SHOPPING!






My blog today on shopping and a few weeks ago on “Living on an Island” are not meant to be a travel guide for those wishing to visit Bermuda but merely some things that I found very interesting since moving here four years ago. We have hosted family members and friends who have come to the Island for a visit. The agenda normally goes something like this; a tour of Hamilton, a visit to the Pink Church a drive along Harbor Road to see the city from the opposite side of the bay. On another day we drive to the gorgeous town of St. George’s where we visit St Peter’s Church and then to the harbor to see the “dunking board” being put to use. Jill usually packs a picnic lunch which we enjoy at a nearby park. Then, on yet another day we visit the dockyards on the other end of the Island see the massive cruise ships and enjoy a tour of the local museum. There are several fascinating places in between these two points not to mention all the beautiful beaches some of which have pink sand! Following a grand tour of the Island we then turn our family and friends loose to visit the grocery stores!

A visit to a grocery story can be a highlight to a vacation. It has been said that Bermuda is one of the most expensive places to live in the world. I have been asked whether or not I intend to live here after I retire and my answer has always been the same; “No way, I couldn’t afford it!” Many Bermudians have two if not three jobs in order to help pay the bills. Weekly groceries form a large part of one’s budget. We take people into the grocery stores and sometimes they can’t believe what they see. When we first arrived we would hesitate and complain before picking up something we needed and then we would remind ourselves how cheap it was in Canada. NOW, we say we need it and so we buy it and spare ourselves from any regrets. Cereals can be very expensive (over $7 a box), packaged cookies can be expensive and ½ gal of milk can run you well over $5. A loaf of your favorite whole wheat bread can run you over $7. Fresh local carrots cost about $7 for half dozen! There are other items like some meat and dairy products which cost you about the same as you would pay back home. If you are one who enjoys munchies and soft drinks then you had better add a few more dollars to your shopping budget. After you pay the cashier for your groceries it is expected that you tip the one who has packed them as this is the only pay they receive. One very obvious reason for high prices of course is that nearly everything is imported and when you are over 600 miles from the nearest shoreline shipping is very expensive.

So what do we do to save a little at the grocery till? We do the same as you would in any other country; you wait for the specials, you shop on Wednesday pay cash and save 5% and then you choose carefully where you shop. I always have our visitors to the manse especially if they come from Canada to bring a box of Shreddies (not available here) and a tin of Tim Hortons coffee!

Bermuda is a fascinating place to live even though it might be a bit expensive.

Good Friday

   Why is Good Friday called, “Good” Friday? The Friday that immediately follows Maundy Thursday is the day we all know as Good Friday. As paradoxical as it may sound, there are reasons for this day to be referred to as “Good Friday.” There has been much confusion in the minds of many about the term, for the day marks the crucifixion and death of Christ. The main reason behind this day being referred to as “good” is due to what took place shortly thereafter. When the events of Friday are seen through the eyes of Easter Sunday than Friday becomes good for it speaks of the One who conquers life’s greatest enemy, death.

-Jesus rose from the tomb.

- The sins of his children have been completely atoned for.

- We shall rise with Christ.

- Friday is good because of Sunday.

   No tragedy, not even death, is so big that it can overshadow the love and grace of God.

Living on an Island

   What is it like living on an Island approximately 550-600 miles from the nearest point of land? Well, the first thing I can say is that it is not a good place to get Island fever better known on the mainland as cabin fever! Bermuda has been my home for the past three years plus and I must say that it has been a great experience. When you add our time here with the time spent in the Bahamas you come up with a little over six years surrounded by nothing but water! Shortly after moving to Bermuda an elderly bishop in a sister church made the comment; “You know that Bermuda is built on an ancient volcano.” He then we on to say; “Every night we pray that God will keep the lid on it.” It was comical but certainly made one think of how far we are from our neighbors should an Island wide emergency occur.

   What is it like to live in Bermuda? Well, I always like to tell our visitors that one of the most beautiful things about the Island is our beaches. There is nothing like the pink sand on a Bermudian beach. One of the great challenges about living here is getting to the beach! There is nothing like driving on the Islands roads. First, unlike Canada and the US we drive on the left side of the road. To make driving a bit more interesting we keep our roads very narrow, very twisty and as an added bonus we don’t really have any places where one can pull off the road!! The top speed limit on the Island is supposed to be 23 mph! Because Bermuda only allows one car per household there is an abundance of motor scooters. The increasing number of scooter has resulted in what Bermudians call the “third lane.” What is the third lane you ask? Well, the third lane is that narrow space of pavement between two lanes of traffic travelling in the opposite direction! Due to the lower speed limits you might think that we seldom if ever have any serious accidents. WRONG! There are lots of accidents and many of them are fatal. Why? Well, no one abides by the speed limit, there are no real passing zones and that third lane has a nasty tendency of becoming narrower and narrower. If you happen to live off Island and are planning a vacation to Bermuda you don’t have to worry about driving a car on the left side of the road with no pull-overs. The reason for this is that we don’t allow foreigners to drive cars on our Island. You can’t even rent a car here. Have no fears though because we will rent you a motor bike! Plan to rent a bike? Make certain that your insurance is paid up!

