It happened in Nova Scotia during the summer of 1949. The Presbyterian Sunday School children in Orangedale, on Cape Breton Island, were taking part in a Church Service. My wife Jean and I would have forgotten the occasion completely except for one boy and four words from a poem he recited. With his delightful Cape Breton accent he launched forth with "Others Lord, Yes Others." Again and again these words were repeated at regular intervals, a kind of refrain in the poem. We were so impressed that in appropriate situations we too burst forth with "Others Lord, Yes, Others."

Last fall on a trip to British Columbia we began to realize how many others were actually involved in getting us there. Service station attendants, restaurant and motor inn personnel, bus, boat and train crews, eight friends, and nine relatives all had a part to play. Our estimate is up to a hundred others. Our experience with all of them was most memorable. What really impresses us is the way that almost everything we do affects others. Conversely, others are constantly affecting us for better or for worse. Others can either make or break our days. Here are some very ordinary examples.

It snowed heavily overnight filling in our lane and driveway. Early the next morning Bill plowed us out. A few years ago I had married Bill to his wife Doris. Four years ago Morris helped us build a storage shed refusing any payment. I knew he liked butternut wood for some of his projects. I managed to give him some butternut logs. I believe that in such simple acts the teaching of Jesus about loving one another is carried out. The result is a happy and peaceful community. We know. We have one.

Prayer: Our God and Father, we thank you that you created us for love. For all our loved ones we are truly grateful. Even for enemies and those who persecute us, we pray that your transforming power will turn them into friends. Help us to remember, O Lord, that with you, nothing is impossible. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

It happened in a village church where I was the minister. Directly after a Sunday morning Communion service, Lewis, one of the elders, took me aside and told me this remarkable story.

Every day of the previous week he had a vision. Whether he was riding his tractor or doing other chores around the farm the vision never left him. In it he saw me with Ed, another one of our elders, coming to his house to pray with his wife Muriel. In the background he saw the former minister and another elder supporting us with prayers from their homes.

We all knew Muriel had been subject to blackouts and fainting spells. These always occurred in church services or in other situations where the presence of God's Spirit was evident. Each of us in the vision had seen Muriel in one or more of her spells. We believed them to be what the New Testament called demons or evil spirits as in Mark 9:14-29. That was theory. Now we faced reality. Lewis asked us to come out that very night to deal with the demon. At once I contacted the others. Everything fell into place. It was a go.

Two very nervous servants of Christ made their way to Lewis and Muriel's place. Many prayers went up to God as we drove along. The real concern was "What if nothing happens?" We were welcomed warmly as usual but the formalities were few. The moment for action had come.

Muriel sat in a position where Lewis, Ed and I could lay our hands on her gently. What happened in the next moments, I no longer remember in much detail. I do, however, remember using, words straight from the Bible, words Jesus used for dealing with demons. They were loud and clear. That evil spirit was addressed in the name of Jesus Christ and commanded to get out of Muriel and stay out of her forever. Suddenly Muriel's body convulsed but only for a moment or two. Then, with pure joy, she announced, "It's gone." Indeed it was gone. Never again did Muriel have any of those blackouts and fainting spells.

Enthusiastic praise and thanksgiving to our great God burst forth. This was the Lord's doing. It was marvellous in our eyes.

Prayer: Great God of wonders, with deep reverence and abounding gratitude we remember your mighty works among us. You are the same yesterday, today and forever. With this faith help us to be ready for anything you may call us to do. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A short time ago I began to make a close study of Matthew, Mark and Luke to discover exactly what Jesus had for his top priority. I learned that the first move of the newly baptized and Spirit-filled Jesus was to confront Satan in the wilderness and to do battle with him for forty days and forty nights until Satan had had enough. Along with all this Jesus was constantly dealing with demons as well as involving him with human sin in its various forms. I have just finished another look in Mark's Gospel and found forty-eight places where he had tracked down evil and was dealing with it.

Since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, we can be certain that he is still confronting Satan and fighting sin by removing it. This fact was brought to my attention forcibly by Dennis Wiedrick in his book "A Royal Priesthood". Dennis and his wife Katie are senior leaders at the Hamilton Christian Fellowship, a flourishing congregation of believers like those we read about in the New Testament. They have lively worship and the gifts of the Spirit operate freely. Behind their success, however, is fervent prayer and especially the prayers of confession and repentance. Satan, demons, and sin must all be faced and removed before genuine spiritual renewal can occur.

As we approach the year 2000, many Christians want to do something special to celebrate the occasion. In our area, plans have been made for a Billy Graham Associate Crusade from September 20-23 this year. I am delighted. I believe, however, that if each one of us, who claim to be faithful followers of Christ, would confess our sin, repent and pray for his will to be done in us every day, we would soon find great things happening. We will find a deeper life in the Spirit for ourselves and our friends and we will see our local congregations become alive and vital like the Hamilton Christian Fellowship. It is worth a try.

Prayer: Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we praise and thank you for showing us what life can be like when we truly follow your way. We want to share in all the good things you have for us. Please help us reach those goals. In your Son's name we pray. Amen.

Shortly after I had enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces I was surprised to find myself in a training course for Non Commissioned Officers (NCO'S). I was not prepared for this and it was scary. The worst part was to run an obstacle course loaded down with equipment, rifle and all. Half way through this course there was a stretch of water. We had to grasp a rope that was to be tossed back by the fellow ahead of us and hang on to it, swing all the way across this water and keep going for the rest of the course. Not to make it would be disastrous. It was at this time that I remembered those words of St. Paul "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," I repeated them endless times during those years and I still find them as helpful as ever. At the same time I keep wondering how to explain this remarkable fact of our faith in a meaningful way. Here is my most recent attempt.

