March Break

Sunday marked the beginning of March Break and daylight saving time.

We decided to take a little break too. So we gathered at 11:30 instead of 10:30. (I’ve long wondered why our group of mostly retired people needed to lose an hour’s sleep and stress about being late when all we had to do was change our start time.)

We chose instead to meet for a potluck brunch at Sharon and Daniel’s. It was lovely to share good food and lots of visiting around their big dining room table. We took the time to read some of the “thank yous” we’ve received and celebrate some of our recent projects.

From the Guelph Children’s Foundation came a long newsy letter. We’re long-time partners and love to hear about the more than 1600 families helped at Christmas! We especially liked this paragraph:

“How wonderful is it to know that you gave so much more than a tangible gift? You gave hope. You gave relief. You gave connection. You gave a parent or caregiver the opportunity to show their child that they love and care about them. You reinforced for a child or youth that they have people in their lives that truly and deeply listen to and care about them.

As we move into the warmer months ahead, please know that your generosity continues to resonate throughout our community. The impact of your kindness extends far beyond the physical gifts—it creates moments of joy, builds confidence, and strengthens relationships.”

And in response to our underwear project came this:

“It’s amazing how big an impact can come from small acts of generosity. As we often say, “the value of one, the power of many.” Your Jan-uwear-y, Feb-uwear-y project is a perfect example of that, and we are beyond grateful.

Thanks to you and your church community, we received more than 80 undergarments.

These essentials will go directly to those who need them most, providing comfort and dignity to our community.”

“Comfort and dignity” are really good words that made us smile. Here we are delivering five bags of underwear to Hope House.

*******************

Lent

I’m writing this on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent in the liturgical calendar. Here are some of my thoughts as I consider what these things mean to our little community and what we’re doing as a congregation in this special season.

We started up our weekly discussion gatherings yesterday. It’s been more than a month since this group was able to get together. Winter weather, snow-packed roads and nasty viruses all conspired to keep us apart. But we determined to meet this Tuesday. Reflecting on our conversation I realize that we didn’t really think about Ash Wednesday. Maybe that could stand as an example of “confession” that IS part of the Ash Wednesday tradition. What we DID talk about just what do the traditional prayers we use in our various services mean. What do we mean when we promise to “take up on us” Jesus name? What are we really doing when we pray the “peace prayer”? Is it enough that we’ve been praying a peace prayer for many, many years?

Then we examined our efforts to do more than talk about those things. Our budget, recently passed, includes three items labelled “pursuit of peace.” We took a hard look at those three things and asked ourselves if our intention to pursue peace is actually moving the bar. The three things were support of Encounter World Religions, our bursary in support of music education for young children and our Prayer Shawl ministry.

Encounter recently reported projects to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, police education and the importance of religious literacy in work places, schools, and more. We uphold these things and we continue to support and follow Encounter’s work.

Music education gives young children a tool for finding joy and peace in their own lives and helps model participation and interaction between parents and children and, we hope, promotes peace in families.

Prayer shawls continue to provide that much needed warm hug in time of personal illness or distress and, yes, lack of peace for individuals.

So what do these have to do with Lent? Lent is time of personal reflection and intentional spiritual work. We confess where we have fallen short and work in a mindful way to make necessary change. This is the time we take honest stock of ourselves and repent where we can. We leave behind practices done out of habit only and try to get in synch with our truest, best intentions.

I confess that I didn’t give Lent a thought yesterday, but on reflection I think what we did do can well fit into a Lenten basket. And I hope you’ll join me as we embark on the journey toward Easter with intention and resolve.

**************

Look For The Helpers

We’ve all heard this advice from Mr. Rogers. When things are bad or bad things happen or even if we just wonder how to cope with some accident or disaster these words echo in our memories.

This week we finally got to our budget meeting. It’s been postponed because of various “winter conditions” for several weeks. So I’ve had a bit more time to think about our process. Here’s what’s different about our congregation’s budgeting philosophy. We used to start with our fixed expenses. How much for heat and hydro and telephone and security and insurance and yard maintenance… Then how much is left over for helping our kids go to camp, or buying new candles for Advent or Lent, or ordering resources for classes or preaching? Oh, and let’s put out a jar for spare change so we can support the food bank.

This year, our first full year without a building our process was quite different. We started with our mission plan. What did we mean to do as a congregation? One big thing was to be a force for good to our neighbours. We want to get serious about the mission to “abolish poverty and end suffering.” But really, what can a small group of mostly seniors do to work on the clear problems of the homeless and food insecurity of families and children growing up in those families?

Answer: Look for the helpers!

So our budget shows clearly what we found. Our budget swelled in the areas of support for the Children’s Foundation who run serious breakfast programs, summer vacation food for families, referrals for counseling services for mental health needs, parenting classes and new parent support. We continue our support for music for young children because we know how music education enriches the lives of children and their families.

Our Jan-uwear-y, Feb-uwear-y project to collect much requested new underwear for the homeless is a case in point. We didn’t then go in search of recipients. We delivered them to Hope House because they have the means and the relationships already to get them to the people who need them. They’re the helpers we found when we looked.

