News Update #30

Hello St. Mary’s!  

I hope this finds all of you well and feeling touched by the Spirit.

Today from God Calling: “Cling to Me until the life from Me – the Divine Life, by that very contact, flows into your being and revives your fainting spirit. Become recharged. When weary, do as I did on Earth – sit by the well. Rest. Rest and gain power and strength, and the work too will come to you as it came to Me. Rest till every care-thought has gone, and then let the Tide of Love and Joy flow in.”   

Good advice for those of us who are “do-ers” and have a hard time stopping to rest.

This sciatica which I’ve been dealing with for over a month now (my heart goes out to Trefor and Bill!) is my constant reminder to slow down and rest!!  With packing up house and working, I am finding that when I let myself rest, I have more energy and clarity. When I push through, I become exhausted and the pain increases. (I can let you know I seem to have turned the corner and the pain is slowly decreasing.)  

Another learning has been to pay attention to my breathing. How can the Divine Life enter me when I’m holding my breath? What I’m noticing is that the pain decreases immediately when I breathe in deeply and slowly. That’s something I have control over. Remembering to breathe. And taking the time to rest. Good lessons!

When I rest, I either sleep, do Sudoku or read through the huge pile of memorabilia I’ve collected over the years. I keep discovering boxes of the stuff. I must have thought my life was incredibly fascinating to save all these mementos! What is interesting is all the letters I have. I’ve always written letters. I love writing and discovering insight as I put pen to paper. I love connecting with people. And I love receiving letters, and I did! Lots of them!  

What’s so amazing to me now is that people, including myself, wrote LONG letters to each other, pages and pages. Jim reminded me that there was no internet, no movies at home, no cheap long distance calls when I was a child, teenager and young adult.  

We spent our evenings reading, playing games, talking, doing crafts, finishing up chores. There was time to spend writing a dear friend or relative at leisure; really engaging with them. So when I read the letters now I am pulled into a distant far off place; really able to picture the person and hear about their day to day life, concerns and interests. It’s been wonderful to re-read some of these letters and I’ve changed my mind a bit about chucking all them out. I think I’ll keep many of the letters because I know I’ll enjoy going back and reading them again. And knowing they are there is a way of valuing the relationships I’ve had with friends and family over the years. So much love and care!

Last night I read a packet of letters from Ted, the fellow whose poem I included in a recent UPDATE. I didn’t remember he had written me all those letters and it surprised that a man in his nineties would take the time to write, a young mother in her thirties, such open, honest and caring letters. He typed them on an old-fashioned typewriter and there were enough typos to make me appreciate Ted’s perseverance. I can’t imagine what made him share his reflections on aging with someone a 1/3 of his age. But I do know he made a big impact on me. Not just with the content of his letters, but the indisputable fact that he reached out to me over and over again. I suspect he was wanting/hoping to support my conversion to Christianity; but that goal wasn’t overt and I can’t claim that as a fact.

This morning I got out of bed early and wrote 4 cards; not long letters but heartfelt messages to some young people in my life. Ted inspired me!  

You know who has also inspired me this week? Mr. Rogers!! Mr. Fred Rogers. You must remember the TV show? Jim and I watched the recent film about him starring Tom Hanks and it was captivating. It spoke to both our hearts and made us want to be better people. That’s a pretty good recommendation for watching a movie! The name of the movie is “A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood” released in 2019. I’ll be curious to hear what you think!  

God speaks to us in so many different ways. And we, in turn, can speak to others and give them hope, courage and inspiration….. the gift that keeps on giving!  

I encourage you today to ask God to give you the thought of someone, in your family, in your past, in the parish, maybe especially a young person, who would receive an unexpected letter or card from you with great joy. We have so much more power than we know to make life brighter for each other.  

I thank Ted and Fred for their gifts to me this past week!  

Joy for your day, Blessings on your way,
Selinde

Re-opening church:  we can learn from others who have already done so successfully.  Click on this link to enjoy!     Thank you Claude for sharing this resource.  

Your Parish Council met this morning to discuss the re-opening of the church.  Given Selinde’s holidays (the month of July) and the work that needs to be done in advance of re-opening, it was decided that we will hold our first Sunday service on our patronal feast day, Sunday August 16th. Mark your calendars! You will hear more in early August about what to expect.  

KAT shares this advice for mosquito control: Burn rosemary and sage over an open fire (wrapped in a ball of tin foil with holes poked in) or on an incense burner. If it doesn’t work, at least it will smell nice!

And your chuckle of the day!