Hello from Niagara-on-the-Lake on this muggy Monday.  There is the chance we will have a severe thunderstorm in the next while and I hope it rains torrentially.  The earth is so dry here.  Lawns look scorched and thirsty.  This ongoing heat has everything craving rain – and with it a change to cooler, less humid temps.

I have been feeling tired today, up extra early for some reason.  I’ve been chipping away at the pile of things to do on the desk for hours and listening to songs that are touching and inspiring. Hamilton soundtrack playing as I write.

I do have to go to the Post Office to see if my wandering eyeglasses have finally made it here and we are completely out of bread, but truthfully, I am feeling a little nervous about being out and about today.  Le sigh.

We have entered phase 3 in this region.  Today there is news of Covid shutting down restaurants in Niagara Falls that have JUST opened.  The weekend saw thousands of tourists in our little town.  Someone described it as a zoo.  It feels like everything is about to unravel after all these months of being so careful.

Time to regroup, folks.  We need to recommit to kicking Covid’s butt.

I spoke to an officiant who was sharing how this strange wedding season has affected her.  With masks and physical distancing she cannot hug the couples or stand with them for pictures.  With the coronavirus so active, I still question why couples absolutely have to get married right now.  Venues are closed for the most part.  Vendors are really not active.  And as an officiant, I am really not comfortable unless everyone is on the same page about precautions and protocol.  There is too much to risk. Still.  Months later.

How are you doing in the midst of all this?  I hope you are able to grab something nice to drink and sit somewhere shady and quiet.  The chatter will always be there, pushing fear and worry thoughts our way.

We know what to do: Wear a mask.  Sanitize. Keep your distance from people you do not live with.  Be careful when you are out and about. Be kind and courteous.  It really is that simple, right?  Turn off the news.  Don’t let the headlines drag you down.  And pray that resistant people will finally understand that their blatant ignorance can be deadly for themselves or those who they love.

Try and stay in your bliss.  Now more than ever, we need to take time for ourselves to be restored and renewed.  I see many games of Scrabble with a brilliant woman in my near future. 🙂

Have a great day everyone.  Be kind to yourself.

This is an awesome video I stumbled across this morning.  Imagine being this little girl?
Check out from 8:22 onward.  It’s the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oilZ1hNZPRM

Blessings,
Bishop Deb

Over the past few years I have been doing “prayer on the go” podcasts from my car as I am out and about.  These days, I am not out and about a lot.  In fact, I am happy to stay home and let this COVID thing pass by.  Every day is busy and life is never boring.

COVID cases are up in Niagara again – as they are everywhere as people start to move about more freely.  We are social beings – we WANT to be out and about.  But truly, these are dangerous times.

I went to the Post Office on the main street yesterday.  It’s July and it is typical for the streets to be very crowded in this tourist town.  Groups of people passed by as I waited in the physically-distanced line as one by one we went in to our mailboxes. The passing groups were young and old,  enjoying ice cream or holding a coffee in hand, talking and sharing, enjoying their day.  It could have been any typical summer day.  Unbelievably, very very few of them were wearing masks.

This is a problem.

Yes, it is not possible to eat or drink while masked, but I didn’t see any masks in evidence,  Nothing adorning necks ready to pull up again, nothing peeking out of pockets.  Hmmmmm.

I do not understand this rebellion against something that can save your life and the lives of those whom you love.  The virus is not a hoax – as we can see by skyrocketing numbers around the world.  Some are saying these are just typical numbers of deaths slapped with a COVID label.  Not so.  Talk to any nurse or doctor and they will tell you that what they have been battling is not just your average upper respiratory infection.

Are people just escaping, thinking if they don’t wear a mask the virus will not get them?  Is it an attempt to just pretend that everything is normal as they enjoy their stroll down Queen Street?

Their selfishness can be deadly for someone they may never meet.

We are called to love one another.  To see everyone as a Child of God.  To know in our hearts our deep connection.  We are one race, one family.  Instead, we are witnessing the rise of racism and people acting badly.  Simmering hatred is being openly expressed. We see basic human rights being rolled back.  We see the rise of an ugly, hard-fisted approach to peaceful protests – witness Portland, where protesters are being basically kidnapped in ways that we have seen in the brutal regimes in South America.