Some of the underwear contributed during Feb-uwear-y

I know many congregations put energy into attracting children to their churches. I know this because we did it too. “How can we attract families with children?” we used to ask. We still love it when children come to our activities, but we also realize that our job is to consider the long game. How can we contribute to making life better for all the children in our community? What do all the children need and who is working on that?

Even what causes are our children involved in that we can support? It's why we’re interested in climate protests, soccer tournaments, hockey, horses, youth orchestra performances and gardening. Who knows what we’ll be interested in next? We’ll let you know.

Pretty Quiet in the Foyer

Things are pretty quiet in The Foyer these days. We’ve been dealing with viruses and snow. Trying to keep warm and get healthy. Hopefully we’ll be back together this Sunday because we have a budget to pass. More than that we miss everybody!

Maybe next week we’ll have more to share.
*******************

We have received this encouraging note from Carman T.

Dear Guelph/Elora friends,
I want to express my appreciation and admiration for your efforts to improve the lives of people in your community. While we often think and talk about making a difference, you are actually doing what you can. Well done!

Our little Kitchener group also has a sock program, etc. but we never thought about collecting underwear. What a good idea! We sponsor and support a Young Peacemakers program for children and a Coffee and Congregation group which is well attended and appreciated by people looking for meaningful connection with others, but we still struggle with what else we can do.

I find your efforts inspiring and encouraging and just wanted to send a note to say thank you.
Blessings to each one,

Carman

*******************

Some of the underwear donated during our Feb-uwear-y project.

***************5***

Feb-uwear-y

Here comes another storm!

I got out this morning ahead of the predicted snow to buy another bag of underwear. Do you remember “socktober”? We all gathered up socks to donate to our unhoused neighbours. Then as the weather worsened we assembled mitts and hats and scarves and overcoats. Things are not much different for people seeking shelter beds or places to get out of the weather.

They don’t have showers, or washers and dryers or places to store their “extra changes of clothes.” Imagine for a minute what life is like not to have those things.

So we have declared February to be “Feb- u wear -y”. If you’ve got the means to buy some new, clean underwear (the “u-wear” in February) for men or women, get it to church on Sunday or take it directly to one of the places handing these donations. Underwear and socks are still the most requested clothing items. Any donations that come to church will be donated on your behalf. And someone, whose life is unimaginably hard will at least have something clean and new to start the week.

Because next week it will still be winter. And those people are still our neighbours.

********************

Message From Carmen

Today I’d like to share with you a message from Carmen who teaches the early childhood music classes we sponsor. 

As a reminder, here is a link to our
>> October 22 Music Excursion << 

Carmen says “Happy New Year to you! The new term of the baby and toddler program did start again this week. We are thrilled to again have three classes running per week-Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Some of the students from the fall are continuing, and there are also several new students joining. I’m also excited to see that a few students that had taken the class either last winter, spring, or in one case actually two years ago have returned to class after a break. It’s so nice to see that while we might not have worked in their schedule for some time, they did keep us in mind, and come back when it was possible”

She goes on the say that so far this year Eight families are benefiting from the bursary money we provide. And that, she says, is very exciting!

We are invited to visit again and we will plan another “music excursion” sometime after Easter.

How great to hear this good news about our music project—a bright spot in the middle of a cold winter. Join us in supporting our 2025 budget coming soon. That meeting is currently scheduled for February 16. See what we’re planning to spend money on, now that we’re not maintaining a building.

And join us in one of the most fun things we do. Watch for our invitation to visit later in the spring. Meet Carmen and the little children and parents enjoying the benefits of music in their lives.

*******************

The Deep of Winter

Here we are in the deep of winter. Oh I know that technically we’re on the upswing. Days are getting longer. But it still feels mighty cold and we’re dealing with lockdowns and long coughs and bad driving weather. Every Sunday we’ve got some empty seats in our circle. I call that “deep winter.”

We’ve been talking about the lessons of the liturgical year. How the rhythm of the year actually mirrors the life of Jesus and teaches Christian lessons! We talked about the obvious ones of Advent and Christmas and even Epiphany. But what about this short, ordinary time between Epiphany and Lent? How do we spend that time that falls in deep winter? Do we just hunker down and long for spring? I don’t think so.

I read somewhere that this short season is nicknamed the season of illumination. This is a time to watch closely to see what we can learn now that Jesus is here. (Remember that call to Notice.) It’s a good time to catch up on my reading. I’ve gone back to Marcus Borg’s “Days of Awe and Wonder,” I know Dennis, our resident blogger, is watching important videos and sharing his thoughts on the climate emergency with those who follow him. Last Sunday, Teacher Jane shared with us so many lessons learned from her community of students in her ESL classes. Tonight I’m watching one of the many CIMM lessons available via Zoom; I might even learn something.

Yes, it’s cold. But there’s more sunshine every day. Some of us are spending more time than we’d like home alone. Let’s try to use that time to keep learning. Because the Holy Spirit never stops teaching.