A friend of mine writes mystery novels for youth available from Scholastic Publishers. Bookstores are supposed to have them as well as local schools. Our granddaughter Georgina loves those books, but despite several attempts her Dad was not able to find any of them. He appealed to me. At once I contacted the author Robert Sutherland, and requested a complete set for her. He packed the books and mailed them promptly. For a happy Georgina it was her Grandpa that got the books, but that was only half the story. That I got the books through Robert Sutherland is the full story. I had something to do but it was the author and producer that made the whole transaction possible. He did the essential part. So it is with Christ. We have our many things to do but it is through Christ alone that we can get the specific help we need to do all those things.

Prayer: O Lord our God, creator of all things and the source of help for our every need, quicken our faith, we pray, and increase our trust, so that with your apostle Paul and your true servants in every age we too can say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In His name we pray. Amen.

Between the late 1920s and the 1950s Madame Chiang Kai-shek was a lady greatly revered in Christian circles around the world. Her husband was both the political and military leader of the National forces in China until his defeat by the Communists in 1949. He then took refuge on the Island of Formosa, now Taiwan, where he set up his Nationalist Government and remained in power for many years. During those years we had several missionary friends who had to flee China during that Communist Revolution and some went to Taiwan. From them we learned of the great influence of Madame Chiang Kai-shek as a Christian leader giving strong support to their missionary work and all Christian concerns. Her husband Chiang Kai-shek became a Christian too, no doubt aided by her influence.

I relate all this for one reason. Very recently in a hospital waiting room, as I was thumbing through a magazine, I spotted the name Madame Chiang Kai-shek and with it a quotation that immediately fascinated me. It read, "I used to pray that God would do this or that. Now I pray only that God will make his will known to me." As I reflected on these words it occurred to me that perhaps in her earlier days when the Nationalists became the strongest force in China, life would be more normal without the severe pressures of the later period. When the struggles were not intense, she could pray for many things; for this and that. Later on, however, when the pressures were on and survival itself was at stake she could have made the change. Now her prayer was a single request that God would make his will known to her. In desperation this was the only prayer that would really matter.

I remembered then that the apostle Paul's first question to his new Lord was precisely the same. "What am I to do Lord?" The answer came directly. "Get up and go into Damascus; and you will be told everything that God has determined for you to do." If that was the most important question for Christ's greatest servant in the first century and one of the great ones in our twentieth century, surely it is the top priority question for all of us, whatever our situation.

Prayer: O Lord our God, in the wonder of your ways we believe that you have definite assignments for our lives and even for each day. We need to ask you what you have for us to do. Please keep reminding us of these responsibilities and marvellous opportunities. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Interviewer: Mother Teresa, you love people whom others regard as debris. What is your secret?

Mother Teresa: My secret is simple. I pray.

"I Pray." There, indeed, is the secret of success for all Christian life and work. In their book, Living the Word, Eileen and Kathleen Egan invite us to A New Adventure in Prayer, Involving Scripture, Mother Teresa, and You. It is a source of great encouragement for us lesser servants of Christ.

The book opens with that excerpt from an interview which shows how Mother Teresa's whole life was grounded in prayer, and then gives examples for us to follow. One of her emphases is a constant source of hope for us. "There is no one," she insists, "who needs God's grace more than I do. I think that is why he uses me, because I cannot claim any credit for what they get done."

Here is a clear example of what she meant. It is the first day of her new job in a foreign country in a strange city facing a huge task. Here's what happens, in her words:

The first woman I saw, I myself picked up from the street. She had been half eaten by the rats and ants. I took her to the hospital, but they could not do anything for her. They only took her because I refused to move until they accepted her. From there I went to the municipality, and I asked them to give me a place where I could bring these people, because, on the same day, I had found others dying on the streets. The health officer took me to the Kali Temple and showed me where the people used to rest after they had done their worship of Kali goddess. It was an empty building. He asked me if I would accept it. I was very happy to have the place.

The building was the perfect place to bring those poorest of the poor, dying on the streets. It had to be One greater than the little nun from Yugoslavia, accomplishing so much in such a short time. It is an "Open Secret" and we are in on it! Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Almighty and ever gracious God, we praise and thank you for the life and work of Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity. May she, being dead, yet speak to us words of encouragement. As we seek to serve you in our own time and place may we learn her secret and find success through prayer and loving obedience. In the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

"The Lord be with you!" How often are we likely to hear the owner or CEO of a large company greet his workers like that? Or to hear the reply, "The Lord bless you!" The question, "Who is that young woman?" would be more likely. Nevertheless the divine blessing and individual concern can work wonders in business management.

Here is what happened to a floundering businessman who tried this approach. One day he went into his office and, in desperation, cried out, "I need help." After a pause he got to the point. "Okay, God, I now have to know what I should do,"

He laid his head in his arms and suddenly these words came to him: "Create the conditions through which the individual can develop to the maximum of his capacity within the opportunities at hand." There was a moment of silence. "What Lord?" he blurted out. The words repeated themselves. He was impressed. He read the New Testament six times and only then he attempted to organize the company so that everyone who worked there could develop his or her talents and abilities as completely as possible. In ten years his company had grown over four times its original size. Corporate and personal concern really paid off.

Boaz showed interest for all his workers together but also for the individual, the young woman. As some of us know, the whole story of Ruth and Boaz unfolded in a marvellous way. Personal caring, whether in field, factory, school, church, or home, works wonders. It is God's way. He offers it to be our way too.

Prayer: All-wise and ever-gracious God, we thank you for both the teaching and example of your Son Jesus who showed an amazing ability to live and work with a wide variety of people. As your Spirit filled and guided him in his mission, may we also be guided in all that we do together and individually so that your purposes may prosper. In His Name we pray. Amen.