It’s my birthday week. What do you mean birthday week? Most of us only celebrate for a day. However as I get older I realize more and more how much I have to celebrate and I want to make the most of it. 73 may not seem like a big milestone, but it is a milestone, an opportunity to look back and see what God has done in my life in the last year. It is also a chance to look forward with hope and expectation.
I love that my birthday falls in January, my month of discernment, because birthdays are a great time to evaluate our lives and rejoice in the presence of God within us. Even if you don’t have a birthday this month, I hope that you will join me for your own time of discernment. Don’t forget our upcoming retreat Spiritual Discernment: Finding Direction in a Confusing World is only a couple of weeks away. Don’t forget you can also sign up for all upcoming spring retreats at a considerable discount.
So what am I discerning as I enter my 74th year?
First I rejoice in reaching another milestone. I am very aware that half the world’s population will never reach this age. Disease, poverty, violence, discrimination and climate change take their toll every year. I am also aware that many of my friends and family live with chronic pain and disability, some hovering on the brink of eternity. I am the most fortunate of people and thank God for the privileges of my life.
Second, I rejoice in the creative energy God continues to pour into my life. I am frequently astounded by it. Who would have thought that at 73 I would be launching a new podcast and writing poetry and books?
Third, I rejoice in the lessons I continue to learn about God. My relationship with the Holy One is growing and blossoming. I am awed by the wonder of who God is and the revelations that keep pouring into my life.
Fourth I rejoice in the relationships surrounding me. The love of a husband that grows as we both age, the love of friends more special each year and the joy of getting to know so many through the virtual world of blogs, social media and newsletters. Thank you for helping to make my life so rich.
So this week I will enter into the wonderful celebrations. A trip to my favourite garden store on Saturday, a special meal with our community and a few friends on Monday, lunch with more friends on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a zoom call with family in Australia on Thursday. So much to celebrate and so many ways in which to celebrate.
My Meditation Monday – Discerning With Henri Nouwen, began a series that I will expand over the next couple of weeks as I prepare for the upcoming webinar. I love Nouwen’s question “What books have shaped your life, your history with God?” It took me on an interesting journey this last week, a process of reflection that I highly recommend to you.
On Saturday Diane Woodrow in You Don’t Need To Do It, reflected on how what we believe really can effect what will come to pass. I loved Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday: It’s Still Epiphany We Can Keep Celebrating and her suggestion that during this season we pay attention to the Magi and the lessons we can learn through them. Don’t miss reading T.S. Eliot’s wonderful poem The Journey of the Magi that she includes.
My personal favourite for the week was Andy Janzen’s Phenology Wheel Eco-Spiritual Practice, something I hope to follow through on this next week. Phenology is the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life. A phenology wheel is a way to record what we are noticing in the circle of the year. Such a fun and inspirational idea. On Tuesday we shared more of Ana Lisa De Jong’s beautiful poems. I always find them to be very nourishing.
Today’s poem was inspired by a program I watched last week that delighted over the beautifully manicured lawns of suburban developments. Every blade of grass in order. Not a thing out of place to mar the pristine grassy slopes. They fill me, not with delight but with pain because of their destructiveness of the natural environment, their lack of imagination and total disconnect from the natural world.
I hate a beautifully manicured lawn,
Vibrant green,
Without a weed in sight.
What happened to the dandelions,
That make our children laugh?
Where are bees and insects
That should fill it with life?
I grieve its lust for water,
And chemicals that clog our waterways.
I ache at the ordered pattern,
That speaks of our desire for control,
The will to master
What God means to be free.
My love is for a wild, unfettered landscape,
Where children blow and scatter seed,
With reckless glee ,
And eye the weird and wonderful
With delighted giggles
And excited gasps of awe.
The love of God grows strange and wondrous things,
It weaves a song through all creation
Wildflower beauty,
That ever should be free.
Many blessings
Christine Sine
Join Christine Sine January 27th, 2023 10 am – 12 pm PT for a virtual retreat, Spiritual Discernment: Finding Direction in a Confusing World, as she facilitates an exploration of practices that enable us to become “all ears” and listen in all circumstances to the voice of God. This session will be full of helpful input, discussion and creativity. Come join us and learn to listen more deeply to the voice of God.