Mid-Week Message - September 3

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you!

This is the first week of school for most students (though teachers began last week) - a week filled with excitement for some, nerves for others, tears for yet others, and relief for others. Or - more likely - a mix of emotions for most.

I've been thinking recently about how, in life, we rarely feel just one thing at a time. Sometimes I share a "Feelings Wheel" as it can sometimes be helpful to put a name to what we are feeling in a specific moment.  Feelings that can be named can be better understood and lived with.  (You can click here if you aren't sure what I mean by a Feelings Wheel. The idea is that you can start at the center - the broader feelings are clustered around the center, and as you move outward, the feelings become more and more specific.  For example, I might start by saying that I feel sad, one of the central feelings. If I were to get more specific, I might say that I am feeling despair.  Going outward and even more specific, I might say that I am feeling powerless.)

The point of naming our feelings isn't to try and control and subdue them - there is nothing wrong with feelings, they are part of being human.  But being able to recognize and name our feelings can help us to understand what we are feeling, and this helps us to have insight into and understanding of our actions.  (And as an added bonus, getting better at understanding feelings can help make us more empathetic to others as well.)

But one reminder that I always include with the Feelings Wheel is that God's presence and God's love doesn't depend on what we are feeling in any given moment (thanks be to God, literally).  God loves you when you feel embarrassed just as much as God loves you when you feel joyful, and just as much as when you feel numb, and just as much as when you feel perplexed, and just as much as when you feel...

We are all human, and feelings can sometimes feel messy, but God loves you in your beautiful, messy human-ness and God loves all of your beautiful messy feelings!

Moving on to announcements this week, we are right on the threshold of the busy fall season, so sit back and grab your calendar because there are going to be a bunch of dates etc!

• Church Picnic - this Sunday, we won't be worshipping in any of our church buildings, as it is the church picnic this week!  11:00am at the cottage of Anne and Ross Titus (31 Titus Lane). Bring:  lawnchair, water bottle (or other beverage of choice), potluck dish to share, plate, cutlery etc. We will worship on the beach (worship will include both a baptism and communion), then share in "the best potluck of the year" as a church family! There will be games and activities for the children (and young-at-heart) both during the usual Sunday School time in worship and during/after lunch.

• Church Picnic - Directions - If you are coming up from the Westfield Ferry, stay on NB-845 heading towards Long Reach. You'll pass Long Reach United Church and keep on going.  Just past the Long Reach Fire Hall, Gorham's Bluff Road will be on your left. (If you come to the Old Reach Road or Shamper's Bluff Road, you've gone too far!) Turn down Gorham's Bluff Road, and you'll pass the winery (now closed), and the Titus Farm, and then in the field just past the farm you'll see Titus Lane on your left - look for streamers/signs at this point, directing you down to the cottage. (There will be parking in the field for anyone able to walk a bit, or you can park closer to the cottage if you need to be close by. Food can be dropped off in the cottage, then there are either stairs or a driveway down to the beach. Kate D. will be driving a side-by-side to give a lift down to the beach to anyone who needs or wants one!)

• Bible Study - we will be resuming next Wednesday, September 10, in the parlour at Westfield United from 10-11:30 am. Everyone is welcome - no prior bible study experience is needed. You can bring your favourite bible from home, or use one of the church bibles - it is fun to compare different translations as we go. This is always one of my favourite parts of the week, as I never know where our conversations are going to take us!

• Sunday School - will be resuming at both Long Reach and Westfield on Sunday September 14!

• Asking the Big Questions - these monthly gatherings were so popular last year that they are back for another year - the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 4:30-6pm. (And yes, there will still be pizza each time, so you don't need to worry about cooking supper!) Our first gathering will be Tuesday September 16, and this month's question will be:  "Jesus says to love our neighbours - but what about the people I don't like?" I think of these gatherings as a bit like "all-ages Sunday School" - we have discussion questions, as well as different activities to help us dive into the question from different angles. Some months we are making art, other months we do drama, one month we wrote poetry - each gathering is a bit different, and everyone (churched or not, of any age) is welcome to attend!

• Session and Official Board - our September meetings will be on Wednesday September 16 at Long Reach United Church - 6:30pm for Session, and 7:30pm for the Official Board. I expect that you will be hearing from the chairs shortly if you are part of either of these groups.

• Harvest Garden Artisan's Market - a reminder that this is coming up on Saturday October 4 from 12-4 at Westfield United Church. If you are a Maker who would like to rent a table to sell your goods, you can register by clicking here - the registration deadline is September 15. And if you would like to attend and do some autumnal shopping, be sure to mark the date on your calendar!
  

Thank You Corner - This week's "Thank You" goes out to everyone who made last week's VBS such a success! Sarah Quigley and Gwen Quigley did some amazing planning as we explored the theme of water - thank you to both of you.  Gwen had to work the day of VBS so couldn't be with us, but Sarah rallied some of the teens in the church to help with the leadership, so this thank you also goes out to Grace Cochrane and Kate Dickie.  Thank you to Beth Quigley (for running the kitchen, and for tracking down a new lifeguard last-minute when our original lifeguard backed out), and to Treva Fudge (for sticking around all day and helping to corral the chaos). And thank you to all of the children who attended and to parents and grandparents for dropping them off!

For a closing thought this week, in the past couple of weeks, I've been listening to some of the music from my high school and university years. I don't know why, but maybe it's the current Cold Play tour, and hearing some of their songs floating around that has made me nostalgic.  I know lots of Cold Play's songs, my favourite band from the 90s and early 2000s was The Cranberries. (Dolores O'Riorden had an amazing voice - may she rest in peace.) To listen to one of their songs, "Just My Imagination," you can click here. This album was released just as I was graduating from university the first time around, so it is forever linked in my brain to packing up my Montreal apartment and moving to Thunder Bay, and listening to it on the CD player of my first car, singing along with the windows down.

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)