The imagery of the mountains has provided incredible inspiration over these past few days and weeks during‘lockdown’. As I write this, the view in the pond outside my window offers a mirror image of the mountain range above. Glancing up from the pond to the sky, the stillness of the mountains is hypnotizing. When my gaze shifts back to the water, I see tiny ripples, barely noticeable, providing teeny waves shifting and morphing that which was also still, into a broken image. I ask myself, Do I look up to the stillness of the mountain peak and know with certainty in the next few hours, even days, for the most part, it won't change? Or, do I look back to the water, the ripples slowly moving across the surface, eliciting movement of everything it touches? Either way, I know with my practical sense that change is a constant. It is a given. And this current state of lockdown will change. Mother Theresa is known to have said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples”. This quote has given me a reassurance of hope in our world and that change will come, and this is good. As I discerned what to write about this week, the word communion kept coming to mind and I couldn’t quite put my finger on, the ‘why'. The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides a secular definition of the word communion as the following, “an act or instance of sharing”. This past weekend, the unbearable, horrific events that happened in my beautiful hometown province of Nova Scotia, Canada, resulting in the deaths of too many incredibly, beautiful humans, became a firm reminder of how much we need each other; that we need communion with each other. Our communion involves living in community where we can choose to care, love, and provide compassion for each other. These senseless deaths have caused a deep rumbling to my very core, as they have for those living in Nova Scotia, and around the world, but out of the sadness, sorrow, and pain, emerges a knowledge of how much we truly need each other. That this is, can be, a time to share our love for one another, to be in communion. For those who know me they will attest that I have a deep Christian faith and humbly try to live this each day. It’s not easy, but it is a choice, and I do try. I will also be the first to hold up my hand and say I need to do better and one way of doing this is to be less judgemental. For example most recently, I found myself questioning a stranger I saw walking about town and found myself wondering whether she/he was a holiday’er (as we say here in Twizel), who came up for the Easter weekend or, has this person been here since the lockdown began? Thankfully, and quickly, my inner voice took over and asked: Why do you care? Why do you worry? Where is your love for this person? Care is a form of love and as I learned from my research participants, not always is love defined or understood as a form caring. For me, love is a choice and my choice is also an act of love. This is inspired by one of my favourite Eric Fromm quotes:
Love is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise. If love were only a feeling, there would be no basis for the promise to love each other forever. Speaking generally, I find that it can be easy to get drawn into judgement when really, we have no idea what is going on in somebody else’s life. We have no clue of their challenges, concerns, or sadly, inner battles. And so, moving forward I pray for the courage and compassion to keep myself on the track of love and care. To remember that it doesn’t matter why that person was here when the question I should have been asking, is, how did I choose to greet that person? How can I help that person? How can I share what I have with others? How can I be kind and not judge? How can I care more deeply? I reflect on Mother Theresa’s quote and ask, what positive ripples can I create? I feel blessed to be here in Twizel right now in this time, this circumstance. Although, it hasn’t been easy being isolated from so many things considered to be ‘normal’ in our lives, and I dearly miss my family, it has provided peace. I look to this incredible community that I have called home for the past four years and in particular, think of those that first moved here when Twizel was created for those working on the Dam system, and enabled Twizel to remain, grow, and thrive. Thank you for your innovative, creative, and stubborn spirits. Twizel needed you then and we need your wisdom, guidance and fortitude now as we work to ensure this community continues to flourish. I would like to sign off with this quote that I received this morning a couple of days post writing this current blog - it certainly reaffirms why the word communion continued to resonate with me. Blessings upon blessings, friends. Stay safe. Stay home. Be kind.
“As the tragic coronavirus pandemic has taught us, we can overcome global challenges only by showing solidarity with one another and embracing the most vulnerable in our midst, and fulfil the will of the benevolent Father who provides for everyone, and desires us to live in communion and flourish together.”
Pope Francis
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