Transformer and Transformed.

Transformer and Transformed.
by Dick Hunt, Monday, May 30th, 2011.

Today is the 54th Anniversary of my Ordination as  a Deacon, which  followed my transformation from my previous life, first as a Cattle Rancher, then as a Radio Technician during the war and then to married life and a further ten years as a Rancher.  The Transformer is God, who longs to bring into His Kingdom of love and obedience all who learn to trust him and call him Lord from the heart and mind and with all our strength. He really has a plan for us all and we are the happiest of all people when we ask him to reveal his plan for us, and then to respond to Him in trust.

There is another type of transformer which many people use every day.  I learned about that in the R.C.A.F. in the course of my studies. That is the one with a multitude of uses; to transform electrical current from alternating  to direct current  and from direct current to alternating; and from high voltage to low or low voltage to high for a huge variety of applications.  In our western world we cannot begin to imagine what we would do without electrical current, unless one is up in  years  as I am.

But God uses a much different way to transform us and through us the society in which we live.  We can decide to be His C0-transformers if we will and that life will be better than anything we can devise on our own.  Most people will likely be left to serve in their present occupation, but will be happier in knowing they are in the will of God. Others, as my own, will be asked to shift to a new occupation, a vocation and calling to Minister in any number of different ways of service. I have been thinking deeply of some of the ways people have learned to trust God to lead them into lives of specific ways of working with people, trusting God for His direction and for the resources, understanding and gifts, as needed to serve Him.  God loves people through His people and uses them to bring others willingly into obedient service, and joy in doing so.
In my tender years I was impressed by my Mother and her loving care for our Dad and for each of us. She shared the Gospel with us in so many ways. I was impressed with a number 0f Uncles and Aunts and one Grandfather who was a deeply Christian man.  The rest of my Grandparents died before I was born. And I was moulded by my Father who was a very stern but moral parent who taught me to finish my tasks and do my best in the midst of the family. He gave praise where it was  earned and correction where it was needed.  And on his death bed he revealed to us   from the depth of his soul that he saw heaven opened and the Lord beckoning him to enter, which he described to us in glowing terms.  We were so deeply grateful to God for that revelation.

We were blessed in having deeply committed Ministers in my young years, who taught us faithfully the Christian Way in Christ. I was very impressed with a Lay Reader called Mr. Yorke who ministered in our far flung rural parishes to help our Ministers.  Our Sunday School teachers did their best to be God’s  instruments in teaching the Faith.  We had summer visits from “Vanners”, two ladies travelling the rural roads in an early version of a “Camper Van”, to bring their expertise in ministering to chldren and adults alike the “Faith once delivered to the Saints”. We had visits from “Deaconesses” who worked for a mere pittance to bring us the Good News.  In some Dioceses there were “Bishop’s Messengers” and I know one in a Church where I worship who served  as one of them.

Did we consider them as people who interfered with our lives, our freedoms, our way of life.  Not at all.  We welcomed them and so we learned from them.  They helped greatly to aid us  in building happy Christian lives which enabled us to be able to fend off “all the fiery darts of the evil one”,  (meaning the devil, of course). Ephesians, 6:16. Such was our happy lifestyle,  which for most people is so different than today.
It is not that God has changed.  His way of revealing himself to us is still the same as in the beginning. He still reaches out principally and most directly through Jesus, His only Son, who was born to make the Father known, to take away the stain of sin and the fear of death and to Transform us from what we are to what He knows we can become.  The Bible says that “Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no-one comes to the Father except through Him.”  John 14:6, echoed in many other places in Scripture. This truth is proven every time someone turns from disobedience to penitence and  in Faith turns to Jesus for forgiveness and Eternal Life.  There is no way to avoid that process if we want to enter into God’s Kingdom.  “All other ways are sinking sand” and there is no using sand bags to change God’s rules.

