Lesson from a Hurricane (3) – Changing Soul Windows

Sometimes the storm windows and screens of my childhood home were really difficult to change. Each was carefully numbered and some were labelled, such as ‘Anne’s Room’, and they were always neatly lined up in the store room, but sometimes my father would struggle with getting them into place. Perhaps it was as simple as I had moved rooms so clearly ‘Anne’s Room’ designation didn’t work anymore. I wasn’t there any longer. Sometimes it was as if the house itself had changed shape over the season.

As we move through our lives, as we mature and change, the shape of our Soul Windows may change too.

The force of The Hurricane helped me look at the shape and substance of my soul. Some Basic Soul Questions emerge:  What gives me life? What drains me? What are my gifts? How might I offer them to God for goodness in the world?

As I wrestled with these basic questions I realized that my soul was experiencing my father’s seasonal struggle.  I both had changed rooms and my soul was changing shape. My job had changed and I was different. I spent many months trying to force a window into a frame into which it didn’t belong. Lots of hammering. Lots of noise. Lots of stress. Lots of pain.

Does that sound familiar to you? Is it a time in your life to ask those basic Soul Questions and ask God for the wisdom of where you belong? My belief is that we all have a place where we belong, where we are needed, where we can contribute to goodness, to peace and justice in the world. Sometimes we need to change places. Sometimes we need to allow ourselves to be changed.

God’s blessings to you as you examine your Soul Windows.

Anne

Community Leader (Canada) Contemplative Fire