March 22, 2004 · 11:24 pm

More on Communion

It was interesting to page through The Covenant Companion, our denominations publication, when I picked up today’s mail.  In this issue is an article on communion by the Dean of North Park Theological Seminary, John Phelan JR.  The article is entitled “Should we fence the table?”  Unfortunately, this particular article is not online.

In it he talks about “open communion” and what that means.  I liked the way he uses the term “Jesus’ table fellowship” and talks about how Jesus both extended and accepted being at table with a variety of people.  And he says, “If Jesus refused to keep sinners from the table and did not fear the corruption of his holiness by their presence, why should we?”

I guess I have always liked the words of the invitation to the table that are used in the Covenant service of Communion and Phelan quotes these in his article as well.
     “Come to this sacred table… not because you are strong, but because you are weak;
      not because you have any claim on the grace of God, but because in your frailty and
      sin you stand in constant need of God’s mercy and help”

I guess serving communion to children on Sunday; children that really did not grasp the significance of the meal they were sharing in, made me think.  None of us grasp fully the significance of the meal we share at Christ’s table.  Yet Jesus gathered little children to his knee and told the adults around to become like them.  So Jesus makes room for all of us; the old and the young; the silly and the serious; the wise and the imprudent.  We come in all shapes and sizes and colours. There is always room for one more at this table where together we remember what he has provided.  This table – unfenced and welcoming.  I like his table!

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March 22, 2004 · 11:21 pm

More on Communion

It was interesting to page through The Covenant Companion, our denominations publication, when I picked up today’s mail.  In this issue is an article on communion by the Dean of North Park Theological Seminary, John Phelan JR.  The article is entitled “Should we fence the table?”  Unfortunately, this particular article is not online.

In it he talks about “open communion” and what that means.  I liked the way he uses the term “Jesus’ table fellowship” and talks about how Jesus both extended and accepted being at table with a variety of people.  And he says, “If Jesus refused to keep sinners from the table and did not fear the corruption of his holiness by their presence, why should we?”

I guess I have always liked the words of the invitation to the table that are used in the Covenant service of Communion and Phelan quotes these in his article as well.
     “Come to this sacred table… not because you are strong, but because you are weak;
      not because you have any claim on the grace of God, but because in your frailty and
      sin you stand in constant need of God’s mercy and help”

I guess serving communion to children on Sunday; children that really did not grasp the significance of the meal they were sharing in, made me think.  None of us grasp fully the significance of the meal we share at Christ’s table.  Yet Jesus gathered little children to his knee and told the adults around to become like them.  So Jesus makes room for all of us; the old and the young; the silly and the serious; the wise and the imprudent.  We come in all shapes and sizes and colours. There is always room for one more at this table where together we remember what he has provided.  This table – unfenced and welcoming.  I like his table!

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March 22, 2004 · 10:27 pm

Ramblings for today

My day started out just great.  The first patient of the day didn’t show up.  He had called wanting to talk to me on Friday but I was not feeling well and left without making the call.  So when he didn’t come I thought I’d better phone him and find out what the trouble was.  No answer.  But a while later the office did get a call back – his son called.  Over the weekend the patient passed away.  He was a bit of a crusty old guy but sort of an old friend – I went to school with his nephew.  He was due for some major heart surgery and we had been in the process of getting his mouth in order for this.  sort of startling news to get first thing Monday morning. 

Then, I had just started in on my next patients when in came my son – CK himself.  He should have been in school by this time but they never made it that far.  He and the girls were on their way when they were in an accident. CK’s car was broadsided by a car that failed to stop at a stopsign.  The impact was centered just back of the door on the rear wheel so I think most of the impact was absorbed by the wheel without crushing the passenger area.  No one was hurt but the car I’m afraid will be a write-off.  And my car – well it will be borrowed a whole lot more than I will probably like.  It will however be a good thing for me to get out and do more walking.

 

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March 21, 2004 · 9:59 pm

Teaching about communion

Today I helped in our children’s teaching time which goes on during the sermon part of our morning worship service.  The lesson covered the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to the last supper.  My role today was to lead the kids through an explanation of what communion is all about and to share in this with them. 