Many people deal in negatives.  A few are; All religions are equally true.  I don’t want to lose my freedom.  I don’t want to lose my friends.  I don’t want to lose my fun. What about the evil Crusades?  What about the divisions between the Churches.  Let me say that if you are looking for the perfect Church, there isn’t one because it is made up of people like you and me and we are far from perfect. Even if you did find the perfect Church and join it, you would make it imperfect and spoil it.  The Church is not a museum for saints but a school for sinners.  We are all works in progress.

I have known some very saintly people on my journey through life but never one who thought they were perfect.  In very truth, the nearer we come to Jesus in our relationship, the more we come to realize our sinfulness.  One of my dear friends, now deceased, shared with me often that his friends were far too generous in their praise for him and that he was not nearly as good as they thought. I used to say, “Ralph, the nearer you come to Jesus the more you realize your faults. Carry on, you are getting nearer and nearer to the Father through Jesus the Son , our Saviour.

A Letter to Fred

A Letter to Fred;
by Dick Hunt, Sunday, May 29th, 2011.
Tomorrow will be the 54th Anniversary of my Ordination as a Deacon in the Church of God, (Anglican type), on Ascension Day in 1957, in the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Calgary. I had served as a “Lay Reader” in a number of Parishes near where I ranched for some time before beginning studies for Ordination and so I  was used to preparing sermons and conducting Morning and Evening Prayer. I had also been reading my King James Bible and studying it for years before God called me to be first a Lay Reader, then a candidate for Ordination. As a Deacon, I was instructed to report to the Town of Stettler, Alberta and to be the interim Deacon in charge 0f St. George’s  Parish, which also had a number of Mission points to care for. I consider it a “God Incident” that St. George’s Church was the place where my Parents had been married on February 3rd, 1913.

I was ordained a Priest on St. Andrew’s day 1957 and a few weeks later I was officially inducted by Bishop George Calvert as the Rector.  While I was in Emmanuel College in Saskatoon Saskatchewan, I was employed half time as a Student Minister in a suburban Parish and that was likely the reason I was not instructed in the intricacies of conducting the Communion service. So I just served according to the Rubrics in the Book of Common Prayer and it worked fine. One of the great merits of the Book of Common Prayer is that it leaves little wiggle room for invention of new ideologies or Doctrines or strange practices and teachings. It rings with the truth of Holy Scripture and has been well dubbed,  “The Holy Bible arranged for public Worship”.  I strongly disagree with the liberal practice of adapting worship and doctrine to the wishes of the secular world.  That can never be the way to bring civilization to the foot of the Cross.  I have always preached the Word of God according to the revealed Word, to the best of my ability and in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

We spent seven years in Stettler, Ruth and I and our four children and they were happy and fulfilling years.  Some little time before I was invited to move to St. Peter’s Parish and Mission of Williams Lake, B.C., I had an urgent letter from Frederick Vaughn Birch, a former Rector of St. George’s, Stettler.  I can envision his cheerful face still.  He said that he had accepted appointment to another Parish in the Diocese and that he wanted me to apply  to move to High River south of Calgary and look after the Parish after he left it.  I replied that I could not think of leaving St. George’s Parish as I felt we had work in progress that must be finished. He was even more urgent in his next letter and I could almost detect the stain of tears on the paper.  Then I wrote  a longer letter in which I pointed out the Lay abilities of many of his Parishioners and what they ought to do until another Priest was appointed.  Some could train as Lay Readers and be licensed to  conduct Morning and Evening Prayer, Bible Studies and  teach the Catechism. Others could start Prayer Groups, teach Sunday School, look after the administration of the Parish.  That is when Fred began to challenge his people to do what they should have been doing anyway, both to enhance the Ministry in the Church and Community and to relieve him of some of the burdens he had kept for himself.

While we were still in Stettler, it was not unusual for me to be asked to help out in other Parishes where clergy were not available.  We had two capable Lay Readers in Stettler.  Following one Sunday when I was not available in the Parish on Sunday at eleven, I was strongly attacked by a member of the Parish Council for being absent.  I explained that I was in two other Parishes where they had no Priest that day. He said they should use their own Lay Readers.  I said, “they have no Lay Readers. that before I studied for the Ministry, I was their Lay Reader”.  Finally the other Council Members told him to be quiet.  Since coming to this Diocese, I learned that volunteer Lay Readers have not been used.

