...across the room and out the door....

"The sun with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do."

Galileo

"He (God) stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing".

The Bible

Our universe is such a marvelous mystery!  I have always loved nature and the great outdoors.  As a kid I spent most of my time out of doors.  During the summer months we would explore the woods of our acreage and bask in the sun.  In the fall we picked hazelnuts in those same woods and during the winter months we searched out the deepest snow drifts, built forts, made snow angels, and stomped around on big areas of snow to prepare it for flooding and morph it into a skating rink.  Sometimes my father would create a "hill" for us with his backhoe so we could slide down it with our toboggan.  Southern Manitoba, where we lived had it's share of thunder and lightening storms, hail and wild wind!  I wasn't that fond of the storms but I loved what I saw after the storm.  It seemed to me that the sun shone brighter, grass was greener, air fresher and all the scents of the outdoors were more pungent after the storm.

Motorbiking has afforded me the opportunity to experience the outdoors without the confines of doors and windows to block out the scents and the view.  My initial response to the beauty all around me is silence.  Words fail me and no camera I've ever had in my hand can capture the sights, sounds, scent and feeling of some of the breathtaking scenery in our universe.

I find that this spectacular beauty speaks to me.  It invites me to just simply be.  In it's grip I find solitude, peace, and a great need to give thanks for the opportunity and privilege of being able to experience such extravagance.

Most of all it reminds me of our Creator.  The Bible tells us that creation declares to us the reality of God.  All we have to do is look around us and we can see Him.  The heavens, the skies, the sun show the work of God's hands and display knowledge without actually speaking.  All of creation sits there silently pouring forth speech to everyone who takes the time to look and listen.

So this winter, let's not let the cold dictate how much we get outside to enjoy the wonders out there.  Instead let's walk across the room, out the door, and into that majestic space God created for us to enjoy!

Keep walking!

Elayne

...across the room to learn

For many years now I have tried to surround myself with friends and acquaintances of all ages.  I love the innocence of little children, exuberance of youth,  determination of young adults, level of comfort that comes from rubbing shoulders with people my own age, and the wisdom and wealth of experience the elderly have to offer.

One of my ways of including the elderly in my repertoire of friends is through my church.  I volunteer to be in touch with eight women every month to provide friendship and be their connection to our rather large church.  All eight women are single.  Some have been married and lost their spouses, while others have never been married.  What I find most interesting is how they have evolved through the years to become the women they are today.  They share their lives with me easily and I'm like a sponge when it comes to hearing people's life stories.  

During my years in the Funeral Service industry I especially enjoyed meeting people through the prearrangement process when we could take time to delve into their personal history. Another aspect of funeral service I enjoyed was the contact with the family members in the weeks following the funeral.  It was during those discussions (did you know people go back to their funeral director to talk about how they are doing?!  It's true!....although I have to admit I invited that interaction much to the chagrin of my boss!) that I learned to differentiate between those who seemed to think their lives were now over and those who determined to make a new life for themselves.   Over the years, I witnessed the result of the choices they made.  I saw how destructive wrong choices can be and how rewarding the often hard work of the right choices are.  After my mother died my father told me that the easiest for him would have been to hole up at home.  He had determined to learn to live alone though so he took steps to do that.   Today he is an emotionally, mentally and physically healthy man.  The room must have seemed huge to him, but he knew he had to walk across and immerse himself in life and living.  I'm sure he and many others like him could write a book on how to do that.  We have so much to learn from the elderly in our lives.  This Christmas Season might be a good time to take that walk across the room to befriend that elderly person in your corner of the world.  Do not be surprised when you are the one doing all the benefiting!

Keep Walking!

Elayne  

...My walk across the room

I've been wanting to do this for a long time and tonight I finally took the plunge to set up my own Blog!  For the most part I consider myself to be a rather private individual and yet I seem to sense this desire within myself to make contact with whoever is out there and share whatever I have to share about my life's journey.  I will give it a try.  It is my way of 'walking across the room' to your corner of the world and starting a conversation just to see what might become of it!  Right now, it feels like I'm in a very big room and therefore this start is quite enough for tonight!

May this be an inviting space to be!

Elayne