rejoicing in simple blessings...

Today is a perfect day in the Berkshires: cool 72F with patches of sun coming and going along with a gentle breeze. I walked around the back yard late this morning with Lucie who is FINALLY healing from a torn leg muscle. Looking at our still evolving Celtic Zen garden made me smile. Our small wild flower patch is actually blooming this year. It looks like my pumpkin patch is going to bear fruit, too. And the other flowers are all exquisite.

Later this afternoon, our Friday L'Arche Ottawa prayer gathering will take place. At the suggestion of one of the community leaders, I asked a Francophone assistant if she might share a short homily - and she agreed. Her reflection is tender and rich. Interestingly (for me) our various conversations through email were all in French. Thank God for deepl.com that helped me decipher beyond my meager ability and share answers to her concerns in her native tongue. Throughout the process I learned a little more about nourishing trust in community: if you want another to join-in and try something they've not done before, it is essential to go the extra mile in both patience as well as creativity. Too often many of us feel pressured - under the wire to get results - so we keep going back to the tried and true helpers rather than widening the circle of participation. Or we do the task ourselves. This gets the job done, of course, but it neither welcomes fresh voices nor helps those who want to participate in new ways get the opportunity and time to give it a shot. I continue to learn that that creativity and true hospitality requires twice the lead time.

I am also aware of what hard work the Ottawa volunteer spirituality group has done for the past 18th months: learning new technologies, becoming creative with new music, working vigorously to keep the whole community engaged. What a privilege to be a part of this effort. Unless the damnable Delta variant gets in the way, we'll have a chance to visit the community again in mid-September. What a blessing.