Pastoral Letters

June/July 2026

SOME NEWS FROM YOUR PEWS (or, how I see it)

Hello once again to all of you folks in the Lakeview area and beyond. This message for this month brings us well into summer and may we all find periods of delight in the days of sunshine, calm and cool evenings, and adventures which feed our spirits. Summer is usually the season where we may spend time barbequing and entertaining and welcoming friends and strangers alike. This gives us great opportunities of broadening our circle of relationships and strengthening our bonds with each other and opening doors to new connections. This also offers us occasions of caring for others and others caring for us.

My mind wanders back to some of the folks who I had thought truly exemplified what it means to be a caring human being. I’m sure that there are many folks which you could also name and when you think of them, I’m quite sure that it brings a warm feeling of humanity in your spirit. One of the gentlemen which comes to mind was one of the owners of the Carriage House Inn for many, many years. I used to service this hotel with soft drinks once a week; Pepsi, 7Up, Schweppes Ginger Ale and Tonic, and later, canned soft drinks for the many machines on the different floors. And this gentleman would come out back quite often where the deliveries would happen and would spend time asking about family and life and things along that line and this was well over 50 years ago. He was truly interested in who I was and how I was doing. His name was Leo Sheftel and I will always remember how important it is to make connections in that it puts us all in the same world. When he had passed away in 2018, I believe that the world lost an icon.

Another important person in my life who truly exemplified who it was to be a connection person was the owner of Food Vale along Elbow Drive. Larry Kwong was the owner, and I would spend many moments in his office just chatting about life. Even though he was a busy man and always on the go, he would take time to sit and chat so that it wasn’t just a customer/salesperson relationship but something much deeper, something which I believe is somewhat missing in our societies these days. So, my thoughts for all of you as summer sets upon us is for all of us to go a little deeper into relationship building, into reconnecting with those who may have become distant. The world will be a better place for this, and our hearts will beat to the rhythm of a new creation. May the spirit of the living God breathe deeply in you and in turn, may you breathe out the peace and love to the world.

Prayer time:

O God who connects, we truly give thanks that you are the God of Mystery. We know that you speak to us in stories, in life episodes, sometimes in riddles and metaphors but you connect with us and through us. It’s sometimes so easy to pass these stories as ‘just stories’ but we know that they contain the real stuff of life. Give us the clarity to listen closer to each other when the stories are being shared and may we have the heart to hear and feel these realities and the will to live them out – together…Amen.    

   Blessings of love and peace to all of you….The Rev. Jope Langejans

Past Lakeview News & Views Articles