We had a dozen of the wildest kids today.  I’m sure glad Jesus knows what it is like to be a nine year old boy because otherwise – well lets just say one of the boys seemed to think the answer to every question was “camel”.  Not sure what he had for breakfast!

So, Lauralea was doing the preliminaries and they were all supposed to be sitting on the carpet around, listening.  That is where the “camel” answers started to every question.  At that point I was sending up silent prayers to God for help.  What on earth was I going to say that would convey the importance of the sacrament that we were about to talk about?

Then we moved to the table where the elements were waiting and they sat.  And they more or less listened with attention.  I hope they carried away something of meaning.  Maybe in their childish ways they even experienced some of God’s love and grace – they certainly came as little children – silliness, inappropriateness, restlessness and all.

And this is basically what they were taught –
When someone very special to you has to go away, they sometimes will leave you a keepsake to remember them by.  Sometimes the keepsake is a picture, sometimes it is a special piece of jewelry or another object that the person used.  Sometimes, we remember a special person when we hear a favorite song of theirs being sung or go to visit a special spot that they liked to visit.

When Jesus was getting ready to leave his disciples, he knew that they would miss him.  They didn’t understand what was happening and Jesus knew they were going to feel very lonely and confused.  He knew that they would need a special way to be reminded of everything he had talked to them about and of everything that he would be doing for them in the next few days. 

So Jesus gave the people who loved him a special gift – a special way to celebrate to remember him by. 

The Jewish people were used to celebrating special feasts to remember what God had done for them.  They were actually celebrating one – the Passover – when Jesus gave them the special gift of remembrance from him that we call “communion”.

When we share communion together, we are worshipping Jesus.  We are remembering together that Jesus died in our place, as a sacrifice to God for our sins.  That is why we talk  about remembering Jesus’ body that was broken for us when we eat the communion bread.  And we remember that Jesus shed his blood for us when we drink the “wine” or juice.  When we take communion we are being obedient to God by remembering that  he died for us.

When we take communion, it is a good time to think about how much God loved us and about how much Jesus gave us.  Since it is a special gift to us, we should never treat it with disrespect.  When we eat the bread and drink the juice think about what it means.  Remember what Jesus did and how much he loves us.

 

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March 21, 2004 · 8:37 am

Spring

As yesterday was the first day of spring – and we are just digging out from the heaviest snowfall of the winter, I just want to pass on a couple of things that have brightened up my last couple of days.

There is nothing quite like having a son with a Bobcat.  I arrived back at home yesterday wondering if CK’s car would make it up our driveway and there was David in the driveway with his Bobcat plowing it out.

The other item is that is indeed spring.  The geese are back!!  I saw the first ones yesterday and three more flew by my window this morning. 

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March 19, 2004 · 9:37 pm

Under the Weather – winter and flu

This morning I got to the office pretty much expecting the day to go as planned.  So surprise – nothing stays the same for long!  We seem to have a flu bug that is working it’s way through the office.  So yesterday Annette went home, today Penny and Amy were sick and I have been feeling fairly lousy myself throughout the day.  With 3/4 of our office staff sick, we had to contend with a rash of cancellations due to the big storm – which seems to still be going on.  And two of the four assistants were stranded. 

I headed up to the hospital with my one assistant that made it to work.  Our patients ended up having trouble making it to the hospital – but called.  While we were waiting for them one of the anesthetists (the one for our cases) decided to go and help another anesthetist who was stuck at the end of his driveway.  He didn’t come back for an hour.  Needless to say we ran a bit behind schedule.  We were fortunate that no other cases were scheduled after ours, so we just kept on working till we were done.  And that made us get behind a bit for the afternoon.  – but a lot of cancellations – so by 4:00 PM we had caught up to ourselves and I was done for the day.

Tonight is very quiet at my house.  Christian and friends did take off with my vehicle for Regina – after thoroughly considering the risks brought on by the weather.  Sometimes it is hard to just let them go!  Grace and the youth from church also set off this morning for Strathmore.  They go with lots of prayers.  And Leo is working a relief shift over in Melfort and also made it there safely.  Sara is away at a concert for Peace put on by her school – and probably the Catholic diocese. 

