Virtual Voices 122nd Edition Virtual Voices The Video E-Newsletter of Mount Royal United Church for Friday December 16th 2022 Welcome to our one-hundredth and twenty-second edition of the Mount Royal United Church Video E-Newsletter. You will find the video at the bottom of this message. If you have any news items or information you think we should be including in an upcoming e-newsletter, please send your suggestion to newsletters@mountroyaluc.ca
we will do our very best to put it on for you. A quick reminder that our Sunday Service is live streamed from the sanctuary beginning at 10:30 AM and can also be watched later on the church website. The Prelude will begin at 10:05 AM with music and the announcement slides before the service begins
with Rev. Stuart. This video will be produced and sent out weekly on Friday morning with all the important things from our faith community. We plan to keep them short so you have time to drink a cup of tea or coffee while you watch. We hope you have a very good day today. Best Regards, Newsletter Committee Message from the Chair of Council - Susan Fowler Words can mean a great deal to people. Sometimes they show caring and compassion. Other times the phrases we choose are cutting and hurtful. I am known to be too direct and impatient. Some nights I go to bed thinking about how I should have bitten my tongue or reflected more before I spoke. Those word choices can have quite an impact on others. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our expressions could show kindness rather than frustration. At Christmas we often pause to think of people that made an impact in our lives whether by actions or words. Whether big or small, we are conscious of how our lives intersected. For years at Christmas, like many others, I received a lovely card and photocopied poem from Grace Harris. I met Grace when I first started to attend Mount Royal in 1987. She would add a handwritten note to the poem. Sometimes it said she chose it for you; other times she would add that the poem was one of her favourites and she hoped you liked it too. It was always clear to me that Grace was a woman of great faith and that she wasn’t afraid to die. Grace sent me Christmas cards, sometimes a note on my birthday and always a message when a loved on passed away. Her words encouraged me in my life’s journey. Grace died earlier this year and when Christmas cards started to arrive in the mail it struck me that for the first time in a while there wouldn’t be a card from her. At her memorial service I learned that she sent hundreds of cards each December. Even so, I felt she chose my message for a particular reason. She took the time to reach out to those people about whom she cared. There were many people she counted as friends, and I was always pleased to be remembered by her. She must have received lots of cards over the years in December too as in addition to Christmas she celebrated her birthday this month. This Christmas, let’s all remember words can make a difference. Let’s be sure to offer messages of thanks and appreciation, of sincere encouragement and caring. And our seasonal greetings can lift the hearts of all we encounter and not just the folks we know well. You never know how extending best wishes might brighten someone’s day. Health and happiness for the holidays and in 2023. Susan Fowler
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