Old Faith

This morning I led a photo shoot of a few older YMCA members at the Langara Family YMCA. I must admit, they have inspired me.

Erwin, centre, is from Germany. He fought in WWII, snuck into YMCA's across the world banned by Hitler, moved to Vancouver 30 years ago and pastored a church here for a few decades. Now, every morning at 6:45 a.m., Erwin and his friends get together to sing, pray and eat--with a little laughter in between.

As I listened to them sing "Great is thy Faithfulness" in English and Chinese, I was struck by the lives these individuals must have behind them. Lives of a facing struggle--Hitler!--or moving to a new country, making ends meet, learning a new language and culture and all the additional pain that any one of us may meet in our lifetime: disease, broken relationships, death, mental illness, etc.

Regardless of how they have chosen to live--their past, their choices, and their challenges--the people I saw today are titans of faith. People still singing praises and beginning each day in the midst of a community of friends doing life together after decades of life. I hope I can be just like that someday.