Blessings, 
Tomorrow is a day when traditionally we celebrate Canada Day.  I am sure you have heard in the news, however, that Canada Day celebrations have been cancelled in many places - and not because of Covid, but because of the realization of the horrific discovery of unmarked graves of indigenous children.
How are we to respond as a community of faith?
I can not tell you what to do.  
But personally tomorrow I will take time to reflect on this land which was called Turtle Island long before settlers called it Canada.  I will acknowledge our history, both good and bad. And I will pray that we can move forward in a way that allows us to celebrate our ability to reconcile our wrongs,  to listen to each other, and to work together for a unified future in this great country.
If you want to join with members of the WOW region in a Canada Day prayer vigil, tomorrow at 10.30am, click on this link to join the zoom:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://united-church.zoom.us/j/2987182879
Meeting ID: 298 718 2879
Whatever you do tomorrow,  have a wonderful day.  And as you reflect, I invite you to listen to this song that Brian Boland shared with me.  The lyrics were apparently written by an 83-year-old man who lives in a retirement home in Perth, Ontario.
We Are Canadian song
Peace,
Rev. Gail

Blessings.
We are almost at the end of our series of inspirational messages that have focused on Homes.  We have taken time to stroll our neighbourhoods, back yards, parks, or just sit and look out a window.  This resource is adapted from, and used with permission from, The Prayer Bench (https://prayerbench.ca/).  Today's message is from Rev. Gail. 
Our Habitat for Today :  The Canadian Goose !
I know it has been difficult for parents, and some grandparents that have been home schooling during this pandemic.  Taking care of children is wonderful – but can also be exhausting.  But imagine if you had 30 -40 little ones to take care of! 
But, it is not uncommon to see that if you walk down by any river where there are Canadian Geese.
As I (Rev. Gail) walk the river in Stratford, I have noticed again this year how the young goslings from various nests have been gathered together, and they are being raised under the watchful eyes of ‘Nannies’.  Yes – adult geese take it upon themselves to take care of all the little ones in the community.  I haven’t figured out if they take it in turns, but research tells me that the older geese sometimes teach the young geese about the best ways to train the young goslings.  It all seems very organized in the Geese crèches.  There are sometimes more than 80 of them all at different ages and stages, learning to clean themselves, swim, jump in an out of the water and more.  They sleep, eat, swim and play together in community!
I find I like to admire them from a distance, for fear that they may decide to all walk in my direction.
 
Blessings to your home, and to your crèches, Geese.
If you have the chance to stroll by water and see the Geese, as you watch them, I invite you to reflect on what this can teach us about living in community?  
Have we sometimes become too insular, or too afraid of strangers, that we forget what we can learn from one another?  
How can we improve the way in which we reach out to care for others in our community?
Peace, Rev. Gail

​Blessings.
Today we continue with our series of inspirational messages that will focus on Homes, as we take time to stroll our neighbourhoods, back yards, parks, or just sit and look out a window. This resource is adapted from, and used with permission from, The Prayer Bench (https://prayerbench.ca/). 
Our Habitat for Today :  The squirrel !
Now I (Rev. Gail) have to admit that although I like to watch squirrels play chase with each other in my garden, I am the first to get upset when they start to dig up my bulbs.  So much so, that I have tried everything from human hair, paprika, bone meal, and special ‘Squirrel Off’ that I purchased from the nursery.  Next year I will try Tricia Wetlauffer’s tip for placing a rubber snake in my garden!
But Janice, of the Prayer Bench, reminds us to focus on the playful nature of the squirrel, suggesting that we should give them a chance to earn a bit of admiration. I expect you have all seen squirrels. They are the most visible wildlife in many towns and cities. Perhaps as you have strolled or sat looking from your window or balcony, you have seen them zig-zagging along the grass or leaping from tree to tree. They are accomplished acrobats, jumping a distance of 20 feet. They can fall from a distance without hurting themselves, and effectively use their tail for balance and as a parachute.  
They are talkative. Perhaps you have heard their high-frequency chirps or watched the communicative tail movements. They have their own warning system. 
They gather nuts and bury them in soft earth. In winter they can sniff out their hoard from under a layer of snow. But sometimes they forget and little trees grow from their abandoned stash. 
Squirrels play-fight with one another and young squirrels chase each other in delight improving their strength and coordination. 
They are cheery, don't you think? Maybe a little fun to watch? 
Enjoy this little video:
Squirrels at play
Peace to your house Squirrels. May God cause all to be well with you.

