On the ferry from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay, I checked my emails. Among them, was a yes in response to an urgent plea. The relief I felt was delicious.
The weather held and I was able to ride the rest of the way home, about forty kilometres. As I settled into the three-hour ride, I remembered that I still hadn’t written my blog post for Friday, and it was Thursday already. Here I am again, Lord. What do you have for me?
Up and down the hills in West Vancouver, I thought about my restless night and what I’d said in an email to a friend about trying to trust. I recalled my ride to the ferry that morning and how one person led me to another which led me to trust. By the time I biked by the Lions Gate bridge, a poem was taking shape.
I had five kilometres to go when my pedal and crank arm fell off. I got off my bike and stared at my dismembered bike in disbelief. As I mentioned in last week’s post, I had no phone to call Fred. Thankfully, I was not far from a Skytrain station.
I came through the door just in time for a scheduled Zoom call which laid to rest another worry I’d been carrying.
Before I connected to Zoom, Fred had fixed my bike. No exaggeration. He fixed it in less than five minutes.
After the call was over, I said an unrushed hello to Fred and opened to the joy that was rising in me like a chorus of crickets at dawn.
I gathered the gifts I’d received around me as I did as a child on Christmas morning. My blog post was composed. Two worries were gone. I’d gotten to bike to and from Nanaimo–despite a few obstacles. I was back home with Fred, my own bed, and all my vegan options. And there was something else.
This year and last, I’ve had to let go of directing the Ignatian Exercises. It’s been a loss, but the biggest loss for me is not meeting with the other directors regularly. Now I was working with two of them again on a silent retreat next weekend. They were the ones who answered yes to my urgent request.
I sat there in my living room savouring the delight that God noticed that I missed them.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
–Psalm 36: 7, 8
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I just heard that the University of Alberta is offering a free course called Indigenous Canada and signed up for it. “This course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations. Indigenous Canada is for students from faculties outside the Faculty of Native Studies with an interest in acquiring a basic familiarity with Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationships.” (website)
What love mischief are you and God doing for the world?
Let me know and I will include it in an upcoming post.
An Everyday Pilgrim 