The Second Mile

The Second Mile.
by Dick Hunt,  Saturday, May 28th, 2011.

My many visits to patients in hospitals, private homes and various care homes over the past sixty years has taught me so very much to enrich my life, to hone my abilities to listen and to become more able to count my blessings.  I recall visiting a woman in hospital in Campbell River, who in her hospital bed said with a bright smile,  “well Mr. Hunt, my Doctor has discovered my main problem; I am 93 years old.”  What a difference it makes to have a sense of humor.  This afternoon I walked past a man who was washing his car and he said it would be clean until the next rain. I suggested he would not have long to wait. Together we agreed that in the midst of our little inconveniences, we are of all people the most blessed and that we need to count our blessings and be soooo thankful. When I visited my lovely wife in her care home this afternoon, one of the staff shared with me that Ruth had excelled at the table bowling game.  I had not been aware that she was able to play and I am grateful for the news. Moments later another staff member brought us each a cookie as we sat together in the corridor. So many care people know how to love others in going the second mile.

I have a variety of care people coming to look after my morning and evening needs each day. The huge majority of them are so very aware of ways they can help me to cope in my solo life style.  They anticipate my little difficulties before I give voice to them. And they are so cheerful in doing so.  The dishes in the sink are almost always washed and put away.  And when I thank them, they cheerfully say, “you’re welcome.”  What they do for shut in’s makes it possible for us to stay in our homes and save countless dollars in care costs in full time care in public facilities. I am typical of many physically compromised people of a variety of ages who enjoy the care povided by Health Care workers in our homes.

I am 90 years of age and so is my wife. I am grateful that I am able to visit her each afternoon by taxi or however I can manage and daily we bask in the tenderness of our togetherness. My health was compromised over 40 years ago by a virus infection in my (best) right ear.  I quickly lost all my hearing in that ear and also the balance mechanism.  The hearing is still zero and for over forty years I have often fallen, frequently on pavement. We discovered a marvellous company which produces world class Nutritional products 33 years ago and our general health has been supertlative ever since. In the past three years I have fallen on my back, making it impossible for me to sleep on a flat bed. I have the use of a hospital bed.  I broke my left hip and have a steel plate to look after that.  I fell into a bathtub last July and my right wrist is very crooked and stiff as a result of faulty casting, a great deal of pain and very crooked eventual healing. But I am so glad I can get around with a walker.  I do this without Prescription Medications or serious pain. I can still use my computer and continue to add many pages of stories to my growing store of over 400 in my data bank. I can still share them widely with my Internet correspondents around the globe. My memory is still clicking away and I have a constant list of titles of stories yet to write.

In the midst of all our reasons to be grateful,  I am constantly aware that millions of people are very suspicious of the motives of people in authority, people trying to share the good things of life, goods and services many of which would enrich their lives, if they could only know who to trust. There are so many schemers out there and through the media we quickly hear about the scoundrels in our midst.  It is more difficult to win approval for Good News, especially in the secular climate which claims there is no way of knowing there is any absolute Truth, any moral standards to live by, any religion which is without fault and blemish, all backed up with copious political correctness which seems to tell multitudes of people there are no standards but those you decide for yourselves.

So what is there to be grateful for?  Sex, Material goods, Drugs with which to forget the pain?  Anything there that is more than a very short answer, infinitely repeatable?  Surely there is so much for which to be grateful.  What about our creator, God, Father of all who turn to Him for the blessings He so freely gives to us. What about the Holy Scriptures miraculously preserved to teach our hearts and minds down the many centuries of history. What about the multitudes of believers, known and unknown who have left their marks of obedience and love for the world to see and who still live to Worship the Living God. What about the miracles which are there to show us that God lives to bless us. “What miracles, you might ask! “