Focus for Your Stroll 
“play is using our bodies, hearts, minds and spirits to explore the world around us with kindness and awe.”  - Jennie Justice 
Today is a day for practicing play. Be like a squirrel and Stroll in a zig-zag pattern. Try leaping. Vary your route and create a small adventure. Write a fun, tiny poem. Make a play page in your journal with colours and shapes. In your meetings, phone calls, emails or conversations, use the word “delight” in a sentence ten times today. Collect a treasure on your Stroll and carry it in your pocket as a touchstone for a desire for a lightness of being. Savour a handful of nuts. Do the twist!
A reminder – this Sunday 27th will be Holy Humour Sunday – so playfully find a funny hat or costume to wear as we gather in person outside.
Peace, Rev. Gail

Blessings.
Today we continue with our series of inspirational messages that will focus on Homes, as we take time to stroll our neighbourhoods, back yards, parks, or just sit and look out a window. This resource is adapted from, and used with permission from, The Prayer Bench (https://prayerbench.ca/). 
Our Habitat for Today 
An ocean-dweller, the Hermit Crab, carries its home on its back. 
Reflection: In Pursuit of a Home  
I like crabs. When I (Rev. Gail) was a child, I would love to wade through the rock pools of Brighton beach and look for crabs in the shallow water.  The Hermit Crab carry their homes on their backs.  Janice says she imagines them as the monks of the tidal pools scuttling about and withdrawing deep into their shells when they need a break. Actually, they are very social and actually thrive in the company of other hermit crabs often climbing over one another for fun; they are excellent climbers.  
Interestingly they don’t actually have a shell of their own. But to protect their soft abdomen they crawl into an empty snail shell and make it their home, and they stay there until they outgrow their residence or decide to upgrade their shell. 
Take a look at the video to see the rather wondrous home exchange. 
Video: A Hermit Crab
Peace to your house Hermit Crab. May God cause all to be well with you.

Focus for Your Stroll 
Today with the hermit crabs who carry their home, we remember all those that have no-where to call home. 
Those that walk the streets with plastic bags, and shopping carts. 
Those that are refugees who flee danger taking only what they can carrying.
 
Before you Stroll, I invite you to reflect on this spoken word poem, “Refuge” written by JJ Bola, a Kinshasa-born, British writer and poet, based in London.
“… i remember one day i heard them say to me
they come here to take our jobs
they need to go back to where they came from
not knowing that i was one of the ones who came. i told them that a refugee is simply
someone who is trying to make a home.
so next time when you go home, tuck your children in and kiss your families goodnight be glad that the monsters
never came for you.
in their suits and ties.
never came for you.
in the newspapers with the media lies.
never came for you.
that you are not despised.
and know that deep inside the hearts of each and every one of us
we are all always reaching for a place that we can call home.”

When you go out to Stroll, make a prayer for the place you call home.
Look for “for sale” or “sold” signs and pray for those who are moving.
Widen your prayer and think about others in the world who are on the move without a home to call their own and living in fear.  
Pray for leaders and a compassionate response to the intense housing crisis experienced in many countries and worsened by the pandemic. 
 
