TLC

Last Sunday evening, an eclectic group of people gathered at the TLC Bistro and Café, 41 Maple Ave. in downtown Barrie. The Café was open for business. When we entered, one large table was celebrating someone’s birthday, while others came to have a quiet meal. After a time, Larry, the proprietor, went to the stage area, took up his guitar and sang a couple of his favorite Neil Young songs. Meanwhile people continued to gather.

After a time, Pastor Matthew Swain took the microphone and welcomed everyone, announcing that it was time for “Steam” to begin. Over the next two hours, many people shared their talents and passion for God in celebration that I could only describe as worship. Several musicians had come prepared to play their own original music; some on guitar, one young lady on the keyboard, then a man using guitar and a harmonica. Two people shared a scripture and lead a discussion about it. Others shared a prayer, and a couple of people bore testimony of powerful experiences with the Divine.

Of the twenty plus people who stayed for the evening, about 1/3 were members of Community of Christ, the sponsoring church. The rest were welcome guests including this time, all of the musicians. That mix is not what the church is used to in Canada, but then again, neither is Steam.

As the evening progressed, I was struck by the fact that the one thing that everyone had in common, the thing that bound us together for this one evening, was the love each one had for God. It came out especially in the music as the singers poured their devotion into their songs. It was evident in the testimonies and prayers. There was no division. It was remarkable, and I thought of Jesus saying In Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

At one point, I gave voice to some musing that had rolled across my mind; “I wonder if Jesus ever spent an evening like this in a café with a group of musicians and disciples,” to which someone replied, “I think he probably did.” It would be just like him, wouldn't it?

One thing I know for certain is that the presence of the Holy Spirit was with us this Sunday night, sharing in the theme and Spirit of Love. As Larry would affirm at the end of the evening, “This was good tonight. Every song, every thing, meant something.” It was the perfect summary of an evening of tender loving care at the TLC café.

Posted by Carman

Speak

To speak or not to speak; that is the question!

A friend of mine recently lost her father. He is one of the missing Marion recently wrote about. Perhaps it was the fact that she was accustomed to visiting him every day and could no longer do so that prompted her to drop in to a local coffee shop. It was just a few days later, and she had never done that before.

While there, she noticed a man who, from his clothing, was clearly a cyclist. Because she is a cyclist herself, she had an urge to begin a conversation with this stranger. To speak or not to speak must have been the question. She is not a forward person, and it must have taken some courage to approach this stranger to ask about his morning ride.

As they chatted, the man mentioned that he was retired from Babcock and Wilcox; a large engineering and manufacturing firm that is also a prominent local employer. My friend responded, “Oh, my father worked there too.” The man enquired as to her father’s name, and when she told him, he replied, “When I was a young man, newly arrived from Northern Ireland and starting work at that new place, it was your father who took me under his wing and taught me how to do the job.” He then went on to tell her that her father was not just his mentor at work, but also in life! He had taken an interest in this young man and offered him good counsel and advice to help him find his way.

In the chance encounter (?) with this cyclist in a coffee shop where she had never gone before, my grieving friend found an affirmation concerning a side of her father’s life she had never known. What a blessing! She felt as if she had received a message from her missing father himself. When I happened to call later, she was anxious to tell me all about it.

What if my friend had resisted the silent urge to reach out to this stranger? What if she had remained within her quiet, shy nature and not spoken to the man? She would never have known! Oh, the joy she would have missed!

How often do we meet someone and want to speak to them but are too introverted to do so? How many times do we deny a blessing to ourselves or someone else because we are reticent to speak to someone who catches our attention? How often do we resist the promptings of our spirit to reach out to another human being? In doing that, do we deny ourselves a blessing?

May God's peace be with you today, and if you have the opportunity, may you also share that peace with someone you may meet. Who knows what blessings may await.

Posted by Carman

Care (continued)

It turned out that I still have some more to say about caring. Today, Friday September 10 is "Suicide Prevention Day." A couple of years ago at our Registered Youth Worker Training and Information Day in Corinth we paid attention to signs of depression in children and youth. It was a great day with lots of opportunity for some very caring sharing about this oh-so-common issue for children and youth. What are the signs and what do we do, as adults who care? As church school teachers, youth leaders, parents? The guest speaker from Canadian Mental Health Association had much to say and offer to raise our awareness of this very real issue.

Of course not only children or youth suffer from depression. Here's what one of our Blog pals has to say: Talk About It

When I spoke about the need to be more real about our caring a couple of days ago, this could be the "trouble" that our friends are hiding. When we "put on our Sunday face" it could be a depression that we're covering up. Depression is way, way too common for us not to pay attention to it.

The Canadian Mental Health Association is just a terrific resource that everyone should know about--certainly all our pastors and congregational leaders should check it out. Maybe October 3-9, Mental Illness Awareness Week would be a good time to learn about this community-based organization. All over Ontario (and Canada) there are speakers, experts, teachers--your neighbours who volunteer and who are trained and ready to come to your congregation or women's department or youth group to talk about whatever questions you might have about mental health, depression, suicide. They have a chapter in your community!

If we're going to be a more caring community, we'd better get ourselves informed and equipped. CMHA is a great place to start. And mental illness is an important thing to care about. Check out some of these links and consider planning an event. Or just take some steps to make yourself a friend who has a clue how to care.

Posted by Marion

Care

I spent some hours in the car with my friends at CBC and then had a good long visit with a pastor. A couple of things stick in my mind after the day.

I listened to the sad story of the two brothers who died in their home. One was the older brother who’d spent his life as the only care-giver of his younger brother who had Down’s syndrome. The younger one died of starvation or lack of basic care after the older brother died of some natural cause. The reporter interviewed neighbours and officials who are responsible for social programming in that community. It is a sad story, and everyone was sorry and upset that these two brothers had perished in the midst of a caring community.

Now, back to my conversation with my friend the pastor. We talked about how prone we are to “put on our Sunday faces” at church and fail to let others know that we have troubles. We imagined a congregation going for years and years, doing church as always, planning events, handing out assignments, making sure it all gets done and never really knowing who needs something more.

We talk and write a lot about communities, about our faith communities, our congregations. What makes a community real? Oh yes, there’s shared history, common culture, even a sense of belonging that comes from shared goals and values.

But what about the people who live next door? Is there someone to care for them? How about the “always fine” man, woman, youth, or child we see all the time? Are they really fine? Who cares for them?

I am sorry this isn’t one of our cheery “good word” posts today. I’m feeling kind of sad about that pair of brothers who had no one to care, until it was too late.

Posted by Marion