Posted on March 28, 2016 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Peter MacDonald photo ( Summer 2015 )

 

 

I am rarely at a loss for words (!) .

Every once in a while you experience a sunrise or sunset that words, and even cameras, can’t capture. Such was the case Easter Sunday morning when I wandered up to Bethany at 6:30 a.m. to attend the Easter Sunday Sunrise Service put on by St. James United Church . I went at the invitation of Rev. Peter Smith, the amiable pastor of their congregation.

I’m not going to try and tell you what I saw. Those of you who revel in sunrises and sunsets know what I’m talking about. However, I can tell you that it was awe inspiring to watch the explosion of colors in the sky as we were singing “Morning Has Broken.” Sorry. You just had to be there.

I was relaying this to an old St.F.X. friend Rick Benson. Here’s what he sent to me:

“I was at an International Spirituality and Social Work Conference two years ago and we were in a session on prayer lead by a Rabbi from Israel and asked to break into pairs and discuss a random group of prayers with one another. I was paired up with a peace activist from Israel. We shared our thoughts on two prayers that were handed to us. The third prayer was “ Morning Has Broken.” We looked up at each other and spontaneously started to sing the prayer song. So, here we were, a Christian and a Jew singing a song that a Muslim convert ( Cat Stevens ) made famous!

May I heartily suggest that you add “ catching an early morning sunrise” to your bucket list. It’s cheap and you don’t have to travel half way around the world to catch one. I was going on five hours sleep Sunday morning and had to do some heavy self talk to get my ass out of bed to go to the service.

By the way, the folks at St.James are wonderful people. I was invited to join them afterwards for a pancake breakfast at the church hall.

I have some great stories coming up in “Faces in the Crowd” including one about a double lung transplant recipient. While you’re waiting to read this one ( mid April ), why not check your health card and see if you’re a donor. If you’re not and want to become one, check out this site:

For more information on how to become an organ donor, go to www.legacyoflife.ca.

If even one of you takes up my challenge, you could very well save a life.

Have a great week.

Posted on March 21, 2016 under Monday Morning Musings with 3 comments

 

“ One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong,

Can you tell me which thing is not like the other, by the time I finish my song”

Sesame Street

So I finally got to the Winter Market in time to score some Hudhud chocolates on Saturday. My intentions were more than honorable. The plan was to buy some to have for the grandkids when they came for Easter next weekend. Unbeknownst to me, my wife also bought a package. Being professional chocolatiers, the Hudhuds wanted me to sample the product first. Not wishing to offend (!) , I took one and popped it in my mouth. Now , because many of you know that I have been trying to lead an exemplary life , especially when it comes to food ( and sweets ) , I found myself immediately being chastised by people I know who saw me pop this tasty treat in my mouth.

Catholic guilt is an awful thing so yesterday morning, I got busy in the kitchen and doubled down on my usual amount of veggies that I routinely prep on Sundays. Can you spot “one thing that doesn’t look like the other” in this picture?!

It was a very exciting weekend for our X-men hockey team. They came up a little short in the final but all in all, they had a fantastic run. The triple overtime game on Saturday was a heart stopper.

Faces in the Crowd will appear on Thursday as usual.

Have a great Easter!

Posted on March 14, 2016 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

A winter day at Jimtown

( Peter MacDonald photo )

 

The early bird gets the worm…. or is it chocolate?

Our best laid plans on the weekend to secure some fine Syrian made chocolates were thwarted. Our plan was to go for a walk and then head to the Winter Market at the mall. The only problem is that word got out last week about the Hudhud’s chocolates and apparently there were long lineups waiting for the market to open. Long story short, they sold out quickly as many people bought multiple packages ( Easter treats, perhaps? ).

Despite all of the positive things happening with the Syrian refugee efforts in our community and across the country, there are still a lot of naysayers. Many uninformed people think that the Syrians are poor and will be “takers” of the system. So far, from what we have seen in our community, nothing could be further from the truth. The Hudhud’s are a shining example of industry and entrepreneurship and there is every reason to believe that they will be net contributors to our economy.

A good friend had this to say about the Syrians on Saturday: “ It is amazing what the human spirit can do. Just push aside the obstacles in this world and watch them roar.” ( Thanks, M.T. ). Like many, he couldn’t get near the chocolate table!

One last thing. To those people who are not in favor of having immigrants amongst us, remember…. all of us are descendants of immigrants… with the exception of our First Nations people.

This week’s “Faces in the Crowd “ ( FITC ) will be profiling a couple for the very first time. This is an amazing story of two people from far flung places in the world who met in the Philippines and ended up making Antigonish their home. It’s a wonderful story and the reasons that they have decided to lay down roots here are instructive as our province tries to bring in more immigrants. Not surprising, one of the words I hear repeatedly is that Antigonish is a safe place to live. We take this for granted … many others know differently.

For those of you on March break, relax, enjoy and be safe!

Have a great week.