Remembering …

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Yesterday I had the opportunity to tour the Alex Colville exhibition at the National Gallery. The paintings are really quite remarkable, and all the more so once I better understood their context. The scenes are of the ‘ordinary’ of the east coast of Canada – a dog leaping to greet a child returning from school, a couple lounging on the deck of a ship with the woman looking straight at us through her binoculars, a horse running past a clapboard country church. Colville spent a lifetime documenting, even celebrating, the ‘ordinary’ as a result of his experiences as a young man. After graduating in 1942 from Fine Arts at Mount Allison University, he had enlisted to serve in the Canadian War Art Programme. The scenes of the terrible devastations of war, and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, remained with him upon his return to Canada and through all his years. It was as he remembered those scenes that he appreciated, and painted, and celebrated, the ‘ordinary’ scenes of daily life and relationships of loyalty and love … with deep gratitude for the security he dared not take for granted, and that he knew could so easily unravel.

The Holy Table of St. Andrew's 'Do this in remembrance of me'

The Holy Table of St. Andrew’s
‘Do this in remembrance of me’

This morning we continue our custom of sharing bread and wine around the Lord’s Table. With these ‘ordinary’ realities, we celebrate the extraordinary grace of these days – we did not choose to be born but we have life, before we were born our God came in Jesus to show us the love that will not let us go, whatever our season or circumstance our God assures us that evil will not triumph over good and that life is the enduring, ultimate reality. Around the Lord’s Table, we ‘do this’ (1 Corinthians 11:17-26) and we remember most of all that he lives, and that in him we live.

Have a look at the order of service, and join us if you are in the area, as we remember and rejoice!

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Heaven’s Choristers

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IMG_3760 two birds singing

 

I love waking to not only the light of a new day but also the songs of the birds in the maple and scotch pine trees around our downtown home. John Donne called the song birds of the earth ‘heavenly choristers’, and I agree. As we gather for our second annual outdoor service, we will consider ways the scriptures invite us to hear the birds call us to joy and trust, to God. To name just a few, think upon the insignificant sparrows cared for, the mother eagle sheltering her young, the birds nesting at the altar of the Lord. And we will sing with the birds, more hymns that usual, each of which refers to the birds and their praise. Have a look at the order of service below, and join us if you can, and linger for a congregational BBQ. (In the case of a rain cloud breaking, we will continue our songs but perhaps in the shelter of the sanctuary … as do the birds in the branches of the trees.)

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Do you want us to gather the weeds?

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I am having a hard time keeping my fingernails presentable for meetings and pastoral visits. As spring gives way to summer, I continue to enjoy ‘working’ in the garden. It is a season of great joy but also of some frustration, as I am reminded that weeds flourish as well as anything I plant and tend. And I recall a parable of Jesus, about weeds growing in a field of wheat. The issue was that if the weeds were pulled, the sprouts of wheat would be pulled along with them. When the landowner was asked ‘Do you want us to gather the weeds?’, the answer came ‘No, let both of them grow together until the harvest’ (Matthew 13:24-30).

These words speak to me of life far beyond my small city garden plot. What are we to do about all the evil in this world? As I hear these words today, I believe Jesus is highlighting that there is a danger in focusing too greatly on what is wrong – we have a proven tendency to slip into self-righteousness and battle evil in ways that only increase evil in the world. Perhaps much more faithful to God and respectful of others might be a focus upon persevering to do good in the very face of evil. This is all the stronger an imperative when we acknowledge that we are ourselves  that field in which weeds and wheat are growing together – in his commentary Jean Calvin wrote ‘To my mind, the intention of the parable is simple. So long as the Church is on pilgrimage in this world, the good and sincere will be mixed in it with the bad and the hypocrites. So the children of God must arm themselves with patience and maintain an unbroken constancy of faith among all the offences which can trouble them.’

Have a look at the Order of Service below, and if you are able, join us. Come and consider the good, and be renewed in strength for life.

(There is a nursery for infants during the service. We will be introduced to our St. Andrew’s 2015 summer tour guides, Chloe Grande and Annie Dilworth. And our special appeal for the refugees of Syria continues with over $1500 already received …)

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Flowing Waters: the Rideau Canal and our Baptism

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Kingston is celebrating First Capital Day, the day in 1841 that then-Governor General Lord Sydenham declared Parliament open in Kingston, the new capital of the Province of Canada. Children are participating in the history of their city as they gather in a central park alive today with historical reenactments of some of the citizens of eras past.

The Rideau Canal was already one of the distinguishing characteristics of Kingston by that time, completed in 1832. As was St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Kingston, erected 1822.

View of the Great Cataraqui Bay or South Entrance of the Rideau Canal with Kingston in the distance – taken from the Mountain East of the Locks at Kingston Mills, 1830 Watercolour Thomas Burrowes fonds Reference Code: C 1-0-0-0-77 Archives of Ontario, I0002196

View of the Great Cataraqui Bay or South Entrance of the Rideau Canal with
Kingston in the distance – taken from the Mountain East of the Locks at Kingston Mills, 1830
Watercolour
Thomas Burrowes fonds
Reference Code: C 1-0-0-0-77
Archives of Ontario, I0002196

The flowing waters of the canal remind us today of certain promises of Christian baptism. As the canal was built to protect this land from invasion from the United States, baptism reminds us that we are held with a love that will not let us go. As the canal became a main transportation route, baptism is also all about movement, the continuing experience of God’s Spirit upon us and through us for the good of others. As the canal today is known mainly for the recreation it offers, baptism’s declaration of God’s grace brings joy.

If you are in the area, join us in worship of God, in praise and with our prayers for others. Have a look at the Order of Service below. There is a programme for children and a nursery for infants offered during the service.

p.s. Thanks to all who are busy baking pies today – 67 pies have been ordered for pick up tomorrow, Saturday June 13 at the church, 1:30 – 3 p.m. All proceeds of the pies and envelopes will go to support Syrian refugees who have had to flee their homes for other corners of their land or neighbouring nations, through ACT Alliance and work of partners (International Orthodox Christian Charities, Middle East Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation).

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