May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you!
We had a funeral at Long Reach United Church this morning, outside on the new patio garden overlooking the river. It was hot out there since there is very little shade, but it was a beautiful gathering of a large extended family. David, the cousin who had died, lived most of his life in Toronto, but considered Long Reach (and Holderville and Gorham's Bluff) to be "home"; and so his son brought his father's ashes "home" to be buried alongside family members and ancestors.
This has had me thinking about what is "home." Is there a place in your heart that you call home? This might be the place that you live now, or it might be another place. (I've sometimes joked that I've moved so often as an adult that home for me is wherever my cats and my pillow are!)
This in turn has me thinking of a quote from St. Augustine, the 4th century theologian. He once famously wrote, "You have made us for yourself, O God, and our heart is restless until it rests in you" (Confessions, Book 1, i 1). We think of God as the creator of all that is, and God has placed in us this desire for relationship with our Creator. We are restless until we come home to God. And so I think of all of my homes in different places, knowing that my true home is with God. And I trust that that feeling of coming home to God will be even better than the very best homecoming I've ever had!
I only have a handful of announcements to pass along this week:
I will be on vacation next week (August 30 - September 6 inclusive). This means that there won't be a Mid-Week Message next week - they will resume after Labour Day. If there are any pastoral emergencies, please contact Margaret Stackhouse at 721-4307 - she has the contact information for Rev. Richard Bowley who is covering for me that week.
Tonight is our last Church Family Movie of the summer - we are going to be watching The Little Prince, a 2015 adaptation of one of my favourite books. The show starts at 7pm in the Westfield Parlour.
Sunday, worship will be at 9:15 at Summerville (outside, weather permitting) and at 11:15 at Westfield and on Facebook Live. This is the last in our summer series on things Jesus didn't say - this week, we are tackling "God doesn't give you more than you can handle."
I sent out an e-mail earlier this week with the Federal Election Toolkit developed by our Church in the World committee. In case you missed it, you can download a pdf by clicking here; or you can read it on our website by clicking here.
I also wanted to say a quick note to Westfield folks - several people have been asking about the ceiling fans on Sunday morning. The reason why we haven't been running the fans is because they are uni-directional fans and because hot air rises. If we were to turn on the fans, all that they would do is push the hotter air that is gathered at the ceiling down on us. Instead, we are opening doors and windows throughout the building, and using a cross-breeze to cool down the space. (In the winter, on the other hand, running the fans helps us to save on our heating bill by pushing the hot air from the ceiling down to the level of the thermostat!)
Finally, I wanted to mention that the United Church of Canada is putting together a virtual delegation for a climate change conference in November. If this is a topic that you are passionate about, you can check out the posting by clicking here. Note that the deadline to apply is September 13.
And that is it for today! Enjoy these last weeks of summer, and I'll see you on Sunday, then again in a couple of weeks!
Blessings to you and yours, today and always!
Kate.
Rev. Kate Jones Two Rivers Pastoral Charge (506) 757-2201 (office) (506) 343-1307 (mobile) www.tworiverspastoralcharge.com Pronouns: she/her/hers "Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?"
Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "You must love your neighbour as you love yourself."
(Matthew 22:36-39)