CMHA Address 13 September 2014 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Address to the Canadian Mental Health Association's 2014 Jimmy Richardson Walk For Wellness

Hello, today is a great day. I am so happy to be here. I can tell you that events with Canadian Mental Health are some of my favourite. How many people here were at the corn roast the other week? I am glad the weather today is a little better than that Wednesday. One thing that I like about the annual corn roasts and when I am invited for lunch at the Centre is seeing all of my friends. It is amazing how many friends Ruth and everyone at Canadian Mental Health and we at The Salvation Army have in common. Sometimes when I look around I wonder whether an event is a CMHA event or an Army church service or event.

I wonder if everyone around here knows just how much our friends at Mental Health do in the community and even alongside The Salvation Army. I have so much thanks to offer to everyone who is a part of CMHA: Staff, clients, friends…

CMHA contributes so much to our community. On behalf of The Salvation Army I thank you. Did you know that CMHA works alongside, partners with, and helps the community in many ways?

Did you know that there have been volunteers coming from CMHA to help out with our food bank and other activities around the community since long before I came to Swift Current? To all of you who work so hard, thank you.

Did you know that both our agencies are part of the bread program where we help distribute unsold bread free of charge from stores in town to those in real need? To all of you who work along side us in this, thank you.

Did you know that our CMHA friends help in the community gardens at the Army hall?

And did you know that our CMHA friends have helped with our community kitchens? To all of you who help out, thank you.

Did you know that Ruth from CMHA has even chaired food security meetings on behalf of Canadian Mental Health? Thank you.

Did you know that our friends at CMHA help out with the community Christmas dinner at The Salvation Army? Really, to all of you who work so hard, thank you.

Also did you know that – if I’m not mistaken - Ruth was even the very first Master of Ceremonies at the community Christmas dinners when we started them up again just a few years ago? To Ruth and to all of you who work along side us and help out our community, thank you.

All of the staff, volunteers, and participants have done so much for the community. CMHA is such an integral part of the very being of Swift Current itself and I am so thankful for all the ways I personally have been blessed by the great amount of work everyone there continues to do. Thank you so much.

I can tell you that I honestly look forward to the Mayor’s Lunch and other CMHA events every year. And whenever I go to a committee or an agency meeting in town, Ruth Smith is one of the first people I look for because she is likely to be there because she and everyone at Canadian Mental Health do so much for everyone in Swift Current here.

The Salvation Army and I have been incredibly blessed by the people and the work of CMHA. I am so thankful for all of the people and ministries that we have in common. And there is one more thing that we have in common as well: the building where CMHA meets. Did you know that once upon a time it housed Swift Current’s Salvation Army corps? Our 2 organizations – The Salvation Army and CMHA - share passions, people, and buildings alike. I cannot possibly tell you how grateful I am for all of my friends at Canadian Mental Health. On behalf of The Salvation Army and all of our friends in common, from the bottom of my heart, for all the work that you do, thank you.

As I have been blessed by you and as a minister of the gospel let me bless you now. Heavenly Father, in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I ask your blessings upon CMHA and all of their members and friends and all that they do for now and evermore in Jesus Name. Amen.

TSA SC Flood Relief (from 6:40)

Blessing of Dedication at a Memorial Rose Garden

22 July 2014, by Captain Michael Ramsay

William Shakespeare writes,

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose     

By any other name would smell as sweet;”

Sometimes a rose may smell even sweeter still

When that rose carries in its aroma

Our memories of a loved one

Sometimes a rose may smell even sweeter still

When that rose carries in its aroma

Our feelings of love and adoration

Sometimes a rose may smell even sweeter still

When that rose carries in its aroma

The pictures in our minds eye of people we love who have gone on ahead

Sometimes a rose may smell even sweeter still

When that rose carries in its aroma

All of the times we have shared and maybe even dreams that we are still sharing

Robert Burns shares our feelings of love for those dear to us in his poem:

My love is like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June:

My love is like the melody

That’s sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

So deep in love am I:

And I will love thee still, my dear,

Till all the seas go dry.

Till all the seas go dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt with the sun:

And I will love thee still, my dear,

While the sands of life shall run.

And fare thee well, my only love,

And fare thee well a while!

And I will come again, my love,

Thou’ it were ten thousand mile.

Our hearts are filled with that love for those near and dear to us who have gone before us onto eternity now. These roses before and around us today are symbols of that love for all to see and sense.

Let us pray:

Lord we ask that you bless this garden for all it means to us gathered here today.

Lord we ask that you would bless all who pass near these roses with memories, cherished thoughts and prayers.

Lord we ask your blessings upon our memories and upon our very souls

Lord we ask your blessing for evermore until we meet again upon that final shore.

We ask your blessing in this garden, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Exodus 7:8-13: Cane Snake!

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 29 June 2014 

By Captain Michael Ramsay

Exodus 7:8-13:

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,  “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

There are a number of items and ideas that jump out at one as we read through this sign that God performs for Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron.