Every time one of God’s people turns to Him in obedience and faith and penitence,  we are witnessing a miracle, the miracle of a changed heart!  And let it be known that every human ever born into this world and given the breath of life belongs to God who made us. Everyone!  And wonder of wonders, He made the entire world and everything in it by His Word of command.  And arranged for His Word of Command to be given a human body in which to visit this woeful world of such vital need in the person of Jesus ( the very name means ‘Saviour’.)  Born of the Virgin Mary under the most humble of circumstances.  Believed in and Worshipped by countless people down the years. He ministered publicly for a very short time of about three years, made the claim that He is “The Way, the Truth and the Life, that there is no other way to God the Father except through Him”. The religious authorities brought about His crucifixion due to his  “claim” to be the Son of God. In His agony  on the Cross. He said for all to hear, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing”. Even his Disciples left him and fled. Only John the Apostle stood at the foot of the Cross with Jesus’ Mother Mary. The rest stood afar off and watched him, except for Judas Iscariot who had betrayed him and he tried to return his ill gotten gains, 30 pieces of silver.

I was privileged with Ruth to visit the Colliseum in Rome with a tour group at 11 o’clock in the evening. The only light was that from street lamps outside.  It was easy to recall the accounts of Christians being thrown to wild beasts in the arena to please the Emperors friends and courtiers.  Countless millions of Christians have stood firm in their Faith rather than deny our Saviour Christ and still are standing firm in many countries. During the year 2010, in the combined Ministries of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association around the world, every second a new Christian Believer has committeed his/her life to Christ and come into God’s Kingdom.  And that is just one of the instruments of God for Salvation and Eternal life.  How can we know that we can trust God for his mercies? How can we come to believe that Jesus is indeed God’s Word in that human Body and that He is not only Divine, that is the same as God, but that He is truly perfect man at the same time?  It happens countless times every year to people who dare to believe and say yes to Jesus.  The Spirit of God tells us that Jesus  is the One who is able to assure us of our Salvation and bring us to the Father for all Eternity.  He died and rose again that we might live with Him forever.

Christians the world over are chiefly grateful for our/their Salvation and worship and Praise God in Jesus  continually for so great a blessing.  I am very much aware that most of the care workers I have come to know and deeply appreciate have a calling from God for their particular ministry to God’s people. It is quickly apparent that there is a Go the Second Mile volition to their ministrations to people.  Jesus said, (Matthew 5:41) “if someone forces you to go one mile, go two miles”. The care people I know are happy to go the first mile in their duties and often to go the second mile in their love for God  and His people.  Years ago Ruth and I were driving under an overpass and we saw a large banner which said, “Just Suppose Nobody Cared”. A very moving message and very appropriate for appreciating Second Milers.

Post # 100 Blacksmithing

Blacksmithing.
by Dick Hunt, May 23rd, 2011.

Blacksmithing, working with hot iron is a basic part of the activities of Agriculture, and certainly of Ranching. We needed to be self reliant in order to function effectively from day to day. To fashion tools and hardware from iron and other metals, we used what is called a forge, which is a firebed with a grate in the middle and under the grate a metal pipe to enable air to be pumped up under the fire of hard blacksmith coal.  The air is produced by a hand or motor operated fan and makes it possible to get maximum heat from the fire.  Iron is placed in the coals and brought to the desired heat to enable it to be shaped according to the function of the piece being produced.  When welding, the two pieces of iron to be joined are brought up to white heat to enable them to be moulded together by placing the two pieces together on the anvil and hammering them briskly to fuse them together. It is necessary for the Smith to carefully bring the metals to the desired heat without burning or melting the metal.

