Journeying Quotation

To journey without being changed is to be a nomad.

To change without journeying is to be a chameleon.

To journey and be transformed by the journey is to be a pilgrim.


Mark Nepo
pg 76, Living The Questions

Chapters with Titles But Never Labels

She wandered out of the library, swaying from side to side, swinging her legs out in a rocking motion that allows her to navigate in spite of the stiffness and fragility of her body. The smile on her face gave evidence to her delight at finding a new book to read. “Don’t you feel excited to have a library, a real library here where you can get books any time you like?” she said. Her laboured breathing gave evidence to how hard it can be to walk as she moved into the great room to settle into the oversized couch with her new find.

Chapters to be Read – titles but no labels - this is who we are. How long each book of life will be is not determined by us, nor can we fully know (or want to know) what future chapters our biography will hold. What we can know, embrace, and hold in the Light are the chapters that have already been written. Recently in a Passover Seder Supper, we were reminded that when we dipped the parsley in the salt water, it is the tears and bitter parts of our journey that have moved us across rivers, over mountains and brought us to the degree of freedom our soul can live in today. All are chapters in our book.

Yet perhaps too often we label a person and soon it becomes like a neon sign flashing before us. We walk by, negating the truth that labels are not how Jesus really sees any of us. Love, God’s love, invites us to see each book of life, each named book that is the life of another or ourselves, as a rich treasure to be held, read slowly and with honor. Each chapter that is shared holds pieces of our lives but it is not the whole. Titles may be given to each section or season lived but they are not labels that define who we are.

Our friend sitting reading her book came from a community in Vancouver that has been “labeled” as one of the poorest in our country, with one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS per capita. Other friends live in areas with some of the highest property values in our country and perhaps some will label them as well. At Linwood House Ministries we believe that labels do not fit us as human beings at all. Each of us are an amazing book continually being written into by the Almighty, by our own soul journey, and by all those who pass through our day. There are so many wonderful chapters, all titled but none wear labels – not now, not ever.

Warmed By The Fire

It is very spring like now but the mornings are still quite cool and the morning air in the house feels cold. The wood stove is the sole source of heat in our little house where it nestles embraced by trees and quietness. As the wood caught flame and heat began to radiate out from the little stove I appreciated being able to warm myself by the fire. As the heat spread through the room and I began to be warmed again after leaving the comfort of a fluffy duvet and my husbands’ warm body next to mine, there was such a sense of joy at this simple and elemental wonder of roaring fire.

For years those words “warming himself by the fire” have been repeated, referring to a feisty tempered man who is remembered for trying to deny his friendship, in the toughest moment, with Jesus. Sitting by the fire to be warmed held a negative connotation. Fireside time is often very much a part of friendship.

A warm fire is a kind of hospitality in its own way - an invitation to come closer, to linger, to find nurture and healing there. Sometimes the fire draws us to sit together and animated conversation results or perhaps it is to enjoy the gentle sounds of its own music while we read a book. Often in the winter the fire has been the only sound and only light as I waited for the new day to be born and bring its light to the sky and into the house.

The fire is like the hospitality - it is for stranger and friend to find warmth, nurture and comfort. The heat that is radiated goes more than skin deep. It works towards the core of our being. Perhaps the warm fire and the invitation to dine open up the bigger story of our lives and work at revealing the threads that both stranger and friends weave into our story. Like the dining room table it invites us simply to be, to breathe, to be present and take in what the moment has offered us.

As I write it is late afternoon and I sit working by the fire letting it warm me on the cool cloudy spring day. Sigh…it is so soothing to be warmed this way and I am so enjoying simply sitting by the fire. There are surely deeper meanings to this thought of being warmed by the fire but for now I shall simply enjoy it for what it gives. That is joy for this moment.