With heavy hearts...
Just when we thought our hearts could not get any heavier.
It has been a tragic and sorrowful week, and it is only Tuesday! For our nation and for our own community.
Many of you will already know that Tom Midgley passed away yesterday, peacefully at home and surrounded by his family. Given the current situation with physical distancing, a private family service will be held now and a memorial service at the church at a later date, when we can all gather. I know that Catharine and her family are very appreciative of your prayers, your phone calls and emails. They very much feel held by this community.
And we are all grieving with the communities of Nova Scotia who have been so profoundly impacted by the horrific shootings and fires of this past weekend. I know that you are praying for those communities, for the first responders and for the families and friends of those who were injured or killed. I know that people within our own community are connected to people in those communities. It almost goes without saying if you know someone in Nova Scotia, you have a connection.
I was drawn to Psalm 42 this morning as I prayed for all of this. Many of you will know this psalm through the familiar refrains of the song, "As the Deer". It speaks to our longing for God, particularily when life seems particularily hopeless and heavy. I invite you to read it through and to sit with it. Let your own heart, your own grief cry out to God. And remember, along with the psalmist, Hope in God; for we shall again praise him, our help and our God!
I hold you, our community in my prayers daily. Please do not hesitate to reach out to either myself (Ruthanne - 416-576-7480) or to Phil (705-607-4546) if you need a listening ear, someone to talk to during these difficult times.
May the blessing of God, the One who is with us to grant us the strength, compassion and peace that is needed to face these difficult times, be with us all. Amen
Psalm 42
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
because the enemy oppresses me?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.