Penn Lake Park Campground, Marathon, Ontario, Canada
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Acts 2:2
It was pretty windy last night, and still pretty breezy this morning.
There are two church options in this town, and not even any others in the surrounding area, and by this, I mean there were two church buildings. Pentecostal or Catholic. We decided to give the Pentecostals a whirl, because we have no idea when we’re supposed to stand up or sit and we don’t know the prescribed prayers of the Catholics. No sense making a spectacle of ourselves on Sunday morning. Plus, how much worship would we actually participate in if we’re constantly aware of such things?
People around this town must be either agnostics or Catholics, because only about 20 people joined us this morning. One woman who greeted us said they were low on numbers because it was summer and everyone was vacationing.
We waited with baited breath for the service to start, since we weren’t quite sure what to expect. You know what I mean – the speaking in tongues, or hellfire and brimstone, or dancing in the isles – something. But they worshiped pretty much like the Baptists we spent years with. 😊 And they LOVE their music! I kept track – we sang eleven songs this morning! Eleven! Now, mind you, I really enjoy singing hymns and praise songs, both in and out of church, but eleven? That was a lot even for me. 😊 But there was joy in their voices as we heard the other parishioners belting them out along with the song leaders. There was even harmony, hand clapping and foot tapping going on, but no theatrics. Such a Spirit-filled congregation!
The pastor this morning was ‘vacationing’ – coming all the way down from Newfoundland to visit family and help out their daughter who’d recently had surgery. They have two very young children. He was filling the pulpit last week and this week. Guess the regular pastor is one of those on vacation. 😊 I don’t remember why he mentioned it, but one thing I found amusing was that this man from Newfoundland – a rugged, remote place, hates the outdoors and camping. Sure surprised me that someone from there would feel that way.
He’s recently retired – for the third time – and will be going back to their home church as a sheep rather than a shepherd. And they have to be back by September because that’s berry-picking season. He seemed to be looking forward to that a lot! 😊
The lesson for today comes from John 15:1-11. Jesus’ analogy of the vine and the branches.
I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing…. John 15:1-5
He really brought this passage to life, much the same as I’m sure Jesus using this parallel taught his followers, and why they would have understood it so much better because they understood the comparison. It seems this Pastor’s son grows grapes. So the Pastor called and talked to him about it.
It seems the vine is the vital, nourishment, sustaining, supporting portion of the grape… (vine, branches, fruit – I’m not sure what the appropriate name is). Without the vine, which is well grounded and tended by the vinedresser (or gardener), nothing else would grow.
The vine produces branches, which flow out from the vine, producing more and more branches. Some of the branches flourish and are healthy providing shade and beauty, and eventually, fruit. Some of the branches fade and are destined to be cut from the vine by the vinedresser so that the healthy branches will flourish even more.
And the healthier the branch, the more fruit it produces. It is vital to the health and production of the plant, that there be pruning. The health of the vine is manifested in the branches. The Pastor told us that his son had fairly severely pruned his branches, and the result was harvesting three times as much fruit as in the previous year. To me, this demonstrated how the persecuted church not only survives, but goes on to produce much fruit.
Jesus is the Vine. God is the Vinedresser/Gardener. We are the branches. As long as we remain with the Vine, we become healthier and bear more fruit. The fruit is the evidence of the health of the branch. Little or no fruit indicates the health of the branch is in jeopardy. If the Vine or the Gardener can’t revive it, with more cultivation or some careful pruning, it will be cut from the vine and cast into the fire (verse 6).
This also teaches us about the mutual reliance we have. As a ‘branch’, I need Jesus. As the Vine, Jesus needs me. I cannot produce fruit without the vine. The Vine cannot produce fruit without the branches. Without fruit, the entire thing is useless.
One last thing – what is the fruit? Galatians 5:22 gives us at least a partial list – the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
And as we bear this fruit, it can then be used by the Vinedresser.
After church, we decided to try our luck at the grocery store again. Certainly the shelves are stocked by now?
