Tim and St. Tim

In the midst of last weekend's sturm und drang, we looked over at a bookshelf and the first title to catch our bloodshot eye was Laurie Colwin's "A Big Storm Knocked It Over."

But, as Jack Wasserman often wrote, that's not the item. What we want to tell you about is the sign posted outside the Church of St. Timothy in what was, for a very long time, darkest Burnaby. While almost all the city was without electricity, this church had power. "Divine intervention," we suggested.

At 7:00 that Sunday morning, the Reverend Stephanie Shepard, herself caffeine-deprived in the powerless rectory, arrived at the church, found the lights on, and began to brew a pot. "Then," she said later, "I thought if I'm making coffee for myself, why not make it for everyone?" So she prepared vats of high-octane coffee and tea, and posted a sign on the street inviting passersby to come in for a cup.

The lesson: If you can't count on Tim Horton you can count on St. Tim.