Together on the Journey:
A Weekly Blog 

This past Sunday, I led a group from St. George’s through a service in High Park. It was a beautiful Sunday morning for this time of year – cool, crisp, but not raining. I walked everyone into the very middle of the park, just north of the restaurant, through the woods, to a place called Hawk Hill. Our destination was the labyrinth, and we would celebrate the Eucharist together in the clearing next to it.

As our group approached the labyrinth, the first thing that came to my mind was that there were more people here than I have ever encountered in this spot before. Usually, when I come to the labyrinth by myself, I spend about 45 minutes walking around it, and may only see a handful of people walking by during this time. But today, this small clearing in the woods was full of people.

And these people were mostly there for one purpose, to take professional photographs. There were a handful of photographers taking pictures of families, babies, and engaged couples. Everyone, it seems, was eager to capture photos with the beautiful coloured leaves in the background.

We gathered together and continued with our service, and then I sent people out for a time of wandering, to really lean into their senses, and experience the presence of God in the beauty of God’s creation. Some stayed to walk the labyrinth, and some walked around the park, and many described the beauty they encountered, loving the experience of having church outside.

And as we walked back, I wondered if those taking pictures would capture beautiful photos but actually miss out on really seeing the beauty around them. When you’re so focused on capturing the right moment, sometimes you can miss the moment entirely.

In our gospel reading from our Church by Candlelight service this week, Jesus was talking about people having eyes but not seeing. There is nothing wrong with taking beautiful pictures, but we also need to remember to look around and breathe in fall as well.

I was once riding my bike down by Lake Ontario this time of year, and I was biking by the bottom of High Park. I looked up over the small lake there to the blanket of trees boasting every colour of red and orange and yellow imaginable, and the sight literally took my breath away. I was reminded that Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables says, ‘my favourite colour is October’, and I could not agree more. And so, before the leaves are just a memory, go about and immerse your own senses. And maybe you will really see and experience God in the beauty of creation. Amen.

-Jess