An Instrument of Peace

Last Sunday, at St. Mary's Anglican Church, during a simple congregational prayer response written by St. Francis of Assisi, I was overwhelmed by simple words:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Those who know me, know I love words. Each year, I choose a word as a theme to focus on. In the past, the words have been simple ones such as joy, hope, beloved. Leading up to each new year, I start meditating on words and themes. During this past month, I have been thinking about what life would look like if I really put others before myself. It is amazing how life works itself out as during that Sunday morning service last week, I knew that my theme for 2008 will not be a single word but a prayer. The prayer is simple but the reality of living it is not. What I have learned from the past is the chosen words/themes reveal truth and learning I could not comprehend at the beginning. I do not know if seeking to live this prayer is possible but I know that it is an area I need to explore. What would my life look like if I became an instrument of peace?

Holiday brunch

Yesterday, I hosted my annual holiday brunch. I am kicking myself because I didn't take pictures. I could have taken pictures of the mess I had to clean up afterwards but it was not pretty.

I love cooking for people but seem to never get around to it so my Christmas get-together makes up for a year of slacking. There were about 15 people (& children - oh how the demographics change as we age). It was a good mix of people and they were all life-friends of mine....except for my boss who I have just met this year. [It is interesting to have your manager in your personal life but I invited her because we are kindreds. I am blessed to have her as someone I can learn from. There is not a day that goes by without her teaching me something about philanthropy or discussing deep life issues. ]

Despite having great people around me at the brunch, I felt some disappointment with other friends of mine. There is a trend towards no-shows or not responding at all to an invitation or even cancelling at the very last minute. It is disappointing because as a host you choose your guests because you want to share time and food with them. I am odds with myself on what to do with such friends. One-on-one, I have good times with them but should I still invite them to group things if I know I will again be disappointed with their non-chalance? I did learn from my last couple of brunches. Previous years I hosted the brunch on two different Saturdays leading up to Christmas with plans for between 10-15 guests at each brunch. But due to no-show rates and cancellation, there were a couple of brunches of only 5 or 6 people and lots of left-overs. This year, my intelligence kicked it up a notch and I invited everyone on the same day and it worked out great.

I truly appreciate my life-friends. They are very dear to my heart and life. I would do anything to help them out in need. When we spend together, we always wonder why we don't see each other more often. One of my New Year's suggestions for 2008 is to have intentional time together with my life-friends and their families.

Oh, I almost forgot about the most important part of the brunch...no, not the Baileys for the coffee and the rum for the eggnog. The food: We had eggs benedict with wilted spinach/portabello mushrooms or smoked salmon with home-made hollandaise sauce, Land of Nod cinnamon buns, Schwartzies potatoes, mezza platter (olives, goat cheese, fig sauce, crackers, red peppers, carrots, grape tomatoes, gouda, etc) and shortbread cookies and fudge to top it off. All crowd favourites - although I had to explain the art of the eggs bennie to a couple of people! Seriously, eggs bennie is the food of the gods!

it's the most wonderful time

OK, so I will admit it, there is definitely a feeling of excitement about Christmas stirring within me. In 2 weeks, I will be at mom and dad's for the holiday. Since Christmas is probably my favorite holiday (Easter is a close second), here is a list of the ten things I love about Christmas (in no particular order):

1) The mandarin orange in the toe of my stocking
2) The fact everyone must be up before anyone can open their stocking
3) Singing carols, reading from Luke or Matthew, sometimes sharing and meditating on Christmas before opening presents (the calm before the storm)
4) Turkey and stuffing
5) Boney M - "Feliz Navidad"
6) Christmas Eve services and the food afterwards
7) Trimming the tree
8) O Holy Night - only the best Christmas Carol ever
9) After Eight chocolates
10) Everyone helping with breakfast clean-up

That is my list for today! Merry Christmas to all. Peace to you this holiday season. To my family, I will see you all very soon. I can barely wait. Only 14 more sleeps until I see you and only 19 until Christmas day.