Former Crossroads walker shares personal reflection
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Becky Jensen poses near the Maine coast in the calm before the storm, Hurricane Sandy. (Special to The B.C. Catholic) |
Becky Jensen wrote for
The B.C. Catholic in the summer of 2012 during her time as a Crossroads walker to bring attention to the sanctity of life.
Now she relates how Hurricane Sandy and a recent earthquake near her home has made her realize that life is an adventure, and only God knows what comes next.
It has been said that life is
different after Crossroads, the pro-life walk across Canada. Life is seen as
having a distinct beginning and a distinct end, with the present available for
us to accomplish the work assigned to us by God. (For) Hurricane Sandy, we had plenty
of warning. At one point, the storm was forecast to make landfall over my house. Fortunately, this did not happen, as the communities
much further south bore the brunt of the storm. Many affected individuals and
families still need to sort through their own private sections of the
destruction.
My city received only strong winds,
high waves, and power outages. The local airport cancelled flights. Still, one co-worker shared with me
that her grandmother, who lives in retirement housing in New Jersey, had been
evacuated and displaced.
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A statue of Christ stands in front of destroyed homes in Union Beach, N.J., Nov. 12. More than 100 people were killed as the storm caused a widespread swath of carnage Oct. 29. (CNS / Eric Thayer) |
Jensen's experience continues:
I was surprised when Maine recently experienced an earthquake, a rare phenomenon here. It registered 4.0 and was centred in rural West Hollis, a mere
30 minutes away. The quake would have fallen short by B.C.
standards. Oddly, I was one of the few who
did not feel it, because I was on the road, driving my car from my home to church for a Eucharistic holy hour. As soon as I
stepped out of my car, an alarmed man wanted to know if I had
heard the "big boom, like a plane crash.” I had not, as I guess God knew I would rather hear Catholic radio to an earthquake. With the recent (American) elections, the citizens of Maine voted in favour of legalizing "same-sex marriage."
Life is an adventure! What comes next? Only God knows, but we know we were created precisely for these times. Happy Year of Faith! Embrace
the unique situation before you as a gift from God.