My eldest brother Wilf, my youngest brother David and I all studied blacksmithing at the Old’s Alberta School of Agriculture. We all honed and used our skills in our work on the Ranches. Bill, my next youngest brother picked up the skils along the road with the demands of the regular work and advice from various associates, including his three brothers. Wilf excelled in the craft and won an award for excellence of his work at the School. He was given a beautiful pair of silver inlaid spurs (used when riding horses), made by the blacksmithing instructor, Mr. McLellan. Our studies at the school were broadly based and included Maths and Sciences, English, Civics,  (now lumped together with various other studies and called Social Studies).  We studied Farm Mechanics, Irrigation, Botany, Soils, Chemistry, Physics, Farm Management, Animal Husbandry, Field Husbandry, Veterinary Science, Dairying, Butchering, Poultry.  We were engaged in Debating.
Wilf went on to be a very talented Mechanic. In 1927, our Father bought our first internal combustion tractor, called J.I. Case Company 18-37. It used a magneto to ignite the charges in the cylinders instead of the spark plugs later used.  It had a weakness  in that when it rained the magneto got wet and ceased to function.   The way to fix it was to remove the magneto, take it to the house, put it in the oven on the coal stove and carefully heat it to dry it again. That spawned the next problem, how to re-install it and time the spark system again. Our hired men tried and failed and the tractor sat idle in the field while the land work languished.  Wilf asked Dad if he could fix it and Dad said he could if he got up early and did it before breakfast.  Wilf was 13 years of age and I was 7.  He knew how to read and apply the directions and drove the tractor into the yard just as we were sitting down to breakfast.  His reputation was made solidly and he never looked back as far as mechanics were concerned.

He was also very good at welding, metal lathe work, inventing new processes and machinery and improving the machinery we used from the various machine companies.  He went on repairing tractors, cars, trucks, lawn mowers, etc. in his double garage until his active years declined at about the age of ninety. He could fix anything. He was also a good carpenter and built a beautiful catamaran boat, not to mention a house and other buildings where he lived with Alyce his wife.

When our Father died in 1957, David took over the operation of the stock farm south of Calgary which Dad bought in 1948 and developed after he learned he was too young to retire. David hoped that one or more of his sons would decide to carry on with the thriving cattle industry but  that did not happen.  Chris became a notable Actor, Danny became a truck driver and worked for a successful Concrete Transit Mix company and Peter became a fine Cabinet maker.  The Cattle operation was phased out.

Candle Stick (Iron-Art) by David Hunt

(click here for a few more examples of David Hunt’s work)

But David went on to develop his hobby of creating Fine Iron-art in the blacksmith shop where he lived with Connie his wife, south of Calgary a few miles.  He produced  a constant stream of beautiful pieces of all descriptions, including furniture, custom work for private individuals and Construction Companies, and myriads of garden furnishings, candle holders and other items  in great profusion. Connie worked along with him in polishing items and finishing many pieces with paints and laquers. They marketed their  work all around Alberta, into the western States and some as far away as Britain and Japan. David was a professional welder with a low voltage wire welder.  He also shaped his work in a gas fired forge, using a rebuilt “trip hammer” for heavy shaping and more delicate hammer and anvil crafting for more delicate pieces. Unfortunately he passed away at age 71. But their son Chris worked with him occasionally the last few years and has continued to do some work of his own devising in the shop where all the equipment is still intact.

I have been away from the Ranch since 1955  as I left to study for the Ministry in the fall of that year.  But I have done some blacksmithing too in the years before I left.  Chiefly I crafted gate hardware and did repairs which involveed the use of the forge.  Wilf was always there to do the welding and mechanics etc.  I do want to relate one incident which left an “indelible” mark on me. Our Father scheduled an auction sale of Registered Cattle  at the Ranch with professional auctioneers  and we hustled to ready the corrals for the event. However, at the last moment it was decided that a section of Corral fence must be removed and a gate installed.  I was asked to rush to the blacksmith shop and craft up a pair of heavy duty hinges and a suitable latch.  I was well into the rush job when I failed to grasp a piece of white hot iron from the forge using the tongs and instead grasped it with my bare left hand.  For seconds the nerves were cauterized and then I dropped the iron.  I went on quickly and finished the job, now wiser.

