Yet Another Life Lesson

Yet Another Life Lesson
This spring I found myself wrestling with a decision that just didn’t seem to have an outcome that I was totally happy with. I had signed up to attend the annual Unity Peoples’ Convention in Kansas City, but the cost of the airfare kept climbing every time I checked on it. And, the cost of the hotel room added another $600. I knew I could attend “virtually,” but also knew that it would be challenging to do that from the chaos of our home amid the everyday demands of running our household. I wanted to connect with friends from Unity Worldwide that I hadn’t been able to see for a couple of years, but I also didn’t relish the idea of being away for five days from my Missoula family. Finally it dawned on me that I could attend virtually, but from the high-tech atmosphere of my daughter Wendy’s home in Seattle. She and her husband could help me get connected in the right way, and I would be a “guest,” with no meal planning or preparation, clean-up, etc. Also, my husband Tom and I could be there together, and she could hang out with him, freeing me to be on-line from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Then all of us could spend some quality time together.
As I attended the on-line sessions, I found myself regretting that I wasn’t there in person, able to fully participate in the conversations and gatherings. I vowed to myself that I would attend in person next time, for sure! However, not long after the last session had closed, I learned that approximately 80 people who had attended had come down with Covid. I was immediately grateful that I had been led to the right and perfect solution for me!
One of my “disappointments” with attending on-line was that I wasn’t able to choose which workshops I wanted to attend. Instead, because of technology issues, I was assigned a particular four, only one of which I had wanted to attend. I resigned myself to make the best of it, and, again, was amazed how Spirit works! The last time I attended the Convention, I went to a workshop on grief, and thought I didn’t need to attend that one again. But it was the only one on the last day that was available on-line. Of course, it was the best workshop of the whole week, even though I thought I “knew all I needed to know” about dealing with grief. The man leading the workshop, Rev. Richard Carlini, was interesting, funny and very tech-savvy. He kept the workshop moving in a way that included all of us on-line in group discussions. He has been a Hospice chaplain for years, and had lots of good information and insights as to how to help people who are in the midst of grief. After our challenging spring of losing two key people in our congregation, I realized that I had grief of my own that needs to be processed. Then I learned that our beloved Marje Frantzreb was also in transition and would be leaving this life-form shortly after I returned home. I believe our entire congregation could use a bit of help with transitions at this time.
One of our church members has been particularly moved after reading the following four questions to ask yourself as you approach the end of you earthly existence. These are important things for all of us to keep in mind as we move through our lives. They appear below.
As we continue to walk home together, let us remember to be kind to one another, to smile more and to go out of our way to help each other.
Love and blessings,
Linda Andrus, your Licensed Unity Teacher
Did you love . . . Love is God’s primary blessing.
Did you forgive . . . The opposite of love is not hate but fear.
Were you of service . . . You receive what you give.
Do you believe in peace . . . Peace is the answer.