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8, Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, February 16, 1983 To compete at Pine Ridge competition The following group of Hope this week-end. Collette Webb, Kristin Orono Figure Skaters will Pictured above are Hamel, (front row) Tami take part in a skating com- (back row) Jody Melville, Osmond, Tammy petition being held in Port Gylytuik!, Ashley Burnham Burnham and Karen Gàr- nson. Competed in Uxbridge competition 1 I|l|Lj » % ilpE ' iï pill: • <' „[. L J -5VV" ,± _ | n ij iillu ,j L | , Sto# 4 V^sswnws , ,, The above Qrono tured above are Christy Cathy McCullough, in preliminary ladies and Figure Skating Club Flintoff, placing 7th in 'Preliminary; Andy Michelle Henry who plac- members recently com- Juvenile Ladies; ,Andrea Haines, pre-juvenile Men; ed third in Juvenile peted in a skating'com- Bùrnhaih, Junior Ladies; Karen Mercer, placing 7th Ladies, petition in Uxbridge. Pic- To compete in Pine Ridge competition ■ . WHÏÊÊtk mmmm The following Orono Pine Ridge Skating com- Figure Skating members petitioas this week-end. will be competiting in the Pictured above are: An- Cullough, Christy Flin- dy Haines, Cathy Me- toff and Catherine Mudd. i , Kim Gvivtiuk. Political, social problems also church problems Hugh McCullum, United Church Observer editor, the guest speaker at Oshawa Presbytery ninth , annual Men's Rally said churches are still trying to serve God and money at the same time. Tackling the question of why churches do not practice what they preach, McCullum said the reasons go deeper than ill-will, weak intentions or mere self-interest. He said Christians are controlled controlled by outside forces that are far stronger than offered in the church's life. "Our communion with God, and one another is so frail and limited that we simply have not the resources and Strength to live by what we say", he said. "The accumulation of wealth while our brothers and sisters are in poverty is an evidence of sin in ,the church's life. Jesus maintains that people's true values and priorities are shown in how they spend their money." The speaker claimed fhat future wars will almost certainly certainly be based on economic disparity. To be peacemakers we must' be free of our ' money. This is the critical test of whether the church is being being rênbwed, he said. "Economic sharing should characterize the whole church apd is a way of living intended intended for all God's people, not just the clergy or monastic orders' of special ministry groups," he said, McCullum said sexism and "racism are not just political, social or economic problems but are also theologically offensive offensive because they put limits on God's foregiveness and reconciliation. In defence of the Church, the speaker said, "to hate the church for its failures is like a pastor hating the person who comes in need of healing. Only Only those who have come to feel a genuine love for the church will be able to confront confront it with its own faithlessness and call it back . to its true vocation." McCullum reminded his audience of the indestructible faith of some Chrristians in a complex violent world. He said that Christ's intention for a new world order was one where the lifestyle of people people like Mother Theresa, Jean Vanier and Archbishop Oscar Romero, would be the norm rather than an extraordinary phenonenon. McCullum said, "There is no greater moral authority that that given by standing before the world, free of its securities; no greater threat to the system than that of living free of its rewards and punishments, and therefore free of its control; no greater power than that which comes from being free 'to offer ourselves for what we know to be true." I saw by the newspapers that I should have been in Couchiching over a recent weekend, listening to seven thousand dollar lecturers tell the Ontario Liberals what to .do about the economy. But I wasn't. I was-miles away in another direction watching fat snowflakes fall and listening to perfect peace. On Sunday morning, I walked to à Wooded hill-top I know of, 'about a mile from the house, where the only sounds were the.chatte'ring of the , black squirrels and the occasional screech from a circling hawk. There was a soft blanket of new snow over the fallen leaves, untouched by anything except the footprints of a few rabbits and, once, a fox. The air was sharp and clean, and it would be a troubled human being who could not find a little serenity 1n that cathedral of towering tree trunks. It's a pretty old stand, at the top of that hill. If it has ever been cut, I would guess that it was at least eighty years ago. I walked up to a huge beech, stretched rriy'arms around its smôoth grey trunk, and fouhd I could hardly clasp my hands. In this climate, that's an old tree. My first thought, in that wonderful stand, was that it Ought to be preserved. People should always be able to see something like that. Even now, when woodlots on that scale are still fairly common, even in populous Southern Ontario, it's a moving experience. My other thought was that I should abandon every other economic goal, find out who owns that land, perhaps 40 acres all told, and try to buy it. There is a spring, somewhere, near 1 the top of the*hill which bubbles blackly down a small ravine to its foot. I traced it bâck to a point where it disappeared disappeared Under the snow and leaves. You could build a little shack up there for next to nothing, and with a good wood stove, you could make yourself snug indeed. You don't need electricity for music anymore, not with battery/adios battery/adios and tape players. And-with a good gas lamp and a stack of books, the long winter evenings would go quickly. You'd never run out of wood. As,a matter of fact, ' you could probably make a little from that woodiot. You could take thirty cords a year oqt of it, forever, and never touch the principal. Now thirty cords "is what I call interest, and woodiot management is'what.l cal! economics. And to hell with Couchiching. , That's not news but that too is reality.