Review of the month

So much has gone on this past month.....some of it I have thought about with God and yet some of it remains scattered and unreflected upon. It is useful that before the monthly meeting with a spiritual companion or group, we spend time reviewing the month that has passed. This is a spiritual discipline that bears fruit in the long term, not so much immediate. It can seem like a chore to some - who are less organized in nature; yet, I am sure almost everyone has the capacity for it and can make time, if only they realized its value.

For me, November is the month of my birthday. And that gives me additional matter to review. I am now really in my fifties - a time of life potentially of much growth and wisdom - yet also with the inherent dangers of not wanting to change and growing rigid - thinking there's no more to learn about life, about self and others; about God. I hope and pray that I will not be tempted that way.

The theme of "releasing" continues to pervade even the house move. So many things carefully packed away have been given up - with the hope they will bless others. Quite a number of these things came from my mother - and I was probably also clinging on to the memory of her. This year saw much healing and saying goodbye to past grief. And now also goodbye to some of the things kept over many years - they are in good condition and usable, like a woollen winter jacket - that I could wear but have not had the opportunity to.

So 'hellos' come with 'goodbyes'; God who calls us to life comes to us as paradox, and our lives are similarly patterned.......in giving we receive, in pardoning that we are pardoned, in dying we are born to eternal life.