   Next time I will tell you about shopping in Bermuda.

Your Friend:

Rev. John

                                                   This Is Your Captain Speaking


Anyone who has been on a plane has heard the familiar words; “Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking.” Sometimes it is simply followed with; “welcome aboard we are glad you are flying with us.” While at other times the greeting might be used to introduce something of far greater importance. Last Monday evening Jill and I were flying home from a conference in Florida. We were halfway to completing our journey when the captain said; “Ladies and gentlemen we are flying on the very tip of some storm clouds and we will get a few bumps for the next 10 minutes so I am going to turn on the fasten seat belt sign.” Jill looked out the window and said; “wow, we are flying over some very dark clouds.” Just then the plane did run into some turbulence and I anxiously waited for the next 10 minutes to “fly by.” Before the 10 minutes was up though the plane did receive a few good jolts from the storm clouds. When a good size jolt hit I said aloud; “O Lord.” Where do you suppose God is when you are being shaken up a bit while flying at 37,000 feet?

I am reminded of the scripture lesson at today’s worship (March 3rd, Luke 8:22-25). The disciples are in the boat with Jesus and they are doing at evening crossing of the Sea of Galilee. A storm sweeps down from the mountains and turns the sea into a raging tempest. The disciples although they are seasoned fishermen are afraid for their very lives. They feel certain that the boat is going down and they are still a long ways from shore. “Where is Jesus?” “Doesn’t Jesus care?” “Wake up Jesus because we are all going to drown.” You see Jesus had fallen asleep in the stern of the boat. Jesus woke, turned first to the wind and said, “Be quiet,” then to the waves and said “be still.” Luke tells us that there was immediate calmness. The wind ceased and the sea was ever so still with little more than a ripple. Jesus then turned to his disciples and said; “Where is your faith?” The disciples who should have been relieved that the storm was over were even fore frightened. They had in their boat no mere man but God himself whose very word the wind and the waves immediately obeyed.

If God is at the centre of your life then the next time you experience a storm of whatever nature it might be just remember who is in your boat, or plane, bus, train, car or whatever. He never leaves his children alone wherever they might be even if they are 37,000 feet in the air! We arrived home safely.

From Bananas to the Gospel

   Sometimes I wonder how the apostles would have used the airwaves had this technology been available to them. My interest in radio began while I was still in high school and working part time in a grocery store. Every Saturday a local radio station would call the store and ask for the specials of the day. One Saturday the manager was going to be away and asked me if I would take the call. I readily agreed but I was also very nervous. This was a “live add” and there were no opportunities to do “a second take.” The radio station would call the store and lock the line about three minutes before doing the live add. I knew the announcer and when he called to book the line I said; “Bill, stick solely with the add and don’t ask me any other questions”; to which he agreed. Some how with a racing heart I did manage to advertise that bananas were on special for .25 cent a pound! That was my first experience with radio but it would not be my last.

   Following High School I served in a student ministry within a three point pastoral charge outside of my home town of New Glasgow Nova Scotia. The local radio station offered to the county ministerial the opportunity (free of charge) of doing a three minute devotional which started each days programming. If I could advertise bananas why couldn’t I tell people what the Lord was willing to offer them? I agreed to do a week’s programming of five devotions which were all pre-taped but again there was no real chance to do second takes. I felt like Frazier in the TV sitcom when the director on the other side of the glass would give me the cue that I was “on air.” Unlike my TV’s namesake I proceeded to share the gospel rather than talk about someone’s dating problems. Surprisingly enough no one wrote and threatened to revoke their advertising and so I continued to do a series of early morning devotions.

