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THE WEEKEND OUTLOOK Friday April 191 Religion Easter is the time to rethink reality By JIM RYAN Herald Special Second Sunday of Easter April 1991 John 20 FILL IN THE BLANK EMPTY TOMB Easter is the season in the year when we can all rethink reality After all if someone can rise from the dead whats keeping me in this deadend job this life- denying habit this miserable relationship this whatever will in the blank Filling in the blank is what Easter is all about The blank historically speaking according to the Gospel writers is the emp ty tomb There should have been a body I mean if you cant rely on death what can you rely on aside from A body which had been dead and buried was no longer buried and apparently was not dead FILL IN THE BLANK IN OUR OWN LIVES Easter is the season that brings tears to our eyeq Its the season Religion and Reality by Jim Ryan when we can all fill in the blanks ourselves And dont tell me you dont know what you want in your blank Its the season when ugly duckl ings become beautiful swans when Rip Van Winkles wake up and face the world and when Sleeping Beauties wake up and face a skin rash I met a woman two days after Easter whod spent the weekend in Edmonton going from house to house with a real estate agent until she found a rambling crazy old place that would become a home for her family Shes mov ing out there at the end of the school year with her two sons and her husband Shes going back to the theatre leaving a secure job taking a cut in pay and waking up to life That sounds like a pretty good resurrection story to me When was the last time you sat around with friends and had a resurrection party trading resurrection stories Do it Youll be surprised FILL IN THE BLANK EMPTY CHUBCHES The Saturday Star on the Easter weekend was full of depressing stories about religion and empty churches This is not the central issue People are still experiencing epiphanies and resurrections and reality is still full of the freshness deep down things Peace be with you Theres still life and life is good even in a Hospitals A new breed of volunteer adds to hospital efficiency By HILARY SHORT Theres a new breed of volunteer in our hospitals today people with busy schedules and fulltime jobs who take great satisfaction in helping others dur ing evenings or weekends There are more opportunities for volunteers today and they are better trained and prepared than ever before Volunteers may help out in the emergency ward by offering in formation- and emotional support to families in stressful situations They may work at information desks assist in the admitting of fice deliver lab reports or pay friendly visits to patients to help brighten their day A special type of volunteer might work with the terminally- ill Those who have the ability can often provide muchneeded support by simply being good listeners With more outpatient services provided by hospitals is a growing need for volunteers to help patients waiting for treat ment As patients move from the hospital back to the community volunteers can provide a valuable link to the network of other available services because they are often also members of communitysupport agencies such as MealsonWheels or the Canadian Cancer Society In addition volunteers can be advocates for hospital im provements because they see firsthand what is needed Through fundraising drives or other efforts they can and do get things done Changing lifestyles have altered the face of hospital volunteerism in Ontario With more women now in the work force there are fewer stay-at- home moms who traditionally provided much of this service In creasingly men are joining the ranks of volunteers In addition people who have taken early retirement are fin ding that they can put their skills and experience to valuable use as hospital volunteers Newer Canadians too can find opportunities to get involved in their communities As they help others they can leam the culture and language of their new coun try as well as apply experience theyve acquired in their homelands Students and others who are pursuing careers in health care are also finding that they can gain practical experience as volunteers Jackie president of the Ontario Association of Direc tors of Health Care Volunteer Services explains that volunteers want to feel they are a part of the health care team is also the manager of volunteer services at the Univer sity Hospital in London Ontario The association comprises salaried hospital staff members who coordinate volunteer ac tivities I find volunteers often want a totally different slant from their everyday jobs or lives says Farquhar A computer programmer or a young mother for example may enjoy getting out and talking with patients points to the case of a recent immigrant who was a physiotherapist in Poland He volunteers as an assistant in physiotherapy during the day after his nightshift in a factory For David Boyce one of the few men to be president of a hospital auxiliary in the pro vince volunteer work has been a great source of personal pleasure and satisfaction after a career as a manager in a major multi national corporation Boyce has been involved with Toronto Grace Salvation Army Hospital since he retired sue years ago He is also a member of the board of directors of the Hospital Auxiliaries Association of Ontario While men make up only about