CHRISTMAS CAROL SUNG AT WAR MEMORIAL

People of St. John’s Church, Rockwood gathered around the town’s War Memorial on Sunday, November 7 and sang ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’. An array of wreaths provided an appropriate symbolic background. The wreaths were laid at the area Remembrance Day ceremony held on Saturday.

It is part of a Canada wide happening in the Anglican Church of Canada, where all parishes are asked to videotape the singing of ‘Silent Night’, which will be made into a documentary, to be shared online.

On Christmas Eve 1914, during the First World War, soldiers on both sides of the conflict called a truce, laid down their weapons and met in ‘no man’s land’. They exchanged greetings and gifts and sang the one Christmas carol known by all – ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’.

The organ in St. Nicholas Church in the Austrian Alps was silent in 1818; some say mice had chewed through the bellows, so the prospect of music at the Christmas worship was indeed bleak. Joseph Mohr, the assistant priest, accepted the challenge and wrote the lyrics to ‘Silent Night’. He asked his friend, Franz Gruber, to set his words to music. Later at the Christmas Midnight Mass, the people sang ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’, accompanied by a guitar, for the first time.

It has been translated into more than 140 languages.

People participating in singing ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ in Rockwood donated a ‘toonie’ to support the work of the Military Chaplains in the Canadian Forces.

To view our SILENT NIGHT video, and the many others from across Canada, go to http://www.anglican.ca/ and follow the link.

I REMEMBER HER ADVICE .. NOT HER

Ann Sibbit lived on this earth for 102 years.

She died in 1994.

I do not remember ever meeting this woman, who traversed geography and time for more than a century, yet I referred to her in my sermon on October 30, 1994

So she left many footprints for others to see and follow.

Her grand-daughter listed Ann's advice to equip people in 'loving your neighbour as yourself'.

Here is Ann's list ...

A. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

B. Start each day with a smile.

C. Believe in yourself and be strong.

D. Don't look for the flaws in others as you go through life, and even if you find them, it is always wise to be somewhat blind and look for the virtues behind the flaws.

E. Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.

With these principles to guide her life, I think Ann gathered a massive amount of moss as she rolled through more than ten decades.

A philosphy of applied wisdom surpasses the importance of recalling physical characteristics.

LET'S REMEMBER - LEST WE FORGET

Three Boy Scouts walked tall across the green expanse, leading from the sidewalk to the cenotaph. They struggled a little... it's awkward for six short arms to grasp a wreath and carry it in sync without tripping.

But they did. They placed their symbol of remembrance, next to others brought by soldiers, politicians, seniors, community leaders, etc.

They stood in silence, as if they recognized a name carved into the granite monument, erected nearly a century before they were born.

They moved slightly left in unison, removed poppies from their lapels and pinned them on a makeshift cushion to remember unknown soldiers.

Pleased that they had accomplished their orders, they retreated to the safety of the Scouting pack.

A different uniform approached the podium. A medal adorned his chest as he stood at attention and told the waiting minds what it was like to be a veteran of Afghanistan. Veterans are supposed to be much older, not young like this Corporal. His age, no more than double the ages of the Boy Scouts, yet his countenance portrayed a face that had experienced and witnessed more of the horrors of war than some people three times his age.

His voice quavered as he recounted how he and others had 'caught the torch' described by John McCrae in his poem 'In Flanders Fields'. McCrae had challenged future generations of soldiers to 'take up our quarrel with the foe; to you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high'.

We caught the torch and held it high, he pledged.

But at a high price, I thought.

He told about one friend who died in battle, and another who died because he could not cope with what the battle had done to him.

Yet, he declared, 'I am proud to be a Canadian, and I do remember them'.

He urged the nearly 500 listening ears to remember all soldiers, living and dead.

Across the nation, similar scenes are played out in cities and villages, on national stages and lonely outposts, in outdoor venues and hospital wards as Canadians commemorate those who died in service to their country for the causes of 'liberty, justice and peace'.

The paths of the young corporal and the Boy Scouts may never cross again, but they may forever remember this meeting and why they interfaced on a cold November morning in front of a granite monument, surrounded by hundreds of people who gathered together to remember those who sacrificed their lives for them.

Let's hope they remember, lest we all forget.

HALL0W-EVEN

When costumed characters wandered to my dwelling entrance on October 31st, seeking blessings of candies, chips and other non-Canadian Food Guide recommendations, I wondered, 'do they realize they are following a historical trend reaching back into the antiquity of human history?'.

Maybe ... maybe not ... but ...

'Halloween' started its journey as 'All Hallows Even', sometime around the 3rd century when the Christians designated a day to remember 'martyrs' (those courageous souls who died rather than recant their belief in Jesus Christ).

In the 9th century, November 1st was declared 'All Hallows Day' or 'All Saints Day".

If 'All Hallows Day' was November 1st, presto... October 31 was the natural choice for 'All Hallows Eve' or 'Even'.

Slowly, over the decades, October 31st took on a life of its own. A world filled with tricks, treats, dress-ups, etc, until the 16th century, when 'All Hallows Eve' gave up the ghost (so to speak) and became 'Halloween'. And the rest, as they say, is history.

In modern times, thanks to entrepreneurial creative minds, with an eye to marketing and profit making, Halloween has become a smashing success.

Movies, popular songs, advertizers and institutions have jumped on the goblin band wagon to ride into that unknown space where 'things go bump in the night'.