Not wearing a mask is a part of this insidious, shadowy unrest.  Somehow people have gotten it into their heads that this is a political thing.  That it is a conspiracy thing.  That NOT wearing a mask expresses their freedom and is a bold assertion of their rights.  (We have the right to be ignorant, I guess.) Meanwhile, their rights and freedoms – OUR rights and freedoms- are slowly being eroded in the backrooms and in bills that are being passed in Ontario as I write this.

The mask thing is a distraction.  We go for the bait every time.

I didn’t mean for this to become a rant. I have cut out many paragraphs just now. lol It is just hard not to feel overwhelmed and helpless in the face of so much fear and chaos.  So many people are emotionally and mentally exhausted from the wear and tear of these times.

Let’s reset.

I am getting my pom poms again. Cheerleader Deb has taken over the keyboard.

We effect the change we want to see.  Maybe it is time for us to come together as community as never before.  To look out for one another.  To share what we have.  To plant vegetable gardens and stock up for what could be a very difficult winter for many.
To celebrate our diversity and honour everyone’s unique gifts and talents.  We need each other.  It is clear to me that the people in power do not always have our best interests at heart.

What is the one thing you can do today to make life a little less stressful for yourself?
What is one thing for which you are truly grateful?
What is one thing that you would like to accomplish or see happen today?
What is one thing that you can do to help someone in need today?

We are powerful.  We are gifted.  We have everything we need to enjoy a successful and happy day.  Set the intention and watch things around you shift.

Have a fantastic and uplifting day!  I am off to visit with some friends at a peach farm in Queenston.  Maybe we will dance in the rain with our masks on.  Appropriately distanced, of course. 😉

Blessings,
+Deb

Hello, dear friends.

Well, it has been a while since I’ve sat at the keyboard and added to this blog. So much has happened in our world.

I have been getting requests to reach out once more sharing thoughts, memes and podcasts and so I offer this with love, hoping it will assist in some way.

We live in very strange times.

We hear uncertain and unsettling reports of people actually killing each other for something as simple as a request to wear a mask, unrest in the US, growing partisan politics in our country, economic hardship, rising COVID numbers… we know the list. When there are so many mean and disrespectful incidents happening every day, we know must focus on loving kindness and good things more than ever before, but that can be a challenge.

We get stuck in some sort of paralysis of spirit. The news is unrelenting awful. We feel lost and afraid. Overwhelmed. Battle-weary.

Our inner light is barely an ember.

It is challenging not to feel the effect of fear and worry in the face of the global situation and what is happening in our own homes and communities. It can be scary.

Time for a shift perhaps. Think of me as your cheerleader, waving my poms poms here. Let’s raise the energy. I am here to remind us all that we do not do this alone. Holy Angels surround us and Divine Love enfolds us.

We have the power of Heaven to assist right here, right now!

We forget that, don’t we. Remember that fear is often False Evidence Appearing Real. We are Children of the Light (Love is Grace, Hope and Truth – i just made that up. lol) Gimme an L ….

Remember who you are. Remember Who called you into being. You are loved and beloved. You have the spark of the Divine within you! It is time to bring our lights together and shine, reflecting the power of the One, who works in each of us to effect good. We have the power to transform everything with our love and intention. We are called to burn so brightly that shadows vanish.

We need one another in these shadowy times. We are people of the light; darkness cannot extinguish us. We are children of the Most High God; evil cannot harm us.

Divine Love always wins.

As we hold fast to what we know is true and good, as we look for blessings and freely share with all, the light within us will continue to shine. Love will shine in us, around us and through us. We will see and know the difference in our soul.

Friends, above all, now is a time for prayer; for taking time to connect with Divine Love, to draw on that unlimited strength to power us through each day. Prayer is our super power, supporting us on every level of our being. It is the fuel for our light. It is our connection to grace, healing, transformation and miracle.

Here is a little prayer that I offer for peace, healing and protection.

Blessings. Please wear the mask and keep washing those hands.
+Deb