Membership

      Our daughter tried to renew her membership at the gym this week. She took in the completed form, her confirmation of assistance document and her government issued photo identification. She informed the man at the desk that she wished to renew her membership and that she had a disability. The man told her that her ID was expired and that therefore renewal was not possible then and because she did not know better, she believed him. He insisted that she pay a drop-in fee and so she did. And then she worked out. When she got home later she was upset. She had not felt heard, had felt dismissed and when she found out that her ID did not expire until her birthday, she felt misled. Also there was that drop-in fee. So today our daughter went back to the gym, with the same form and the same identification and she renewed her membership. The woman at the desk heard her story, understood her frustration and completed the necessary task. She made us smile and made my daughter see that advocating for yourself is not hard to do, but it takes time, patience and commitment. 
     Unfortunately, so many episodes like this one are encountered everyday by our daughter, her friends and peers. They are small incidents but when piled up together they can create a sense that the world is a hard, misunderstanding place to live, where problems cannot be tackled alone. And sometimes they can't, especially when you have an intellectual disability. But as our daughter readies herself to move into Harmony later this year, she is learning that there are times when she can go it alone and times when support will be necessary. And getting to know one from the other will be a lifelong journey, one step at a time....

Names

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Last night at Silent Prayer I became exceedingly aware of all the names inscribed on the walls and windows of our beautiful church. Whether they be on the bottom of the stained glass windows or on the various plaques commemorating the furnishings of Holy Trinity or the ashes that have been interred there, there are hundreds of names. These people are silent witnesses to the grace and glory of God from years ago in our very own community. There are so many people involved in the history of our church, from the achingly sad memorials to the glad givings of past parishioners. Our beautiful, jubilant Resurrection themed west-facing stained glass window includes Jesus’ words found in Matthew 28:20. I know that others like me have taken comfort in these words from Jesus’ Great Commission:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age".

Still

 “Be still and know that I am God…..”

This line has been resonating in me since Lent began and for the first night of our Silent Prayer it seemed particularly apt. In the Book of Alternative Services I found this prayer:

“O God of Peace, who taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence, shall be our strength; by the might of your Spirit lift us we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

This prayer is found in the section marked Ministry to the Sick but for me it is applicable today and particularly during Lent. This is where it comes from in the Bible, in Psalm 46:10:

“Be still, then and know that I am God,

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

Sitting quietly in a pew I have never sat in before or walking the Stations of the Cross over and over again, I experienced the church in a way that I never have before. We had thrown the outside door wide open and the wind rattling the doors and the chants quietly reverberating from the speakers made me aware of the world outside but also focused my attention on Him who is everywhere. I was profoundly moved by my experience there last night.

Still.

Kenzie

     Today I went to my first pow wow. It was amazing! There was a Grand Entrance which was incredible with all the dancers, royalty and dignitaries coming forward. There were different age range competitions like Tiny Tots but what I especially enjoyed was an initiation for a beautiful little seven year old girl named Kenzie. Her family travelled two days to come here from Saskatchewan for this express purpose. She was initiated into her dancing life with a ceremony that acknowledged the support of her aunties and her family in the past but which also recognized their ongoing support in the years to come. It was an awesome ceremony which incorporated drumming, song, dancing and prayer. Four blankets were laid out in a circle with four different elders standing near them. As Kenzie danced over them, the blankets were quickly swept up and put around the shoulders of the elder standing closest. Her dance celebrated her life and the lives of her people.  And as her father noted, it also celebrated the fact that she will never be part of the residential school system like he was. It was a joyous, humbling, unique experience that I will not forget.

Prayer

     I’ve been praying a lot recently, more even than usual. I’m also reading a book about prayer; how to pray, specifically. In learning to pray The Lord's Prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught us all, with greater intentionality and purpose I find every line new and fresh although I have been repeating this prayer, over and over, my whole life through. In times of need, fear, loss, sadness and joy this uncomplicated exhortation covers all the bases and yet children can learn it, simply and easily.

     What I also find interesting today is that the commandment given by Jesus to treat others as you yourself would want to be treated, which is in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, is not a concept specific to Judeo Christian religions only but exists in so many different religions and cultures in the world. A handout from the Surrey Interfaith Council beautifully illustrates what we call "the Golden Rule" or "the summary of the Law and the Prophets, representing a core Christian ethic of love, reciprocity, and proactive kindness" according to Google and the equivalent concept in various other religions.

     These are hard times, full of division and hatred, greed and contempt, war and loss and yet rather than feeling that we stand alone in our beliefs we can realize that others hold this core value as central to their beliefs as much as we do. I pray that all of us, myself included, would recognize that a wish for peace and harmony is a heartfelt hope that we all hold deep in the recesses of our human souls, if we only search for it. And pray. 

    

Book

     When our eldest was younger, high school was a tough time. She had trouble making the transition from a tiny (less than 100 students) elementary school to a huge (2000+ students) secondary school. She was enrolled in the LSB program for kids with learning disabilities and other challenges and she was having seizures. Lots of seizures. In fact, she had more than half of all her seizures during those 5 years of high school. It was during that time that I started to write a book for her. It is a very short fictional mystery based on some of her experiences and I called it My Name is Harley. It is geared towards young people but might be interesting to parents and others who know kids with Non-Verbal Learning Disorder and/or epilepsy. It is written through a young person's perspective as a journal through a particularly tough period in her life. Harley is a neuro-diverse Christian girl with a great sense of humour and a positive attitude. Available through Amazon, we hope that you like it.

Giving

      I remember as a little girl taking a very small amount of money and putting it in the offering plate at church on Sundays. I think that that was how I realized how churches operate; that churches needed our money to heat the building, to pay the minister and to buy the cookies for after the service. When our girls were small, they too brought a quarter or two to put in the collection--- in fact, it was a very important job to carry the offering plate from Sunday School around to the back of the church and then to proceed up that long aisle in the centre with the adults that were carrying the church collection, and to hand it up to the server to be blessed with everyone else's donation. Our daughters longed for it to be their turn and felt very special when doing it. It was a big, exciting opportunity that probably felt less big and less exciting the older they got or the more they did it....
     Still, some things have not changed. Churches still need our money to heat the building, to pay the minister and buy the cookies. The difference now is that our church holds services four times a week, not just on Sundays, as well as having a daycare in a portion of our church hall five days a week, AA meetings several times a week, music lessons, Girl Guide Meetings, and social services from our local non-profit community resource hub a day a week. We also offer a Senior's Lunch once a month as well as a Baby Cafe' every Friday morning. There are innumerable meetings that go on as well as many other groups and committees, praying, arranging flowers, knitting, studying, cleaning up, having meals, practicing songs and rehearsing music....it truly is endless! And thanks be to God that it is endless because it is doing what churches are supposed to do. According to Google: " A church fundamentally is a community of believers and it exists for worship, fellowship, teaching and service, uniting people to grow spiritually, support one another and share their faith and compassion with the world." How better to do this that to open the church doors wide, as wide as we can and invite this sometimes broken world inside, as often and whenever we can? And we do. This is why I give and will always give whatever I can to our church. Because our church is always giving. My small, regular gift is made so much bigger. And for that I am thankful.