The reading for today is taken from the guidebook of The Starseed Oracle written by Rebecca Campbell and Danielle Noel. The Starseed Oracle is a 53 card deck. The authors, Rebecca and Danielle meditated together to envision each card with the intention that the cards would hold a transmission of energy, both individually and as a whole.

This reading is related to the card titled “Trust the Timing”. It may sound familiar to you, as it was the reading for one of Kathy’s previous talks. Here it goes:

“Trust the Timing. Trust the wave you came in on. Time is not running out.

So often, those who feel like they’re here for a reason, sense that time is running out, and they spend their life worrying that they might miss their moment.

But the only way to miss your life or your moment is to spend your time worrying about missing it. It’s never too late to answer a calling and you’re never too old.

The tides of your life are magnificently orchestrated to come in and out in perfect union. Don’t race ahead and ride a wave that was never meant for you. You’ll waste your precious time and energy when instead you could be enjoying your life.

Everything has a season and you’re being called to trust the one you’re in. Don’t let impatience, comparison, competition, or paranoia disturb the seeds.…Right now, you’re being reminded to take a breath and trust the wave you came in on, To trust the season you’re in. Time isn’t running out. There’s plenty of time. There’s no rush and it’s never too late.”

Today I want to touch on topics that for me are woven together into a whole, the importance of being a caring neighbour and community member.

As most of you know, I came to Spiritualism after the sudden death of a close family member ten years ago. While searching for answers to help me make sense of this death, I became involved with this Spiritualist community, taking classes and attending here regularly. What I learned here piqued my interest and I have also pursued other opportunities for learning. I am honored to speak with you today.

I’ve had numerous changes in my life over the past year and a half. In April 2024, I retired from my employment with the Province of Manitoba. That was a big transition for me, as I shifted my identity, day to day life routines and social connections. Then in July 2024, my son and his long time girlfriend got engaged and set a wedding date for June 2025. Wedding plans were under way with parental responsibilities to carefully navigate. This was new terrain for both me and my husband.

Shortly after their engagement, my son and his fiance stopped looking for a house to buy. I was curious and asked them why they stopped. They told me they had decided to wait and buy the house our family had lived in for the past 25 years. They had heard my husband talking repeatedly about wanting to move to a different house. My son and his fiance were however gracious, and invited my husband and me to continue living with them until we found our new home.

Well, this threw me into a major tizzy as I truly loved my house, my yard and my neighborhood. After much heart searching, meditating and giving myself permission to say No to selling our house to them, I came to the realization it was time for me to let go and let spirit move our family in a different direction. It was time for me to remember the oracle card and “Trust the Timing”.

My husband and I agreed to sell our house to our son and his fiance. We started to house hunt and took possession of our “new to us” home on November 30, 2024.

Since our move, my life has been a whirlwind of decisions… what items to donate to thrift stores, what to put into the trash, what to take to the 4R recycling… sell, keep, dispose or give away, sell, keep, dispose or give away. And it continues.

With spring, other home related decisions and projects came into the scene. The home we bought was built in 1985 so has various middle aged “aches and pains”. We dug up river rock, lots of river rock. We painted. We dealt with tree removal. We are on a three year plan for relandscaping our yard.

At the same time, I attended wedding related activities like a shower, shopping for dresses and shoes, meetings and photoshoots. Then there was the wedding itself and events before and after the wedding. Then when these were done, it was back to our yard and the river rock.This August, I took a Beginner’s Tarot Course, 4 weeks long with daily homework to get us grounded and prepared for journeying with Tarot.

While I was at my first Tarot class, Dan, a neighbor from my old house texted me to say two large branches on his apple tree had broken in the wind and those apples needed to be picked.

For the last few years, I had a deal with Dan, that I would pick the apples from his tree, keep some and give away the rest as he didn’t have time to do anything with them. Having grown up on a farm, the process of harvesting fruits and vegetables is deeply wired into my DNA so I always find the apple harvest fulfilling and meditative. After the class was over, I contacted a couple of my old neighborhood friends and invited them to join me picking apples the next evening.