1)      We notice that not only can God do this sign but so can wise men, sorcerers and even Egyptian magicians. They can all turn their staffs into snakes.

2)      Aaron’s staff snake eats and swallows the others

3)      Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he won’t let them go.

First let us get a bit of an image in our mind of the scene painted before us in Exodus 7:8-13. Aaron and Moses are coming into Pharaoh’s palace.[3]This must be like an old homecoming of sorts for Moses. This past week, the Comp Grade 12 students and their parents just celebrated Grad. Now I think that I may have gone to my 10^th Grade 12 Grad reunion but I know I didn’t go to my 20^th, 25^th, or any others. I do know that many people tell stories about what happens when they do go to reunions. They notice who has lost hair and they notice who has gained weight; they notice who has children and who has even grandchildren; they notice who has become rich or famous; they notice who is divorced or never married. They also notice how much the school has changed or remained the same. Anyone here every gone to a school reunion? Think of your old school and your old friends; when you see them the old stories and feelings come flooding back.

Moses in our story today is returning to a palace that he would have spent some time in and around – at least as a teenager or young adult (Exodus 2:5-10) - and a pharaoh who is probably in some way related to him: a step or foster brother or cousin, someone he may have even known with as a teenager or a young man, or this pharaoh may even be the child or grandchild of someone he may have grown up with. Moses in our story today is eighty years old and his brother Aaron is eighty-three (Exodus 7:7). It has been a long time since he left the Egyptian Composite School (had their been one, of course!). Picture yourself as an 80 year-old returning to your high school for the first time or visiting the old family homestead that you haven’t seen since before you got married. This is what it may have been like for Moses as he stands before Pharaoh - who is probably a relative of his foster mom or a step-relative of some kind who he hasn’t seen since he was a young man. Now Moses is eighty, standing in the halls of this building he once knew so well, talking to types people he used to know so well and challenging these people like maybe he used to do sixty or seventy years ago in this very building. This is the scene before us today: an 80 year-old at a school and/or a family reunion.

Now this 80 year-old Moses and his 83 year-old brother throw his cane –that’s what a staff is – this octogenarian throws his cane to the ground, it turns into a snake and then – I guess – while this snake is moving along the ground, Pharaoh sends messengers out to find wise men, sorcerers, and even some magicians. I doubt they were all in the palace. They probably weren’t even all in the city. Pharaoh’s men would have had to go find them. I don’t know what they did in the interim whether Moses and Aaron picked up the snake staff and waited outside or whether they all just stood there and looked at this snake. At any rate these wise men, sorcerers and even magicians finally arrive and this brings us to our first observation for today:

read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/06/exodus-78-13-cane-snake.html

Exodus 3:1-4:16: “Go!”

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 24 June 2012 and 12 June 2014 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Today is Fathers’ Day and I have certainly been blessed with three of the greatest children for whom a father could ask. We are looking forward to helping out at the Soapbox Derby as per The Salvation Army’s tradition here in Swift Current. It should be a good day and I have good daughters.

Sometimes, however, I must admit that my children listen better than they do at other times. I can remember one day: I remember telling them that we would have to walk home when they arrived at the corps. I told them that we would have to walk home because mom couldn’t come pick us up. I told them to make sure to put their coats on because it was raining and we would be walking home. I told them not to bring too many things home from the corps because we would be walking home. We then head outside and immediately one of the children asks, where’s the car?

My girls can do so much and can be at times quite confident in their abilities. Rebecca, I remember, even as a three year-old, sang this amazing impromptu solo at a talent show (or something like that) in front of maybe hundreds of people that was absolutely captivating for all who were present. Sarah-Grace played the villain in the school play one year and she did a spectacular job. Many people commented on her performance. Both Rebecca and Sarah-Grace have won accolades for their performances. Heather too is growing into quite a big girl. She knows she is special. My children, they can be quite confident in their abilities at times.

Moses, in our pericope today, may lack some of this confidence that my girls have at times displayed but Moses appears to listen in very much the same manner as my girls did in the car episode. Moses, in our story today, as he stands before God, sounds a little like a scared child and as the reader nears the end of the pericope, he actually sounds a lot like an obnoxious child who he keeps refusing to just do what he’s told.

read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/06/exodus-31-416-go.html 

70th Anniversary of D-Day Memorial Service

Swift Current Cenotaph Ceremony

Captain Michael Ramsay Presiding 

08 June 2014

Invocation: We assemble today to solemnly remember an historic event and to pay our respects to the lives of our comrades whose death we mourn but whose spirits still live on.

Let us pray: Almighty God. To paraphrase a now famous D-day prayer: Our soldiers, they were sore tried, by night and by day, without rest— until the victory was won. The darkness was rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls were shaken with the violence of war.

For those who served were drawn from the ways of peace. They fought not for the lust of conquest. They fought to end conquest; hoping to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people, yearning but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some, however, did not return to their home here but rather to their eternal home with Thee. Continue to embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. We are here today Lord to commemorate those who lived and died through the battles of D-day.

