Or a spiral or something…

Fourteen years ago, about this time of year, I left my home in Nova Scotia to head to Ontario. Ordained for a little over a month, I was on my way to my settlement charge in Claremont, a ‘hamlet’ about an hour northeast of Toronto. I spent the first night on the road in Edmundston. I was filled with anticipation, angst, excitement, trepidation. So many questions running through my head: Would the people like me, would they appreciate me? Would I like and appreciate them? Having left all my friends and family would I be unbearably lonely? Would I make through Montreal? Would the cat EVER stop howling in the back seat? I spent four years with that congregation. Yes, we liked and appreciated each other, yes we had challenges, yes I made friends. And some of the women in the congregation became my ‘sisters’ while I was there.

Ten years ago, I once again spent the night in Edmundston, this time I was coming back to Nova Scotia to accept a call to a church in Halifax. The pull of family and the ocean had become too strong to resist anymore, and so I drove back. No cat this time, the one that had come with me had died while in Claremont, and while I had adopted two more, they flew to Nova Scotia a few days before I left.

Tonight, I am once again spending the night in Edmundston, this time on my way, first to Toronto, to attend the Affirming Ministry annual gathering, then a few days of Study Leave to finish my reading for General Council, the United Church’s triennial national gathering, then on to General Council. No worries about making it through Montreal any longer. because you can go AROUND it! No howling cat to raise my blood pressure and stress level.

Memories… are my window on God’s world.

Flowers on a shrub outside my hotel.