HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-03-12, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015.
By Rev. Gary Clark
Blyth and Brussels United
Churches
This past Sunday I woke up very
early and couldn’t get back to sleep.
I don’t mind getting up, but I thought
that if I have breakfast right away
then it is a long time until lunch rolls
around. So I thought that I would
just do things slowly. So on that
account, I had a long shower,
carefully ironed my shirt instead of
the usual rush job and in general,
moved in low gear. Then as I was
about to have a leisurely breakfast
the awareness or remembrance of
daylight saving time hit and I
remembered why I had decided to
get up so early in the first place.
Now the rush was on!
Funny how a surprise like that gets
the old brain cells jumping and I
couldn’t help but wonder at the
marvel of daylight saving time. The
concept and then the making of the
concept into law is relatively recent.
The idea was first proposed in 1895
and made into law in Germany and
Austria-Hungary in 1916 and
closely followed by other European
countries.
The original idea was to give more
natural light to people in their leisure
time and reduce the amount of coal
to light and heat factories in the
working hours. But the thing that I
found most interesting was the
capacity of a whole population to
agree or consent to an across-the-
board change in their lives and twice
a year! Like it or lump it, everybody
gets up and changes their clocks.
This action is based on a shared
community idea. I wondered what
else might we achieve knowing that
Canadians and indeed the majority
of the human race are capable of a
uniform change in our behaviour?
I think everyone can agree on the
evils that plague humanity. Poverty,
homelessness, abuse, bigotry, the
lack of education and war are my top
six. You might have something else
to add to the list of evils and it
wouldn’t take much for me to agree
that evil finds its way into every
facet of our lives. Agreeing that
there is evil and destructive patterns
and behaviours in humanity is easy
to find but how to deal with those
evils is where we stumble.
When I Googled “dealing with
human evil,” the web page let me
know that 52,900,000 hits came up
in 0.42 seconds. There clearly isn’t
a daylight saving level of agreement
on dealing with evil in society.
Maybe the issue is too big and the
secret is to start small. If we set
manageable goals that are within the
capacity of each and every one of us
than maybe a change can occur.
After all, daylight saving started in
one country, then another, and then
another. Perhaps if we used wisdom
that we ourselves didn’t think up,
then no one could accuse us of
creating rules that were in our self
interest. And to push that even
further if that wisdom didn’t even
belong to this era then surely we in
our modern world with greater
technology and convenience should
be able to achieve those goals.
Let me suggest to you that there
are 10 simple rules of life that can
change the very nature of all
humanity and our relationships with
each other and the very earth on
which we live. It might be no
surprise that I am suggesting the 10
commandments are just the kind of
wisdom we need now. The first four
might be hard for those who are
reading and who don’t have faith in
a God, but I am willing to bet that
even if you don’t believe in a
heavenly being you believe in
something. That something is your
God, ‘your higher power’ as
Alcoholics Anonymous would call
it. The other rules would seem
almost logical don’t lie, cheat, steal,
murder and desire that which isn’t
yours. But as a species we have
stumbled in living out these simple
rules or guidelines.
We can change our clocks but we
find it next to impossible to change
our society-wide behaviour. But then
again, maybe it isn’t about what
everyone else does, it’s about what I
do. If I can live these 10
commandments than maybe person
by person the wisdom will spread
and things will change. That seems
to be within our capacity: to change
only ourselves and in doing so the
world has already changed.
Continued from page 2
lunch to share thoughts on the lead-
up to Easter. The area church people
take their turn offering worship at
12:05 and lunch at 12:30 p.m. So
see you on the 30th – everyone is
invited. For the Irish, even for a day,
in our midst, Listowel PaddyFest is
in session. This party for the Irish at
heart, is the biggest one in North
America and tries to offer
something for all the ages. Dances,
a parade, games, sports and a
Cèilidh or two are all in Listowel for
your enjoyment. Get out your green.
Youth Unlimited, the Brussels
arm of Youth for Christ, is holding a
fun fundraiser on April 11 at the
Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre. If a pig roast,
music and various auction items
sound like a good time, get your
tickets soon.
Take care of yourself.
Betty G.W.
Fundraiser
coming
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph’s
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.
CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS
MINISTER
Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div.
All Welcome
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224
Sunday, March 15 ~ Lent 4 – “Facing The Storm”
Sunday, March 22 ~ Lent 5 – “The Calm Before The Storm”
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.
Children
Welcome
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, MARCH 15
Nursery care available
519-887-9017
Worship & Sunday School - 10 am
Coffee & Snacks - 11 am
We invite you to join our church family in:
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
GREATERLOVE
discover the greatest love of all time
HuronChapel.com
10:30 Sunday Morning in Auburn
KNOW
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, March 15
Brussels Business & Cultural Centre
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and
preschoolers during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
BRUSSELS
WORSHIP SERVICE
AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 10:00 am
All Welcome
United Church
Minister: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M.Div.
Bulletin notices: 519-523-4224
blythunited@tcc.on.ca
Church bookings: 519-887-6377
Other concerns: 226-963-1175
getlivingwater.org
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God)
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
March 15: SoS 2:1-14
Evangelical Missionary Church
Small Groups Weekly in Blyth & Wingham
“Rediscover
Romance”
From the Minister’s Study
Change yourself, you can change the world