Stroll for Your Soul

Blessings.
Today we come to the end of our series of inspirational messages that will focus on Homes.  I know that many of you have enjoyed taking time to stroll your neighbourhoods, back yards, parks, or just sit and look out a window. This resource has been adapted from, and used with permission from, The Prayer Bench (https://prayerbench.ca/). 
It seems fitting our final reflection in this series is focusing on the animal that has significance for both settlers and Indigenous peoples – The beaver building dams and lodges
Reflection: The Common Tasks  
“The trivial round, the common task,
will furnish all we need to ask,
room to deny ourselves, a road
to bring us daily nearer God.” 
     - from the hymn, “New Every Morning” (Sing along here.)

Respected first by Canadian Indigenous people as an important food source, and appearing in their legends as a symbol of wisdom, the beaver has a long history in this land.  During the fur trade in the 17th century, the beaver was so fervently traded, that much of Canada was mapped by the settlers in pursuit of the pelt. The fancy fur hats were a symbol of prestige in Europe. The beaver was so hunted that they became almost extinct. They are protected now and are thriving.
The beaver has a single vocation: cutting down trees for sustenance and making a home.  A beaver can cut down an average of 216 trees per year. They will work in pairs to down a large tree. 
They are wonderful builders making dams of sticks, logs, debris and mud in slow moving water – and often even changing the direction of the flow of water.
They are graceful swimmers but awkward on land.  
They are engineers making elaborate lodges with many dens and an underwater entrance and exit. 
Constructing is their daily work. It is their “trivial round, their common task.” 

I invite you to watch this short video to learn more about the beaver:
The Beaver at work.
Peace to your house Beaver. May God cause all to be well with you.

Focus for Your Stroll 
As you stroll today, and this week, reflect on what is your work? 
Really wonder about this. Go deeper than just your occupation, or the things on your “to do” list.  Ask yourself what work you are called to do?
As you walk or watch from your balcony, notice the work of others around you, the work of human hands and the work of the birds of the air and other beings you see on your Stroll.
Bless their work. 
The beaver alternates periods of activity with times of rest. What are some ways you can weave a bit of sabbath time into your day? 
 
Peace. Rev. Gail