Year End 2011

It is with some difficulty that some of us turn this last page of the calendar. How could it have gone so fast,although some days seemed endless, while we waited for tomorrow to come.

How many things did we get to "check off" our lists and how many did we add? Yes, thank goodness that carry-overs are allowed!

How many special, dear people left our lives and how many wonderful, spectacular people added to our joy? Don't let us ever forget that every goodbye was once a hello.

How many headstands did we accomplish, mountains did we scale, books did we read, words did we pen? Most of us will not have won a Giller Prize, set a world record (in anything!) or made a medical discovery. But still all our "little things", each step we took to our half-marathon, each photograph we took, each thing we said "no" to, have made us the person we are today on December 31st 2011.

 Praise and celebrate each tear we've shed, each smile that lit our face, each lesson learned these last 365 days. We are today, because of them.

Cheers for a wonderful New Year's evening. Be well, be safe.

Transparent Houses - 5

Grace was disappointed that the film presentation she had been looking forward to all week had been postponed. Had the film not arrived? Had the gallery's technology broken down? Was there a copyright law that had not been adhered to? What would she do with this "extra" time until her next appointment?

As an apology, the gallery had handed out small gift bags with (of course!) advertising material. However, hanging from the rope handle was a small ornament. Grace exclaimed at the ornament and was told that it came from the shop next door.

She side-stepped around a woman who was standing intently looking at the shop window and was almost run over by a man in jeans. He was wielding what appeared to be a cast iron obelisk through the doorway. How brave he was, taking such a weighty object into a space with such fragile things. Grace moved the gift bag to her other hand and held the door as he squeezed by. All she noticed was the size of his hands.

Once inside she was halted in awe by what she saw. How fortunate that she had stopped inside this shop that she had never ventured in before. What delight to see the array of colours, matte and shiny, in a variety of styles and shapes tucked into every available nook and cranny that could be found.  Looking upwards, Grace felt euphorically light-headed seeing the reflections of everything that dangled.

As Grace faced in each direction, she felt like she had as a small child in her Grandfather's house. How the mosaic floor, could make you giddy when you twirled yourself at high speed. A childhood prelude to having "one too many" in later youthful experiences with cheap red wine. As she faced the front window, she saw that the woman was still there. Like she herself, had stopped time in a bottle.

There was one instant when the sun shone through and lit on the same star hanging in the window that Grace had been given with her gift bag. The woman outside was transfixed, and a slow tear stopped on her cheek and her face broke into a dawning smile. She had received an answer.

Merrick left behind his newest creation for consignment with the staff and scooped the star ornament in his paw. His niece would like this. Now, he was done his shopping.

She was still there, like she herself had stopped time in a bottle. (Click to Tweet)

For the rest of The Little Story, read here. 

Blown in Glass - 4

She carried the weight of her sadness around with her every moment.

The pain of her loss, disguised her true self and could only be understood by a mother who had also lost a child. On the rare occasion that she smiled or laughed, it was startling to those around her. They feared the demonstration of emotion could cause her to implode. That eventually, she would shatter. 

Traversing the present must surely be a chore for her. Because why would someone in such pain choose to be present? The past although fraught with memories of happiness also brought the pain of the loss; the future, a blank, empty, endless slate of darkness and the unknown.

Blown in Glass, Seattle WA

Where did she stand each morning, how did she place her feet to keep her balance, in which place could she stand comfortably? Or did she only appear to be standing but every moment her soul was searching for a place to lay her weary mind, in the cavern of the safety of the day…before it all happened. 

How could she have not known what was coming? (Click to Tweet)

For the rest of The Little Story, read here. 

Blessings to All and to All a Goodnight

In the next few days, there will be a lot happening at your local church. For those who attend regularly, the familiar will call you back. The soft light, the smell of candles, greens and flowers and the music always speak to us. 

There will also be infrequent visitors, those who will be there to honour someone who has recently left their life (“Mum would have loved this”) or because of someone who has entered it. We will step into something new and make it our own because of love. We will marvel at how our lives have melded and meshed in seamless unison.

We will pull out our traditions like tangled garland and lights and enjoy them because they are ours. We will smile in realizing the good things and weep at our memories of last Christmas, of what has sadly changed, and for what hasn’t, sadly.

We will immerse ourselves in the way “we have always done things” and relax into its comfortable arms, like a heartfelt hug that we have been waiting for all day. We will pull out old dishes and cook meals that we grew up with and once again exclaim at how wonderful they are or how we have improved them!

When the 25^th is at our doorstep, you might worship within four enclosed walls or choose to worship in wide-open spaces. But we ALL have huge wishes and tantalizing dreams even though we may hide them daily in quite efficient ways.

This Christmas, set your wishes free and let the Season be a magical time for you, never forgetting and with gratitude the amazing things that have transpired during this year.