We dedicate these proceeding today, in your name, Amen.

Reading from John 12:23-26:

²³And Jesus answered them, saying, the hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.  ²⁴Verily, verily, I say unto you, except that a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit.

 ²⁵He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.  ²⁶If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

 ²⁷Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, for it is this very cause that I came unto this very hour. ²⁸Father, glorify thy name.

Meditation by Captain Michael Ramsay: Today we mark the 70^th Anniversary of the invasion of Europe. D-Day: The Royal Canadian Navy alongside our British and American allies brought the largest invasion fleet ever assembled from England to France in total darkness for Operation Overlord.

On June 6^th, 70 years ago, as our soldiers were landing on the beaches, Prime Minister Mackenzie King told Canadians that this is "the opening of what we hope and believe will be the decisive phase of the war against Germany…Let the hearts of all in Canada today be filled with silent prayer for the success of our own and allied forces and for the early liberation of the people of Europe."

Canadian General Crerar: “I have complete confidence in our ability to meet the test that lies ahead; the quality of both the senior and junior leadership are of the highest.” The quality of our men is the highest. The quality of our service people is the highest.

This seaborne invasion was aimed at 80 kilometres of beach along the Normandy coast, west of the Seine River. Canada’s objective was right in the middle.  The military planners assigned Canada a very significant role on D-Day: to take Juno Beach as a beginning to the liberation of Europe .

Involved in the invasion of Europe, in all there were 5000 ships and landing craft, 11 000 planes, 50 000 vehicles and 155_000 soldiers ready for the impending battle. 14 000 Canadian soldiers were to land on the beaches; another 450 were to drop behind enemy lines by parachute or by glider. The Royal Canadian Navy supplied ships and about 10 000 sailors. Lancaster bombers and Spitfire fighters from the Royal Canadian Air Force supported the invasion.

Cliff Chadderton of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles said, “The men of the infantry and tank regiments chosen for the invasion simply had to disregard what lay ahead for them across the channel. We just dug in, trained harder, determined to do what some were saying would be impossible."

King George VI referred to a 'supreme test' and General Montgomery said, “we have a great and righteous cause let us pray that the Lord, mighty in battle, will go forward with our armies and that His special providence will aid us in the struggle with stout hearts and enthusiasm for the contest. Let us go forward to victory.”

Fourteen thousand young Canadians stormed Juno Beach on June 6, 1944: They were from across the country; from the east to the west, from the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, to the Canadian Scottish from Victoria.  The bombardment of the beaches began at 6 a.m. Within an hour the lead landing craft were away from the ships. Two hours later, the German defences at Juno Beach had been shattered and Canada had established the beachhead.

Our service people’s courage, determination and self-sacrifice are the reasons for our success. They endured fierce, ferocious fighting and paid a high price - the battles for the beachhead in that one day alone cost 340 Canadians lives; 547 wounded and 47 taken prisoner.

British historian John Keegan, wrote about the Canadian 3rd Division on D-Day: “At the end of the day, its forward elements stood deeper into France than those of any other division. The opposition the Canadians faced was stronger than that of any other beach save Omaha. That was an accomplishment in which the whole nation could take considerable pride.”

Today we do feel that sense of pride and accomplishment but it is not without a sense of loss as we remember our friends, family, and comrades, who would not return from their service to God, King, and country.

Let us pray: O Lord our God, whose name only is excellent and your praise above heaven and earth: We give you high praise and hearty thanks for all those who counted not their lives dear unto themselves, but laid them down for their friends, praying you give them a part and a lot in those good things which you have prepared for all those whose names are written in the book of life; and grant to us, that having them always in remembrance, we may imitate their faithfulness, and with them inherit the new name which you have promised to them that overcome; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer by F.E. Brightman)

Benediction:May we, as citizens, and as members of the Royal Canadian Legion be charged anew with the full set of duties and responsibilities to our country and to our organization. May we ever strive to uphold the principles of unselfish service, which led us to serve God and our country in the time of war and in a time of peace, so that we may continue to serve, even unto death.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our Fallen EMS

Composed at Swift Current, Saskatchewan for the second annual remembrance of EMS personal who have died in the line of duty, May 25 2014.

Our Fallen EMS

By Captain Michael Ramsay

Some have perished in war zones,

And some in times and places of peace;

Some have passed from this world to the next, through accidents –

Be they in ambulance, aircraft, or otherwise;

Some have died due to acts of Nature

And all who died have performed acts of service;

Some have been ‘Promoted to Glory’ through unforeseen events,

And some through uncontrollable circumstance;

Some have left small and older children behind,

Some have left husbands, wives, and partners behind;

They have all left friends, colleagues, and communities behind,

And they have all left many fond memories behind;

It is through these memories that our friends, colleagues, and family live on

We must not forget them and we will not forget them

Our Fallen EMS personnel who have given their lives to saving ours.

John 15:13: Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friend

BBC News documentary run on this date in 1957