ANADIAN LUTHERANISM TODAY - Lutheran Church-Canada

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both the people of God gathered at
Faith, London, and those who have
come together to be the members of
Christ’s church under His Grace in
Strathroy. Pray for them so they may
be a blessing to this community.
Rev. Larry Gajdos, Mission Executive,
East District
6 The Canadian Lutheran September/October 2012
East District News
Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia Ilene Fortin, editor
From the president
The Virtue of Patience!
“He sets on high those who are
lowly,and those who mourn are lifted to safety”
(Job 5:11).
Lately in my travels within the East District, I have
found myself delayed in reaching my destination
due to the mishaps and accidents which unfortunately
occur so frequently on many of our highways in
southern Ontario. I recently read in the newspaper
the account of a woman who was one day brought to
a local hospital as a result of one of these accidents.
Her hospital-trip was brought on merely because she
had tried to be kind and helpful. She had observed a
minor highway accident, and had stopped her own
car, deciding that someone ought to direct oncoming
traffic. For a few moments she had the situation well
in hand, but then one driver failed to heed her signals
and went crashing into one of the wrecked cars. It,
in turn, hit her. The kind lady, who was not involved
in the initial accident, suddenly found herself being
taken to the nearest hospital.
Sometimes it seems that when we show kindness
and consideration to others it only turns into
dissatisfaction and regret. Perhaps we offer our
services to people and get only sneers and bitter
remarks in return. We begin to wonder if it is
worthwhile to be generous and thoughtful at all.
Undoubtedly, many of the kind things we do go
unappreciated and seemingly fail to accomplish their
purpose. But life in the Master’s spirit never loses
its worth, even in an ungrateful world. By merely
demonstrating patience and perseverance, a great
deal can be accomplished.
A young student from a sparsely settled region
of the country became disheartened because of the
difficulties of his studies and the long years it took to
finish school. He threw down his books in despair
and went back to the rather remote and distant
area in which his home was located. There, to his
bewilderment, he saw a woman rubbing a bar of steel
on a large rock. He asked her what she was trying
to do. He was told that she wanted a needle, and
intended to rub the steel until it was small enough.
It seemed utterly ridiculous, but it served the young
man as an example of real patience.
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not ask anything in return
when He went about doing good to His fellow men.
Most of the time, He received nothing but ridicule
for the things He was doing, the things He was
attempting to accomplish. But that ridicule did not
keep Him from living abundantly. Never did He lose
His perspective. Patiently, even as He tended to the
physical and spiritual needs of others, He kept focused
on His ultimate goal: going to the cross and dying
there for our sins. And through that, He finally gained
the victory of defeating sin, death and the devil.
May God grant to each and every one of us the
patience to keep ourselves focused on the tasks He
places before us. And may we ever be willing and
able to do with zeal those things which give glory to
Him and which will benefit others. And may we do
so looking forward to that final day when our Lord
will bring us to Himself in heaven, because He Himself
patiently fulfilled the task of our redemption!
Rev. Paul Zabel
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2012 39