This Week at Trinity, Beamsville
Friday, April 8, 2022
Dear Friends,
This week I’ve been using the pause and rewind features – on screen and in my head – a bit more than usual. I don’t know yet if that’s the right description, technologically or metaphorically, but I have certainly been going back over some things, in repeat, to either hear them again from audiobooks or saved webinars or downloadable conferences; and/or to think things through, from encounters or meetings that left me wondering about the best way forward. When it comes to the latter, there’s so much swirling I also don’t know yet where to start, or what to hang on to the most, for learning. I think it’s a reflection of this present life space, personally and professionally. I think it’s also a reflection of what we’re just starting to realize has been lost or brought to the fore through the pandemic. Whatever is at the core, I know that the books, webinars, and conference speakers (along with trusted friends who truly listen) have been helping me to process; to put things into larger perspective and receive this grander space from God with gratitude and strength.
Amid all that, there have been particularly beautiful moments of clarity, such as watching Monica Kidd’s directorial debut in the short film called “The Storm”. Released by The National Film Board of Canada, it is only four minutes and twelve seconds, but has stayed with me far longer. I hope you can take it in somehow. I hope it works its way into your being the way that it has mine. As much as I’m hanging on to the artist’s rendering of her words, I’m hanging on to Monica Kidd’s written articulation first. As both family physician and author, she has a unique vantage point, a unique combination of spaces in which to think, express, and teach. The link below will take you to the blog that introduces you to both the film and its multi-talented creator, and then at the bottom, with one click more, you can absorb the film itself. For the images and the words, woven together in the simplest, yet most intricate ways, it is entirely worth your time, in my humble opinion anyway.
What does any of that have to do with Palm Sunday, or the Baptism we will celebrate, or the Memorial Garden Bench we will dedicate? Maybe it’s one of those things that will only make most sense on the other side of it all, with lots of repeat processing, but in my head and in my heart, it’s about weaving together just some of the moments we have in this lifetime: as young children taking early steps, as adults amid our vocations, or as seniors making core decisions about how we can share beyond our earthly years. Wherever we are, however we make our way down life’s paths, there are repeated, sacred moments of choosing and teaching, with ripples of impact perhaps well beyond our imagination. Time will tell for certain, but in the meantime, I believe for certain that it is a privilege to be moving through it all, together.
With love to you all,
Heather
“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” (Saint Augustine)
The Storm, Monica Kidd, provided by The National Film Board of Canada https://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2022/03/17/the-storm-on-bearing-witness/