I was up early but quite refreshed. No matter how long I spend on my sleeping mat camping I never get as good a sleep as when I’m in real bed, and the one I had last night was very comfortable. I read a bit from my book ‘The Science of God’ before rising and having a breakfast of fruit and cereal. That is always my favourite meal of the day, and Milena had a delightful range of cereals for me to try. I refrained from eating any of the NZ Hubbard’s cereals since I knew how precious they were here in Canada and I would be having some again in just a few weeks.

Since it was Saturday we were off to church. Helen and I were the first out the door as the others had to organise the children etc. which always takes time. The twins are about 3 now and with a six month old baby as well it is quite a handful. Milena does all that she can to take the load off Milan and Lillian who are very busy with their business, and it is wonderful so see how much she loves her grandchildren.

Their church is in the town of Puslinch which is about 30 minutes from Dundas, or 20 minutes if you drive like Helen does. OK, this may be an exaggeration, but when you have been travelling at 20 km/h to travel at 50 seems fast and 80 plus is excessive. I pointed out the speed limit signs in an attempt at being subtle, but it didn’t work so I tried being more obvious. Also to no avail. In spite of her speed we arrived slightly late and services had already commenced.

Milan’s nephew Joey was taking the service and he had grown even in the year since I saw him last. He was now about to start university which bought home to me how time had flown. I recalled first meeting him about 7 years ago before he was a teenager. He had recently returned from Europe with his mother where they had attended his brother David’s wedding in Germany before holidaying in Croatia. His father was returning the next day which was a pity as it meant that I would miss him and he is a lot of fun to be around.

The church we attended is called the SDA Reform Movement church. It is similar to the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church in many respects, but has some key doctrinal differences. The best way of describing it is as a very conservative SDA church which says a lot, since the SDA church is one of the more conservative Christian churches.

The Reform Movement began in Germany during World War I over the issue of conscription. The SDA church has always had an official position of conscientious objections to war, although it is up to the individual how they chose to follow their conviction. In countries with conscription this created problems since there were not always avenues for them not to serve. For example, Milena’s son-in-law Milan spent some time in prison on Yugoslavia for refusing to be conscripted. The most common practice was to take a non-combatant’s role, for example as an ambulance driver or as a medic. During World War II one SDA medic in the American Army was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery.

In Germany the issue came to a head when some church members believed that if they served in any capacity in the army, even as non-combatants, they would be compromising their beliefs. The rationale was that this would free up others to go and fight at the front so they shouldn’t be involved in any manner with the military. The church leadership in Germany, concerned about how this would be received by the German government, disfellowshipped those who refused to serve. They went on to form the SDA Reform Movement. It is interesting to note that in NZ the SDA church did the opposite; they fully supported the right of those not to serve in any capacity.

A rapprochement was attempted after the war, but this was unsuccessful and the Reform Movement grew, mainly in Eastern Europe. As a result, most of its members seem to be from Yugoslavia and Romania, or the offspring of immigrants from that area. The Puslinch church reflected this, with translations of the sermon being made into Serbian or some other Slavic dialect.

There was a pot luck lunch after church which was all vegetarian, a luxury, and then I sat outside in the sun reading while Milena and Helen caught up with friends. The church was in the country and one of members, Larry, told me I should have a look at his garden. The path took me through a field of wild flowers and the scent was sweet and delicious. Summer is one of those times when it is great to be out in the country taking in the smells, sights and sounds. It is so good to be alive.

Milena and Helen decided to go and see a church member’s new baby so I agreed to come along. Since Helen was exhausted from work I was the designated driver and we headed off to the highway following another car. If being a passenger was uncomfortable at 80-100 km/h, being a driver following this woman at 100-130 km/h was even worse. Not only did she zoom off without giving any consideration to whether I could follow, but she also viewed indicators as a superfluous accessory and wasn’t sure of the directions herself—even though we were going to her daughter’s house. In the end I just adopted a comfortable speed on the highway, keeping my eye on her in the distance and she eventually got the message.

One of the things which has amazed me is the way in which Toronto has grown. I know that change is inevitable but the city now is one huge megalopolis which extends way up into areas that were country when I left 18 years ago. While I recognise that is a long time, most of the grown seems to have happened in the last 5-10 years. We went to an area which was once farmland and is now mile upon mile of suburbia. The places were OK, but there is a homogeneity to all the designs. They are subtle differences between them, but the keyword is subtle. By comparison, all the houses in the area where my parents live were built around the same time but they have marked differences while maintaining a similar character. The builders were from Devon and Cornwall so there is a strong English flavour (with street names like Dawlish, St. Leonards, Cheltenham, St. Ives). The best way of describing the flavour of the modern subdivisions is bland.

We had a nice visit and many others also dropped in. The conversation was often in Yugoslavian (OK, I know there is no language but it may have been Serbian or Croatian so I’ll be idle and call it Yugoslavian) so I happily ensconced myself in a corner with my book. Later on when some young people arrived I became more sociable, but I didn’t feel left out and the others didn’t feel slighted so it didn’t seem rude to be there reading.

Helen and I drove to the church and it was another fun run. On the way we discussed work and lifestyle issues. Helen is very busy at work and this is to the detriment of many other important elements to life. It is a situation which most of us find ourselves in at one stage or another and I shared with her some of the ways that I have dealt with it. Most recently, Lis sent me on a programme which was designed to help busy people get their lives in control and this has helped immensely with focusing me. The biggest challenge is to accept that there is a problem and to accept that something needs to be done about it. Once you have done this you are on your way to victory. The problem is for us to assent to both of those. Often, we know there is a problem but we don’t really believe that something should be done about it, or we say that there is nothing that can be done. The latter is fooling oneself. Something can always be done.

The church was having ordinances when we arrived and after they were over everyone came downstairs for supper. This consisted of 50% healthy food like fruit and 50% deserts. A typical SDA (or Reform Movement) pot luck. We often fool ourselves that just because meat isn’t being served we are being healthy. Health is far more than an absence of meet, tobacco and alcohol. It is a wholistic concept which encompasses exercise, proper eating, and a balanced life.