Merry Coast-mas

The Powtown Popsicles at Willingdon Beach November 14. The water was 8°C and air was 6°C degrees. (Photo by Pieta Woolley)

EDITOR’S MESSAGE

PIETA WOOLLEY

This fall, Census 2021 released a set of statistics about religion. It will come as no surprise that church adherence is way down. Over the past decade, several religious communities in qathet have been reduced by one third to one half. Just one in three of us consider ourselves Christian. Even if you add the small numbers of locals who practice Sikhism, Hinduism,Judaism, Indigenous spirituality, and other faiths, these folks are in the minority. Nearly two-thirds of us identify as “no religion.”

I was raised in a church, but haven’t felt compelled to sit in a pew for years. So I am in the “no religion” camp at this moment in my life. But Christmas still gets me. It’s beyond just the evergreen swags and butter tarts. It’s the idea that in dark times, there is light. And to keep searching for that light.

This qL is full of stories about hope. For years, an otherwise pristine island just south of qathet was a dumping ground for tires. This fall, Abby McLennan rallied more than 30 people for two days – plus a bunch of equipment – to clean it up.

When the holidays are a tough time, locals who have been through it all offer others real, hard-won support and wisdom.

Even in freezing temperatures, when many of us are huddlinginside, other brave souls are pushing themselves to swim, run and motorcycle.

This fall, more compassionate solutions than ever before are being enacted to end the epidemic of street crime, addictions and toxic drugs in BC.

And our faith leaders are getting ready to welcome people back to church this Advent and Christmas season – in spite of a tough decade and COVID’s impacts.

So Sea-sons Greetings. Whatever your faith, I hope you find light in this dark month.