So on apple picking day, I scrambled out to buy an appropriate deck of Ryder Waite Tarot cards from Prairie Sky Books so I could do my homework for the Tarot course. Then I went back to my old neighborhood, to neighbour Dan’s house to pick apples. My old neighbors and I met up in Dan’s yard. The evening was incredibly social. I had catch-up visits with my two fellow apple pickers, Dan, his two children, my son, and his wife. Then as per my usual tradition, I went knocking on other neighbours’ doors to gift them with a shopping bag or two of fabulous apples from Dan’s tree. I got to catch up on neighbors’ life developments, heard about new grandchildren, landscaping projects, swimming lessons, and plans for the new school year. I even came home with a bag of amazing salt and pepper cucumbers.

When I got home, I was in a really good mood. I felt grounded and reconnected with people who I had known for up to 26 years as neighbours. I planned to make more effort to stay connected.

I realized that the simple act of sharing a harvest of apples could strengthen relationships with neighbours and reinforce bonds of community. I thought about how people, so often alone behind closed doors, can be encouraged through being remembered by a neighbor with a simple offering of locally grown apples.

And I thought of how my husband and I had made space for our son and his wife to start their marriage in a supportive community with good neighbours. Although my husband and I had moved away from our old house, I could still keep some connection with my old neighborhood community. The timing of selling our former house to our son and daughter in law helped me to understand the importance of community and to Trust the Timing!

After picking apples and before bed, I sat down to complete my Tarot class homework. I was to pull one major Arcana card either in the morning or evening with the intent of summarizing what my day was like. I pulled the major Arcana card, the Hermit. I was delighted as, in the positive sense, the Hermit represented “gaining wisdom, being alone, soul searching and introspection”. When I reflected on the card, its meaning and the events of my day, I thought about how my spirit had been lifted by doing basic community service and catching up with my old neighbors. It had been a magical and spirit filled evening.

I thought too about the other communities we get involved with. Communities can form in our neighborhoods, where we live. Communities can form around shared activities such as those occurring at this Spiritualist Church of the Light… with classes, services, and potlucks. Sometimes supportive communities can just develop over time when people show up consistently and relationships deepen.

I am part of another small community with a group of people who get together at 8:30 in the morning at a leash-free park to walk our dogs. I came across this group over one year ago, shortly after my retirement. One of the unofficial group leaders invited me to join them for morning walks and I marvelled at the functioning of this informal group. I have seen us support members who are going through difficult times in life, at home or at work. I have seen us welcome people who are new residents in Winnipeg or who visit Winnipeg regularly.

Some first responders attend our group when their shifts allow. One first responder told me that walking with the group provides some normalcy and grounding to balance the highly stressful situations he deals with on his job. He often finishes his shift at 2 or 3 AM, sleeps for a few hours then comes to walk with the group. A tired dog makes for better daytime sleep for shift workers.

I have seen more senior dog owners mentor newer dog owners in dog behavior. Much advice and encouragement is given and assistance is regularly provided to one another on matters outside the dog park. With garden harvest, there has also been sharing of apples, cucumbers and tomatoes in the parking lot. And there is always lots of laughter.

As Spiritualists, we know we are all connected. We believe in the Unity and Equality of All and that we are extensions of God, on our learning journeys before we return to Source, or as some call it, Home. We are members of the ultimate community. Though we do not see our connections with one another through our physical eyes, we know our connections with our spiritual eyes and hearts.

All human relationships can come with challenges. Whether relationships are with friends, family, neighbours, or co-workers, there can be conflicts or differing opinions. At times, we notice others behaving in ways we don’t understand or appreciate and we may be quick to judge or become angry with them. Sometimes we may find it difficult to forgive others for their differences. We can be challenged on how to navigate our conflicts but this learning can be part of our personal growth in this lifetime.

Some years ago, Reverend Heather taught me that when we are angry with someone or worried about them, it is good to envision, in our mind’s eye, a picture of them at their best, smiling, healthy and happy with the sun shining behind them. As we envision them in this way, we send love and healing to that person across the ethers as a gift of love and faith.

Thoughts are things and as we are all connected, we want to send the most positive energy to one another so it can come back to us in the same way.

The wonderful thing about being a Spiritualist is that we can ask the Creator and our guides for help in sending out the loving energy. We can simply ask to be a clean channel for loving energy from spirit.

I conclude this talk with a quote from the book, Endgame by Omid Scobie. At a 2011 speech at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia, Queen Elizabeth II had quoted this Aboriginal proverb: “We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love, and then we return home.” Being caring neighbours and community members can be important parts of our growth and learning during this lifetime before we too return home. I thank my spirit guides for their assistance with this talk and I thank you for being part of our gathering here today.