Bill lived on and managed a Ranch in eastern Alberta for a number of years  which entailed a great deal  of fencing and constant oversight of the cattle. There were 48,000 acres of what is known on the prairies as “the Short Grass Country”. In point of fact, the annual rainfall is so minimal that grass grows very short to the ground and it requires 50 acres of land to pasture each adult animal the year round.  The plus is that the grass is high in protein and great for growing cattle to maturity.  Bill had the misfortune in April of one year to have his horse slip on the ice and in the fall, Bill’s ankle was severely fractured. He managed to strip the saddle from the horse and turn it into the feed stack, before crawling some distance to the house.   He lived alone, had no phone or transportation and his problem was not discovered for a week.  By that time his ankle was black and terribly swollen and painful.   A call to Calgary resulted in a ski equipped plane which came and flew him to the Holy Cross Hospital in Calgary.  His house had burned to the ground in the fall and he was living in a makeshift garage with no plumbing or water on tap.  He hadn’t had a shave, haircut or bath for months and was just thawing snow on a camp stove for water.  The staff at the hospital could hardly believe he was human with his head nearly hidden in coal black hair.  But they saved his leg and restored him to health, praise be to God and the medical staff.  When he was ready to return home, he went again by air, the pilot being a friend from school days in Calgary at Mount Royal College. Eustace let him take the controls in the plane and he was almost instantly determined to learn to fly and have his own plane, which is what happened. He learned to fly off Calgary airport and flew his own two place Aeronca Champ back to the Ranch. He later traded it for a four place Aeronca Sedan which enabled him to more adequately look after the Ranch and also perform a useful service in providing free emergency transportation to various people storm bound in winter and also needing quick access to medical care and often child birth.  He flew voluntarily as a fire spotter and gave air transport in fire season. He had no commercial license.  Bill also had occasion to employ his blacksmithing skills in his flying experience. The main occasion for that was entailed when he was flying in winter on skiis and flew to a small village for some supplies landing across the railroad tracks where the snow obliterated all sight of the rails. The little tail ski caught on a rail and tore off the plane.  He was able to fly back to the Ranch and carefully land in the snow.  He then crafted up a new ski in the blacksmith shop from a old plowshare and fitted it to enable him to fly to Calgary and install a new one.

On another  occasion, Bill had flown his plane to visit someone and had landed on a very saturated grass field during a unusual rainy spell. It was a windy day and when he was taxiing downwind to prepare for take off,  a gust caught the tail and tipped the plane up on it’s nose.  Bill hit the switch but not before the metal prop had hit the ground and bent somewhat. A short distance away, a seismograph crew was working and came to his aid. They helped him lower the plane back to level, got their four foot long pipe wrenches and straightened the prop enough so that at reduced throttle Bill was able to fly back to the Ranch and then to Calgary to have the plane checked out and to repair the prop.

On another occasion the plane was tied down with the tail facing north west when  a strong wind came out of the north west and buffeted the vertical rudder so fiercely that most of the welds in the tubular frame were broken.  On that occasion, Bill made emergency repairs with (you guessed it), DUCT TAPE, which enabled him to very gently fly to Calgary for repairs. With the sale of that Ranch and the move with Lee his wife and their family to the Endiang Ranch, there was no need for the plane in that operation and so Bill reluctantly sold the plane.  He was very pleased to learn later that his plane had been used to do the official Air Photography for the 1986 World Fair in Vancouver.

Half a Bottle of Alfalfa

Half a Bottle of Alfalfa.

by Dick Hunt, May 18th, 2011.

