So Where Did the Time Go?

©David Robertson 2014     Recent conversations have been about how hard it is to believe that one year has passed since the waters swept through High River and the wider South Western Alberta region.  For most people it doesn’t feel like a year.  It feels much shorter than that. For others the time has dragged on and on for what feels like an eternity. And yet, it’s all the same time.  The earth has completed one orbit around the sun and here we are.  It’s the same season, but it’s not the same life we live.  It’s the same time of year, but our homes and our town are changed.   

 

For some of us, our homes are altered, our basements are new, our places of work are different.  Some people are not home.  Some homes are gone, and others are about to come down.  Still others will not be coming home at all and instead, are living in a new home somewhere else.  No wonder it feels like the time has gone either too quickly or too slowly.  There has been so much to handle, so much to manage, and so many decisions to make.  And yet… here we are.

 

During the past year, I admit to having some days when I found it difficult to move off the couch.  All I could do was just sit there and stare blankly into space, pray, weep, read, enjoy the Daily Show with Jon Stewart or watch re-runs of Bewitched on Netflix.   Then, I would get bored with myself and move into the balance of the day.  I’m discovering that “moving” is not only empowering but healing.  Moving…placing one foot in front of the other.  That simple action doesn’t deny or avoid our feelings, our sentiments or whatever we are experiencing post disaster.  But it does keep us moving.  And that my dear friends, is important.

 

We all arrived at this place in time by finding our own ways to keep moving through this time of loss and recovery.  Granted there are days when it feels like nothing moves!  Our bodies feel stiff and tired, or what ever bureaucracy we’re dealing with at the moment remains stuck.  But, movement does happen and we arrive in this moment because we have taken some steps to get us through even the toughest times.

 

One way we move is by being a people that proclaims hope.  Another way we move is by offering compassion to one another.  We move when we hold gratitude in our hearts.  When we face our fears and seek courage, we are moved.  When we strip drywall off and put new drywall on; when we re-run wiring; when we do a house blessing; when we plant sunflowers and till the garden; and when we listen to another’s story we move ourselves into the territory of hope and onto the path of healing.

 

A wise one once said, “We can only be in one place at a time, and that is the present moment—the now”.  The “now” is a very different place from “then”.  When we pay attention to that, we can see how far we have come and how far we have moved.  We give thanks with grateful hearts that God accompanies us on this journey as we move through each day.  As we allow ourselves to be moved by our actions, our decisions, our emotions, and our intentions it is amazing how in God’s time, we are healed and find ourselves just that much further along the path of hope, recovery and renewal.  And then, without really recognizing it we are amazed and wonder, “Now, where did the time go?” 

Last modified on Thursday, 25 April 2024