Excerpts From: The Messenger |
|
|
"Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)
Being still is not something that comes naturally to most of us. Be still? It isn’t easy, but as the psalmist says, it’s one of the most effective ways we have of getting closer to God. We live in a people centered world and the psalmist reminds us that we need to build a quiet world for ourselves in order to experience full, rich unity with God. God deserves the best of our time, not a harried minute or two stolen from other commitments on the calendar. To illustrate this point: ‘Be Still and know that I am God.’
I would to share with you an interesting article a friend of mine sent me some time ago.
“It was a cold January morning in 2007 in Washington, DC Metro Station. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing in disguise in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.”
The questions that come to mind are:
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made. How many other things are we missing?
How many special persons pass us by and we do not make any effort to get to know them? Never underestimate the power of our actions. With one small gesture we can change a person's life.
We commence the season of Advent on Sunday, November 28 and as we prepare ourselves for the birth of the Christ child. And as the saying goes ‘it is a rat race to the wire’. My friends it shouldn’t be so, let us seize the opportunity to be Still and know God intimately. Equally important, let us seize the very opportunity to be Still and enjoy God’s creation and the people that come our way.
May God richly bless as we wait quietly for his coming.
Your friend and pastor,
Samuel King-Kabu.
The only round church of Jutland dominates the village Thorsager from the top of a hill. The church is well-preserved, but heavily restored. The first sections of the church building is probably from about 1200. It is likely that the king himself was the building master. The king owned 1231 "Thorsager med sit tilliggende, 100 mark guld" - and still in 1573 all farms in Thorsager and two other villages of the parish belonged to the Crown. The church is closely related to Bjernede Church upon Sjælland. The building material is monk bricks - with many riffelhugne (rifle cut) stones, also in the pillars. The inside walls seem to have been red chalked with white joints. The whole church was vaulted from the first beginning. In front of the door was, in the late Middle Ages, built a porch which was heightened later. Because of a heavy repair the tower was partly reconstructed after a breakdown.
When Thorsager church was built as a round church, it was partly to differentiate it from the rectangular village churches, and partly with an eye to defence. We have only to think of the round towers of fortresses.
Here again, the church is in two levels. The lower level is the church – the sanctuary. And the upper level, to which you climb by a winding brick staircase, is the defence chamber. The church is located on the southern hill overlooking the fjord, which explains why it might have been needed for defence.
In the early years the area between the pillars on the upper floor was open. The rich folk could sit there and follow the church service below. Traces of a railing around the hole have been found. The floor has since been added to the upper church, as have the arches.
The church was restored in 1878 and again in 1950-52. In 1952 some new chairs were added, designed by Kaare Klint, as in the Grundtvig church in Copenhagen. The organ was replaced and they built an altar and pulpit out of bricks. The floor was renewed as well. It turned out that the original floor from 1200 lies 1 meter below the new floor. Even below that is a floor of clay and chalk, which is even older, and an even older one of wheat ears, farther below brings us back to antiquity.
Some interesting details: The small choir window now has a glass mosaic pane, created by Harald Borre. The subject is “Krist stod op af døde i påskemorgenrøde”, the well-known Danish hymn. There are niches, small alcoves, with side altars from the Catholic era. A small opening in one of these is thought to be where left-over communion wine would have been discarded. The little crucifix on the altar which was discovered during the restoration is gothic. The horizontal arms of Christ indicate that it is from around year 1400. The crucifix over the choir arch is of more recent origin. The placement of the arms indicate that it is from around year 1600. The baptismal font is likely original but has been re-worked. The church ship which hangs in the lowest level if fairly new, built and donated by Johan Flindt. Outside in the west wall, one might notice an old gravestone in the shape of a trapeze. It dates back to the year 1300. On the stone at the top you can see the outline of a cross and below is the outline of a double staircase. This is Jacob’s ladder, which is meant to help the deceased find their way to God’s realm. On this strange and rare stone you can see the stepped gables of the later Gothic churches and thus decipher their symbolism.
