Reflections on a rainy day

plan and make sure they are on board.

Step Three: Write it down, legalize it, make copies and distribute.

It’s a process-sometimes a long process. But you need to start somewhere. Give yourself time and know that this task will not likely be completed in one sitting.

Find a lawyer or a notary and get your documents witnessed and legalized. Make copies and keep copies in multiple safe places. It is up to you to decide where and with whom your legal papers will reside but typically a copy would go into a safety deposit box, perhaps you would like to keep the information stored digitallyeither online storage or USB stick-and, most importantly, a copy should be given to ‘your person’ aka your executor.

And, finally, remember to review your documents every so often to make sure the information is still accurate, your choices are still valid and contact information is correct.

outsideColouring the lines

REV. LEANN BLACKERT Wild Church

It’s been raining solid for over 12 hours. I sit beneath a large cedar tree on the edge of a small lake in the middle of the vast forest. Big, fat noisy rain drops hit the hood of my poncho before rolling slowly down to gather in a puddle in my lap.

I am here to co-lead a Wild Church workshop, and we’ve just sent the participants out for a wander on the land – for a chance to seek deeper connection with the holiness that surrounds us. My heart carries the news that my father is in the hospital after falling and breaking his hip. I’ve searched out a tree that might shelter – and yes, perhaps hold - me for this time. I sit upright beneath this holding tree, daring not to lean back into her for fear of harming the spectacular green lichen that is budding with the teeniest little reddish orange flowers on her trunk.

I sit in stillness, watching the rain add texture to the lake water. I try to clear my mind and open my heart to what is before me: the water of the lake, water falling from the sky, water pooling in my lap. And the cold damp air that keeps tapping me on the shoulder to ask if I am ready to go in yet. After what I am sure is at least 30 minutes I check my watch to discover only 10 have passed. I empty my mind – and my lap –again.

“Never-ending rain,” I think. “This rain seems to be never-ending, and the gloomy gray of this day matches my own internal weather system.” I shiver a bit, whether from ambient air temperature or from the knowledge that my Dad’s Parkinson’s adds a texture to his life that is so much coarser than the rippled waters of the lake. Slowly I become aware of a different sensation.

My back begins to feel warm, almost like I’m leaning against a radiator, and I sense the tree is responding to my whispered request to be held. Before I know it my time is up and I must head back to the group.

As we prepare to leave the retreat centre the next day, I return to this tree to offer a gift of gratitude for the holding time. I stand beneath her towering presence and speak my gratitude, and the sun breaks through the clouds. I turn back to the trail. The lake lies smooth and still before me, reflecting the magnificence of this community of trees – of this sacred space. And I trust the wisdom of Creator revealed in creation: that the never-ending rain one day will end, the sun will eventually shine again, and no matter what comes, I can walk one day at a time knowing I am being held by the One Who Is Bigger Than We Can Know, who also bears the name The Big Love.

Rev LeAnn Blackert works with Michele Walker, Lesly Comrie and Linda Clark in ministry with Wild Church in Kamloops, Sorrento and the Okanagan. She considers herself a seeker in her faith journey and wanders the wild world looking for the Great Mystery and the “wild Christ.” To find out more, visit wildchurchbc.com and be in touch!