NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

"It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much." ~ Yogi Berra Life is made up of conversations ... even for those among us who are introverts, unless you are a hermit or someone living under a monastic vow of silence. Have you even stopped to consider just how many different types of non-conversations you are part of over a week? There is the person who is either talking about the last place they traveled to or has moved on to talking about the next destination on their calendar.  We all know someone who you quickly learned NEVER to ask how they are feeling, unless you have the time and patience to listen for the next half hour or so.  Hours can be wasted gossiping about what so-and-so is doing ... or not doing, without there having to be a shred of truth in any of it. Then there the soap opera devotees who replay the same scenario over and over and over again, milking every bit of pathos out of it that they can. And, oh yes,

My husband recently had cataract surgery and he is now delighting in what he calls his 'new' eye. The world has definitely become a better place for him, brighter and clearer. It has expanded his activities too, allowing him to once more drive after dark or in the twilight times. I took this photo just a few days ago in my neighbourhood. I have been watching this tree for a few weeks now as it has done something very strange, with the colour was appearing at the ends of the branches and in splotches  throughout the tree. Surely this must have had something to do with the extreme winter weather we had experienced last winter! Or if not that, then this must be the way the trees normally look at the beginning of the fall season as they begin to turn.  But as the days and weeks passed and the tree didn't change appreciatively,  I waited in vain to hear any broadcaster or weather person talk about this phenomenon that I had noticed, I began to wonder why? Was it really

" One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. " - Andre Gide Do you ever feel 'adrift'? I know I do. And when I'm feeling adrift,  I also feel lost, alone, and longing for the security of things known. This quote by Gide helped me to realize that what I am feeling at those times is not something peculiar to me, but rather is also experienced by others.  I asked a few people I trusted if they also felt this way sometimes. And of course they answered in the affirmative! And so I started thinking about my life, and specifically about those times when I have felt 'adrift'. One time that comes readily to my memory, is bringing home our firstborn. I am an only child and so had never had any experience with caring for an infant. I certainly felt lost and alone especially when my husband (who was equally inexperienced!) was away at work. By reaching out to friends, family, and of cours

“Come, ye thankful people, come, Raise the strain of harvest home! All is safely gathered in’ Ere the winter’s storms begin; God our Maker, doth provide For our wants to be supplied Come to God’s own temple, come; Raise the song of harvest home.” So says the harvest hymn that was written by Henry Alford in 1844 and will be sung in many of our churches this coming Sunday as we celebrate “National Thanksgiving Day” here in Canada.  170 years after this hymn was written we live in a very different world. No longer do we depend solely upon the local harvests to feed us through the long winter. Our ‘wants’ have probably never been better supplied then right now in Canada … but what about the rest of the world?  In thinking about what I’m really thankful this year, my thoughts go to people  I'm thankful for people like Malala Yousafzai who after being shot by the Taliban, at the age of 13, for speaking out about the importance of education for all and especially fo

In the late 1970's I was part of a church group that sponsored a family of Vietnamese refugees: a family of nine; mother, father, and 7 children from ages of 2 to 20. Whatever we needed to set up a house for them appeared; all that we needed and more. The automatic washer we had set up for them originally, died within the first month. What would we do? Laundry facilities were a must for a family of that size. Within a day of letting the congregation know of our need, we had not one, but two , working washing machines  For me, this was a clear case of the story of the loaves and fishes (Matthew 14:13-21) being experienced in our time. And so I have seen this passage for quite some time as saying that when people share what they have of material things there is more than enough. But now it also speaks to me about the intangibles too. Yeast, a mustard seed, and I would now add the feeding of the 5000, are all parables about something small becoming huge and taking on a life of its