|
Written by Kathy Platt
|
|
Friday, 16 September 2011 15:23 |
|
In our bulletin this Sunday, one of the prayers suggests that God will help us to find our way home through the stories we hear of the people around us - both locally and around the world. Home can mean a wide variety of things, but when I hear the word, it invokes for me images of a place where I feel safe, and loved, and grounded. There are times in our lives when it can feel like there is no firm ground to stand upon - like the earth is shifting beneath our feet and we feel vulnerable and lost. Grief is one of those experiences that lead us to that place of feeling somewhat lost and out of place. With that in mind, I invited those in this congregation who I knew had lost their spouse within the last two years or so to come and sit in a circle together with me. As the afternoon unfolded I felt like we were indeed walking on holy ground together. It was clear that even though everyone will experience grief in their own unique way - and no two experiences will be the same - there is comfort in looking around and knowing that everyone in that circle knows what it is to experience significant loss, and yet each one in that circle has found a way to keep on keeping on. We shared our stories of those things that have given us strength to embrace life again, and where we have experienced holy moments along the way. I was deeply touched by their honesty, their compassion for each other, and their willingness to speak about their moments of vulnerability as well as their re-discovery of moments of joy. This Sunday is our Sunday School kick-off. In many ways, it is the kick-off for our new church year as people re-form into this church community after summer holidays and marathons and harvesting and all those things that have kept us busy and out of the church building. It will be great to have all that energy gathered into our circle again and to begin to hear the stories of where we have experienced the Holy while we have been busy in our separate activities. My hope is that as we re-gather this weekend, that we will be able to have a feeling of "home" - an experience of feeling welcomed and loved - an experience of being in the right place at the right time.
|
Located in Regina, SK.
We are an 