Alfalfa tablet’s that is. Shaklee Alfalfa tablets are made from organically grown Alfalfa plant leaves, meticulously formulated and tested for safety, effectiveness and content before marketing. In early 1978 a half bottle of Alfalfa Tablets (back when the size was about 250 tablets) was given to Ruth by a retired Registered Nurse named Kay Boas, in Campbell River, B.C. Ruth was at that time experiencing pain in her right knee which had been diagnosed as disintegration of the Cartilage. Taking a few each day, Ruth began to notice a distinct improvement in the pain level. When the tablets ran out, she phoned Kay to ask her how to purchase more tablets. Kay responded that she bought them through her daughter in San Francisco and that she wasn’t going there for about six months. Stalemate! However, a few months along Ruth saw a tiny ad in the local paper which invited enquiries from anyone who was interested in Shaklee products. She phoned and Louise Campo, the person who answered said she didn’t have the products but that her friend’s, Joan and Gordon Gibbs in West Vancouver would be happy to come to Campbell River and tell them about Shaklee. And so they came, in October of 1978 and Sponsored Louise, Ruth and me as Shaklee Independent Distributors. Ruth ordered some products on the spot and that was the beginning of our 33 year experience with Shaklee; the products, the Company, better health, a cleaner environment and a good source of additional income. I was deeply immersed as the Minister of a multipoint Anglican Church at the time and so Ruth did the Shaklee business herself and with good results and outreach in helping new members to start their own businesses. Just in passing, it is impossible to establish a competitor, as whole groups work together to advance all the members according to their own efforts. We work as a family and all share in the great results, helping each other. So with Alfalfa as a starter, we have never looked back. In the early days we had to handle all ordering, book-keeping, shipping and delivering for our growing group. And the Product list was quite limited, yet very helpful for better health, cleaner homes and environment and significant income. The early products have still continued to be marketed through Independent Distributors but many new developments and deep scientific research have resulted in a constant stream of new and exciting products which are making waves in health improvement, environmental control and ever more adequate income opportunities. Every new Shaklee Member may now order their own products by 1 800 phone, fax, online, pay for the products by Visa or Mastercard or by Pre Authorized Payment Plan (PAPP) or personal Cheque. The products are normally delivered by truck or air from Ontario in no more than five business days, directly to your door. The Shipping rates are adjusted throughout Canada to balance the cost to areas far flung from Ontario, so that all pay much the same. All products are fully guaranteed on a no nonsense money back guarantee. The guarantee also covers exactly what the lables say is in the bottles and all products are fully tested for safety, purity, and clinically proven by third party scientists. What started out as half a bottle of Alfalfa Tablets has served us so well for 33 years plus that we have no desire to rest or retire. On the contrary, I am passionate about sharing this great opportunity to enrich the lives of all who will respond to our outreach. We are both nearing our ninety first birthday and our 67th wedding Anniversary. I am now the one who has the day to day enjoyment of sharing Shaklee as Ruth has had Alzheimer’s for the past 13 years. I still feed her Nutritional products and use them myself and we are still enjoying life, in spite of our forced separation. We visit for an hour each day in her great Care Home and thoroughly enjoy each other’s company.

From Bulldozer Operator to Fixing the Organ.

From Bulldozer Operator to Fixing the Organ.
by Dick Hunt, May 16th, 2011

His name is Gordon Ingram and we were fellow students in Emmanuel College in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the mid fifties.  He was employed in construction in the Arctic regions of Canada, when he was called of God to train for the Anglican Ministry.  From driving a “Cat and dozer” to hitting the books and in  particular the Book by which Christians have been guided for many centuries,  the Hebrew/Christian Bible.  He was a good student, a good friend and a very stable candidate for Ministry.

I have lost track of him but I want to share a story of his adaptability, which trait served him well in his active Pastoral life down the years that  kept in touch with him.  While we were in College I was pressed into service to assume a half time ministry in a suburban Parish in the City, St. Matthews Anglican, which had a membership of ninety families.  There was an active Choir, an accomplished Organist and an organ which was a monstrous piece of furniture which didn’t perform well.  It squeaked and squawked and  had a bad reputation in the Parish.  There were plans to throw it out and plan for a new one.

I mentioned the problem to Gordon one day and he said he would like to come and have a look at it.  He explained that he knew nothing about music but that he knew a bit about mechanics. We went out to the Church one Saturday afternoon in my car and he took along some simple tools.  The organ was built into a massive free standing Oak case.  It was a full two manual with a motor driven blower to blow through the Reeds. He took off the covers and studied the works. He discovered that mice had been chewing on the pads  and hinges – that many connections had fallen apart and in one spot there was a small coil spring missing. He had some glue and felt cloth with him and we had a vacuum cleaner with which he cleaned the whole interior.  We went downtown and bought a spring for sixteen cents.

