Tuesday, August 30, 2011

August 30, 2011

Have you been to Drumheller? This summer I was driving through canola fields and then – presto! – the roads dipped and we were surrounded by badlands. It was dramatic.

In the Royal Tyrrell Museum I met a 90 year-old man who was fairly dancing with glee. I saw young children with eyes big as saucers. And I expect they looked at me, and saw the same wonder and awe in my face.

Something happened when the dinosaurs died. A meteor landed in Mexico, and dust hid the light for long enough to change the world. A two centimeter beige line in the rock marks the boundary between the age of the dinosaurs and ours; the geological term is the K-T line. It separates the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods.

I was mesmerized by this striation of time.

Sometimes in our lives, an event separates that which was familiar in our younger days from the reality that we know in the present. We come through a momentous event and we are never the same. It changes our world.

In the new world, life went on. Flora and fauna evolved, beauty took hold, new challenges emerged. We can often say the same about our lives. In faith, we trust that life will bloom with pleasures again.

The symbol of the Tree of Life reminds us of deep roots, cool shade and growth beyond our present limitations. As we enter this season together, let’s rest in that blessing.


Blessings to you,
The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean