Michele Gyselinck
I am a 62-year-old woman. I was born in Montreal and grew up in a western suburb of the city. I became a confessing member of the local CRC, First Christian Reformed Church of Monreal on May 15, 1977, so this year will be the 43rd anniversary of that event. I have two B.A.s, one in LInguistics and the other in English Studies with a Major in Professional Writing in English. I developed schizophrenia around the age of 28.
Posted in: What Is the Unofficial Dress Code at Your Church? Does it Matter?
I think we're becoming a bit TOO casual. There was a time--pobably when there were more members of the older generation from Holland in our congregation who have since moved either westward or heavenward in our midst--when people dressed up more to go to church. I still do, but then I'm not the grunge type anyway. But I see more and more blue jeans and I don't like it. Can't people make the effort to at least wear a nice pair of pants to honor God?
Posted in: What Is the Unofficial Dress Code at Your Church? Does it Matter?
In our congregation, which is definitely a suburban one, the people who wear jeans to church don't do so because they can't afford "Sunday clothes" but because it doesn't matter to them. They wear suits and ties all week for work and see Sunday as a day when they can.relax and wear jeans. We used to have a member who was poor but didn't wear jeans, but she has since gone to be with the Lord, and now we have other people who are also poor, but who wear their Sunday best to church. I think that choosing to wear jeans to church is more a matter of culture than financial means.
Posted in: What Is the Unofficial Dress Code at Your Church? Does it Matter?
I've been through hard times when I was so depressed as to be suicidal, but other people being all dressed up didn't make me feel as though I didn't belong. Maybe because i like to dress up even to go shopping. Anyway, eventually, I realized that I felt better emotionally when I wore make-up than when I didn't. For me it's a matter of psychological hygiene, so I put it on.
We shouldn't assume that dressing up necessarily makes people feel excluded. It depends on their mindset. My sister is a lot more grunge than me, but she doesn't go to church, so that wouldn't make her feel excluded per se. She is used to seeing me wear dresses or skirts and blouses on weekdays as well as Sundays--that's who I am.
Posted in: Singleness and the Question of God's Goodness
For decades I wanted to marry and have kids, but I reached menopause and still there were no husband, let alone kids in the picture. Now I'm 59, and I'm no longer anxious about that. I also hoped to have a career of my own and be financially independent, but at 28 I started having symptoms of schizophrenia that were diagnosed ten years later, so after I graduated with my second B.A., I had to go on Welfare because I couldn't find an employer who would hire me. I have sort of come to terms about my singleness, but right now, I CAN'T say that I feel successful, if success is longing for marriage all your life, not getting it, but still dying more convinced than ever that God is good.
Maybe because I'm having a hard time feeling that God is good right now. I'm pissed off with him. For months I prayed that he would help me with a financial problem, a debt, and nothing happened. So much so that I ended up thinking the institution I owed the money to had decided to write the debt off as a loss. And now after months of silence, out of the blue, here they come again demanding payment of $7,000. by the end of April as though I'm going to get that out of thin air. In the meantime my situation hasn't changed significantly in that I'm living on disability income instead of welfare, but I'm not getting nearly enough money to come up with $7,000 by the end of the month. I don't know where to look for it. I tried lottery tickets, but nothing came off that. So now I don't know what to do anymore.
Posted in: Aging: Challenges and Opportunities
First of all, youth is overrated. When I was young, in my twenties, I developed schizophrenia and was miserable because lack of sleep and auditory hallucinations and depression made me want to kill myself. Now, at 59, my symptoms are under control thanks to medications I take religiously about the same time every day, and I feel much better.
Also, as Regional Advocate for Disability Concerns, I put the members of my congregation last fall that they should consider themselves as Temporarily Able-Bodied, or TAB for short because if accidents or disease don't get them, old age will.
And Third, I have read about a fourth age, which is old age beyond 80 years of age. My mom is 91 now, and she is still active and still drives her car. Yesterday she told me that she had gone to the PQ head office to volunteer her help for the coming election. She is the only separatist in the family and has been since the 1970s, so this is no surprise to us even if we don't share her opinion on the matter. She also attends mass whenever she can and helps a friend of hers who has a multitude of age-related health problems. And I think it's wonderful that she can still do all those things at her age.
Posted in: Justice, Grace, and Worth: Rachael Denhollander's Victim Impact Statement
Thanks to Rachael Denhollander's courageous and gracious testimony as well as that of the other survivors, this evil man has been taken off the streets for good. The judge--and I listened to the whole verdict as well as the statements she made before that--did not believe he would be safe to release in society. Because he DID NOT GET IT. So at last these women and their family got justice. I pray that the Lord will heal their hearts and souls and help that wicked man come to repentance before he dies.
Posted in: What Refreshments (If Any) Does Your Church Offer Before or After Worship?
Our church serves both coffee and juice AFTER the service. I never get there early enough to see if there is anything BEFORE the service. Nobody pours the coffee. Somebody prepares a percolator ahead of time so it will be ready after the service, and it's put on a table in the Fellowship hall and people help themselves to that and cream or milk and cookies, although adults probably pour juice for the little kids. Sometimes, there will be tomato pizza, or even samoosas for special occasions, or cake when there is a birthday . But usually that's after the service.
Posted in: What Refreshments (If Any) Does Your Church Offer Before or After Worship?
Yeah, I also miss going to someone else's house for coffee, but since I have to rely on public transit or a ride to get around, I find it nice to have access to most members of the congregation in the same building right after church. The only drawback is the noise in the Fellowship Hall. With kids screaming and running around and adults chatting, with my hearing loss I often have a hard time following conversations.
Posted in: Do Trump’s "S---hole" Remarks Represent American Values?
Sorry, I'm Canadian, so I can't tell you that. But up here, north of the border, we have taken in a lot of Haitian people last year who were afraid of being sent back to Haiti. They have applied to be admitted either as refugees or immigrants, not sure which, and are awaiting a decision about their status that could take awhile to come. Hopefully not years though.
Posted in: Do Trump’s "S---hole" Remarks Represent American Values?
There is a difference between "calling a spade a spade," as you put it and vulgarity. African countries are not "sh@thole" countries anymore than the States are. Africans on average are more educated than Americans. And if there are African countries where there is a big disparity between rich and poor, this disparity also exists in your country. Does that make the U.S.A. a sh@thole country? If not, then why should your president get away with saying that about countries simply because the majority of their inhabitants is dark-skinned?
Posted in: Do Trump’s "S---hole" Remarks Represent American Values?
You may not think our commenting on your country's policies is a good idea, but since we're members of the same denomination how would you go about preventing it short of a schism for political reasons?
Posted in: Do Trump’s "S---hole" Remarks Represent American Values?
It's not just a question of the word your president used, but of the blatant racism involved in the remark. Your president actually bragged to his rich friends of having used the word in question before the WH decided they should deny he used it. So there isn't much doubt about it. Your president added that your country needed more immigrants from countries like Norway, who don't need to immigrate to the U.S. because their economy is fine and they have single payer health care in Norway along with free education.