They were. But evidently they just don’t carry most of our stuff. What they do have is lots and lots and lots and lots of mayonnaise and Miracle Whip! People around here must make a ton of potato salad!
The bananas have gone from dark brown to fully green since yesterday, but the gallon milk is still in plastic bags. They must have some sort of special holder for it, because we could see no possible way to pour it. They did have half-gallons in cartons. We had no choice but to buy one – – for almost $4! Yikes! At least we get 30% off from the exchange rate.
We did however, manage to get a deal on hamburger. It’s a good thing, because that was really expensive too. They had a couple of packages for 30% off and with the exchange rate, that made it 60% off for us! Yippee! Meatloaf tonight!
It’s no wonder there are hardly any restaurants around. Where would they get their supplies?? If we stop for dinner at the Chinese place, I just may ask them, because there certainly were no wonton or egg roll wrappers in this store. It’s possible it’s Thunder Bay, because we’ve heard people mention Thunder Bay for other things. But Thunder Bay’s a good 3 ½ hours away! We’re so used to convenience, this sounds impossible. But maybe up here, it’s normal.
It turned into another gorgeous day around the Lake!
We took advantage by visiting another beach area here in Marathon – Carden Cove. Blaine had read about it, and put it in the gps and off we went. Right down a gravel mildly Jeep road. Hmmmm . . . . We drove for quite a while, seeing nothing but trees and underbrush.
And then, before us appeared a half dozen or so cars all bunched together. Well, this must be the place!
Our short trip out, turned into a couple of hours as we explored as far as we could go around the cove.
Beginning our trek around the cove.
You had to be there to appreciate this picture, because it didn’t turn out the way we saw it.
It looked like a large turtle with his head disconnected. : )
A lone boat.
We’ve seen very few boats around Lake Superior – excepting the ships in Duluth.
There seemed to be people around, but this little guy was the only brave enough to test the waters. He was having a great time!
Yet another variety of Pine tree! Our Creator has such an imagination!
What does it say about me that I’m so willing to put in unflattering pictures of myself?
There’s the result!
Who knew fungus could be so pretty?
There he goes again….
The white dot near the middle of the picture is me.
Blaine’s up there, mimicking a tree. : )
But I have to tell you, this time I actually got worried about him! I was watching… waiting and waiting and waiting for him to reappear after he disappeared into that ravine area.
I even got up and walked barefoot over the rocks to go check on him. Just as I got there, he came out here.
He said he had to go up and around.
There he is!
He caught me coming up from dipping my feet in the cold Lake water.
It was a bit chilly, but warm enough for feet for a minute or two.
The rocks were warm enough that they were warm and dry by the time I returned to my waiting spot.
Take a good look at this rock formation because it will help you find me in the next two pictures.
They show perspective of distance and height.
Meanwhile, I’m down here snapping things closer to Lake level. : )
We came across an information board on our way back to the parking lot.
Blaine liked the aerial views of the Cove!
Pretty, eh?
Alright. You’ve got my attention. Who/what is this “Group of Seven”?
Here they are – -the Group of Seven, from left to right:
A.Y. Jackson, Fred Varley, Lawren Harris, Barker Fairley, Franz Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. Macdonald
Since Lawren Harris was the one the sign seemed most focused on, I looked up some of his work.
This is called “Laurentian Landscape” from 1913.
Well, it’s colorful, I’ll give it that . . . .
“Lake Superior Hill” 1925
I don’t know where this is, but we’ve certainly never seen anything even remotely close to this . . .
“Morning, Lake Superior” cir.1921
Tomorrow’s post will show you something similar to this.
Still. It’s hard for me to imagine that people pay millions for these . . .
This one, painted in 1930, is called “Mountain and Glacier” and was sold at auction in 2015 for $4.6 million!
It was fun! And beautiful! And now, educational as well!
About 8pm this evening, Blaine decided to take a walk. He walked alone. : )
This is Penn Lake.
The campground’s namesake.
I’ve yet to see it myself. : )