud of witnesses.-- and that is extra-ordinary!