Where I have been

A short break on the shore 
at Lake Wabamun last week

I've been all over the place for the last while. Not so much locationally, but head- and heart-wise. There's been a lot happening, and I'm finding that I don't have the kind of time I've been accustomed to for moodling online. There have been many things I've wanted to tell my moodlings readers about, but...

Life is good, just busier than it has been in years. I'm still working part-time at the Winspear Centre for Music, though not as much as before I started as associate pastor with the Community of Emmanuel downtown. It's quite a juxtaposition some days, handing out lunches to inner-city folks living on the streets in the mornings, and guiding wealthy symphony patrons to their seats in the evenings. The downtown community and orchestral music both feed my soul so I can live with the contradictions.

Taizé music is still feeding my soul, too. We had a beautiful prayer on Sunday night, and we are looking forward to our Pentecost Prayer, being held June 15th at St. Luke's Anglican Church, a week later than observed by the Canadian church because we have a special friend coming for a visit. Ceci is a flutist extraordinaire, and played with us regularly when she lived in Canada some years ago. She's coming to Edmonton from Schwabach, Germany, for her Pentecost vacation, and it's going to be a beautiful prayer with her flute descants singing above our voices! Plus we'll have her joyful presence staying with us for a few days, too.

Sundays seem to be my busiest day of the week, which makes sense for an associate pastor. I'm up at 6 a.m. because we start setting up our worship space and sound system by 7:45, getting the coffee going so we can welcome the community by 8:45 (earlier if it's cold or raining). Some Sundays we have two services, the second at a Senior's Supportive Housing facility, which has a wonderful little community that offers us lunch afterward (even looking after Quinn with gluten free food). Sundays are very special, and I'm really enjoying working with Evan, my fellow musician who can play almost any hymn in any key, and who is introducing me to a lot of new sacred music. Sometimes we get our folks up and dancing! If you ever want to join us, let me know!

I'm taking Mondays as my day of the week to try to catch up to myself, my "day off" from all those "shoulds" that I put upon myself. Mondays are for meeting my spiritual director online once a month, writing emails, catching up on my journal, and yes, moodling (this is being written on a Monday). I've also joined a 7 a.m. online morning meditation group that is wonderful (when I get to it). It runs every day but Sundays and Wednesdays. If you are interested in joining an online contemplative community, let me know.

Tuesdays are usually the day that I join Pastor Quinn at "Table Time" downtown. We offer the toiletries, snacks and clothing we receive as donations to the folks living on the streets in Boyle-McCauley. If you're interested in helping us out by donating snacks or packages of men's and ladies briefs, sizes small, medium and large, you can always send an email via the email address under my profile on the sidebar. You're also welcome to join us to meet the community on Tuesday mornings.

Wednesdays I like to go for a walk with my neighbours and Remi-pup, who is turning out to be a good little walking buddy. He had a bit of a time lately with the "cone of misery" after he was neutered, and is overjoyed to be free again. He loves to follow the neighbours' big dogs on our Wednesday walking route, and especially loves the wilder trails in the river valley. On Friday night we had to fence off our garden, as he is no respecter of planted raised beds and tore through my onion sprouts a few times just for the joy of it!

Thursdays are Inner City Pastoral Ministry's 11 a.m. Bible Study for anyone who is interested, though it's not your typical chapter and verse kind of thing. We've been watching Netflix's The Bible and A.D.: The Bible Continues. Its writers and producers made interesting choices in what to include and exclude from portraying the stories of the Good Book from Genesis to Revelation, and it's always interesting to see what comes from our discussions with our downtown friends. Some haven't been exposed to many Bible stories, but a few know the Bible better than I do!

And Fridays are a mixed bag. Sometimes we have a team ministry/music meeting. We're collecting music for a new hymnal, and there's always liturgy planning to do. Once a month,  our Women's Group meets to talk about feminine spirituality and this past Friday, we learned about Teresa of Avila and her book The Interior Castle. Usually, the ladies have a colouring page to enjoy as we discuss things, and we have lunch together before going our separate ways. We're all looking forward to the Women's Wellness Weekend that's coming up May 30th - June 1st at the Star of the North Retreat House in St. Albert, a special break from daily life in the inner-city. There will be workshops and time for crafts and quiet reflection, all of it a real treat for our little community A fair bit of my spare time is connected to planning for it right now.

With all these things going on, my gardening time is squished in here and there... but I did manage to start my own greenhouse tomatoes and peppers, a friend gave me some tobacco plants, and I bought my annuals this past weekend. My kids and Lee are putting together a birthday party for me with friends and family this coming weekend, so I don't think our garden will be fully planted until after the new moon. The farmer's almanac says that's the best time to plant anyway -- the roots will fill out underground first, and the plants above ground will start reaching for the full moon in two weeks' time.

So that's your Moodler's life in a nutshell... once the Women's Weekend is over, things will settle into a more relaxed summer rhythm, I'm hoping, and I might actually get to weed my garden! To make life even more interesting, Lee is going back to work part time starting this week, but with Remi keeping us walking together, we have plenty of dog-walking time to connect.

If you feel like connecting with me, dear readers, I'd love to hear how life is treating you these days. I read all comments and emails, and respond when I can! I hope all is well with you!