Remembering my baptism

I admit, it is getting a little hard to actually remember my baptism although it happened in my teens, outside, in a river. On January 11th, the Sunday that we read the passage from Mark about Christ's baptism, I came home from church and spent about a half hour looking for the photo I have somewhere of the Beaver River in Ontario where I was baptized. If I had found it I would have scanned it and posted it here. In any case, the important thing as I see it, is not that we have an actual memory of the time and place we were baptized. After all, many believers are baptized as infants or young children. The important thing is to remember what it means. As I mentioned earlier, I was baptized in a river - totally immersed under the water and raised up to life in Christ. Each year in the church calendar there is a week to remember Christ's baptism, and through it, our own. It seems very appropriate to me that we do this at the beginning of the calendar year when our minds are so often focused on a new beginning.

Making Candles (2)

I'm new to blogging and didn't get these photos attached to the blog below. Some of the 'equipment' I use for making candles is what my Mom used 30-40 years ago, like the pan holding the water on the left of the photo. The hexagon and round molds are my own and less than 10 years old.

Making Candles = Epiphany?

All of last week seemed to fly by and I missed posting something for Epiphany. (I thought about it, but that was about as far as I got.) To begin writing today, I thought I'd look up the Oxford Dictionary definition of the word 'epiphany' - and I was a little surprised at what I found:

"Epiphany = manifestation of Christ to the Magi, festival of this (6 Jan.); (epiphany) manifestation of a supernatural being."

What surprised me was what wasn't there - no mention of 'having an epiphany' or of 'epiphany moments' or any of those expressions we sometimes hear. That got me thinking; what do we mean when we use those phrases in common speech? The way I've used them, or heard others use them, is to mean that I've had an 'aha' moment. The light has dawned! I understand! To the Magi this revelation of Christ was much more than an 'aha' moment. Their realization of who Christ was and their dream afterward was a life changing experience which even made them alter their route home to avoid telling Herod what they had discovered.

By now perhaps you are wondering how all this connects to candle making. I usually make candles before Christmas, sometimes for gifts. I couldn't let the (extended) season go by without making any, so I began a couple days ago. Somehow it seems appropriate to be creating a source of light when we are celebrating that the light has dawned -the Light of God's love, Jesus.

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

Today we sang a hymn that was new to me when I began serving in the Presbyterian church. I may have heard the words before then as Dad often quoted words by Fanny Crosby or Frances Ridley Havergal, the latter being the author of this hymn.

Standing at the portal of the opening year,
words of comfort meet us hushing every fear,
spoken through the silence by God's loving voice,
tender, strong and faithful, making us rejoice.

Refrain:
Onward, then, and fear not, children of the day,
for God's word shall never, never pass away.

"I, your God, am with you: do not be afraid;
I will help and strengthen; do not be dismayed,
for I will uphold you with my own right hand;
you are called and chosen in my sight to stand."

God will not forsake us and will never fail;
God's eternal covenant ever will prevail.
Resting on this promise, what have we to fear?
God is all-sufficient for the coming year.

As we sang the third verse, I was overwhelmed by the truth of the words. God is all-sufficient for the coming year no matter if the year is 2009 or some year in the 1800's when the words were originally written. People then had fears for the future, whether they voiced them or not, just as today we do not know what the year ahead may hold, and may be fearful of the unknown. St. Andrew's is beginning a year of changes: change in leadership, a possible change of location - all unknowns at this point. I urge you, wherever you are to claim God's promise to be with us through the year ahead.

New Every Morning

Happy New Year!

I knew it was snowing when I went to bed last night - or maybe I should say very early this morning - but I was pleasantly surprised to see about 2-5cm of fresh snow when I got up today. There are many wonderful things about a fresh snowfall. It makes everything so clean and white, and especially on New Year's it seems to mirror the fresh, clean start we all get to the year. A new snowfall also sparkles like diamonds when the sun is out, as it is now, and it reminds me of the riches of God's grace and love in my life, and the beauty of the world around me.

One hymn that often comes to mind for me on this day is "Great is Thy Faithfulness". I remember singing this at a Watchnight service as a teenager. I'm not sure if that's when it became significant to me, but the words are meaningful still all these years later.

There's a more recent setting of words from Lamentations 3 by Edith McNeill that have also been running through my head today:

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
Your mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning, new every morning:
great is your faithfulness, O Lord, great is your faithfulness!"

I hope that on this first day of 2009 you will find time to reflect on the goodness of God and the fresh start that God's mercy and grace give us each day.