Lion Lamb Blog -- David Mundy: December 2024

Tuesday, December 03, 2024

Giving Tuesday all Year Round

Before worship on Sunday a member of the Trenton United Church Outreach Committee gave us a reminder of the various projects we could support through the season. They include the city Warming Centre run out of the building, the Friday Meal Program, gifts cards for the Benevolent Fund, and the local food bank. This is a "do unto others" congregation, punching above its weight in many ways, and it was impressive to hear of theses initiatives clustered together in one announcement.

This is Giving Tuesday, the opportunity following the Spend, Spend, Spend long weekend to support the myriad charities across the country doing wonderful work on behalf of those who are often struggling for a variety of reasons. It is an invitation to be kind and generous and to count our blessings. We've heard that many of those charities are worried because many of their donors put a cheque in the mail and with the postal strike this can't happen. Organizations such as the Salvation Army have already been hard hit because of the strike.

We may take this opportunity to support some of the other organizations on our list such as Ontario Turtle Rescue, Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre, along with others. Today is also a reminder that so many faith groups are giving year round and deserve our respect and generosity.

Monday, December 02, 2024

Support for those who are Struggling Most

Dumb and Dumber?

I'm a pay your bills on time, don't buy what you can't afford kinda guy, so I tend to be exasperated when governments, provincial and federal decide to hand out cash to "hard working (fill in the blank)" even though they are borrowing that money to do so and saddling taxpayers with the bill. First it was the Ontario government promising $200 "rebate" cheques. Now the feds are proposing to give $250 to wager earners across the country, right up to income of $150,000, but not to seniors who still pay their taxes and who vote with greater frequency than younger generations. What are they smoking up there in Ottawa?

These are dumb and desperate schemes but I'm not annoyed that I won't get my sliver of the federal pie. I figure that our governments should be supporting those who actually need it and I'm even willing to have them borrow for that purpose. Sure, lots of struggling families will benefit from the handouts, although it won't go far. For many others this will be chump change and, in the end, cost them money down the road.

There are a ton of ineligible people who would benefit far more, including those who are jobless and disabled and seniors who are trying to get by on meagre government pensions. Both the Ontario and Canadian governments could have done a lot of good by focussing on those with the greatest need in these challenging times. There are reasons that the number of people using food banks is growing exponentially.

I believe this as a Christian and as a concerned citizen who would really appreciate governments using good fiscal sense rather than coming up with lame vote-getting measures. Don't get me started on the GST rebate...

Sunday, December 01, 2024

Advent 1 & World AIDS Day

A week or so ago I thought about the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and I'm not sure why, but here we are on World AIDS Day. I went looking and discovered that the first cross-Canada tour of this quilt honouring those who had died of HIV/AIDS was in 1989 and stopped in major regional cities. It came to Sudbury, our home at the time, a year or two later. It was at city hall, a stone's throw from St. Andrew's UC, the downtown congregation I served. I encouraged folk to visit it and I did so a couple of times. The squares were loving memorials to those who had died of AIDS which at first was described as the "gay plague" because initially it was most prevalent amongst gay and bisexual men. There was a stigma about HIV/AIDS and religious groups often led the way in condemnation, some calling it God's judgement. The quilt was moving because the loss and love were so evident. These were cherished human beings, brothers and sons and nephews.

I've written about being asked to join the newly formed AIDS Committee of Sudbury, shortly after arriving at St. A's in 1988 by a member of the congregation. Tom Reid gathered various people from social agencies and medical institutions, but he wanted to include a Protestant minister and a Roman Catholic priest. We met at St. Andrew's initially and I had my introduction to the curious politicization of a pressing issue, what I came to call "peeing on trees" because representatives were inclined to mark their territory. They did work together, nonetheless and brought about meaningful change.

I was too bewildered to have any territory of my own, even though we were gathered on my turf. As I've admitted before, I wasn't really sure if I should be there, but I learned. I had three roles beyond being educated beyond prejudices.

I visited AIDS patients in hospital, I presided at funerals and memorials for those who were sometimes rejected in their congregations or families, and I helped others get a perspective on pastoral support. Some of those who were suffering wanted the comfort of prayer and scripture and those who were faithfully attending to their other needs didn't want to be involved in any religious stuff. There were regular seminars for caregivers and I would participate and gently remind participants that this wasn't about them and their convictions. If they were asked to read a novel to their loved one they would probably do so without hesitation, so why not a passage from the bible?

I hope that I did some good along the way but in many respects this involvement brought about important changes in my outlook, not unlike what unfolded during my summer chaplaincy internship at Kingston Penitentiary and involvement in meal ministries in several congregations. In each situation I was a child of God alongside other children of God, loved and redeemed in Christ. That was all that really mattered.

AIDS is no longer the death sentence it once was because of the development of antiviral drugs yet I heard this morning that the number of cases in Canada is on the rise. We can be vigilant in overcoming our prejudices and asking how we can be of support, including in prayer.

We've managed to find our AIDS Day beaded pins to wear to worship today. This is the first Sunday of Advent in 2024 and there are worship resources combining Advent 1 and World AIDS Day awareness. Here is a litany from those materials: