A Congregational Letter to Morgan’s Point and Forks Road East United Churches
This will be a thoughtful week for all of us. It is a time to honour our fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, sisters and brothers. Through music, prayer, and remembrances, we will remember and honour those who sacrificed so much for us. Then on Remembrance Day Sunday, and on Wednesday, November 11th, Remembrance Day, we will remember, again, these heroes in our Remembrance Day gatherings.
The Remembrance Day Service in Wainfleet, this year, will be a virtual ceremony live-streamed from the Wainfleet Cenotaph on Wednesday, November 11th, at 10:45 a.m. Wainfleet Township is asking us to pay our respects virtually as they must abide by requirements to limit the maximum of 100 persons present, which includes participants. All wreaths will be laid ahead of time this year.
My sermon this week is based on 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians. In my sermon, I talk about tradition as being the collective communal memory of where we came from and, therefore, who we are and to whom we belong. This is why in church school, and family, we retell stories, Christian stories and family stories, handing them on as mind-shaping memories for our children to live in.
Today, we remember the stories of our Vets, we catch a glimpse of where they got their strength to go on, and their renewal of spirit. Their stories inspire and help us to relive in memory. Their stories remind us that as weak as we are - a strength beyond our strength has pulled us through at least this far, at least to this day. So, it is possible to find peace, the peace that comes from looking back and remembering to remember that we are never alone.
Today, and in the days that lead to Remembrance Day, the Vet’s stories that we hear, will remind us of those who are part of our past, who are remembered now, and who again become present. All those of our memory, living and dead, who with Jesus become present for us in our time, who say to us by their struggle, their frailty, but also by their courage and faith - it can be done.
They remind us that we can do it too. We can rise above the common, the ordinary, and reach for life that is rich and noble and Jesus-like, in the years that are yet ours to live. Let us continue to remember and honour those who have sacrificed so much for us and others. Let us keep faith with them, as we hold high the torch they carried.
As I close my letter to you, Sharon Wetzel has asked me to remind you from the UCW that the Samaritan Purse Shoeboxes need to be bought back to the Morgan’s Point Church Hall by November 10th between 9:00 and noon, when Grace will be there. If anyone forgets they can call Grace at #289-821-2919. Much love and care to you all.
God’s Blessings,
Pastor Laura