I picked up Bruce Almighty.  I have been wanting to see it for a long time but movies aren’t real high on my list of things that I absolutely must make time for – so I haven’t had time to see it yet.  I am so glad I did.  It was fun and since I am still feeling a bit under the weather, I needed to watch a fun  movie.  I loved the way this movie portrays God – with an excellent sense of humor – someone who likes us.

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March 18, 2004 · 10:48 pm

Stormy evening

I just came back from returning our grandson to his parents.  They have both been so sick today.  Kieran was sick yesterday so they have had a tough couple of days.  They called to see if we could look after Kieran for a couple of hours so they could both get a bit of rest.  So I volunteered us to do it – I did call Leo and ask him first!  I had some plans for the evening so I knew that Leo would be on his own for a couple of hours. 

When I left, Kieran was crying and didn’t seem to be enjoying his restricted diet of water and cereal (he’s not supposed to be on milk for a few days to let his stomach settle).  When I returned – there was Kieran sitting on Grandpa’s lap – sipping orange juice.  He had a big grin on his face – so did Grandpa.  Seriously, you’d wonder what was in that juice!!!  I can just see those two in a few years.  They may make a wicked pair!

Tonight we are having our heaviest snow storm of the winter.  And Spring officially starts on Sunday!  The snow is coming down so heavily and the wind is still blowing it around.  Visibility is down to a few hundred meters.  It is hard driving even in the city.  Tomorrow our youth group leaves for Strathmore,Alberta – Grace will be with them.  And then in the afternoon, Christian and friends are to drive to Regina for “Francathon” – a Saskatchewan French cultural youth event – mostly music.  I sure hope this storm has moved on by tomorrow.

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March 17, 2004 · 10:59 pm

Attack of the Blues

I am prone to get down at times – I have always had a fragile sense of self esteem – maybe it is partly linked to my introverted personality.  I worry over what other people think of me.  And I suppose that is part of the reason why, from time to time, I am prone to have feelings of complete inability to do anything well.  I know in my head that that is not true but sometimes feelings take precedence over sensibility.

I was feeling horrible last night.  I have no real idea why.  It seemed that I was just surrounded by an oppressive atmosphere that I could not shake off.  I went to worship practice last night in that frame of mind and it was tough.  None of the songs played easily – it seemed like I was all thumbs and missed notes. 

Then I got home and my house was still full of people – some up in the loft watching American Idol, some down in the basement jamming and Leo on the couch watching something else on TV.  I disappeared into the office to get myself lost in a book.

Leo came in awhile later. He is my ultimate esteem booster.  I think that is how he won me in the first place – by his belief in me as a person of value.  Without even a word from me, out of the blue, he told me he was proud to have me for his wife.  I needed that vote of confidence right then.  Somehow he just knew.

So today, I got up for Gatecrashers prayer time, still feeling a bit down, still with no good reason for this feeling.  I was for the first time, unsure that I really wanted to go.  But, you know, I knew God would meet me there as he always does – and I knew I needed to just be in his presence for awhile.  So he was there and I was there, and I think sometimes he’s OK with me just sitting there not saying much.

Then I went off to work.  Work is sometimes a blessing.  It has routines that are familiar – things that I know I can do – a place where usually I am confident in what I do.  I needed that setting today. 

And there were some special treats in my day – some completely unexpected gifts that came my way.  One was the gift of a recorder.  One of our assistants and I were talking yesterday about playing.  She plays the bagpipes and drums and also had a couple of recorders which she doesn’t play much.  Her alto recorder has a bit different tone to it than mine – a bit deeper.  When I commented on it she said, Here, you take it, I’m giving it to you.  I know you will use it playing at church.”  Wow!!!  That was totally unexpected.  So tonight I have been practicing some of the music that I am finding a challenge for Sunday.  It will be interesting to see what the new recorder sounds like with the other instruments. 

And, after work today, someone I especially like asked me to do something that I am thrilled to do and have never been asked to do for anyone before.  I can hardly wait.

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March 15, 2004 · 10:04 pm

Memories of … chocolate

Birthdays are a good time to bring out the memories.  They seem to pop out of nowhere in fact.  Just sitting around the table with kids and grandchild seems to have that effect on the conversation.

