As we move into the ‘NEXT’, I’m finding it a challenge to think about (never mind figure out and articulate) what that may be. I’m hoping I’m not the only one! ‘Re-opening’ may offer us many opportunities to practice compassion, patience, growth, resiliency, wisdom and versatility.
It’s not going back to normal, but it will be moving into the post-pandemic experience.
Whatever that is, this pandemic experience has changed all of us and how we live and look at our lives. Right now, we’re already living in a new world that has been forever changed.
What have been some of your greatest lessons from it?
I’ve had the opportunity of late to talk to several colleagues who, pre-pandemic, were what you might call high achievers; people who had a lot of influence and positions where they had high visibility and interacted with many different people and situations in a day. These were people who thrived on their powerful lives, although for the most part they were often under a lot of stress, and paid a personal price for that go, go, go activity. The steady drip of that intense living had its effects on many of them physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
As they were afforded the opportunity offered by the pandemic to slow down, shift and have the time and space to reflect, they all shared with me the same essential question that this time out has offered them: What is truly most fundamental and important to me? Many, if not most, have come to a central idea that it’s okay to slow down, to take time, to let some things go, to stop identifying with more, more, more (whatever that might be).
This time to step back (from whatever any of us thought was our normal, regular life) is an extraordinary gift, which I hope we can all take advantage of. COVID-19 has created the possibility for change, reform and to not take anything for granted.
I want to claim that gift for myself and for our beautiful spiritual community. Do I know what that’s going to look like? No.
I’ve been reflecting on how much our community has changed due to this world shake up. Prior to it, we met in person, and prided ourselves on being “high touch and low tech”. Occasionally, we rather randomly recorded our Sunday morning messages and posted them irregularly on YouTube. We loved our live music, speakers, practitioners and real offertory baskets!
With the pandemic, as you know, we went 100% virtual within a week, including all those aspects of our service, even though it took us a few weeks to figure out effective processes for online giving to replace those baskets! This was a monumental shift for us and I’m grateful for those who’ve been essential to the process (you know who you are!) Since settling into this, our efforts have shifted to creating a more professional Sunday experience. Our energies have been focused on raising our profile through social media and creating a more robust website, along with better ways to stay connected with all of you via electronic means.
We are coming up to ‘NEXT’. Moving mindfully and slowly into that, for those of us in the Kelowna area, we’ll be meeting for a very casual Park Meet and Greet at 1pm on Sunday, July 11th at Kinsmen Park. It’s at 2600 Abbott Street close to the Pandosy Peace Centre. We’ll be connecting to say hello in a safe, distanced manner, and since we’ll be outdoors, masks will be according to your level of comfort. We’ll be sure to honour and respect everyone’s individual choices, including our own. I look forward to seeing those of you who are comfortable with this ‘toe dip’! If you live in a different location and/or decide to stay closer to home, we’ll see you online this Sunday, June 20th for our Father’s Day Sunday!
Blessings, Dr. Deborah
If you missed yesterday’s Sunday Celebration talk given by Derek Hinchliffe, RScP, titled Lean Into the Discomfort, you can watch it (and other past services) on the CSLK YouTube channel.
Practitioner of the Week is Derek Hinchliffe, RScP. If you are looking for one-to-one prayer treatment support for ANYTHING, you can contact this practitioner directly via email at hinched@me.com.
MIND-FULL MOMENT
“We have a chance to do something extraordinary. As we head out of this pandemic we can change the world. Create a world of love. A world where we are kind to each other. A world were we are kind no matter what class, race, sexual orientation, what religion or lack of or what job we have. A world we don't judge those at the food bank because that may be us if things were just slightly different. Let love and kindness be our roadmap.”
— Johnny Corn
Copyright © 2021 Centre for Spiritual Living Kelowna. All rights reserved.
コメント