Well – it’s still so very surreal for me. I thought as my actual retirement date, January 1st came closer, that it would all feel much more real, but so far, nada! This is my last Happy Monday blog message to you, my beloved spiritual community, the Centre for Spiritual Living Kelowna and to the many friends from all over who also read these words.
The beautiful Celebration of Light holiday service is behind us. Our New Year’s Day Releasing into the New intention-setting service (my last service) along with our new Interim Minister, Rev. Karin Wilson, is still before us. Rev. Karin will take over the writing of this blog in January. (She’s a professional writer – which, as I think of it in this moment, kind of intimidates me, but, I’ll continue…!)
And so, as I write those words of my last message, the next thought that comes to me is: “I have no words” … which in this moment feels very, very true.
How do I encapsulate all that has transpired over the last 30 years that began with the seed idea of: “Oh my goodness, this Science of Mind philosophy has given so much to me, that I want to do everything in my power to give back to this teaching and to humanity, and share the power of its message. That message in my mind is that we are Oneness, Love, that we have the power of Creation, that we live by the creative process acting on our thoughts and feelings, and that we are spiritual beings with the opportunity of living lives of eternality, freedom, and heaven on earth. Kenn’s and my vision when we began, which has carried on to today, was to share those truths with as many people as possible and to love every person that walked in.
Truly, there have been so many people over time that have walked through our doors and graced us with their presence. Some came for a ‘look see’ and I guess, they decided what we were offering wasn’t for them. Others came for a short time, others for a longer haul, and then some became ‘lifers’ (you know who you are!)
It was a joy to invest ourselves in committing to a Sunday Celebration service each and every single week no matter what (except for the years like this one, where Christmas falls on a Sunday…) It was joy to teach classes to newcomers, who then learned the teachings, and committed themselves to learning and growing more, with some going on to become licensed practitioners, and then some going on to their own personal ministries. I look back and remember when Kenn was teaching the first year class, I’d teach the second year class and then we’d teach the Practitioner and Ministerial Studies together. That was a busy, but oh-so-sweet time, where we were teaching four nights a week and loving every minute of it. We especially loved when we were both teaching in different classrooms at the Peace Centre, and then during the class breaktime, the students would all mix and mingle together.
There were many iterations of our Board of Trustees through time. The first Boards were made up of people who were just so willing to be of any kind of support that we needed. (The earliest were people who were willing to sign their name on our legal documents, not really being sure of how things would go.) Some Boards were very professional and business-like; others through time were more hard-working Boards with each Board member having a very specific portfolio. Most importantly for all of them, they were active, loyal and supporting. I’m sure our current Board will carry that forward. While I’m on this topic, if you have an interest in serving, please let our Board president, Rev. Jeanette Vinek, know.
Our current Board, along with Rev. Corinne and all our spiritual leadership – our staff ministers and our practitioners, along with our interim minister Rev. Karin, are fully entrusted with the future of our Centre.
It’s time for me to remember that the baby has grown up – gone from infancy, through childhood, the adolescent teen years, and is now a youngish adult – and that beyond those people in leadership, it’s also YOU who are entrusted to BE the beloved community that Kenn and I envisioned back in 1993. I trust you will continue to support the Centre to the best of your ability – by attending both in person and online regularly (that is so very important – maybe more than you might even realize), by offering your financial support, by serving where you can and maybe most of all, by extending your love (in your own way) to those who are with us, as well as to those who haven’t even heard of this Centre or our teaching… yet.
I love you and bless you,
Thank you,
Dr. Deb
MIND-FULL MOMENT
“Endings are always tough, but I believe when something ends, there are new beginnings, new opportunities and new things to be excited for, too.”
— Mike Fisher
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