Tárogató, 1944-1945 (7. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1944-07-01 / 1-2. szám

14

T Á R 0 G A TÓ

and others have expressed their appreciation of the privilege of attending our service of worship.”

What Easter Meant to Some War Workers

Some 30 young girls from various parts of Canada but now in war work at Ajax, a war production community near Toronto, spent Easter week-end together at Centre Island, Toronto, under the leadership of Miss Marjorie Cunningham, their community church worker. New friendships were made and jolly times spent but, best of all, many girls got a deeper understanding of the Easter message through the morning and evening worship services which one girl described as “talks with God.”

Inter-Church Worker Appointed to Halifax

Miss Emily Kelloway, recently of Red Deer, Alta-, is the twelfth United Church young woman to be appointed by the United Church Committee on Camp and War Production Communities in co-operation with the Inter- Church Committee. She began work in Halifax about April 20 under a committee of the General Ministerial Association.

The Rural Church Can Serve the Farm Service Force

About 2,400 Ontario boys and girls served on the Home Front last summer by joining the Farm Service Force. Hundreds of others also served in private camps or individually on farms. This year it is expected 55 campe will operate with the Y.W.C.A., at the Government’s request, being responsible for supervising and staffing all the girls’ camps and for housekeeping in all the boys’ camps. After conference with Mr. Alex MacLaren, director of the Farm Service Force, and Mrs. A. B. Colerick of the Y.W.C-A., the Committee on Camp and War Production Communities is sending out a bulletin suggesting ways in which rural churches can best serve these hundreds of young people from towns and cities and is urging the churches to organize early to carry on this worthwhile ministry.

The Force of Example

Had an English seaman at the Merchant Seaman’s Manning Pool in Halifax not noticed the chaplain, Rev. J. W. A. Nicholson, carry a bundle of magazines from the Central Magazine Exchange to the Pool for the seamen’s

use, the organ at the Pool, pronounced by experts as useless, might never have been repaired, the chaplain says. Impressed by the chaplain’s act of personal service, the seaman undertook the unpromising job. He took the organ apart, skilfully used odds and ends, even ordinary table oilcloth for the expensive bellows-covering of rubberine cloth which alone would have cost $15 and finally produced a serviceable instrument.

A SERMON PREACHED BY A TREE By E. A. Taylor

All trees can talk to you—if you understand tree language—but Orillia has a tree which not only talks but preaches.

In the year 1615 the great Champlain made his camp in the place where Orillia now stands. Three hundred years later, a party of tourists passed through the town, and stopped to see the places made famous by the great explorer. They had as guide an Ojibway Indian- Stopping under a fine old tree, he said, “This is the tree under which Champlain camped when he first came here in 1Ó15.”

“How can you be sure of that?” one of the visitors asked in amazement. “It’s true that the tree is nearly four hundred years old, so would be big enough in 1615 for Champlain to camp under, but how can you tell that he did camp under this particular tree?”

“Do you see how the tree has been injured there?” asked the Indian, pointing to the side of the tree. “The branches have not grown so well on that side. Three hundred years ago, when this tree was growing, someone made a careless fire under it, and scorched that side badly. It wouldn’t be an Indian who would make that fire,” he added emphatically. “An Indian always makes a small fire that can be put out easily. There never were any forest fires in Canada until the white men came,” and the old Indian shook his head wisely. “It was a white man’s fire that hurt this tree three hundred years ago. Champ>lain was the only white man here then, so he must have camped under this tree.”

Champlain was a great and a good man, and we pay honour to him as the founder of Canada. It was because he had not been brought up in the woods as the Indians had that he was careless about fires in the bush, but the old tree preaches a sermon to which all Can-