September 18, 2026
Official End of Summer Greetings!
In 2010 for the Super Bowl Snickers started their “You’re not you when you’re hungry” ad campaign. They may not have realized it in their planning but that first ad, starring Betty White, gave them a concept that they would run with in many forms. I suspect that, at least in passing, you might have seen one of their numerous commercials where someone (they did have some other celebrities like Robin Williams, Elton John and more) who starts off not being themselves – until someone passes them a Snickers bar.
The ad hit on something with the audience and their sales spiked. An acknowledgement that there are times when we are hungry and are not ourselves. Anyone who has been a parent has seen this in their children. If their baby or child is hungry then there are moments when hunger gets played out not in gentle pleading and recognizing that they are hungry but in outbreaks of crying, anger, frustration, listlessness or easily distracted. Recognition of hunger in children as a distraction from learning was one of the reasons for morning food programs in schools. As adults, I suspect that most of us have had those moments when we get short tempered or edgy because we are hungry – whether we realized it in the moment or not.
But taking the “you aren’t you” message a step further, what this ad campaign hit on was both a scientific and psychological response to being hungry. When our blood glucose levels fall our brain begins to panic sending signals in our body to release hormones, including adrenaline, into our blood stream – hormones that increase the amount of glucose in our blood stream. Adrenaline can make us edgy or hyper aware and then once the adrenaline burst has made its way through our system we become tired and without energy.
A study produced for the American Psychological Association added complementary insight. Kristen Lindquist, PhD, the study’s co-author. “We’ve all felt hungry, recognized the unpleasantness as hunger, had a sandwich and felt better. We find that feeling hangry happens when you feel unpleasantness due to hunger but interpret those feelings as strong emotions about other people or the situation you’re in.” In other words, our hunger can turn to “hanger” (hungry and anger combined) when we are unable to identify emotionally that we are just hungry and instead we start offering emotional, sometimes irrational responses, which can be exacerbated by the circumstances around us.
All that to say that in our Scriptures for this week the Hebrews have left an oasis to continue their journey. They are free from Egypt however, food sources are limited, and they start complaining to Moses. This hunger quickly becomes hanger. They aren’t themselves. They know on one level that they are hungry but looking around the wilderness seeing no food sources begin to panic and a mob mentality raises the anxiety level. Why did we leave Egypt, at least there was food? Why are we here and really, where are we going? God will hear their complaint, and the promise of manna and quails is offered to provide for their daily needs, satisfying one of the basic needs of life.
The reality is that sometimes it doesn’t take much to get us out of sorts with our relationship with God. Whether feeling physical or spiritual hunger we can pull away, be listless, be hangry, and generally not be ourselves. We can feel adrift, alone and resentful. Scripture, prayer, music, community can ground us, can feed our hunger and help us to know that God is near. Let us gather for worship in our regular service times at 9:45am in Ilderton and 11:00am in Melville as we hear the complaints of the Hebrews, the complaints of the vineyard workers, and even our own complaints, but also hear of a God who sees beyond our whininess and sees and loves our true selves, completely.
Enjoy the last few days of official summer as the darkness officially gets longer than daylight on Tuesday.
Blessings,
Steve
Link to the original Snickers/Betty White Commercial:
The Rev Steve Longmoore
Ilderton and Melville United Churches
Cell (519) 381-8282
September 13, 2026
Greetings!
Well, I am once again late getting my email thoughts together this week, but I kept getting drawn back to a simple line in the Gospel reading. “Have patience with me.” We live in a time where everything is instantaneous and if we do not respond quickly, there is a lack of patience expressed… you were too busy for me? Too busy to text back? Too busy to acknowledge me? I was in a hurry, you know?
I’m 53. I remember having one phone line to the house. I remember my Dad’s camp was on a party line system. I remember needing to dial and redial because I would get a busy signal when phoning a friend. I remember debating if it might be quicker to ride my bike and go to their house or keep on trying to call. I remember not having an answering machine or being able to leave a message after seven rings of the phone. I remember not having call display or call waiting. I remember when there were no emails, no instant text messages, no video messaging. And I know that most of you remember that as well. It took a lot of patience to try to get information, to schedule a time together, just to be able to connect… and it was just a part of life. Patience was required.
