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By Barry Buzza
 I love to read about the men who forged their way across our vast continent and prepared a path, for us who live today, to follow. These pioneers- Cartier, and Fraser were men of vision. Every time Susan and I fly over the Rockies, or even the prairies, I'm challenged by the fortitude that drove Canada's early explorers through seemingly impenetrable obstacles.
Our nation can be divided into two categories of thinkers-those who are content to stand still, and those who want to move forward. I guess there are millions of us who vacillate between the two extremes, but for illustration's sake, I'll imagine a few years of history.
After the explorers, mariners and missionaries first arrived from Europe, a shipload of forward-looking adventurers landed on our Atlantic shores. On that first year they established a town site on the rugged coast. They built homes, churches, schools and stores.
The next year, realizing they needed some structure, they elected a town government, shaped some laws and boundary markers.
The third year, the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness. It was expensive but the town leaders wanted to pave the way for future growth and development.
In the fourth year, the people who'd then become content with their new, but safe world, tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness. Who needed to go there anyway?
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These were people who had the vision to venture 3,000 miles across the ocean and overcome great obstacles to get there. But in just a few years they'd begun to grow cataracts over their vision, and were not able to see five miles out of town. They'd lost their pioneering vision.
It's more than physically that some of us begin to stiffen up as we get older. We tend to stop looking beyond what we can accomplish in our limited years. Some sixty year olds begin to limit their vision to about five years until retirement-but there is much more land ahead to be explored.
A few weeks ago, I was given the responsibility and privilege of leading our Foursquare denomination nationally. It was a great honour for me to be formally inaugurated in October. One of the most prized gifts I received the evening of my formal appointment was from the children of our church.
We have three services every Sunday morning, and about three hundred children who attend our Kid's Church programs. Their gift to me was a beautifully framed picture of the three groups of children to hang on my new office wall. It's there now as a reminder that my vision for the future is not limited by my fast-moving age.
The fulfillment of our vision for tomorrow, becomes clearer as we focus on our children and youth. Investing love, time, discipline, correction, education, as well as building strong spiritual and social foundations for our kids will ensure we keep moving "west" to new horizons.
I'll pick up the subject next week.
Barry Buzza, a veteran pastor, is also the president of the The Foursquare Gospel Church of Canada. www.foursquare.ca
November 29/2007
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