HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-01-10, Page 17From the Minister’s Study
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1990. PAGE 17.
Living day to day makes the most of daily opportunities
BY REV. CAMERON McMILLAN
MINISTER BRUSSELS AND
ETHEL UNITED CHURCH
A famous Canadian Doctor of
Medicine, Sir William Osler, once
urged people to live a day at a time.
“Cultivate life in day-tight com
partments,” he said. “Touch a
button and hear at every level iron
doors shutting out the past, the
dead yesterdays. Touch another,
and shut off with a metal curtain
the future, the unborn tomorrows.
Then you are safe, safe for today.
“The load of tomorrow, added to
that of yesterday, carried today
makes the strongest falter. Waste
of energy, mental distress, nervous
worries dog the steps of a person
who is anxious about the future.
Shut closed then, the great forward
and rear bulkheads and prepare to
cultivate the habit of life in
day-tight compartments. Live nei
ther in the past nor in the future,
but let each day’s work absorb all
your interest, energy and enthusi
asm. The best preparation for
tomorrow is to do today’s work
superbly well.”
I think there is a lot of good
advice contained in those senten
ces. It is ajuidea we should think
Minister’s message says
‘See Him as life we need’
Greeters for the January 7
Sunday morning service at Blyth
United Church were Herb and
Bonnie Shannon. Ushers were Jim
and Thelma Wilson, Brenda Brooks
and Lenora Davidson.
Mary Lou Stewart was in charge
of Junior Congregation. The senior
choir’s anthem was entitled “Make
Me a Blessing”, accompanied by
J^jErs. Phylis Boak.
• (-The announcements were as
ijilows: there will be a Sunday
School meeting January 15, at 7:30
p.m.; Junior and Intermediate
choir practice starts this Thursday,
Jan. 11; the Moderator’s Visit will
be on Friday, Jan. 19 at Exeter
United Church. The pot luck sup
per at 5:30 p.m., worship - 8 p.m.
The scripture reading was John I
(1-18) and was the basis for the
sermon entitled “The Enlightening
Enlivening Word”. Rev. Ramirez
opened his message by comment
ing on how Christmas is a very
highly emotional time and that
afterwards many individuals feel
tired. It is difficult for many to
maintain the spirit, love, sharing
and giving that we experience at
Christmas, all year long. We have
to see Jesus as the enlightened and
enlivened word and see Him as the
life we need.
In V. 4 it says: “In Him was life
and that life was the light of men.”
If we don’t see Jesus as this life, as
one who gives light to our dark
ness, our future will seem dark and
without purpose. In order to see
Jesus as the enlightened, enliven
ed word we have to recognize,
receive and believe in Him. When
we have received Him as Lord and
Saviour of our lives, the spirit of
Christmas, the joy, peace and love
will remain with us always, he said.
about as we leave an old year and
an old decade behind us, and
venture forward into the 1990’s.
Jesus had a similar idea when he
said: “Do not be anxious about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will be
anxious for itself. Let the day’s own
trouble be sufficient for the day.”
Mattew 6:34.
At the beginning of each new
year, I think we should have a
private funeral service in which we
bury al! our past: the sins, the
failures, the annoyances, the sor
rows. With the past dead and
buried, we can then devote all our
energies and attentions to solving
the problems that >ie before us
today. The apostle, St. Paul, said:
“This one thing I do. Forgetting
what lies behind, and straining
forward to what lies ahead, I press
on towards the goal.” - Phillipians
3:13.
I don’t think we can shut off the
door to the future completely. If we
don’t think about the future at all,
we will be unprepared for it when it
arrives. Jesus said: “don’t be
anxious about tomorrow.” We
should avoid anxious worry about
the future. We should not try to
anticipate the future in all its
details. The future will not unfold
in exactly the way we want it to, no
matter how hard we plan for it. We
need to have some general overall
goals that we strive for, but not
finely worked out dreams.
When we live a day at a time, the
present assumes much more im
portance for us. We then spend our
energies in a more productive way,
making the most of opportunities
as they arise daily before us.
We must not play carelessly with
our days and years, being ignorant
of their worth and unaware of how
quickly they pass from our grasp. A
lost weekend is irreparably gone,
never to return. It is a lost
opportunity.
Our time is sacred and scarce.
We must see that we use it well, to
our best advantage. We should
accept each day as a gift from God,
and live it out to the best of our
ability. We know that it will never
return and we shall not pass this
way again.
A poet, Kalidasa writes:
“Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
lie all the truths and realities of
your existence:
The bliss of growth, the glory of
action,
the splendour of achievement.
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every
yesterday a dream of happiness,
and tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.”
BRUSSELS UNITED CHURCH
King Street 887*9313
Rev. Cameron McMillan
Sunday,
January 14 -Morning Worship
11:00 a.m. -Church School
The King of love my s.hepherd is.
WHO
SAYS A
DIME
DOESN’T
GO VERY
FAR
ANYMORE?
Melville
Presbyterian Church
BRUSSELS
Rev. Carolyn McAvoy
11:00 - Morning Service
Sunday School
9:30 a.m. - Belgrave Service
We welcome you to come and worship with us!
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January14/90 Epiphany 1
MORNINGPRAYER
REV. DAVID FULLER, B.A., M. DIV.
9:30a.m. 11:15a.m.
Trinity, Blyth St. John’s, Brussels
HURON CHAPEL MISSIONARY
CHURCH
AUBURN
PASTOR JAMES H. CARNE 526-7515
10 a.m. Family Bible School
11 a.m. Morning Worship
8 p.m. * Evening Service
Wed., 8 p.m. - Prayer and Bible Study
Fri. 7:30 p.m. - Youth
Sat. 10:30 a.m. - Kids Klub
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
HIGHWAY 4, BLYTH
Rev. W. H. Lammers
Sunday at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Sunday School 11:00a.m.
The Church of the “Back to God Hour” and “Faith 20”
Back to God Hour 10:30a.m. CKNX, Sunday
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ALL VISITORS WELCOME
HURON
SUPERIOR MEMORIALS
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Serving Blyth, Brussels
and all of Huron County
Neil Elliott
153 High Street, Clinton
Bus. 482-9441 Res. 482-1748
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