The Citizen, 2010-11-11, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2010.
St. Anne’s Eagles Pride
Last week at St. Anne’s Catholic
Secondary School has been very
busy – full of giving, success,
promotion, and most importantly,
fun. Although St. Anne’s has
multiple activities occurring daily,
the theme of “Be inclusive and
included” is always evident.
This week, St. Anne’s gave back
to the community by participating in
collecting non-perishable food items
for the local food banks. Ms. Kuran,
principal, encouraged all students
and staff to become involved with
the food drive by promoting “Hide
Ms. Kuran!”
Every time a student or staff
member brought in a perishable
food item it was stacked around Ms.
Kuran in hopes that enough items
would pile up and she would
disappear.
Along with St. Anne’s giving to
the community, the school’s
crosscountry team also ‘gave it all’
last week during the Huron Perth
finals.
St. Anne’s would like to
congratulate the cross-country team
for its continued success at the
Huron Perth cross-country meet on
Thursday, October 21. St. Anne’s
took home best overall school –
making St. Anne’s proud. The
runners participated at WOSSA in
London on October 28 (results will
be announced next week).
Other athletics such as male
volleyball, female basketball and
field hockey have continued to
display Eagles’ spirit while
experiencing great victories and
close defeats.
St. Anne’s feeder schools
(elementary schools in Huron
County) joined together on Oct. 26
for a ‘tech’ day at St. Anne’s. St.
Anne’s students led Grade 8
students through technology
workshops such as: agriculture
technology, automotive technology,
computer technology, and carpentry.
All parents and students of Grade
6, 7 or 8 were invited to St. Anne’s
Open House: Discover St. Anne’s on
November 1 from 6:45 - 8:30 p.m. If
you missed out on this opportunity,
please call the school for a tour.
By Rev. Gary Clark
Blyth United Church
With the tragic deaths this week of
two fine people in a car collision,
our communities are once again
plunged into grief.
I believe grief is a gift of God. It
helps us to acknowledge the
emotional pain that death brings.
Now that doesn’t sound like much of
a gift, but if it is God’s intention that
we grow emotionally and spiritually
in our lives, then grief can force that
growth. Unfortunately it can also
tear us up and tear us down.
This week I went to my book shelf
and pulled out a wonderful little
book called, “Mending the Heart” by
Rev. John Claypool. It is worth
being read several times. In one
chapter, Rev. Claypool reminds us of
the story in Mark, Chapter 5 where
there was a man possessed by many
tormenting spirits and it caused him
to live among the tombs. Many times
friends tried to restrain him because,
“day and night among the tombs and
on the mountains he was always
howling and bruising himself with
stones.”
Today we would just say he was
crazy or deranged and not possessed.
But where he wandered is a clue to
the sources of his illness. Claypool
asserts that “in all likelihood, here is
someone who has allowed the
experience of grief to literally drive
him crazy. The demoniac may have
brought someone to that burial
ground whom he loved with all his
heart, and the intensity of loss was
so great that, in a very real sense, he
had never been able to find his way
out of the cemetery. The death of
one beloved person had meant, in
effect, the death of all meaningful
life for him.”
At Roman Sturzenegger’s funeral,
one of his sisters said that she just
wished they had more time. Perhaps
all grief comes back to this one
reality: we run out of time.
Something ends before we want it to
end. Unfortunately in some things,
we don’t get the chance for a “do
over”. And if happiness is getting
what we want in life, then grief is the
ultimate affront to joy. Something
precious ends, it will never come
back and with it goes our hope for
happiness. This is why grief, when
poorly handled, can have such
destructive potential.
Claypool theorizes that handling
death poorly originates in our
earliest years. As children we are
keen observers, but poor interpreters
of what we see.
“We take in everything around us,
but because of our limited pool of
experience, we come up with
interpretations that have no basis in
reality,” he states. “From these
perceptions formed in childhood
come two common
misunderstandings.”
First, in the eyes of a child death is
the total annihilation of that person
or animal we love. The second is that
death is a robber, stealing from us
something/someone of
immeasurable value. If death means
annihilation, then no wonder we fear
it so. No wonder we believe that we
have run out of time.
Jesus takes away the fear of the
possessed person by offering the
promise of new life. Through the
eyes of Jesus, the possessed one can
once again see the smiling face of
the deceased. Because of that new
faith in the eternal spirit of a person
and his new understanding that
though the body is gone, death
cannot kill the spirit, he is freed from
the false understanding of his loved
one’s annihilation.
If death is a robber that has taken
something, then anger is a
reasonable emotion. A child might
ask “how dare this theft take place”
and wonder if it is God who takes?
Adults often say that God needed
that person more. God then becomes
the deliverer of death and not the
redeemer from death.
I think that is why the story of
Jesus’ resurrection is so powerful for
Christians. We believe that in his
resurrection, Jesus teaches the last
great lesson of his earthly ministry;
God is the bringer of life and then
new life.
The apostle Paul put it this way,
“Where oh death is your victory,
Where oh death is your sting?” (1st
Corinthians 15:55). Through the
eyes of faith we neither lose our
loved one nor are they annihilated.
Quite the opposite. Now they walk
with us wherever we travel. They
guide us, encourage us and lift us up
when we are down.
This is the work of the Holy in our
lives. That we might never feel
abandoned nor disconnected from
the power of eternal life in God. It
leads us out from among the
tombstones and mends our broken
hearts.
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
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
Nov. 14th - “Shining Lights in Our Community”
Nov. 21st - “Jesus’ Family Tree”. Following service free
luncheon and decorating church for Christmas Season.
YOU ARE WELCOME
9:45 a.m. Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m. - Sunday Morning Worship
Mid-week Bible Study
C H U R C H O F G O D ,ANDERS
O
N
,
I
N
D
I
A
N
A
Timeless Truths
For Today
308 Blyth Rd. E., Blyth
Pastor Les Cook ~ 519-523-4590
Blyth Community Church of God
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
Welcomes you to come and worship with us
Trinity, Blyth
9:15 a.m.
Church Office: 519-317-4883
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
519-887-6862
Sunday, November 14
Rev. Perry Chuipka
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
519-887-2664
10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Wingham Small Group
1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women’s Ministry
Fridays 7:00 pm - Youth Group
Christ-centred, Bible-believing,
Fellowship-friendly, Growth-geared
Nov. 14: 2 Cor. 9
Mennonite Foundation
- Sherri Grosz:
“Being Poured Out”
Potluck!
Free Seminar -
“Financial Management”
From the Minister’s StudyJesus removes fear, promises new life
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, November 14
Brussels Public School
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
6:30 pm - DVD series on the Book of
Revelation by James MacDonald
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 years of age (mornings only)
Childcare provided for infants and toddlers
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact:
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Chris McMichael 519.482.1644
Special Guest Speaker at morning service:
Corey Odden from Voice of the Martyrs Canada
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com
Sunday, November 14
Ethel United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 9:30 a.m.
Brussels United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 11:00 a.m.
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
Please join us for worship
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00am
Evening Service 7:30pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Pastor John Kuperus
Hwy. 4, BlythHwy. 4, Blyth
119 John’s Ave., Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
9:30 a.m.
Sunday School
10:30 a.m.
Morning Worship Service
Guest Speaker:
Rev. Eugene Neudorf
BUY? SELL?
TRY CLASSIFIED