Stain Glass Lens of the 21st Century

Category: Canada Day

  • Spreading Seeds of Care, Connection, and Community

    Spreading Seeds of Care, Connection, and Community

    The best part of going away is coming home again!  My husband and I took a mini holiday this past week. We decided to spend a few days in a popular destination prior to the height of the tourist season.  The hotel, known for its luxury, didn’t disappoint nor did its reputation for friendly and welcoming staff; we will be going back.  The restaurants were not only full of charming atmosphere, and friendly staff but the food was also delicious.   

    What did surprise me were the tourists.   Folks seemed less friendly then I remember.  If a group of us were in an elevator, no one spoke or when a group of us were in the same tour group one afternoon, everyone was polite but certainly not friendly. It seemed that folks have become more insular, less interested in connecting, even in the slightest way, with others around them.  As I observed this change in human behavior I found myself asking, “When did this start to happen?  Is this the result of too much time spent on social media?  Is this a by-product of the pandemic? ” I was puzzled by what I was witnessing.   

    It wasn’t until our first evening home that the puzzle was solved. We had stopped at the corner store to purchase a bag of milk.  As I was leaving the store a young man fell in step behind me.  He was balancing several bottles of pop and a few bags of potato chips.  There was dust all over him from the top of his work hat, across his work shirt covering most of the logo from a local construction company, and all the way down to his work boots.   He looked to be on his way home from a long day.  Not wanting to slow him down I stepped aside and said, “You go ahead of me, I move rather slow these days.” 

    He responded, “That’s okay.  I’m in no hurry.” 

    He stepped ahead of me and walking through the automated doors he turned and held the door open with his shoulder and said, “Just in case it begins to close on you, I will hold it.”  I smiled and thanked him, knowing he had just solved the puzzle for me. 

    The reason folks down in the city seemed so indifferent to each other is because they don’t live where I live.  In the town I live we hold doors for each other, we smile and chit chat even with strangers and we most certainly care for the other. 

    His actions reminded me of the saying, ‘Humankind: be both!’

    As the first long weekend of the summer arrives may the hospitality of our small communities warm the hearts of the tourists and be carried back to the cities; seeds of care, connection and community.  

    Happy Summer,

    Rev. Heather McCarrel

    Photo by Gary Barnes/Pexels

  • Proud To Be Canadian

    Proud To Be Canadian

    This past month my husband and I spent some time traveling around England and Wales.  Prior to leaving Canada we had been advised to place small Canadian flags on our luggage and back packs so everyone would know we were Canadian.  Not thinking much of it, I did pack a few Canadian pins into our carry-on luggage but failed to pin them on.        

    That was until the second evening of our trip.  We had just finished placing our order in one of those quaint village pubs when the gentleman at the table beside us turned and said, “Oh, a couple of Americans! I have wanted to ask about that Trump fella you choose as a President.”

    We were quick to fix that misunderstanding.  He apologized and offered to buy us each a pint so to “mend the fence”.  Once back at our hotel room I pinned a small Canadian flag on both of our backpacks and these little pins made all the difference!

    We were stopped by waitresses, hotel staff and complete strangers wanting to share their Canadian stories; stories of family members and friends who now make Canada their home.  We heard heartwarming stories of Canadian care and hospitality.  One hotel worker asked if we had ever heard of a place called Kitchener-Waterloo as he will be moving there this September.

    It wasn’t until we visited St. Margaret’s Church in Bodelwyddan, Wales that my Canadian pride filled my eyes with tears.  In the churchyard of St Margaret’s, locally named the ‘Marble Church’, is the cemetery of over 100 Canadian servicemen and women who died during the First World War and two servicemen of the Second World War. Carved into each  headstone is a maple leaf along with the names, birthplace, and age of each Canadian. This churchyard is kept immaculate and our Welsh guide solemnly said, “To think they came over to help us fight a war that wasn’t their own and they never went home.  We will always be grateful to Canada for this.” 

    In total there was an estimated 15, 000 Canadian Service men and women who went to England and Wales during WWI.  Standing tall amid the graves is a Memorial and inscribed upon it is: “To the memory of Canadian soldiers who died at Kinmel Park Camp during the Great War. This memorial was erected by their comrades. Their name liveth for evermore.”

    It was while we slowly paused at each grave, reading the names and ages that I began to tear up; young men and women between the ages of 19-21, mere children.  I took off my pack back and taking the Canadian pin from it, I placed it among the Canadian coins and river rocks that were scattered around the memorial.

    This weekend is Canada Day.  A day set aside to celebrate and reflect on what it means to be Canadian. We have a past both prideful and painful and a future full of opportunities to mend the wrongs and honour the rights.   

    Happy Canada Day,

    Rev. Heather McCarrel     

    Canadian Flag Photo by Erik McLean/Pexels