per cent of hospital volunteers says their numbers are growing Boyce spends time with pa tients in the therapeutic recrea- tion department where there are drama classes outings and cur rent events discussion groups Because it is a longterm care hospital says we are try ing to bring quality to the pa tients lives to make it a home for them because it is their home Todays volunteers are look ing for something meaningful they want to feel that they are of value to the organization says Marie Hewitt presidentelect of the HAAO Hewitt a Hagersville resident also chairs the board of governors of the West General Hospital Most volunteers are members of local hospital auxiliaries And it is the auxiliaries which through their historic fundraising activities helped build many of the provinces hospitals in addi tion to providing volunteer ser vice Today there are over 31000 ac tive hospital volunteers Collec tively they have raised million a year for improving hospital facilities as well as pro viding services to make patients stay in hospital easier OFF For Seniors on Wed Mill 8533461 Acton Fight Waste Sea A World Wide Pictures Production Hope the family April Hope for the Lonely April 12 1991 Hope for April 26 1991 Hope for Commitment April HI PM GEORGETOWN CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH TRAFUOAR OfOWKTOWN recession AN OLDE HOMILY John writes that those who believe without seeing will be blessed Yet this seems like scant consolation Belief is always uncertain and vague If we could only say with the certainty of John that Jesus is the one we have touched with our hands This could be the intellectual touch of Thomas who in a sense wants to nail Jesus down again or the loving faithful touch of Mary Magdalene Is there a way we can begin to touch our faith in the risen Christ can we begin not merely to assent to the fact of the resurrection but to have our wills and our lives changed by it Faith is after all a very human thing We have faith in time and space in the laws of nature and in other people But what if as so often happens our faith were to be shattered what if time space nature and people did not act ac cording to form What if our senses our thoughts about how or what life is betrayed us The apparent meaning the ap parent order our faith in our universe would vanish We would be left without anything to grasp What would we do in the face of such chaos We could deny it not permitting our faith to be shaped by reality holding on to an old faith that has proven to be a lie or we could accept even grasp the chaos willing to face the chaos within ourselves and our communities The early Christian com munities Mary Magdalene and Thomas among them faced such an experience of chaos The sur prising thing is that out of that chaos came the resurrection of Christ and a strong faithfilled community that still occasional- ly is a wonder to behold Christ is Risen By The Reverend Margaret Murray St Johns Anglican Church Stewart town and St Stephens Anglican Church Hornby Alleluia Christ is Risen Morning has broken like the first morning Blackbird has spoken like the first bird praise for the singing Praise for the morning Praise for them springing fresh from the Word Sweet the rains new fall sunlit from heaven Like the first dew fail on the first grass Praise for the sweetness on the wet garden Sprung in completeness where his feet pass The old days has passed away The old way is gone A new day has dawned Never again can we believe that the the powers of evil will prevail In that thunderous darkness of that Friday so many years ago it must have seemed as if evil had triumphed But Jesus is the victor because he never sold out He willingly gave his life rather than suc cumbing to the power of evil Never again can we believe in death as an overwhelming power Death has alwaysseemed like the enemy of life But even death could not contain or subdue the person of Jesus Even death is disarmed life goes on beyond death Death is but a doorway to a new way of living Never again can we believe that God could abandon us to the powers of evil and death Know ing our muddled ways it has seemed as if God would eventual ly lose patiepce and give up on us But Can a woman forget her child Even these may forget Yet I will not forget you Behold I have carved you on the palms of my hands Isaiah And so the piece resistance Instead of abandon ing us to the powers of evil and death God has made a mockery of the powers of evil and outsmarted death itself Old assumptions evaporate This is a new beginning Joy and Hope abound and we are invited anew into the adventure of Life restored reconciled recreated A new day has dawned Mine is the sunlight Mine is the morning Born of the one Light Eden saw play Praise with elation Praise every morning Gods recreation of the new day Cat Stevens Morning has Broken CHURCH DIRECTORY NONDENOMINATIONAL PENTECOSTAL ALL PEOPLES CHURCH DELIVERANCE CENTRE FlnchgateBlvd Bramalea Corner Bible Study Worship Deliverance Sunday 1030 am 700 pm Wednesday 800 pm We Provide Childrens Church Nursery Service EnglishIoltalian Translation Hi Pastor George A LeRoy 7922176 CHURCH OF ST ALBAN THE MARTYR Anglican Ouch NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH WHERE APOJTUt ME ACTIVE Sunday School am SERVICES am500 pm Wednesdays 800 pm HALTON hills congregation SO Main St South Acton Sfeptwn a hearty welcome to all