Saturday, April 25, 2020

How This Feels In Our Rural Area

It's been quite a week.

I wrote for the United Church Observer magazine for 26 years, and continued to write for its new incarnation, Broadview magazine, which debuted as a new version of the Observer a year ago.
So I have a long-standing relationship with the woman who is now the editor (she used to edit my column that ran for 10 years). When she asked me to write about what had happened in my area of Nova Scotia -- four of the 23 victims lived in Wentworth, 20 minutes away -- I said I could write about the impact it has on our sense of community.

This is the link to the article that was published online this week.

For those of you who read this blog but don't live in Canada, here's the link to the "Nova Scotia Remembers" vigil that aired on Friday evening -- 90 minutes, no commercials -- and at least for those of us indirectly affected, who aren't mourning the violent, senseless loss of a family member, friend or neighbour, it was very comforting.

And finally, I'm gearing up for our worship service Sunday morning - a lot of prayer and music as we try to make sense of what happened. It's not a worship about hope, but about comfort and peace, and trying to see a light in the darkness.

On Wednesday, Shoreline Design on Prince Edward Island posted on Facebook that they'd created silver Nova Scotia pendants they were selling for $40 (including the chain) and $20 would go to Wounded Warriors, a Canadian organization assisting the families of those killed in the line of duty.
On Thursday, we ordered three pendants - for me, Mother, and my sister in the United States.
On Friday, the pendants were in our mailbox. Wow. So I could wear it on Friday night when we rang the bell at the church 23 times, through the vigil on television, and tomorrow, for church. In fact, I'll be wearing my pendant AND my Nova Scotia tartan as I lead a very emotional worship service.

Also wearing red on Friday to show my support for the RCMP. 






No comments:

Post a Comment