"Filaments of Life"

In "Late Nights on Air" Elizabeth Hay describes a poignant scene in which Elanor confronts the reality of the sudden and tragic death of her new-found love Ralph.  The scene is witnessed by Harry.

“... Harry stood for a moment watching her.  Her head looked like the heaviest of peonies after a rain, her body tilted forward over Ralph's.  And the thought came to him that it wasn’t just one person who had died, but all the filaments of life connecting that person to everyone he’d ever known and to every place he’d ever been.” Elizabeth Hay

I am drawn in particular to the phrase "Filaments of Life" that Elizabeth uses to describe the connections that exist between ourselves and all the people and places we have known.  As I enter more deeply into this experience of living with a terminal illness I find that I am becoming much more conscious of the "filaments of life" that connect me to family, friends, colleagues, and the many hundreds of people with whom I have had a connection through my life as a minister. Likewise I find myself remembering the many places and events to which I am connected.

I had an opportunity to reflect on some of these "filaments of life" while at a family reunion in Ontario this week.  I spent a lot of the time reconnecting with family who I see only every few years.  We are spread right across the country.  To be gathered with extended family covering three generations gives me the sense of the significant connections that give rise to my family identity.

In addition to enjoying quality time with my living relations I was able to commune with my ancestors by way of a pilgrimage to the ancient family burial grounds of the Preston family at St. Mary's Anglican Church in Lifford, Ontario.  At St. Mary's I was able to visit the graves of 5 generations of ancestors from my Grandfather Preston (on my Mom's side) on up to my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather and Grandmother.  In remembering their respective lives I was able to imagine the "filaments of life" that extend from me through them and to the places they lived and the events that brought them to Canada and shaped our destinies here.

It is quite remarkable that through this long lineage I am connected to the County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and through Isaac Preston's military service I am connected to the United Irish Rebellion of 1797!  Likewise through the lives of Isaac and his wife Sarah I am connected to the War of 1812 as the cause of my family's eventually migration to Upper Canada from the US, where they were not welcome as British Loyalists.  Through this lineage I am also connected to the rebellion of 1937-38 and the Fenian raids that plagued the settlers of Upper Canada in the 1860's.  Through the life and service of my Great Grandfather, Colonel J.A.V. Preston I am connected to the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 and the First Great War. Whew...  and that is only in the last seven generations or so!

This is not to boast of ancestral achievement.   By no means.  Indeed there are many causes for which my ancient family fought which by today's reckoning I would see as unjust or even oppressive.  Be that as it may, we have to accept our history as it is, for better and for worse!  And we need to remember that when we look at history, we do so from the vantage point of standing on our ancestors shoulders!
For myself, I celebrate the peace that exists between Catholics and Protestants both here and in North Ireland; and the peace that has existed between Canada and the US for almost 200 years; and the reconciliation efforts underway with the Metis and First Nations communities in Canada.  I give thanks that none of these relationships are a cause to bear arms today.  Alas that they ever were!


"Filaments of Life" indeed have an historic element!  When I think of the incredible lives of not just these ancestors but all of the diverse relations that have given rise to the life in me I am thoroughly amazed!  It is truly amazing to imagine all of the random events that have their culmination in a particular life, a particular relationship, or a particular event.

What can we do but live in awe, in wonder, and in thanksgiving!

Remembering and reflecting... Rob; in Vancouver

"Our soul must perform two duties.
The one is that we must reverently wonder and be surprised.
The other is that we must gently let go and let be. 
Always taking pleasure in God."
Julian of Norwich