There’s nothing quite so disorienting than fog – bad enough driving on familiar roads with a blurred windshield, but when the GPS sent me through unfamiliar countryside, unpaved roads with no lines and unexpected stop signs, my feeling was more akin to panic. I rolled down windows at every intersection, turning down the fan, to listen for any oncoming traffic. So it was a relief to arrive at my destination two minutes before the scheduled event. And then to be enfolded into a community that had the same goal – to help orient girls in the world of today, to give them clear vision, sense of true identity. It is an “impactful” ministry, as someone named it.
The road ahead for them will not always be easy to discern, they may encounter confusing and conflicting images, and their world may be narrowed to only a step or two ahead of them.
I was comforted by the drivers of vehicles who put on their flashing lights to indicate their presence, who marked the road ahead. Sailors look for the beams of a lighthouse, and are reassured and warned by these landmarks. And so, we’ll put the Light on for these girls, and pray that this will be a reassurance and a way to safety.
October 21, 2024
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. Gerard Manley Hopkins
It’s recently come to my attention that I live a life insulated from the very earth from which humanity was made, and to which I will someday return. Hours spent in buildings, protective rubber-soled shoes and boots, concrete pavement interfere with my grounding to the environment, even though I do have the privilege of living in a nearly rural setting. If Hopkins bemoaned the taint of industrial age in his time, how much more appalled would he be in ours?
As a child, I remember thinking my body very recalcitrant matter – pain couldn’t always be assauged immediately, growth did not come on my timetable and pimples appeared on a face at the worst times, much to the chagrin of my 14-year-old self. It had embarrassing needs and behaviours that felt as if they were outside of my control.
But in my body, I can appreciate the world around me through amazing senses, My body seemed to know how to innately heal if I gave it half a chance, and miraculously generated and birthed new life. The world around me, plants and animals, stars and volcanoes, air, water, fire are my context, and I, along with other human beings, can only thrive in interdependence. My body is a gift my spirit has been given for my time on earth.
October 22, 2024
For a brief time this morning, nothing that came to mind felt like a worthwhile endeavour, and I felt like the dejected writer of Ecclesiastes who cried that all was vanity, a chasing after the wind. I’m not sure what brought that on, perhaps the thought of attending a funeral this afternoon. This family had grieved the loss of a mother, and daughter/sister, and now their father within five years. Sometimes it seems as if whole families get swallowed up in the space of a few years. Emptiness remains, relationships of survivors have to be recalibrated.
It doesn’t help that it’s October, and people have ghastly fire-eyed huge skeletons on their lawns. It doesn’t help that the days are getting noticeably shorter. As I get older, increasingly I want to pull back from major responsibilities, but dread the thought of empty, pointless hours.
Anyway, maybe tomorrow will feel a little more hopeful. Hope is our ally in pointing us to the future, and besides, each day has enough trouble of its own, Jesus once said. I’m meeting a friend for coffee, and that’s always cheering.
October 28, 2024
The idea of hibernation becomes very appealing this time of year, and there seems to be a primitive desire to crawl under warm covers for the winter. If hearty foods, like soups and stews and apple pies, could pack away enough nourishment to last, I might consider that option! Certainly humanity has struggled to live through winter in ages past.
Cuba is currently undergoing a crisis with their electrical grid that’s causing great hardship for their population. But none of us may be spared from losing power, as recent Florida hurricanes have demonstrated. It’s sobering to realize how dependent we’ve become on creature comforts, the electricity that keeps our homes warm and powers our appliances in all seasons. How unreliable the water supply or cell phone service can be when towers are toppled, and we’re thrown back on limited resources!
But it is in experiencing our dependence that we truly come to look to our Provider. We are in need of our daily bread, and the spiritual nourishment that sustains us through uncertain times. Yes, we do our best to plan for each day, and for our future. Ultimately, though, we need to trust that the God who provides for even the tiniest of creatures, is aware of what we need. We are never outside of His love and care. So, while this may be the season to draw into ourselves, we can overflow with thanksgiving to experience the expansive joy that counts its blessings always.