   My next debut on the airwaves came while I was ministering in Calgary Alberta. I approached our session about the possibility of airing our Sunday morning worship services. My reasons I felt were positive. People who were in hospital or nursing home facilities could still hear a gospel message. Those who had to work on Sundays might still be able to catch portions of a worship service. Lastly, it couldn’t hurt advertising our church as a place of worship. Once Session gave me the “green light” I began phoning the multitude of stations within the city of Calgary. One after another I heard the same story; “If we did it for you we would have to do it for all the churches and we just don’t have the time for that.” There were no radio stations in Calgary willing to carry our service. It was then that I recalled that a lady in our congregation had a son who was a program director in a small community to the south of Calgary. I made several calls to see if a radio signal from High River reached the city limits. Not only did I find an affirmative answer but I also found out that this station had a large following in the rural community that surrounded the town. It was time to pay the station a visit. I talked with the manager told him who I was and that his mother; “attended our church.” God is very good at using connections and the station agreed to carry our Sunday morning worship service one Sunday a month. I wished it had been every Sunday but one was better than none. Broadcasting back in the early 80”s was interesting. Like my first taste at radio the station would call the church to “lock in the line.” I put little notices on the host of telephones throughout our church. The notice read; “If you don’t want your conversation to be heard all over Southern Alberta then don’t pick up this phone.”  People liked the idea of a radio ministry especially our congregation as it meant that services had to be kept within the hour or the plug would be pulled?  Services over High River continued and we even managed to pick up extra Sundays. We advanced from a live telephone broadcast to a cassette recording which I sent out faithfully by bus every week. Remember this was before computers came into existence? Grace Church was still broadcasting services when we left there in 1993.

   Westminster Church Barrie Ontario was our new home and it wasn’t long before I heard that Government regulations were being relaxed and Christian radio came into being. A new station was starting in Barrie where the emphasis was on Christian rock. I paid a visit to the manager and told him that I felt he was missing out on a significant portion of the community if he concentrated only on Christian Rock. I was willing to offer him two Sunday programs consisting of an edited version of our Sunday worship service plus a new program I had just started working on called; “Great Hymns of the Faith:.” The program was hosted by my wife Jillian and me. Great Hymns was a series of traditional hymns along with a story about the hymn, the author or perhaps a story behind the hymn itself. He was interested and we had our sponsors in place. These programs were not free and so I was very grateful to a local funeral home who proved to be one of our great supporters. Again contacts never hurt and the local funeral director happened to be an elder in our church! I would edit the worship service on a two track cassette player (again no computers) while Great Hymns was edited by a professional company who at the time also did the “Delta Music air tracks.” We were on our way! It took awhile but we started to get letters and phone calls stating appreciation for our radio ministry. Strange but many calls came from Baptists who listened to us on their way to church! One of the most supportive calls came from a lady who gave me permission when she called to tell her story. She had just finished doing her night shift at a local casino. She was tired and she was deeply troubled. She had recently been called to pick up her son up off the streets in Toronto. Her son had a drug problem. With a weary heart she told me that her faith supported her but her husband did not support her faith. “I got in the car with tears in my eyes,” she said “and I pushed a cassette into the player.” “I didn’t like the music so I turned the tape deck off and the radio on.”  “When I turned the radio on you were just announcing your next selection called “My Forever Friend.” She thanked me and said that she was greatly encouraged. Someone else called a member of a local Roman Catholic Church saying that they had just lost their church building by fire and that our ministry of Christian music was also a great encouragement to them. That was two of several stories that I received telling me how supportive our radio ministry was. I thanked God that in some small way He allowed me to reach out with the Good News of the Gospel.

   Time passes quickly even nine years .Jill and I along with our three daughters found ourselves on a plane bound for the Bahamas! I use to joke with Jill after shoveling snow in Canada that someday God would call me to a place of Palm Trees! God answers prayer I was seconded by the PCC to the Church of Scotland and they sent me to the Lucaya Presbyterian Kirk in Freeport Grand Bahama.  It was to be a three year appointment and I enjoyed everyone of those years. In Freeport, I soon found out that there were two radio stations and I quickly found my way to the closest. Would they be interested in carrying a program called “Great Hymns of the Faith?” They replied yes although a price was set. Once the news was shared with the Session and I told them that I had sponsors who would carry all the costs, what Scottish Presbyterians could ever say no! Great Hymns was supported by a soft drink manufacturer, a landscape developer, an ice cream vendor and you guessed it “a local funeral home.” One of my favorite stories from the Bahamas was of a beach vendor called “Tony Macaroni” who refused to open up his bar on a popular beach until the last hymn was played. He told me, “I haven’t heard some of those hymns since my Sunday School days.” Today I proudly wear a baseball cap with the station’s logo on it. The cap was a gift when we left the Island at the end of my three year term.

