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THE Visit us online: www. DIOCESAN TIMES nspeidiocese.ca DECEMBER 2011 A SECTION OF THE ANGLICAN JOURNAL Serving the Anglican Church in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Adoration of the shepherds Above: Adoration of the Shepherds by BRONZINO, Agnolo (1539-40) Agnolo di Cosimo (November 17, 1503 – November 23, 1572), usually Oil on wood, 65 x 47 cm known as Il Bronzino, or Agnolo Bronzino was an Italian Mannerist Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest painter from Florence. find us online: www.nspeidiocese.ca PAGE 2 DECEMBER 2011 - THE DIOCESAN TIMES COLUMNISTS Advent by the Bog BY THE TIME this is being messages rather than elves and No one gets into the spirit read the season of Advent red nosed reindeer; a manger of the season more than VOLUME 66 NUMBER 10 has passed into the joy scene instead of a dancing, Billie .But she does wait until of Christmas. Even if the decorated evergreen. Ever December 24th before she PAUL SHERWOOD 25th hasn’t arrived yet, try to find those cards now allows the purple of Advent Editor our thinking is of nothing days? It isn’t easy! They can be to be replaced by the white but tinsel and fruit cakes found hidden on the bottom of Christmas .Somehow and turkey. Oh yes, and shelf...if you are lucky! I’m our Christmas Eve service is PAUL FRIESEN that special birthday we are sure we all will have at least all the more special for the Review Editor celebrating. one such card to send to our waiting. We do not sing the Rev. Billie does her very best Rector. first Nowell until the first to keep us centered on Advent We are busy baking our fruit Noel, if you get my drift. We come to our beloved little This issue is also on the web: with all that goes with the cakes and fancy cookies here www.nspeidiocese.ca season. The colour purple on By the Bog but we also are church and see the flowers the altar, the lack of flowers lighting Advent candles in our that surround the altar and on the Holy Table, the singing ST. B ART’S BY THE BOG homes and feeling pangs of steps to the sanctuary that are SUBSCRIPTION RATE FOR THE of all those glorious hymns guilt when we get the urge to there in memory of long gone DIOCESAN TIMES and ANGLICAN Sarah Neish worshipers at St. Bart’s. We JOURNAL: telling of John the Baptist put up that tree by the end of $20 per year Single copies: $2 and all of those other ‘here November. Some are calling rejoice in the full church that happens only at this service He comes’ hymns . Billie one seemed to get stuck in them Advent trees until Subscribe or make changes ONLINE: tries to keep our eyes on the the stuff or have to remove it December 20th. when family come out to join www.anglicanjournal.com/ true reason for the chaos that .Just lots of Carollers standing the regulars . We sing the circulation/subscriptions.html My Orin has taken advantage beautiful hymns of the season surrounds December 25th but under street lamps singing of the unseasonably warm or write: , as she says, the world crowds and little children building and look as Rev. Billie blesses November weather to hang the cradle and has one of our Diocesan Times/Anglican in on us, even here By the Bog huge snowmen! And this all our outside lights on the Journal Circulation Dept and the fever of shopping and started by mid October! youngest worshipers place 80 Hayden St bushes and around the the figure of the baby in the Toronto, ON M4Y 3G2 baking seems to overshadow Who knows where or when windows of our house. He our Advent. manger. [email protected] the world took over the says he cannot remember ever (416 ) 924-9199 Ext 259/245 The old folks like to blame celebration of Our Saviour’s before doing this job in shirt Christmas by the Bog is such Television for most of the birth ,it is now a fact of life sleeves. Usually his fingers are a special time of year! Christmas hype. I remember and we need to do our part numb by the time the final We wish everyone the joy of a my dear mother saying that to hold on to our Christian string of lights has been hung. Blessed Christmas. LETTERS & NEWS: Paul Sherwood, Editor more snow was falling inside traditions. Billie has urged us We all love Christmas. It I’ll keep you posted, PO Box 8882, her new TV than she had ever to send out cards with what Halifax, NS B3K 5M5 brings out the child in us Aunt Madge seen in real life and that no some might call ‘religious’ with its magic and wonder. [email protected] 902.477.3040 ADVERTISING: Harold Irving (902) 865-4795 cell (902) 489-4795 Praying through the darkness [email protected] DVENT IS ABOUT OUR HOPE A knew he would not get very far to persevere in prayer. Published monthly except in July in the Light of the World. before getting tangled up. He Perhaps all we have is that and August by The Diocesan Times But as the daylight hours of weighed his options. Go back; little light but that is enough Publishing Company. the season grow shorter and ‘stay put’ and wait for the light to help us pray through the Available electronically at: darkness gains the upper of day to come to him; or, he hurts and pains, the struggles www.nspeidiocese.ca/times/times. hand, these long evenings could try to go on. He took and pitfalls of this world. As htm and nights may serve more to out a small flashlight he kept we travel the path, in darkness remind us of that darkness in his pack and remounted. or in the full light of day, we Printed by and mailed from Signal Star Publishing Ltd., rather than light and lead to With his thumb on the will come across people who Goderich, Ontario. hopelessness. throttle he steered using his are hurt and broken. We will How we think about our right hand. In his left hand come upon situations that he held the flashlight to shine need our hands to help or our Opinions expressed do not circumstances often affects necessarily refl ect the views of the how we pray. There is on the path ahead. Slowly, voice to speak. very slowly, he made his way editor, the management board of darkness all around as we To continue in prayer as we The Diocesan Times, the diocese of wait for the fullness of the through the woods. He had to travel our own trails brings the Nova Scotia and Prince Kingdom of God to come stop many times to look more light of our Lord to shine on Edward Island or any representative closely to see he was still on thereof, except where expressly in. With terrible stories of Prayer all those dark tangled places. stated. All material subject to conflicts, natural disasters, the trail. It took six hours but Our own knowledge and he did get home to his family. editing. and fragile economies; with Steve Laskey experience of the trail gives us personal circumstances of His knowledge of the trail the confidence to persevere illness, issues of employment through the woods, of all its and to keep moving forward and family crisis, some of us moonless night and as it was obstacles and challenges, even even if it is very slow. The might be spurred on to more early December, there had in the depths of darkness, light that shines in Advent is not yet been much snow. The fervent prayer. Others are led allowed him to keep moving our Lord who is always with SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE: to an overwhelming bleakness trail was still quite rough with forward. He did not retreat. us. We are able to pray in The fi rst week of the month that hinders their ability to small streams to get through He did not stand still. He all circumstances and we do preceding the month of pray. So how can we continue and trees and rocks to get over knew the path and knew what not lose heart. We continue publication: e.g., the deadline for or around. But he knew the the February edition is the fi rst in prayer at this time? he was about. in hope for ourselves and for week of January. route and in spite of it being others. There was a man who quite late, he decided to leave As people of prayer it is desperately needed to return just the same. important for us to know the home. He was not in his circumstances of the path on Halfway through the 80km Steve Laskey is the rector of Christ own community and he lived which we journey. We need Church, Dartmouth and the where the only way to get journey the light on the to know what we are about snowmobile gave out. He was Diocesan Rep for the Anglican between home was to travel so that even in the darkest of Fellowship of Prayer. by snowmobile. It was a left in complete darkness and times we have the confidence THE DIOCESAN TIMES - DECEMBER 2011 PAGE 3 BISHOP’S MESSAGE What are we afraid of? I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED my first Christmas card this year. That Saint Luke tells us that Jesus was born in a stable (probably a cave), may not surprise you if you are reading this column in mid- far from the hometown of his parents.