Sunday Reflection: Unexpected gifts

This morning at Inner City Pastoral Ministry, my friend, Dorothy, one of our community elders, called me over, saying, "I have something for you." 

She dug around in her purse for a moment and pulled out a pair of earrings beaded by one of her cousin's daughters, and presented them to me. "I got them at my family reunion! They're like the... what's the name of the place where they hold the Women's Retreat? Star of the North! And I know you like earrings. So now you can wear the North Star on your ears!"

To say I was delighted is to put it mildly. I gave her a masked kiss on the cheek and put them on immediately, and what was funny was that they perfectly matched what I was wearing (though if I hadn't decided to change into something cooler just before heading downtown this morning, that wouldn't have been the case).

It was an unexpected gift, and has me thinking about the many unexpected gifts I've received from ICPM and the Community of Emmanuel. I came to the community at a time when I couldn't find solace for my broken heart in my usual place of worship, and was received with immediate trust and acceptance, tears and all. That was the first unexpected gift. 

It took a while, but the week after I finally asked for prayers for the painful situation that broke my heart, Dorothy approached and told me she was praying especially for healing for me... It was another unexpected gift when she shared her own situation and we agreed to pray for each other.

Every service begins with a smudge of sage, an offering of prayer and smoke for cleansing, and that has been yet another unexpected gift of healing and hope for me. Somehow, it feels like a different sort of communion as we line up to receive sacred smoke in a ritual much older than Christianity. It's also been an unexpected gift to be invited to offer tobacco and pick the sage we use with other  community members at sacred ground outside of the city.

As someone who believes that we all need to gather together around God's word and table no matter who we are or the differences in our beliefs, the ecumenical spirit of the community's worship is yet another unexpected gift that moves me deeply. We are welcome to the table no matter what, and seeing the community receive God's gifts without judgment of any kind is a gift, too. Every week, God's love for each one of us is emphasized in beautiful ways.

But the most unexpected gift of all is how the community has become home for me thanks to the friendships offered and the joy we have in coming together on Sunday mornings even as there's always hardship around and among us.

Before my broken heart, I couldn't have believed in all these unexpected gifts that came through unexpected people. But now I see that my broken heart was also a gift that brought me to the Community of Emmanuel at ICPM. 

How I love my Sunday mornings there.

Thank you, 

God,

for the journey that has brought me

to this special place in my life.

All of my life,

all of the life you have given me,

has led me here.

I wasn't always as grateful 

as I should have been,

but

Thank you,

God.

+Amen.