Whoever you are and wherever you are – may you be blessed by the God you know, may you feel the calm and abundance that your heart craves, may you be surrounded by those you love and those that say they "love you more”.

I wish for you a heart that is open to all the joy and wonder of this Christmas Season.

Grace - 3

She would often sit in her window seat reminiscent of Carol King's Tapestry back in the 70's. It was an album she had heard her mother play over and over during the divorce. Songs that with mundane repetition eventually brought peace.

She was drawn to unstructured garments, loose and flowing in colours of the earth, shades of tree-bark, sand and stones. Dressing this way gave her balance to the disciplined 8 to 5 that she kept daily.

Books with sticky notes were found in every room, on tabletops and on floors amidst the hard to reach dust bunnies. She often read two or more at a time, one fiction and one that wasn't, just so she wouldn't get too confused. She did not have a cat.

"Way over yonder is a place that I know."





Songs that with mundane repetition eventually brought peace. (Click to Tweet)

For the rest of The Little Story, read here. 

From Far and Wide

When the unexpected runs amok how do you react?

It could be a mouse in the house, no hot water while you're standing naked in the shower, or the sudden realization that you've overslept by one hour, what sets you off?

Do you know a whirling dervish? Someone who stirs up your emotions, the air and destroys the feeling of tranquility and calm? do they invoke your less-nice side, bring up old family behaviour and generally just peeve you right off? Does their emergency become your problem; their bad planning become your emergency?

Do you wake up each day and see a light shining at you from the end of the tunnel, or is there a fire crew and live telecast at your every corner? Today, do your best to keep some distance from those who rankle. some things can't be escaped, but some people can surely be avoided.

Whether you are Dan sitting high atop a mountain doing yoga at sunrise or Gareth, gazing at the setting sun on your Napa Vineyards, discord hits us all.

I suggest that on this sunny Saturday, we all take a deep breath, drink some CALM tea, or take a run around the block. Together, let's each do whatever soothes our souls so that when the unexpected comes knocking at your door, you can welcome it in and know that it too, will exit.

Snippets

She was already what I would call “tall”, but with her pom-pom hat she must have been 6 ½ feet. (She walked fast!)

Young Russian couple; she leaned into him when the train lurched with the ease of someone who knows she will be taken care of.

University friends, reacquainted. She’s doing a practicum, talking about the easy day she had yesterday. My back is to them, but I could easily follow their conversation. Great to see you, let’s get together. She gets off. As we ride along, I was rotated, now I could see the scruffy face that went with his voice. From the top of his too-large parka, I catch a glimpse of the “S” of a worn out Superman t-shirt. His pants are frayed. Chances are the drink over the Holidays will never happen.

Beautiful in black from head to toe, how wonderful to add orange tights. To be so young.

She’s heading towards me, talking on her cell. She stops to speak. “What can I do about someone who almost ran me over?” she says. I hope she was talking to the Police.

Red light. “So I said to him, ask her what her dress looks like”. “What?” He says to me, “I don’t want to know”. “I know YOU don’t want to know”, she says, “but I want to know. I need to know HOW dressed up people are going to be. Do you think that’s weird?” “ Definitely not”, says her friend. And another Christmas party dress dilemma will be ironed out.

He's carrying a pink Holt Renfrew lunch bag in one hand and a garbage bag full of crumpled pastel coloured shirts in the other. The tassels on his stylish loafers lie frozen in an odd position.

The snow is starting to accumulate, and I am grateful that I have reached my destination.

A handsome, young man wearing a polka dot tie (which seems like an act of defiance to the gathering snowflakes) smiles and opens the door for me. Ah, now my work day can begin.

No longer an Act - 2

He was never one to shy away from finding love.

Many a girl had been twirled around the dance floor to his two-step. He fell in love nightly and with an open heart. He didn't cross boundaries but a girl felt that she had been flirted with, courted and wed all in one night. He knew the words to the songs and whispered them in tiny studded ears.

He knew when to speak softly and when to be center stage. A person couldn't help but fall for his ways, it would be pointless to resist. His back was slapped and a joke shared in countless encounters during an evening. He was a bit of candy wrapped in shiny foil.

You were surprised by the sheer size of his hands. They belonged on someone who was much taller and bigger. And though they had come in handy in many a misplaced playground scuffle, he had grown to be gentle with them.

And still he went home alone each night. It wasn't her fault, the woman with the curly hair and the flowered skirts, it was his time to go.

He is no one, he is every man, he is yet to have a name.

It seems that it was not the end.


He is no one, he is every man, he is yet to have a name. (Click to Tweet)

He was a bit of candy wrapped in shiny foil. (Click to Tweet)

For the rest of The Little Story, read here.