It seems that things are heating back up here in our Okanagan Valley again this week. I must confess that even though our house doesn’t have air conditioning, the thought of climbing temperatures doesn’t make me unhappy (although the tinder-dryness of our land and forests is definitely a concern). Truth be told, I am a heat lover. It cooled down a couple of days ago to 29C or so (which for our American friends is about 84F), and I was downright chilly! I even donned a fleece hoodie and pants! I have to laugh at myself. I think my thermometer is broken!
Another gauge I have (which is sometimes somewhat out of kilter) is a tendency to love my work so much that I work right through many days in succession without even thinking about taking a break. Ministry is a combination of my faith, my work, and my community – all things I love and am devoted to. However, I’m trying to be more aware that balance and self-care are also important, both in my life and in the life of our Centre. In that vein, after much contemplation, it’s been decided that with the exception of our Sunday Service that we livestream on Facebook Live (which will continue uninterrupted), all of our extracurricular Zoom activities will be taking the month of August off for a summer vacation. This includes our pre-service Meditation, our after-service Fellowship and our Coffee and Connection. I think this is a great opportunity to model healthy self-care for everyone involved.
Summer in the Okanagan is typically a time of challenging scheduling with people being away and wanting to be outdoors, so we’ve decided that a hiatus would be a great opportunity to take a conscious break to refresh and come back raring to go in September. Good news for our meditation lovers: Rev. Melody will be posting some pre-recorded meditations on our Facebook group each Sunday morning in August, so we can still enjoy a Sunday meditation prior to our regular service.
I love that we’re featuring New Thought musicians in our lead up time prior to our live services on Facebook Live (10:20am to 10:30am while the slide show is playing). Make sure you take a few moments to listen to these amazing performers!
You’ll be hearing more in the upcoming weeks about our in-person Sunday experience at The Vibrant Vine Winery on August 22nd. Make sure you save the date now! (If you RSVP on the event page, you'll get a reminder one day before, which will include directions to the venue.)
Final note: please know that our Board of Trustees is working on plans for our return to being together!
Blessings, Dr. Deborah
If you missed yesterday’s Soul Food Sunday talk given by Rev. Barbara Samuel titled Stayed on Spirit, you can watch it (and other past services) on the CSLK YouTube channel.
Practitioner of the Week is Irene Kowalchuk, RScP. If you are looking for one-to-one prayer treatment support for ANYTHING, you can contact this practitioner directly via email at irenek13@telus.net.
MIND-FULL MOMENT
“The breaks you take from work pay you back manifold when you return because you come back with a fresher mind and newer thinking. Some of your best ideas come when you’re on vacation.”
— Gautam Singhania
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