In the central tower you’ll find two church bells. The smaller one was in 1784 recast by the owner of Caløe. Carl August von Hardenberg Reventlou and his wife. The larger bell was recast in 1676 by Commisarius Jesper Nielsen Hutfield, and once again in 1765.
It bears the inscription:
Hör Klocken slaar
Din Tiid bortfaar
Og Evigheden forestaar Omvænde dig, Lev christelig
Det skal dig gavne eviglig.
Thorsager means Thor’s field. It is not too far fetched to surmise that the flat burial grounds with the steep hill leading up to it would have been a temple in Thor’s time. The wheat ears certainly point in that direction.
To finish off this series of articles we’ll explore some other round churches. See next issue of The Messenger.
Jette Blair
A couple years ago the Sunday School did shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, which is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. This year we would like to make it a congregational project. This ties in with Pastor Samuel’s Ghana project as Ghana is one of the countries receiving shoeboxes this year.
I don’t know how many of you saw Amazing Race when the participants were in Ghana. I only saw the first episode, but I remember one of the contestants talking about all the people begging when they were driving. One of my memories from Ghana was all the children with deformed limbs sitting by the roadside begging, as that was their only means of support. It was a shock to me as with our medical system we rarely see children with deformed limbs. On the other hand I remember the joy the people had. It wasn’t from material possessions, but rather from relationships with each other and with God.
For those of you who are grandparents/ parents, would you like to see your grandchildren/ children go without? Do you remember the joy on their faces when they were very young and receiving a present. Think how much more joyful those who have nothing will be when they receive a shoebox full of gifts.
Scripture says it is “More blessed to give than to receive”; but to me it’s a double blessing. I really enjoy buying the gifts, filling the shoebox and praying for the recipient. I get more pleasure out of shoebox shopping than shopping for myself or the family as I am filling needs, rather than wants.
About 3-4 weeks ago Pastor Samuel preached a sermon about faith. That evening I received a phone call about shoeboxes. In faith I went out and picked up 20 boxes – five for our family and 15 for the congregation.
On Sundays I’ll leave a sample shoebox in Beck Hall along with empty boxes and brochures. Please take one of each. The brochure gives suggested items, items to avoid, labels and a donation envelope. The donation ($7.00) partly covers the cost of the boxes, the shipping and a gospel storybook in the child’s own language. It costs me approximately $20 to fill a shoebox.
Shoeboxes can be filled for boys or girls in the following age categories: 2-4, 5-9 and 10-14.
Filled shoeboxes must be returned to the church by November 14 in order to get to the child by Christmas.
If you can’t get to St. Ansgar’s on Sunday, you can take an ordinary shoebox and fill it up. It can be wrapped, but the lid must be wrapped separately from the box.
Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes are ordinary shoeboxes filled with little gifts for a child in an underdeveloped country who wouldn’t receive anything else for Christmas. Shoeboxes can be filled with School Supplies.
such as pens, pencils, pencil crayons, notepads and/or picture books;
Hygiene Items such as brush, comb, hair clips, tooth brush, hand soap*, shampoo*, conditioner*, lip balm* or bath gel*; Toys and other Gifts as in stuffed animals, small musical instruments, toy jewelry, T-shirts, socks, age related toys, or hard candy individually wrapped*. A personal note and picture are a nice addition to a shoebox, for the recipient to know the giver.
A Donation of $7.00 to cover shipping and a gospel storybook.
(*all these items need to be packed in a resealable plastic bag in case they leak.)
Some items cannot be included such as toothpaste (due to customs regulations), decks of playing cards, items that could break (eg mirrors), or items that could harm or scare a child (war related toys).
For further information check out Samaritan’s Purse website at www.samaritanspurse.ca/occ/.
On behalf of the children, thank-you for your participation.
Susan King-Kabu
Web Page prepared by:
Roger Kenner
& Jette Blair.
Content-New Topics Last Updated: 2011/09/09
St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal