We remembered. We grieved. We celebrated.
We came together in love and cried and laughed.
As community we have demonstrated that we do not walk alone and that the love we share is amazing!
In the last few days I have received emails from across the country reflecting on the service held this past Sunday as we remembered and celebrated the lives of those whose journey ended far too soon just one year ago. 98% of those emails were words of thanksgiving for the feelings of comfort and peace that came as a result of the service. While it was a hard day for so many, being able to gather in person and on line and hold one another in love made a difference. For those who pulled this together, along with the other activities on Sunday and through the week, it was a labour of love and was also a way for them to work through some of their grief.
We do not walk alone
While the grief that comes with such a traumatic event never fully disappears, I believe that the positive things will carry us into the future. As community we have demonstrated that we do not walk alone and that the love we share is amazing!
Sometimes we get caught in the negative things around us – we don’t have enough of this or that in our community; or we see the latest headlines about break-in or vandalism – and we loose sight of what we have.
Today I feel blessed to be part of a community that is lavish with their support; who are not afraid to cry together and laugh together; who, when needed most, are able to surround one another in love. This is the presence of Jesus at its best.
May the Clay Dance to Balance you
As we continue to find a way forward from this tragic event and as we deal with our own times of grief and burden may we feel the love that surrounds us, both human and divine. May we find the path that leads us into new beginnings.
I would like to leave you today with a blessing from John O’Donohue
On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders
and you stumble,
May the clay dance to balance you.
And when your eyes freeze behind the gray window
and the ghost of loss gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green and azure blue
come to waken you in a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays in the curragh of thought
and a stain of ocean blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours
May the clarity of the light be yours
May the fluency of the ocean be yours
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak to mind your life.
Blessings
Valerie