Message from Rev Phil- April 2, 2020

Good Morning Friends;

Greetings to you on this beautiful early spring day! I hope that you are all well. Even though we are isolating at home, and when we have to go out, keeping a safe social distance (at least 6 feet/2 metres apart), we can get outside for a walk. It does one’s heart and soul a world of good to be able to breathe fresh air, to hear birdsong, and see squirrels or bunnies in the yard (For some, in the country, maybe a red fox trotting by?).

This morning, in “Today’s Post”, I’m going to focus on “Beauty”.

As you read, you are invited to be aware of the beauty all around you – and within you – and within each human person, whether nine-days, nine-months, nine-years or 99 years old.

May God help us to open ourselves to beauty and may it be salve to our souls as we continue to do our individual parts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Grace and peace with pastoral love and concern;

Rev. Phil

“Beauty”

“God has made everything beautiful in its time.”

Ecclesiastes 3.11a

“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health and quiet breathing.”

John Keats, 1818

Beauty all around us. In the early morning: cold, clear air with frost on rooftops. Birdsong – Cardinals, Robins, Blue Jays, a Pileated Woodpecker drumming, even the raucous cawing of a murder of crows; and some sounds my birding friends would recognize but I can only appreciate anonymously. Black squirrels scampering across the street and up the hard maple, whose buds are swelling but not yet bursting into flower.

Towering White Pines, Balsam Fir, White Cedars, Spruce – the breeze whispering in their branches – evergreens soaring into the blue sky. The sun peeking, yellow, over the ridge.

On the ground the grass is greening after warm rain, Snowdrops and Crocuses in bloom – white and yellow and mauve. Daffodils budding and tulips pushing up their leaves with buds soon to follow.

The sound of the creek, full from melted snow and recent rains, rushing toward the lake. Along the banks, marsh marigolds soon to bloom.

For some the walk is with their canine companion – who insists on getting out at least twice a day – and keeps you company all the time. Dogs (and cats) seem to have a special knowledge of when we really need comfort. Studies have shown that those who spend time petting an animal have lower blood pressure

At home again, the sound of the joyful voices and the delighted laughter of grandchildren. Though they are far away, or isolated from us across town, (and we miss them so much!) they are brought into our living rooms by amazing technology. We look ahead with optimism and hope for a return to the days when we can hug them and read them a story while they sit on our knee; or push them on the swing in the park.

We have had conference calls on iPhone (or Zoom), linking family members from Picton to Belleville to Toronto to Winnipeg to Kelowna – so good to hear voices of loved ones.

We reach out with concern to friends, family members and neighbours just to check-in; knowing how much it means to hear a cheerful, caring voice on the line.

Netflix movies and programs. Some with cable or satellite, can view lovely scenes of nature from around the world. We can feast on nostalgia, watching “The Walton’s” on Vision TV.

Some bake bread or biscuits or cookies or pies to please the taste buds and to fill the house with their comforting aromas.

Games are played between family members in the household – euchre, crib, or solitaire. Perhaps Trivial Pursuit or Monopoly or Scrabble.

The beauty and enjoyment of reading good books – novels, non-fiction, history or your favourite genre if other than these. Perhaps you can download them, borrowed from our Public Library, or ordered on-line from Books & Company.

There is beauty in the creativity of busy hands sewing, knitting, and other crafts – making masks for healthcare workers, or prayer shawls for later gifting to those with particular needs. Or perhaps in the workshop some are getting a head-start on Christmas presents.

I hope that, as you’ve read these words, you’ve brought to mind other examples of beauty in your mind’s eye. Memory can link us with past experiences of beauty. Looking at photo albums can remind us of better days gone by, and help us to look for better days ahead.

Certainly, we want to keep abreast of the latest developments in the COVID-19 pandemic, but my hope is that, for the sake of your peace of mind, you’ll ration the news and not have a 24/7 steady diet of the dark realities of illness and deaths.

Perhaps you will want to sing one or both of these songs that we’ve long loved – that celebrate the beauty of creation, and that have touched our hearts in worship: VU#226 “For the Beauty of the Earth”; or VU#291 “All Things Bright and Beautiful”. (Both available on You Tube, although several offer unfamiliar tunes, one has words and music.)

I want to leave you with the words of St. Paul from his Letter to the Church at Philippi:

“Finally, sisters and brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about these things. . .and the God of peace will be with you.”

Philippians 4.8,9b