We are now well into the Olympic “season.” That’s the time which comes around every two years when the eyes of the world are focussed on a major centre for a sporting competition which is unparalleled in our history.

The Olympic Games, an international spectacle of incredible cost and spirit, brings people together to watch powerful human performances.

Men and women, their bodies tuned to the highest levels of skill and athletic perfection, compete among each other to strive to be the one who is “Higher. Stronger. Faster”.

A little over one hundred years ago, in January 1911, Westside Methodist Church opened with great fanfare and festivity.

Designed in the Akron Plan style, it was the most up to date church building in Owen Sound. When it was dedicated, it was completely and fully paid for. The Methodist Church would not allow it to be otherwise. Debt was seen to be something which held a congregation back and placed an unfair burden upon them.

Westside was debt-free largely because of the dedicated work of the minister, The Reverend Henry Fish.

I love it when kids ask questions which confound adults. Our Sunday School leader approached me after Christmas with a good question one of our young people asked in Sunday School. “If Jesus were alive today, how old would he be?” There was some argument in the group over whether Jesus would be 2013 years of age or not. Fortunately, the Sunday School leader said she would check it out and come back with an answer. And the answer is, “It depends.” No one, with any certainly, can give a definitive date for the birth of Jesus, no matter if we celebrate it on December 25 every year.

I confess that I have, over the years, contributed to the decline of Canada Post.

I haven’t sent Christmas cards in years.

I rarely send letters, except for business reasons, or to the Canada Revenue Agency.

I have, by and large, turned to e-mail and especially text messaging for much of my communication.

But I still enjoy receiving a letter.

I like reading magazines which come through the mail.

Several years ago I remember hearing a public school principal in the Oshawa area saying that her favourite time of the year was from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

When asked why, she replied, "It starts with Thanksgiving and then there is Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah and finally Christmas. It seems as if we are always celebrating s feast or festival. I have to watch what I eat, or I will get fat!"

Our community is changing, and for the better. No longer are we isolated in our celebration of Christmas alone.

Several years ago, I attended specialized training in understanding Operational Stress Injuries or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by war, offered by Veterans Affairs Canada. The training included a realistic convoy ambush of our trucks on the training range at 4th Canadian Division Training Centre, Meaford.

In the discussion which followed, I recall one veteran of Afghanistan and Bosnia telling us to expect a growing number of combat stress injuries in the future, as soldiers returned from many years of acknowledged and unacknowledged combat.

Many years ago, I was chaplain in a mental health hospital. It was probably one of the most discouraging and most interesting pieces of ministry I have done through the years.

I had an office in the basement, which was shared with the visiting Roman Catholic priest. I never saw him, but I know he had been in because there were bits of paper moved on the desk.