Message from Our Minister • Reverend Mary White
Good Day and Blessings!
In your life choices, who were your influencers? Were they your friends, your parents, your siblings or maybe someone in authority like a teacher, or a politician?
We are all called to serve in some capacity and this calling is what fills our soul with passion and joy. If we follow someone else’s dream for us, we will live with a sense of frustration and discontentment because our souls are not being fed. If we live our lives through others, then we are failing to hear or ignoring the still small voice from within and we could be robbing someone of their life’s calling. Age should never deter us from pursuing our goals and feeding our soul.
With Love,
Rev. Mary White
Dear Parents, Families and Friends,
We are in an interesting time in our country when we can feel extra motivation to devote some time and thought to reconciliation. It is possible for all of us to take some action in this direction. Learning more about First Nations peoples and culture is a way for us to develop more understanding. How can we do that? Here are some suggestions: choose one flower or plant in our area and learn how Indigenous people used it, read a book written by a First Nations author such as Richard Wagamese or Richard Van Camp, visit the Tla'amin Nation website.
This week the parent tot video has an alphabet book with beautiful paintings of mountain scenes, as well as these songs: "The More We Sing Together", "5-2-1-0", "I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me", "1-2-3, Jesus loves me".
The Family Fun video has a long story called, "The Mountain that Loved a Bird", and the songs this week are: "I am the Light of the World", "Everything is Beautiful medley", "Don't Stop Thinkin' About Tomorrow", and "Over My Head."
Best wishes to you for lots of fun in the sun.
Brenda Pielle
Reaching Out to Families
Powell River United Church
Poem: My Soul Feels Lean by Joyce Rupp
DON’T RUN
Don’t run when faced with something or someone that seems like an enemy
Stay with it, try to hear it, let the process unfold, do not judge, let it all be
Sooner or maybe later what is constricted will lift its head and surprise you with how simple the truth is
In the meantime, keep returning to the center, surround your heart with love, let the ugly thoughts and harsh feelings fade away
Don’t shove them out, but never let them take over
Listen and learn
Reading • Fulfillment
Excerpt from “365 Tao: Daily Meditations” by Ming-Dao Deng
As long as they do no harm to others, ambitions should be exercised rather than crushed. Whatever you want to do, do it to the fullest. There are just a few provisions. First, you must realize that nothing is forever. You may achieve your goals only to find out that they are no longer important to you. This is all right. That means you have come to the end of your interest and are now free to go on to something else. Secondly, your ambitions should not determine your life. You are a human being first, and your goals are merely additions to your basic quest as a person. Finally, you should realize that the fulfillment of your goals should include the removal of all fears. Once you have accomplished these things, you will truly have nothing standing between you and spiritual realization.
PRUC Online Worship Service
Please join us this Sunday, July 11th
Indoor Worship Gatherings Update
This past Sunday we celebrated our first indoor worship service at our church since last March, and it was a great success. Thanks to everyone who attended and served with love.
We are happy to announce that we are returning to our regular weekly indoor worship services starting each Sunday at 11am.
The main guideline we must follow is to ensure our attendance is no more than 50% of the capacity of the sanctuary, which is easily accomplished as our “normal” attendance is in the range of 60 to 70 people (below 50% capacity). This means we will not have pre-registration or registration anymore and all pews will be open for seating. Let us be mindful of the following points:
Maintain space in the pews for the comfort of all.
It is recommended that people wear masks indoors but this is optional.
Hand sanitizing stations will be continued for the foreseeable future.
There will not be Coffee Time this summer.
The Faith Lutheran congregation is most welcome to start services at 9:30 and there is no need for cleaning between services.
We look forward to seeing you in person, and if you are unable to attend, we will continue posting online worship videos each week during the foreseable future.
PRAYER
Accepting Spirit
Fear, too often holds us back from taking that first step towards fulfilling our life’s goals. Help us to remove these feelings that keep us from reaching our goals. May we be filled with confidence, strength, and wisdom as we move beyond that which restricts us. May our thoughts be positive and filled with hope for accomplishing whatever we pursue.
At all times and in all time, Spirit be with us to always encourage and bless us.
We pray.
Amen