I passed through Toronto’s Union Station last evening. The shot above was taken on Platform 27, with the Lakeshore East train approaching (note I am not on or over the yellow line as I take the photo!).
I suppose because I’m planning to have Christian unity as the them of August messages, I think of various elements of community and culture coming together as I look at this scene now. There are all those rail tracks, where there could be dangerous confusion if someone wasn’t in charge of traffic. There is the CN Tower, representing communication. There are the buildings where business of the nation and world is conducted. There is the city itself, with its great ethnic and spiritual diversity. Not visible in the shot are churches, which tend to be tucked away here and there, and where many people think of going if they want respite from everything else.
Respite from the world is part of what is necessary at times, but is that primarily what the church is for? I think not. Maybe as a church we should be more at the centre of things, where people live all these everyday things represented in the scene above? And we have one to keep us united and on track. May we be closer to him, and allow him to challenge us.