Back to the job as the afternoon wore on. He correctly diagnosed all the mechanical problems, connected up all the loose parts, restored all the paddings as necessary, hooked up the spring and put the covers back on.  We went home.  On Sunday morning Ruth and I and the children went off to Church  and I watched to see what would happen when the organist sat down to play.  She set the stops as she normally tried to do, without much success because of the mice and malfunctioning interior.  She looked puzzled, then amazed, then incredulous, then broke into big smile.  She said for all to hear, “what has happened to the organ.  It works!” .

All plans to scrap the organ evaporated.  All thoughts of buying a new one disappeared.  At a cost  of sixteen cents, the organ became everyone’s  favourite.  And Gordon failed to submit a bill for the spring.  When I left there in the spring for Ordination as a Deacon in Calgary, the Organ was functioning as well as ever.  And Gordon still couldn’t carry a tune.

A Visit to My Daughter

Rob and I enjoyed our 24 hours with Gail at their new house. We got there about three o”clock on a Ferry from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, a 35 minute trip north west.  The ferry docks on what is a peninsula attached  farther north to the mainland. Once your there and off the ferry the drive to the house is only about a quarter of a mile. The house is on a steep slope with a road down below it and another above it and houses going up all over the place. Most of the new homes are very large and fancy.The one right close on the north is 9,000 square feet but Gail and D’s is 3,000. When you get in on the centre level there is a floor above and one below. Lots of stairs but D had finished putting the stair hand rails in so I was able to go up and down as long as I was careful.  I actually slept in a lazy boy chair on the top level and slept like a log. Rob slept right near me in the guest bedroom.  We had a half bathroom with toilet right alongside but no sink hooked up yet. The main level has a stone fireplace right inside the door with a view of the (wood) fire from the entry way and also from the sitting room on the other side.  The dining area is straight ahead and the kitchen right to the left of that. There is also a breakfast nook alongside the kitchen which is very handy.  The cupboards are all custom made by a very smart cabinet maker and lovely. The fridge is white, the sinks (2) are stainless steel as is the stove, dish washer, microwave and vent.  There are bins for all the various types of recycling matter and garbage etc. The cupboard tops still to be completed with be granite, (they are now plywood).  There is a pass through to the dining area the top of which is a vintage fir plank two inches thick and 14 inches wide by ten feet long, finished natural.  All the floors on that level are recycled fir tongue and groove finished natural.There are lots of windows. On the upper floor there are two windows opposite and it is possible to look straight through the two windows when standing on the road outside and see the ocean and mountains beyond the house.  The view all around on the two upper levels are great. There is a deck running along two sides outside the middle level.

The bottom level has a drive in double garage, a wood-workshop and lot’s of storage. There are  some reused light fixtures, re-wired, in the house from the 1920’s Ranch house in Alberta in which three of the family were born. And another bathroom on the lowest level and more sleeping space for visitors.. All the doors are recycled from buildings in Vancouver.
Outside on the north is a separate building which is Gail’s Studio Workshop for her quilting, art work and pottery. The roof of that building is the kitchen garden reached by a walkway from the house.It is plank sides planters, with watering soaker hoses and is already filled with new plants.  At the bottom of the studio underground there is a 2,000 gallon storage tank for rain water which will be used to water the garden, flush the toilets and provide a re-circulating water fall through a steeply sloped rock and gravel stream bed, which flows down from above the upper studio wall and down the slope, the water going back into the storage tank..  Gail turned that on for us and it is lovely.  The house roofs at each level  is metal with baked on enamel in copper colour.  The walls are all shingled with cedar shingles which Gail hand dipped in green stain one by one until they were all stained heavily on both sides. There is still lots of landscaping to be done but it will get done as they are able to find the time.  It was a great visit. We came home in a driving rain and bumper to bumper traffic from the ferry.

To see Gail’s home construction from empty lot to finished house please check out her blog (on my sidebar).