“Have patience with me.” Technology has changed. We have the freedom to travel wider distances with multi-car families. There are more things to do to occupy our time whether it is outside or inside our homes. And yet, with our own busyness, it seems that patience is a decreasing commodity in the world. When we lose the ability to have patience with others, I feel it has decreased our ability to have compassion, to show empathy, to listen, to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around us whenever we demand it.
“Have patience with me.” The line is found not once but twice in our Gospel reading this week in a parable of forgiveness. A servant who owes much to his master begs for his life, begs for patience to try to repay all that he owes – which, the readers of the story would know to be impossible (think hundreds of years of labour), yet the master grants patience, grants time. This servant who has been gifted time finds a fellow servant who owes him money, and when the same plea comes forth, the original servant who received patience is unable and unwilling to offer it to the one who owes him.
It is the story of our lives… we crave patience from others when we need more time, yet we can be blinded to the pleas of other when patience is the asking. That said, there are times when we need to push to stand up for ourselves and know that we have value. But, it can be a fine line in which we desire too much control, too easily?
We are a people of faith. Deeply trusting that God has patience for us. Knowing that Jesus’ ministry was full of moments of when patience and forgiveness was freely offered. Patience is yet another message that the world needs to hear, amongst the clamour and the rush to complete everything now, everything that focuses on us. There is no time to offer patience to others.
So let us come to worship this week, Ilderton at 945am, Melville at 1100am, to celebrate the God we find in creation. The God who brings patience as the Exodus journey begins. The God who sent Jesus to teach a message of patience and forgiveness to the world. This God shows us more patience than we can imagine – giving us time and space to run away but is always with us when we need that moment of strength. And may we offer the gift of patience and love for all those whom we meet… a gift that can offer more impact than we realize.
Blessings, Steve
The Rev Steve Longmoore
Ilderton and Melville United Churches
Cell (519) 381-8282
September 4, 2026
Labour Day Greetings! After 10 weeks of worshipping together for the summer, the two congregations will return to “regular” Sunday worship rotation this week with services at 9:45am in Ilderton and 11:00am in Melville (with Melville’s Birthday Lunch to follow this week).
Over the last ten weeks the two congregations have shared an outdoor service with BBQ, a couple of Supply Ministers while Rev’d Steve was away, and then continued worship together throughout August. The ten weeks were an opportunity for some to have a time of rest, for connection and re-connection across the two churches, and to share in the presence of God in worship and in conversation. With Labour Day upon us, the unofficial end of summer is here. People begin to finish their holidays and time at the cottage. Schools and universities prepare to welcome their students. Activity registration changes to indoor sports and activities. The routine of the winter months is beginning to push its way in. And though it might sound depressing, for many of us there is comfort in routines, reconnecting with what grounds us and finding our communities that hold us.In our Exodus reading this morning we made a jump again. Moses has indeed responded to God’s call and goes back to Egypt. He challenged Pharoah, the plagues unfolded. Now, God has declared that it is time for the Hebrews to leave the slavery of Egypt. Our passage this week is the description of the first Passover meal. How the lamb is prepared. That everyone, God stress everyone, is to be part of the experience. And they are to eat standing up, ready to go at a moment’s notice. It is an act recorded in Scripture and a high celebration within the Jewish faith all these centuries later. It helps them to define their community and to remember the promises of God. My pondering this week is for you folks to think about what brings you to your community of faith? What is it that makes Ilderton or Melville special and keeps you coming back? What are/were the events, who are/were the people that help form the community? What is in the week to week or in special moments that bring intense joy and that makes you feel belonging in the community of faith? By extension, what do you want the community and the world to know about your beloved faith community? Community and identity intertwined.Community matters. Identity matters. In the coming weeks as we hear about the Israelite journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. We will hear how their community is formed and shaped as they let go of the past and learn to live into the unknown. We will listen to the complaints and challenges, but we will also hear the promises of God with them. Community and identity intertwined.We have our own challenges but let us be open to being more fully a community of love and grace that finds its identity rooted in the living teachings of Jesus and may our actions touch the web of God’s creation with love and grace.Blessings,Steve
The Rev Steve LongmooreIlderton and Melville United Churches
Cell (519) 381-8282
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