On This Day
We've been listening to the morning prayers posted in Canterbury Cathedral in England, hosted by Dean Robert who often begins his time with a history lesson of this day. Today I am back in time with my own memories of this day, for today, September 23, marks the 25th...
Lifting Prayers in Troubled Times
I was asked to offer the prayer for my church community's on-line service for this coming week (First Baptist Vernon) and I realized again what a privilege it is to pray with and for my faith community, as we also remember needs in our city and around the world....
When I am Afraid
It is hard to admit when one is afraid. It can be seen as a sign of weakness, by others, by our own self-judgement. There are a lot of declarations out there - and a lot of "fear-mongering", another term that seems to be gaining in popularity. While I don't want to...
Observation
Observation. An invitation to be still. My body. that is. My senses, however, are alive as I watch and look and pay attention. Not only to what swirls around me . . . the clouds the deep blue sky the droop of the tired sunflower. No, I also feel the...
Would someone get me a road map please
Would Someone get Me a Road Map, Please My kids don’t understand roadmaps. Or perhaps what they don't understand is my generation's need of them. They are antiquated, hard to fold, often outdated pieces of paper stuffed in those side pockets of your car. On our trip...
Out of Focus
Out of Focus I often take pictures or create art to illustrate what I write. More often I take pictures for pleasure capturing what I see. Sometimes those pictures speak to me, like the one I took on a walk this last week. The shaft of sunlight seemed to beam upon...
All Will be Well – Be Still
I've written about this saying before, "All Will be Well". It was coined by Julian of Norwich in the 14th century, a deep thinker and woman of prayer. It is a phrase that surfaces with me often and I've been pondering it more closely as of late. It is not a blithe...
A Rule Maker or Rule Breaker?
I have a confession to make. Most of the time I really like to keep the rules. I pay attention. This has been particularly true in this time of Covid where I have looked to our top doctor in BC (Dr. Bonnie Henry) and tried as best I can to follow her advice. It...
Live, Love, Laugh, the stuff of Memories
We are entering a long weekend where I live, in holiday land. Coming home from work today, I could scarcely drive for the traffic. So many people, all going somewhere, creating summer memories. Last weekend, as I wrote about, we went back in time and visited some of...
A trip down Memory Lane
We took a few days, my hubby and I to visit my childhood town, namely Harrison Hot Springs. It always feels like coming home, and I feel the rhythms of the lake, the familiarity of the hills and mountains, even the smell of the air. We walk by the post office, my...
Behind the Mask
Behind the mask I wear one, a mask. Some sewed lovingly by friends Another designed by me. Others hospital grade worn by necessity. We are getting creative in this covering up. What do my eyes reveal? Is it compassion or fear? In the unknowns the uncertainties I...
Absolutely
I have found myself using this word absolutely quite frequently as of late, much like an overused exclamation mark. But I like it. It has a ring of agreeable pleasure, of a hearty yes, of an “I couldn’t agree more” Absolutely! Perhaps I should have just written an...
Who’s in Control, anyway?
Below is a poem I wrote earlier this week about control. Because in so many ways life has felt rather out of control in the past weeks and months. More thoughts below. . . Control Control is an illusion desiring to arrange my world much like I do my space but...
Beauty Grows in Broken Places
Beauty grows in broken Places Take the rose for example: furled petals releasing scent, swaying in the breeze. Opening to stunning perfection, delicate beauty. I angle my camera to shut out the weeds. I don’t focus on the ragged earth littered with dead leaves. No. I...
Lookin’ for Joy
I knew after writing about wailing last week I wanted to balance it a bit with a dose of joy. Although the feedback from my post on wailing has taught me to listen, it was a post I was compelled to write and felt deeply about. Thank you for your feedback! What I...
When Women Wail
I'm sorry. Or am I? Because in the world I've grown up in, women don't wail. Yes, there might be tears, but appropriately, and often in private. Especially as a woman of faith, a preacher's kid, I've been taught to be proper, to reign in my emotions, to reflect...
Can I Catch my Breath – While Others can’t Breathe?
Can I catch my breath – while others can’t breathe? Another poem/prose blog, sharing my heart in these troubled times. For many it has been a horrific week, as we watch the heartache of the news, the anger, the uprising, the riots, the deep grief. Doing nothing is...
A fresh deposit of tears
I’m grateful for tears. They can cleanse the soul and provide relief for a weary heart They can be a release for built up emotions, a vent. Those who find it hard to cry might have other ways of release. Todays prose is about tears and a response to what many of us...
Rise Up: Poems for a Pandemic #3
Rise Up. Two words that have stuck with me this week, also inspired by the remembrance of Ascension Day which was this last Thursday. I receive much comfort that while Jesus ascended to heaven after resurrection, he promises to never leave us. The comfort of God's...
Would you like a rhubarb muffin?
One of the sad consequences of the Pandemic we are living in is that we can't share food together in the way we used to. This last week I've been making rhubarb muffins. I found a fantastic recipe! And it would be my desire to invite you over, have a glass of cold...
Prickly
Prickly. The title of the poem I wrote last week and was reluctant to publish. Who wants to hear about my prickly side? I’d rather share about positivity, peace, productivity, The poem, actually, is a prayer, an honest confession. As I thought about it, I was...
#Words of Faith to Live By
Instagram was a learning curve for me, I found myself there about a year ago, trying to figure it out. That little number sign in front of all my words smooshed together was very confusing. Basically (and I know there are others that will explain it better) the # is...
Poems for a Pandemic
I took this picture in the hills above our home this week. The landscape comes alive this time of year, with grasses, balsam root flowers, and earth coming-alive smells. Spring is not the same this year. And yet it is. Even as we have become vigilant against unseen...
Flattening the Curve of Anxiety- a Silent Epidemic
The question is how do we flatten the curve of anxiety? We talk about PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), but this is no post-traumatic, we are living in a pro-longed stress period, experienced collectively, and yet very individually. We all respond differently, according to our personalities, our past history, and our support systems which also affect us.
Planting Seeds of Hope
There is a heaviness to Easter Saturday. I feel the parallels this year as we are in the mire of this pandemic with no real end in sight. We don’t know when we will see the light. There is uncertainty. Uneasiness. I'm wondering if on that first Saturday, the...
Singing Hosannas in times of Suffering
Gratitude is a pathway to joy.
Connected Though Apart
I was thinking back some decades ago when we experienced some hard good-byes with family who were overseas for years at a time. I remember the long hugs, the tearful so-longs, the promises of letters to be written and sent. Even in the 80's and 90's most of our...
Paralysed by grief
There is this old poem that brought me a lot of comfort when I was grieving after my 1st husband died in 1995. It speaks of losing things and falling apart. Here is the poem: I seem to be falling apart. My attention span can be measured in seconds, My patience in...
All Will Be Well
Julian of Norwich lived in the 1300’s and has become known for this phrase, this way of thinking: All will be well. I read a biography about this unusual woman some months ago and was taken with her story. She knew great suffering. She lived through the Black Plague...
Preparing without Panic (recipes included!)
It's always good to be prepared. Last week we offered a training session on Advance Care Planning for all our Spiritual Care Volunteers at our hospital. This is often the paperwork we avoid talking about or doing. Because it involves the hard conversations about our...
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