Ordination

Sunday I went to an ordination, three people were ordained to  deacon  and two to the priesthood.  The Cathedral was filled, not something I’m used to seeing, most of the time it’s more than half empty. 

The processional song took my breath away, the sheer number of voices lifted in song, was amazing, and when the responses were given the congregation‘s voice resonated and filled the church.

Each time the congregation spoke, with that collective voice, it filled me with awe and amazement. The beauty and joy of so many voices twining together into one large resounding voice was something I would very much like to experience again. 

Communion of Saints is a line spoken often in the church as we recite the creed, and on Sunday I think I started to understand a little more about what that means. Those who were being raised up into service of the church glowed with joyfulness and those of us who were there to see it were given a gift as that joy spilled over onto us, filling us as well with that amazingly joyful spirit. 

I am starting to realize that the collective worship in a church is more than people hanging out together and accepting the same God into their hearts. It is a sharing of something unbelievably wondrous. We all like snowflakes are unique, we all have different ideas and make choices that are suitable to only us, but in this one thing, this worship of Jesus Christ we are the same.

Edmonton the Heart of Alberta, now lots of people will say Edmonton isn’t the greatest place to live, I happen to disagree.  Edmonton has a diverse culture, and an almost reckless abundance of things to do, see and hear.  

Ride the Edmonton transit and you hear voices and languages that call up faraway places, exotic foods are found in so many restaurants here that they seem common place rather than strange or different.  There is also an easy acceptance found here for people who are from someplace else, whether that someplace else is a different province in Canada or a different Continent all together.

Most of the people here are from someplace else, we have been transplanted here for various reasons, some come to find work, or to escape war, others to obtain schooling or explore a big city after being raised in a small town.  In most Cities the opening line people ask when encountering someone they don’t know is what do you do, here it’s often where are you from?  

Festivals are everywhere in Edmonton, all types and flavors, each offering a glimpse into someone else’s world. Some of the Festivals are centered around culture, others around creative arts, and some around food or activities.  Most of the Festivals are free to attend. 

Throughout the city it’s easy to find music to suit most any taste, jazz, classical, country, folk, metal, the list is as endless as the types of music people play.  You might find someone playing a jazz horn on one end of Whyte while a violinist fills the air a few blocks away. Get on the LRT at one stop and hear a flutist and as you exit the train further down the line you might hear folk singing or gospel.

The wonderful explosion of cultures here in Edmonton give those of us who are blessed enough to live here and those who only briefly visit a taste of what others have to travel the world to find. Each culture shines and shares new ideas and stretches our imaginations allowing a richer life experience than what we might find elsewhere.