Peace. Rev. Gail

Blessings.
Today we continue with our series of inspirational messages that will focus on Homes, as we take time to stroll our neighbourhoods, back yards, parks, or just sit and look out a window. This resource is adapted from, and used with permission from, The Prayer Bench (https://prayerbench.ca/). 
Our Habitat for Today :  Wasps in their Nest
Reflection: Standing in Awe 
Sadly, probably many of us have at some point googled how to get rid of a wasp nest. Or, perhaps we have purchased a lethal spray, waited to late evening when the wasps have returned to the nest, then sprayed this potent chemical foam into the nest sealing their exit, before leaving the scene quickly.   It does work. 
But, have we stopped to consider the intelligence and the architectural beauty of their home? 
The Queen spends the winter in a protected place, maybe under a piece of bark. Come spring and it is time to build a nest. Not build so much as to craft. The Queen uses her jaws to scrape bits of fibre from plants, logs, cardboard or fences and with her saliva breaks down the wood to produce a fibre that eventually dries as a strong, grey paper. She makes paper. 
This paper is shaped into a series of hexagonal cells which create “waterproof envelope.”  Their new home is vented at the top, and open at the bottom so the wasps can come and go. 
The Queen lays a fertilized egg into each cell and the life cycle continues.  
Video - A wasp building a nest.

Yes, wasps can be troublesome and the sting of a riled wasp hurts. But standing in awe goes a long way in finding other ways to live together in peace and harmony. 
Peace to your house Wasps. May God cause all to be well with you.

Focus for Your Stroll 
During the 2020 Season of Creation, from 1 September through 4 October, thousands of Christians on six continents united for a time of restoration and hope, a jubilee for our Earth, and they discovered radically new ways of living with creation.
As you stroll today, I invite you to pray this prayer before you Stroll :
“Jesus Christ, teach us to empathize with Earth.
Make our spirits sensitive to the cries of creation,
cries for justice from the land, the seas, and the skies.
Jesus Christ, make our faith sensitive to the groans of the Spirit in creation,
groans of longing for a new creation.
Jesus Christ, make our hearts sensitive to the songs of our kin,
songs of celebration from the sea, the forest, and the air.
Christ, teach us to care. Amen

Stroll now with deeper awareness of our kinship with creation. Look for the wasps and give thanks. 
When you return you might want to honour the skill of wasps by making paper. 
Instructions to make paper
And another way to make paper!

Peace, Rev. Gail

​Blessings.
Today we continue with our series of inspirational messages that will focus on Homes, as we take time to stroll our neighbourhoods, back yards, parks, or just sit and look out a window. This resource is adapted from, and used with permission from, The Prayer Bench (https://prayerbench.ca/).  Our Habitat for Today :Young calves going into the fields. 

Reflection: Wild with Joy 
"But for you who revere my name 
the sun of righteousness shall rise, 
with healing in its wings. 
You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall"  - Malachi 4:2 (NRSV).
 
I invite you to watch this short video of young calf:
Video- young calf playing

When I (Rev. Gail) first read this message from The Prayer Bench, a friend of mine had just told me the news that his cow had given birth to twins.  How exciting!  If you live on a farm or drive by a field in spring, you just might see newborn calves jumping for joy.  It’s a lovely sign of spring. The baby animals are dashing about and leaping straight up with a sense of complete abandon. They are the epitome of curiosity exploring the new sights and sounds of the greening pasture. 

The prophet Malachi uses the image of exuberant calves to call people to a transformed life. It seems the folk of his day weren’t being good neighbours to one another. It seems timely that we read this now as we still struggle with the recent hate crimes in London. 
Like all good prophets, Malachi holds up images of what needs to change and what will happen if it doesn’t. He also shifts into images of what new life could look like for those who listen – a messenger will come, he says, and there will be a dawning of justice and healing.  In this new day a joy emerges that cannot be contained. In this new day, God will offer strength to the people and justice will rise. This is a message for our time today!

Peace to your house calves. May God cause all to be well with you.

Focus for Your Stroll 
Is it a sunny day? Be aware of the sun rising and warming Earth as you Stroll.
Look for signs of joy around you. What do you see?
Can you find ways to allow these signs to open or soften your heart to the possibility of joy?  
Know that Joy is not a feeling dependent on what is going on in our lives or the life of the world, but a deep current of energy running through the universe. It is a fruit of the Spirit. 

As you Stroll, breathe in joy for yourself, and breathe out joy to bring strength to a need in the world. 
“The joy of the Lord is our strength” said another prophet, Ezra. (Ezra 8:10)

Peace, Rev. Gail