Golden Homes, Wooden Hearts
I preached the Thanksgiving sermon on Sunday, and while much of the prep work was done before I left for BC, like naming the sermon and organizing the worship service, the actual sermon was written in the few days before it was preached. The sermon began with this story from my trip.

Some of you may know that I spent most of this past week in British Columbia. When I travel, I like to think of myself as a visitor to the local people and to the land as well. So instead of living in luxurious hotels and visiting all the touristy stops, I like to live amongst the locals, eating what they eat, walking where they walk.

I don't like to be the typical tourist that is constantly pointing, staring and taking pictures. However, this was my first tip to the west coast, and I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the mountains on the horizon, the tall trees in the parks and forests, the gentle waves of the Pacific Ocean flowing on the many beaches and the colours of the setting sun that brought life to the sky.

I attended a wedding in Victoria on the Saturday, and while I was there, I talked to different guests from various parts of the country. Of all the people that I talked to, the ones that were the least impressed with the Victoria scenery, were the ones from Victoria.

The next day, I was walking along a beach in Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park with some people that I met at the wedding who were themselves visiting from Camrose, Alberta. As we were enjoying the beauty of it all, one of them commented, "It's funny how people from around here don’t appreciate the beauty of all this." So I asked her, "Do you appreciate the beauty of Alberta?" She laughed and said, "What beauty?"

Now, I’ve never been to Alberta, but it looked nice at 3000 feet as I flew over. My friends who have visited Alberta tell me it’s beautiful, and friends of mine who visit Ontario for the first time tell me it’s beautiful here too, believe it or not.

Are we incapable of appreciating the beauty around us? As fall descends on us, our trees and forests bring new colour to our landscape. In winter, there may be nothing more peaceful than a freshly fallen snow. Can we, the locals appreciate this beauty? Or can we look no farther than the leaves that need to be raked and the driveway that needs to be shoveled?

This is thanksgiving weekend, and it reminds us that we are supposed to give thanks for what we have. If we were perfect, we wouldn't need a reminder, but we do.

   [ posted by William @ 1:15 PM ]