This Week at Trinity, Beamsville

Friday, November 2, 2018

Dear Friends,

Halloween night has passed, and we begin our new month with a celebration of All-Saints Day. We will be marking this in worship on Sunday, but perhaps it should be more often than once a year that we pay homage to saints of the past. And perhaps more often than that we should be paying attention to the saints in our own time.

There are many reasons to talk about saints in this community. I am sure you can think of a handful (or even a couple handfuls) of people who probably deserve to be canonized for all they do in their church and/or their community. Today is the first day of the Fall Marketplace, an undertaking that involves numerous volunteers to put on. The church has been busy all week with preparations. It is an event I have been hearing about for months, even as far back as July. In the midst of this week, I have particular gratitude to all of the people who are contributing to this project.

 Perhaps it is the case that sainthood is necessary for the church to exist at all. The faithful and caring actions of so many people were necessary to even get to this point, much less continue the church’s ministry towards the future. Every single thing that happens needs a catalyst in order to happen, and people become that connecting thread in big ways and small ways depending on what is required.

We need to acknowledge the grand actions, the big contributors who make the big things happen. But I think it is also just as important to recognize how every person is a saint in their way. We all have the ability to do something meaningful, because it doesn’t always take a lot. This week I received a letter from a member of my home congregation, wishing me well during my internship and looking forward to when I will be able to reconnect with that church again. It did not take much effort, but those kinds of connections, those expressions of sainthood, are what allows the church’s ministry to continue.

With love,

Scott

”The creation God loves is sick unto death, and needs caretakers, lovers, gardeners, companions and partners who will work to preserve life rather than death, collective security rather than national security, rice in the mouth and a roof over the head rather than military and nuclear hardware.”

(Lois Wilson, Turning the World Upside Down, 252)