After the party

Most Canadians can tell tales about at least one occasion when they trapsed off to the designated area in town where fireworks were being shot into the darkening sky at dusk on Canada Day. Personally, I remember many such occasions with family and friends, and even one such evening when I sat on a hillside overlooking the lake (the chosen location) and dictated observations to one of my companions about the families who were gathered with us to celebrate. Little did I know that my observations would be combined with a series of photos and become the workings of a watercolour original that would gain at least a bit of notoriety.

Now that the fireworks have all been packed away, and most if not all evidence of the parties that took place across the nation are being re-boxed for another year, my thoughts turn to yet another reason to be thankful for this particular time of year.

Three years ago yesterday, I found myself sitting in a new parish, having been named pastor and not having had the opportunity (yet) to meet any of the people who called this place home. I remember thinking to myself that that particular morning (it was a Saturday) was a strangely quiet day. Most Saturdays around here are on the quiet side. As I wondered what the days, weeks and months ahead would bring, I found myself thinking that I should be thankful for the silence, because this would not always be so.

As it turns out, I have experienced many of the comings and goings of this place over the past three years. There have been moments when I am convinced that I'm one of the proverbial rats on a treadmill that never seems to stop, and there have been moments when all things do indeed seem to come to a stop (and I wonder what to do with myself). There have been encounters with those who have enriched my life in ways that they will perhaps never understand, and with others who have challenged me to grow in ways that I would never have expected.

Enumerating the blessings is what this site is all about, and every time I try to make a list, I am surprised at how few items 'pop' immediately into my head, but how many people seem to fill my thoughts. Each of these has provided an occasion for me to touch the sacred and to evidence the holy that is often right before our eyes.