Drummond Hill Newsletter, July 27, 2022
Wednesday Meditation (Genesis 2:1-3)
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
Sunday has been controversial ever since businesses were allowed to open on Sundays in the 1960s. Today we live with a great myth that on Sundays all activities were prohibited in the early years. In Canada, the Lord’s Day Act was passed by the Federal government in 1906 with a long list of exceptions. Jews and the Seventh Day Adventists who worshipped on Saturday were part of the major opposition to this act. Those works that were considered to be essential were allowed. For example, health care workers and domestic servants could work. Bakers could begin their work after 4 pm. Seasonally, Maple Syrup producers could work on Sundays.
Today we argue vigorously for taking time off for vacation to rest and recover. Since Sunday is taken away as a day of rest, in some circles, the loss of Sunday as a day of rest is being lamented as a sign of the moral and religious decline of our time. Much arguments have been split over whether to work on Sunday or not. Of course, most of us point to this Genesis passage as well as the Ten Commandments to argue for keeping the day holy.
One interesting point is that God did finish the work on the seventh day according to this passage. He worked all six days prior. On the seventh day he finished his work and took the rest of the day off according to what Genesis tells us. How long into the seventh day God worked, we are not told.
Apart from anything else, at least, we do know the necessity of being human includes time of rest and restoration. We are very privileged to live a life where we can take time off not only on Sunday to worship and rest, but also to take some time off in summer months to enjoy God’s creation. As God did, there is no reason why we should not rest from our work and hallow the day that we finish our work and take the rest of the day off from work. As God’s images, much of who we are and what we do often reveal what God is like in every way. That is, we share with the world our God by imitating God who created us in God's own image.
It's summer, the time when life flourishes! We are resting so that we can be restored and start anew.
At least in spirit, we rest. We deliberately take ourselves away in order to be refreshed. Sometimes, journeys that exhaust us make our hearts glad to return home. Of course we are doing exactly this–taking ourselves away from the very familiar surroundings of our own home, Drummond Hill–for two Sundays. We go and visit our never-met relatives in the Christian family. For two Sundays we will pay a visit to long lost family members with a bit of trepidation wondering if we will be welcomed.
Everything around us shows us how. All these flowers, animals, birds, and insects point us the way only if we are able to see. Flowers bloom. Some as annuals having to start the entire cycle of life each year. Perennials shed leaves and go dormant during winter, but start all over again in Spring. Animals, birds, and insects follow the cycle of life.
Then, we shall pick ourselves up and return home. Exhausted from the visits we shall be glad to be back in our own home. The following two Sundays (August 21 and 28) we will share our travel stories with each other. We will describe what we learned from those long lost cousins and those who took themselves away from us in order to build a better community. The joy of being home will be great.
Having rested and refreshed, in a frantic way for some of us, we will settle in from our break in September and plan for a new fall that will begin for us in October. Everything will be new and exciting. As we have mentioned over and over in the Spring and early Summer, we are going to break from the past and move into the future.
Summer break is essential for our new beginning in October. We will be focused on living and being a new faith community. We will dare to declare to the world that we are a faith community that is “hot and spicy” in this new Fall and Winter seasons. So let’s rest up. Take a break. We will be refreshed after having taken a break. We will be energized and be able to have new perspectives in being a hot and spicy faith community.
Summer Things To do: A different path to rest and get ready to be new again
Breaks from our routine helps us. Getting away from being who we are helps us to have different perspectives so that we can follow Christ in a fresh new way.
Here are the ways that we are taking a break from our regular routine:
- We are closing for two Sundays. We will not be open for business as usual on August Sundays. There will not be any in-person worship services at Drummond Hill on Sundays August 7th and 14th.
- We are asking you to pay a visit to a neighbourhood church. Visit these cousins, nieces and nephews on August 7th and 14th. Learn who they are, what they do, and how they worship. We will also find out how welcome they are and what it means to be part of their community. These visits will help us learn from them and see what good things we can apply to our church.
- This Update Newsletter will take a break too for the month of August. It will be sent to you again in September.
- Cinnamon Bun Tuesdays will take a break in August and return in September.
- For Sundays, August 21 and 28, there will be in-person devotions at the church starting at 9:30 am. Please make sure you come at 9:30 am. If you come at 10:30 am, devotions will be over. Devotions will be led by our own elders.
- This is another way we are breaking from our traditional worship services. All pastoral care needs can be dealt with by elders. If you need any pastoral services, please contact elders Betty-Ann, Chuck, Gail, Linda F., Linda T., Ruth or Verna.
There will not be any worship services.
Everyone is invited to Summer Devotions
at 9:30 am.
These summer devotions will be led by our own elders.
Romans 10:17
and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
