Many of you know I celebrated my big 65th birthday last week. Thanks to so many of you who sent along your good wishes and congratulations – it really means a lot to be remembered!
As I mentioned last week, I typically don’t give a lot of mind to my birthdays, but this year felt different, and so I brought a lot of recognition and conscious awareness to being very grateful and mindful of this milestone.
It seems maybe our culture sometimes tries to encourage us to ignore the process of aging and getting older in favour of some kind of ideal of staying young and vibrant and looking good (which aren’t bad things); but I’m of the ilk of wanting to celebrate growing wisdom, maturity and experience.
Additionally, our culture seems to be leaning on the side of ignoring observations and rituals; yet I’m feeling more and more (especially during this long season of Covid-19 where it’s more difficult to join together in celebration) that ‘keeping track’ is good for our mental and spiritual health. My friend Kathy Gottberg writes a blog called SMART Living 365 and she says: “As meaning-making creatures, we need frameworks that help us to mark time, identify important relationships and make sense of the constant changes that life offers.”
I heartily agree. The way we distinguish important events, anniversaries, birthdays and the passing of time and people is of course as individual as we are. As I get on (and hopefully ‘wiser’), I believe taking the time to honour, reflect and acknowledge what is important makes a difference. It helps us appreciate ourselves, those around us, and who we’ve become through the march of time.
And so for the last time this year (I promise!): Happy Birthday to me!
I’ll close today with the last of our the bios from our Board members. In gratitude for her service, today I give you Amanda Pope, RScP, ministerial student and the President of our Board.
Blessings, Dr. Deborah
I have lived in the Okanagan for about 20 years and I love it here. I enjoy biking and walking on the rail trails through the picturesque landscape. I started paddle boarding as well last summer. There is something fun to do in every season.
I first attended a Centre for Spiritual Living Kelowna service at the Kelowna Community Theatre in about 2006. I loved the energy, the community, and the message. I was instantly drawn to the Centre’s mission of “awakening humanity to its spiritual magnificence”. I started taking classes right away, and I carried on to the point where I am now in the second year of a three-year ministerial training program.
I have been a member of the Board of Trustees at the Centre since 2011 and I am currently serving as the President. While it has been a challenging year or so as we navigate through a pandemic, the one thing that has become clear to me is that this is a resilient and compassionate community of beautiful and committed souls. I am proud of who we are and I have such deep admiration for the commitment of our members and volunteers. I think that some day we will look back on this time as a galvanizing experience that ultimately strengthened our community.
If you missed yesterday’s talk by Derek Hinchliffe, titled The Good News About Bad News, you can watch it (and other past services) on the CSLK YouTube channel.
Practitioner of the Week is Rev. Jeanette Vinek. If you are looking for one-to-one prayer treatment support for ANYTHING, you can contact this practitioner directly via email at jeanettef@telus.net.
MIND-FULL MOMENT
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
— Oprah Winfrey
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