by Sarah Bird
This reflection symbolizes a journey of faith during an unprecedented time. With the whole world on pause, and as a support person for many individuals in my work, I cannot help but internalize some of the difficulties and struggles that people have been faced with. Along with those challenges people have shared their new blessings, and unexpected moments of joy, rest and renewal.
As a person with a compromised immune system, the decision to wait out the pandemic five hours North East of Hamilton at my parent’s home in the secluded Ottawa Valley was a quick but crucial decision. I packed my bags for a one week stay, not expecting to be here a month later.
The wilderness of Northern Ontario dances a waltz of harsh reality and captivating beauty which I believe can be similarly felt and or experienced by others during this time of isolation and pandemic. Protected by thick forests, vast lakes, and rolling hills, physical distancing is a forced reality apart from a run in with a wild timber wolf. The following is a reflection I wrote after taking a two-hour hike off the beaten trail into crown land, one of my favourite places to speak with God.
Listening for God’s Whispers
Patiently waiting for the ice to melt.
It begins to delicately thin, and then resets in the frigid stubborn night.
A new day begins…to hope, to break, to patiently wait.
Waiting for the light to break through the frosted glass,
to dance again and sparkle above the deepest of blues.
My heart patiently awaits and listens to the wind
as it rocks the trees still asleep in the winter’s heavy slumber,
The birds cautiously return with a glorious splendour.
A wild melody or two as they swoop and fall,
With an opened heart I feel a call.
The spotting of wolves can jitter the heart,
But with trickling, bubbling springs, a renewal will start.
As spring slowly and patiently, begins to appear,
God reminds me not to lead with fear.
Be still, give thanks and remember to breathe because through this place
God whispers to me
Bird in Isolation
by Sarah Bird
This reflection symbolizes a journey of faith during an unprecedented time. With the whole world on pause, and as a support person for many individuals in my work, I cannot help but internalize some of the difficulties and struggles that people have been faced with. Along with those challenges people have shared their new blessings, and unexpected moments of joy, rest and renewal.
As a person with a compromised immune system, the decision to wait out the pandemic five hours North East of Hamilton at my parent’s home in the secluded Ottawa Valley was a quick but crucial decision. I packed my bags for a one week stay, not expecting to be here a month later.
The wilderness of Northern Ontario dances a waltz of harsh reality and captivating beauty which I believe can be similarly felt and or experienced by others during this time of isolation and pandemic. Protected by thick forests, vast lakes, and rolling hills, physical distancing is a forced reality apart from a run in with a wild timber wolf. The following is a reflection I wrote after taking a two-hour hike off the beaten trail into crown land, one of my favourite places to speak with God.
Listening for God’s Whispers
Patiently waiting for the ice to melt.
It begins to delicately thin, and then resets in the frigid stubborn night.
A new day begins…to hope, to break, to patiently wait.
Waiting for the light to break through the frosted glass,
to dance again and sparkle above the deepest of blues.
My heart patiently awaits and listens to the wind
as it rocks the trees still asleep in the winter’s heavy slumber,
The birds cautiously return with a glorious splendour.
A wild melody or two as they swoop and fall,
With an opened heart I feel a call.
The spotting of wolves can jitter the heart,
But with trickling, bubbling springs, a renewal will start.
As spring slowly and patiently, begins to appear,
God reminds me not to lead with fear.
Be still, give thanks and remember to breathe because through this place
God whispers to me
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