April 16, 2010 - Glebe Report

RELIGION
Tiptoe through the tulips
BEST
By Reverend Clarke Dixon
“Tiptoe Through the Tulips” is the
title of a song that I used to sing at
full blast in falsetto while working
as a student at Pizza Hut. It was
loud, horrible, but good fun for my
co-workers who would end up joining
in. I’d sing it in church, but after
my rendition of Kool & the Gang’s
“Celebration” recently, I think we’ll
leave the tiptoeing to my Pizza Hut
days!
We will soon be seeing the tulips,
and no better place to see them than
right here in Ottawa with a walk during
the annual tulip festival. It takes
considerable willpower for me to tiptoe
through the tulips without singing,
but for the sake of my family and
the neighbourhood, I’ll endeavour to
do so.
Go for a walk in the spring, and
besides the tulips, you will see all
manner of signs of life: geese flying
overhead, robins on the lawn,
motorcycles on the road, buds on
trees. The signs are all there, we just
need to look around! At Fourth Avenue
Baptist, we are encouraged by
the signs of life in our church. Take
a walk and you will hear the sounds
of the Sunday school, hear rumours
of youth initiatives being undertaken,
stumble across a pastoral care team
gaining steam for a new season, find
a small but passionate group praying
in our new prayer room, or the Bible
study group studying and praying in
the youth room. You might even hear
a baby or two in the new nursery, and
soon you will hear the splash from
baptisms. And of course, you will
hear music! The signs of life are
there, we just need to look around!
But as great as spring is with all
its signs of life, and as great as it is
to see the signs of life in our church,
we long to see the signs of life that
God brings to people’s lives in our
nation. Look around, and we see
people struggling with relationships,
or struggling with addictions, poverty
or tragedy. We see marriages
falling apart. We see innocent people
suffering from the evil committed by
others. Read the headlines and it may
seem that life is no springtime walk
in the park.
Jesus is risen, and because He is
risen, new possibilities emerge. Marriages
are on the rocks across our city.
But He is risen – strong and fulfilling
family life is possible. Relationships
are strained. But He is risen – unity is
possible. People are addicted. But He
is risen – freedom is possible. People
are hateful and hated. But He is risen
– the experience of love is possible.
People are pessimistic. But He is
risen – confidence is possible. People
are far from God. But He is risen –
reconciliation is possible. People are
dying. But He is risen – and the impossible
has become possible: “the
dead shall be raised incorruptible” 1
Cor 15:52.
Life may be no walk in the park, no
happy “tiptoeing through the tulips,”
but walk with Jesus and new possibilities
emerge.
Reverend Clarke Dixon can be
reached at the Fourth Avenue Baptist
Church at 613-236-1804 or revdee@
sympatico.ca.
Glebe Report April 16, 2010 41
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