This weekend was a wonderful one filled with connections, memories, celebration, and reminders of the importance of close friends and community. While it was busy, it was also the “right kind” of busy; the kind that highlights the importance of relationships and connection.
St. Clement’s School has been celebrating our annual Alumnae Reunion Weekend. While it had to be recreated to adhere to pandemic guidelines, it was a wonderful line-up of virtual activities and gatherings that brought Alumnae, past staff members, and our current SCS students and staff together. Events like our full school e-ssembly; two student-led Bollywood dance parties; Trivia Night; a Saturday afternoon meet and mingle event followed by an evening wine tasting; and a gathering with St. Clement’s Church for their Sunday service afforded me many opportunities to connect and catch up with Alumnae and past staff.
At the St. Clement’s Church Church at Home service on Sunday, Reverend Andrew Federle spoke about American priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor who suggests that we are far more than what we produce. I was struck by this and after the service, I found this piece about shifting one’s busy pace in order to honour the Sabbath as its original purpose: a day of rest and time to honour God.
Brown Taylor writes, “It was not sloth. It was sabbath, and its effect was immediate. Relationships became more spacious. Prayer became more spacious. Time itself became more spacious. Instead of charging out of the gate on Monday morning, I found myself sauntering instead, still relishing the freedom of the day before…”
As I reflected on the busy weekend, I thought of Barbara Brown Taylor’s words about taking time and, as a result, finding that relationships become more spacious. Indeed, time with Alumnae and past staff was the “right kind” of time: that which allows for reconnections, recollections; and a sense of community.