Kieran was sitting in the highchair at the restaurant tonight.  Crackers were scattered all around – tray, seat and floor.  And Grandpa was trying to slip him a few sips of pop that he is NOT ALLOWED to have at his young age.  Grandpa(Leo) began to reminiss about Eric sitting and covering himself with chocolate in his highchair when we lived for a year in Belgium. 

And then the conversation turned to another time – a few years later – and chocolate, and Kieran’s dad (David).

We were on “home assignment” – a euphenism for a good old fashioned furlough from the mission field.  Furlough – the required return to North America after a four year stint on “the field” – in our case Zaire.  It was our first.  Home assignments were so named to give a certain idea that while we were back in North America we were not just lazing around.  Our first was also a time of recovery for Leo as he had contracted TB.  So we were allowed to do regular work instead of travelling around the country in Canada and the US speaking. 

Towards the spring, we were invited to make a trip down to the USA to speak in a few churches in California.  When you have just spent six months in a cold Saskatchewan winter after three years in the tropics, it is not hard to feel the call to go south to speak.  So just before Easter we flew off southward, speaking in several churches which supported our family. 

While we were in the San Francisco area, we made a trip out to Turlock to visit another missionary family.  They had a pool and we were excited about seeing them again too.  On the way, I picked up a bag of those tiny little chocolate bars.  I thought they would be nice for treats for the kids and since they were small, the boys wouldn’t overdo it by having one now and then.  The boys liked chocolate and so it was a real treat for them and a good way to bribe them when they needed it.

That evening David found the bag.  He found it and sat down and ate every last one of those little chocolate bars.  That evening and night he was sick – stuff coming out of both ends! 

We got home a few days later to begin the Easter holidays with our families.  This was the first time the boys had been around to be indulged by the grandparents with Easter candy.  And of course chocolate.  They both got very large chocolate Easter bunnies.  Eric thouroughly enjoyed the attention and the surprise.  David – two at the time – had learned a lesson.  Chocolate makes you sick.  It was several years before time erased those memories of his and he was willing to try chocolate again. 

Tonight we had chocolate cake for my birthday.  I think he is cured but he still remembers the year he refused the chocolate bunny. 

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March 15, 2004 · 12:05 pm

A day off

Today is a day off for me.  I booked it off a long time ago thinking that I could take off on my own somewhere for a bit of peace and solitude.  Then as “fate” would have it, I ended up spending most of my weekend in Regina or driving back and forth for the Provincial Soccer playoffs.  I am still very glad I booked off this day.  It gives me a chance to catch up after a busy weekend.

The girls played hard at the tournament – won two games then lost the semi-final match.  But it was a good game and Sara played well. 

One of the reasons Sara wanted me to take her was that Sara is probably the youngest member of the team this year.  She thus doesn’t have as many close friends her age – it is just the way her birthday falls in the spring of the year and it makes her cross into the over 14 age group before September.  So, she didn’t feel like just going by herself, staying in a hotel room with one of the other team members families when she isn’t that close to the other team members.  But the under 14 girls were also there playing and so she spent some time with those very good friends. 

All in all it was a good weekend – Sara was also happy when one of Leo’s public health collegues suggested she talk her father into letting her buy a new pair of pants for the wonderful goal she scored.  Sara was 100% in favor of that so she asked and she received.  (I’m not sure that this kind of reward is at all needed – Thanks Pat – since she plays for the love of the sport, and since it hurts my bank account!)

I also took some time to visit some friends and that was great.  I know we need to work to keep close ties strong and this was a good opportunity.  So we shared a cup of tea and talked of stuff important to both of us.  She has learned a lot of lessons in life and I hope will be strong enough to help others learn from her story. 

I got home in time last night to meet with the group of women who have been getting together to study Yancy’s book, The Jesus I Never Knew.  We finished it last night and are now contemplating where to go from here. 

We were talking at one point about the incarnation and what it all means in light of the crucifixcion and resurrection.  It is incomprehensible that God would choose to become human – but he did and am I ever grateful that he loved us enough to do this.  The discussion reminded me of a poem I posted here a while back – The Coming by R.S. Thomas.

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