Staunch realists put aside their principles of believing only what can be scientifically proven, abandoned their realism, donned unimaginable garments and acted out dramas that normally they would never, never perform or condone.

Why???

Only the shadow of every individual Halloween psyche knows for sure.

But after Halloween's energy spurts and sugar highs have subsided, slide into November 1st thinking about a 'saint' you know or have known.

Can't remember any? MMMMMMMMM

A SAINT, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is a 'very virtuous person', and 'virtuous' means a person possessing or showing moral rectitude, and 'rectitude' is defined as 'moral uprightness'.

Does that help?

No?

Then...

Think of people who have been positive models for you.

On November 1st, say words of appreciation for their existence on this earth, whether the day be called 'All Hallows' or 'All Saints'.

LIVING A CHILDHOOD DREAM

As the evening drew late, I would become bored and often fall asleep.

After all I was only about 10 or 11 years of age.


Adults would be in the other room, counting small pieces of paper.


'The numbers have to match', they would echo to each other, 'we have to be right'.


'We are electing the Government', they reiterated, trumping the magnitude of their task.


My father was the Returning Officer for several Provincial elections shortly after 1949 when Newfoundland became a Province in the Dominion of Canada.


Supervising the election process, ensuring its authenticity and reporting the results accurately was an awesome responsibility. My father did his job to the utmost degree.

Somewhere in my adult life, I recalled these 'election experiences' and decided that eventually, when time permitted, I would follow in my father's footsteps.


Two days ago, on October 25, 2010, I participated as a Polling Clerk in the Municipal Election for Burlington, Ontario, our home and adopted city. Now I have completed the circle, after working as a Deputy Polling Clerk at both the Provincial and Federal levels.


In our high school civics class, we were encouraged to be good citizens, locally, nationally and internationally. My father taught the class.


While working at each election, I think about my father and the civic duty he taught me, even though I was none too happy to have to wait many hours for him to finish up the election counting so we could go home and sleep.

His lesson on participatory citizenship stuck to me like moss on a rolling stone

WORDS RETURN TO REMIND ME OF WHO I AM.

This week I found a written speech I had given following my ordination as a deacon in 1964.

Here are some excerpts.

After thanking my family and home parish (St. Nicholas', Torbay, Newfoundland), I wrote ...

'I am looking forward to my work as an ordained person in God's Church. I look forward to this work with mixed feelings. Happy, that to a small degree, I may be able to forward the work of God's Kingdom; fearful, because of my many shortcomings as a human being; joyful, because I can help people when they are in need, yet cautious because mine may not always be the correct solution to their problem; content, with the many things I have and will have; uneasy about future unknowns; and, honoured that God called me to this holy work, yet conscious of my unworthiness to perform such sacred acts'.

'I begin with the firm conviction that a strong faith in God will, in the end, turn unworthiness into acceptance, fears into hopes and sadness into joy. I ask for your prayers'.

'There are two types of ministries within the Church - the ministry of the laity and the ministry of the clergy. Every Christian is a member of a ministry. The laity, as well as the clergy, have to present Christianity to the world. All Christians are responsible for making Christ known to all people, everywhere. When this work is left only to the clergy, the laity are not performing their true function. If we forget the duty we have to teach the world about Jesus Christ, by word and deed, the Church will fail, and it will be the fault of all who call themselves Christians'.

I was 23 years old when I wrote these words.

I could have written similar words 42 years later when I retired.

I can espouse the same message today.

I believe what I wrote then and these words became the foundation upon which I built my philosophy of ministry - faith in God, a strong commitment to lay ministry and being a people person.

That MOSS sure stuck to this ROLLING STONE.

'HARVEST' - A MANY SPLENDORED THING

A woman plants carrot seeds in the spring, tends their growth and plucks them from the ground in the autumn -- HARVEST -- then she grates the carrots, adds other ingredients (flour, spices, etc), bakes the mixture in the oven and produces a carrot cake -- HARVEST.

The Oxford dictionary defines HARVEST as both the gathering in of crops, and the product or result of a given action.

Most modern individuals can identify with the latter, since our harvests occur frequently in our everyday living at work, at home, with our hobbies, in our institutions or in our communities.

At St. John's Rockwood Church, I invited people to bring a 'symbol of their harvest' to worship on Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday.

Their tradition is also to decorate their Church windows for Harvest Thanksgiving.

I was overjoyed when I entered the Church early on Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday to see that the windows displayed BOTH kinds of harvest. The photograph above has crops from the ground as well as music symbols and photos of family members to show that our harvests are expressed in many forms and shapes.

People brought other harvest symbols to the worship, for example, a home made quilt, a tatting kit with completed items, a book collection, part of a wooden owl collection, pumpkins, jam, etc. One person spoke of a shed he is building in his backyard as his harvest.

Jesus spoke of both kinds of harvest when He told His followers, 'the HARVEST is plentiful, but the workers are few'. Some things, it seems, never change. Today, the harvest is still plentiful in the lives of people, and we need more workers. As Jesus suggested, 'pray to the Lord of the harvest for more people to step up to the plate'.

A HARVEST EXERCISE - Ask yourself, 'what are 3-5 examples of HARVEST in my life?'.

Then follow the advice on the sign displayed outside a Church by which I drive frequently, 'COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS ...... GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD.