Coming up out of the subway last night I had an unexpected flashback. As I went through the turnstiles, I noticed a couple sitting on a bench with a dog at their feet. Hardly anyone ever sits there. After all, upstairs and across the street there were vacant park benches offering views of a setting sun on a lovely fall night. Yet, there they sat in the depths of Lawrence Station on an uncomfortable, underground bench outside the turnstiles.
And then it suddenly came back to me. I remembered sitting on that same bench with Janet and our old dog, Rosie, on a Thursday night at this very time of year. I smiled and said to the strangers, “You must be waiting for your child to come home from first year university for Thanksgiving.” I was there once. They looked up and smiled.
As I climbed the final flight of stairs to the street, I thought back to the joy of that reunion long ago and of all of the comings and goings and travels near and far of all our children and of the countless prayers that have gone up along the way. And then a verse came to me, “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.” Now it was my turn to sit on a bench. I felt so blessed I had to stop and say, “Thank you.” God really does provide and guide and guard and love. We only come and go because there is a home and our home is in God.
I don’t know if you are coming or going this Thanksgiving weekend, but wherever you are, please take a moment to sit down, count your blessings and say, ‘Thank you.’ We are so blessed! If you are in the city, I hope you will join us for Thanksgiving Worship at 11 a.m. If you are not in the city, I invite you to worship with us online.
By the way, the couple on the bench really did smile back at me as they told me they were waiting for their grandchild who was coming for Thanksgiving. “All the more reason to be thankful!” I said. Have a truly blessed Thanksgiving!
Grace and Peace,
Peter
One of the most important concerns facing this generation of Canadians is the healing of our nation through true reconciliation with our Aboriginal peoples. So deep is the wound that it is hard to know where to begin, but I feel very blessed to have come to know a group of very concerned and courageous Aboriginal women, Sigrid, Carrie and Sue-Lynn, who have been keeping vigil outside the federal building a block away from the church since mid-July. Along the way, I have also met John, who is one of several Aboriginal men who stand at their side.
Around the corner in David Balfour Park two aboriginal men, Jeff and Darryl, have set up a small camp to tend a sacred flame for almost as long as the women have been camped on St. Clair, and it is the same issue of indigenous youth suicide burning in their hearts. Up Yonge Street on the Kay Gardner Beltline Bridge ribbons have been tied to the railing with photos and stories of murdered and missing Aboriginal woman. We must listen and learn and respond in love.
Dale Rose and I have had the privilege of sitting with these neighbours and friends at different times over the summer. I call them neighbours because in every sense they are, but I have been using the term with more conviction since I discovered that a conservative estimate would suggest there are between 35,000 and 70,000 Aboriginal people in Toronto. We cannot simply pass by assuming the problem is on the other side of the province and beyond our reach. These courageous friends have reminded us that it is here and the time is now.
This week I introduced the women to the Rev. Walter McIntryre of the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, who is a wonderful instrument of peace in the Church as he as alerted us to listen and care. Next week I hope to introduce more friends to them, but along the way I have been deeply moved to discover how many people from Yorkminster Park have also been reaching out to them. One of our members has been dropping in on the men every day since they have arrived. He is such an encouragement to them that they call him Elder Bruno. May the sacred flame touch all our hearts and this land be healed.
