Happy Thanksgiving!
As I mentioned in last week’s blog and at our hybrid, in-person/virtual Sunday service yesterday, Thanksgiving weekend is especially meaningful for me as it marks the early days of the inception of our beloved community, the Centre for Spiritual Living Kelowna (or as it was originally known, the Kelowna Centre for Positive Living.)
I think it was 28 years ago on Thanksgiving weekend when Kenn and I were holding our breaths that someone would show up the next weekend for our first service at the Kinsmen Fieldhouse. We’d only been back in Canada for a week prior and we’d already gone out and rented a space, got our paperwork in order, called and invited people to join us, and got a musician friend to come and share his music with us. I also remember Kenn’s sister, Colleen, say she had some lovely tablecloths we could borrow and a coffee urn. She also agreed to bring some fall flowers – she knew how to create a lovely atmosphere. God bless her. We miss her. We were set and were so happy for those who came!
And so now this Thanksgiving, we as a community are celebrating the sale of the Pandosy Peace Centre, our well-loved and well-used classroom and office space. We are blessed. The sale happened quickly, not even two weeks on the market, and it happened easily, there were no conditions attached at all.
Of course, the sale has had both Kenn and I reminiscing about those past days and the wonderful memories we have. At the risk of those people who are new (and who might feel our history may not be very relevant), I think it’s important to know that every entity has a past, a present and future. Remembering our past creates context and reminds us of our roots. It contributes much to the culture of any organization. I think it’s important to value ‘from whence we came’ for that sense of knowing we come from a strong foundation. The present is where we live now and the future is our vision. I know for sure that The Peace Centre (even though today I’m remembering our past), was built from a strong vision for our future.
For those who might be interested, we purchased this very derelict property at 2490 Pandosy Street on December 1, 1999.
We began the work on it right away. This was (literally) a ground-breaking moment.
The first thing that had to be done was to replace a structural deficit. Major landscaping and construction of the addition of offices/classroom began after that, in tandem with building the carriage house, now known as the New Thought building. We also renovated the existing house, which was used as a separate rental suite. This contributed greatly to the financial wisdom of this process.
On June 1st, 2000, we had our grand opening ceremony.
There were well over 6,000 volunteer hours invested in this project. So many people contributed in so many ways, I was looking back at some pictures and what tremendous community support we had! Many, many, many of you are still part of our community, which warms the cockles of my heart!
As the song goes: we are blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed! Stay tuned for more and know that I’m drinking from my saucer because my cup runneth over!
Thank you to our members and friends from then and from now, and for those yet to come: you are all such an important part of my deep gratitude!
Thank you, Dr. Deborah
If you missed yesterday’s Sunday Celebration talk given by Dr. Deborah Gordon titled Blessings Upon Blessings, 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
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
— Marcus Aurelius
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amazing :)