10 Trinity Sq
Toronto, ON
M5G 1B1
416-598-4521
416-598-1432 (fax)
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Sun. 10:30 am, 2:00pm;
Wed. 12:15 pm

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Beginnings and Ends

SARA BOYLES
"The circle she goes round and round, the painted ponies go up and down..." Along with peaks and valleys, rise and fall, and highs and lows these catch phrases represent the rhythm of most things in this world, they symbolize life itself with its seasons, changes, with its openings and closings.

Yesterday, I spent much of the day at the bedside of Gwennyth McLachlan as she hovered in the between space, the space between life and death. I was reminded once again that there are many small deaths which precede the moment when breathing stops and we declare someone "dead". It is such an arbitrary word, a code word really. One that doesn't even acurately represent the whole physical truth. Our Christian story points to more, to life after death. Early writers went to great pains to develop the idea of physical resurrection, one which many western Christians have rejected or at least questioned. We live in a world where we know more about the physical body. Many people tell of life after life experiences. History books record people "buried alive", some purposely, others because they were believed dead by the community. Personally I believe nothing gets lost - reshaped, reinvented, transformed but not lost.

Strangely this is the season when we recall, both through our anniversary service today and All Soul's and All Saint's this coming
week those who have gone before. Spirits and souls can feel so close. It is a season when the barrier between heaven and earth feels thin. Children remind us of another world by dressing in costumes and collecting treats. The Mexican Day of the Dead is near. Even the late fall weather contributes to the feeling of restlessness and mystery.
Signs and omens of powerful earth changing events dominate our lives through the news and through the web. Community changes for us are underway. We will be reshaped. How do we stay open to the goodness in that change and not let our anxieties shut us down and keep us apart?

I suggest (and you must have guessed there was a punch line!) that you come to the parish day on Nov. 4 ready to participate and engage with one another. We do have a large hand in creating our future. This is one of those opportunities that can give us a glimpse of what is in store, a map to guide us, a hope to hold us and enable us. I want to see you there.

Sara

November 30, 1999