Minister’s Column – How Do We Do This?

Carrying on with the theme of how we are going to do this, and by do this, this month I want to focus on the uncertainty of living in these times that seems to be facing us all. This is hard and pandemic fatigue seems to be gripping many of us. Our Prime Minister talked directly with us just this last week saying that what we are living through is hard. And it’s precisely at this time that we dig deep into our spiritual practices and look for the opportunities that life presents us.

But uncertainty? Really? No one likes to live with uncertainty, and yet, we face uncertainty in so many areas of our life – will we address climate change? What will the results of the US election be and how will that affect us as Canadians, as individuals? When will this racial violence we see happening in the world run its course? Does my aching body mean that I’m fighting off COVID?

And yet, in the midst of this uncertainty, there are riches if we just take the time to look for them. In a book by Rebecca Solnit entitled Hope in the Dark, she tells us that “in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act.” When we take the time to embrace uncertainty, we embrace both the unknown and the unknowable, and in that space resides something very precious to us at this time – hope! You see, when we take time to move into uncertainty, we are given an opportunity to face new worlds of possibility – if we don’t allow ourselves to fall victim to anxiety.

Our respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part informs us that we are co-creators in this world. This interdependent relationship gives us the freedom to dream, to act, to engage in small acts that ripple out and begin to change the world. Without uncertainty we would not be able to pray, to act, to write a letter to our politicians, to protest.

All of these actions would be meaningless without uncertainty, for uncertainty provides the opportunity for each new moment to be filled with hope, joy, and the ability to make a difference. If we truly believe that we are a part of this interdependent web, then there is a power at work in the universe that imbues everything in the world. This is the power that lures us toward a world based on love, that pulls us towards the best possible choices in each moment.

Now that’s a world I want to live and be a part of. I hope you’ll join me in working to help create it.