On the first Sunday of September we had communion, as is our custom
on first Sundays. As I came up in the line to be served I was struck
by the sight of Gord Pearcy and Sarah Waldie paired up to serve
together. The pairing was so meaningful to me that as I returned to
the chancel I took a picture of it. When I posted that picture on the
St. Paul’s Facebook page I described it this way: “One of our
long time members serving communion alongside one of our most recent
members “. To me that speaks to a big thing the church has to
offer – one I have yet to see appear in Sharon’s “I go to
church because...” slides.
I have
long believed that we are healthier as individuals and as a society
when we have relationships that cross generations. Since I was sure I
had seen articles supporting that belief I put the phrase “benefits
of intergenerational relationships” in Google and it returned about 5 690 000 results .
Intergenerational relationship give chances to teach and to learn
(flowing both ways). They help with understanding and breaking down
stereotypes. They provide a chance to pass on corporate memory. They
help people deal with the ups and downs of life.
There
was a time, I believe, when most people had ready access to
intergenerational relationships. Often these were within a family
unit as fewer people moved far from home. That is no longer true.
While there are certainly some families that can regularly have 3 or
4 generations (some can even do 5) gather together there are a lot of
families where such a thing can only happen with a lot of travelling.
And even within our communities we tend to divide naturally along
generational lines. We tend to gather with people of common interests
and activities, people in a similar phase of life.
Then
there is the church.
One of
the first songs I remember learning in Junior Choir 40+ years ago was
We Are the Church. The last
verse says “I count if am 90. Or 9 or just a baby.” Church events
(be that worship or fall suppers or potlucks or camp-outs) are times
where people from a variety of ages are in the same space together.
Our daughters have never
lived in the same community as any other family. They have visited
family frequently but never lived where they could go a drop in on
Grandma just because.
But there is the church.
Our
girls have always had a surrogate family. When we were in Atikokan
there were a number of people they referred to as Grandma or Uncle
(here they just know people
by name). Most
of those were from the church community. They have benefited from
having surrogate family who love and care for them. As
infants and toddlers they would accompany me to services at seniors
centres (and sometimes still do) where their mere presence brightened
the eyes of some of those residents. They have heard stories told.
And now as they get older they share learning with others – as I
think of the many times Sarah has helped walk Linda through the
setting up of the powerpoint.
It
is important to have people of all ages who care about and
love each other. We learn so
much more about life that way. In Grande Prairie we have a lot of
people who have left family behind. One of the things I think we can
offer is surrogate family. Indeed that is one of the things I mention
to most of the families who come to us for baptism. We need places
where generations mix. It won’t always be easy, we will have
conflicting priorities at
times. But we can and should do it. Because we do count when we are
90, or 9 or just a baby.
Gord
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