Anniversaries

There are the popular ones, oft celebrated ones, like the anniversaries of birthings – our own, the beginning of a relationship, the start of a new year. We mark them, I think, not just for the passage of time they announce, although the ticking off of the years seems especially important to the young, and more often dreaded by the old (but maybe not when you consider the alternative…). Mind you, at a certain point, the older someone gets, every year is a significant one whether or not it has a 0 or a 5 at the end of it! I also think we mark them to acknowledge and celebrate the miracle of life – that it began in the first place and still continues to be.

There too are anniversaries that mark the endings of things: such as a job, a relationship, or the death of a loved one. 

Less celebrated or noted are the anniversaries of major life changes. That is the anniversary I celebrate this week. A year ago this week I said good-bye to the congregation I was serving, Trinity United Church in Grimsby, to begin a new and uncertain life here in Maynooth and on the Land. Trinity and I had a good relationship and were doing good work. And I suppose if leaving on a good note is important, then it was a good time to go. Nevertheless, it was by all outward accounts a risky decision to leave a good position with good people that gave me full-time work with benefits and for what exactly? 

That is the thing about how I understand the Spirit to work, like CSIS – on a need to know basis only. We get to see only a glimpse of what could be. And what a life this is turning out to be.

I was notglad to say good-bye to the good people of Trinity UC, but I am glad for what I get to be part of now! 

Last year at this time Marilyn and I were finishing packing up the Grimsby house and waiting for the movers to arrive. This year I woke up beside Marilyn, now my wife, with whom I made some fires in the cabin, fed and watered the donkeys, fed and watered and cuddled our new kittens all in the barn we built last fall! Marilyn and I have become part of and now participate in a vibrant and diverse community; and amazingly, we have even launched a new community of faith – Cathedral of the Trees. 

We can’t always imagine where we’ll end up, but when it feels right it is good to take the leap when the opportunity presents itself. I am so glad I did.

Happy Anniversary.

By Svinda