   We were now back in some of the great snow belts of Canada. I contacted an acquaintance in Oakville Ontario and asked if Joy 1250 would be interested in carrying Great Hymns of the Faith. They “just happened” to have a 22 minute spot on Sunday afternoon at 2:40 and yes they could use it. The news was great and especially the fact that I didn’t need sponsors. They would carry the program free if I would provide it at no cost to them. I quickly agreed to the offer and Great Hymns of the Faith started in 2006 and continues to the present day even though I have returned to the Land of the Palm trees only this time to the Island of Bermuda.

   There have been a number of changes in our broadcast ministry. Computers have come into being and I do my programs all from home. If my phone rings in the midst of a program I can backup and edit the ring out. I have even been known to edit out a screaming siren as whizzes by the manse. One thing hasn’t changed though and that is the need for sponsors. Today Great Hymns of the Faith is sponsored by a grocery store, a law firm and you guessed it – a funeral home. We have slowly expanded in that our program is carried not only by Joy 1250 out of Oakville but also by Magic 102.7 FM right here in Hamilton Bermuda. I also share the program with a close friend in Scotland who duplicates it on Cd and passes copies out to friends who live in Falkland, Freuchie and Cupar. Gone are the days of cassette tapes and bus deliveries. Great Hymns of the Faith are instantly received using a computer audio transfer service. For those who are interested, the program can also be heard on our website http://st-andrews-presbyterian.org/     This ministry is offered freely to any radio station who might be interested.

   I have gone from selling bananas over the radio to offering the gospel freely and I consider it is a joy, a privilege and an assume responsibility.

                                                                     Light

   Light, comes in all shapes and sizes. We enjoy the light that falls from a sparkling chandelier. When the power goes out we reach for our flashlight and light a candle. We put little lights in our hallways and call them night lights so we won’t stub our toes in the dark. We decorate our lawns and gardens with little solar lights. The sun sheds its beautiful light during the day and the moon reflects the light of the sun at night.

   Without light we would be in the dark! Without light plants could not grow. Without light we would freeze. Without light, life as we know it would cease to be. Without light we would all die.

   The Bible tells us that the first thing that God created was light! Genesis 1:3 reads, “Let there be light and there was light.” Listen to what the Psalmist says; “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path” (119:105). 

   Many of us are on a path in life where we are busy dragging problems and worries:

-from one day into the next

-from one week into the next

-from one month into the next

-and yes even from one year into the next

   We worry about the past and we worry about the future. We worry about our health. We worry about the health of others. We worry about our jobs. We worry about not having a job. We worry about worrying.

   No matter how good a computer is it can still come crashing to a standstill if overloaded with too much data. We sometimes treat ourselves like a computer by overloading ourselves with worry. Some times people will “crash” just like their computer only we call it burnout, stress attack, breakdown or heart attack.

   I want you to give some serious thought to what our text is telling us about light. A lamp, the type of which is being referred to in this text lights only the immediate area around its base. Think about that!

   Notice that the Bible did not say, “Your Word is like the blazing sun to my feet,” but “your word is a lamp to my feet.” God’s Word shows us where to walk a step at a time. God’s Word is not a spotlight that illuminates what the road is like a mile ahead but what the path is like immediately below our feet.

   Can you see one small blessing to be thankful for? Then thank Him for that one small blessing.

   Can you see one persistent sin that you insist on carrying with you? Ask God to forgive you for that one sin.

   Is there one small temptation that still keeps company with you? Ask God to help you shake that one temptation.

   Walk with God one step at a time. We cannot change the past and we know not what the future may hold but we do know that with the light of his Word as our guide that He will instruct us where it is safe to place our next step. So, don’t lag in the past, don’t run blindly into the future for the lamp of God’s Word only sheds light a step at a time.

   May God richly bless you as you walk in his light.

John Fraser

  

   “Pease daddy, take my hand cause I can’t see the car.” Those were the words of my five year old daughter as we made our way back to the family car. We had been out in the country for the day and well into the evening. By the time we left our friend’s house it was dark. There were no streetlights and the lights from the house only shone a short distance. There was just my daughter and myself. Talk about walking blindfolded! I was certain I knew where I had left the car and we started to make our way in that general direction. It was then that I heard that little voice beside me; “Please daddy, take my hand cause I can’t see the car.” I took her by the hand and we made our way safely to the car. Those words “take my hand” have remained with me for the past 25 years. It was a gentle plea that was both courteous and at the same time spoke of dependence. 

   Looking out onto a New Year we may not be certain of what lies before us. We hope for good times and we hope for safe times. We also know that there might very well be times when we will have to walk completely by faith one step at a time. Let’s begin our walk into 2013 by expressing the same sentiment expressed by my daughter only this time we are looking to God as we say; “Please Lord, take my hand because I’m not certain what lies before me,”

   May the good Lord bless you in the year ahead.