Easter was different for me this year. Other years it has been an affirmation of being Christian; of being a member of the Christian family, but this year there was something beyond that. I felt I was being called on to something more.

This Easter season has been interesting. There have been lots of television shows with a religious theme to choose from. Some years in the past there wasn’t too much choice and when there was it was all pretty much ‘that good ‘ol time religion’ stuff.

“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.” - Voltaire

Everyone is standing on the pathway of a spiritual journey. It is exciting for me when someone on this pathway opens their eyes and begins a journey along it. I know they are in for an exhilarating and fulfilling experience. On my passage I have learned and lost; felt exalted and humbled and have found great peace. There is an interesting thing I’ve noticed and want to pass along. That is the nature of the pathway; it is circular.

I’ve been out of sorts for weeks and I’m just coming to terms with it. I’ve been missing the strong connection I had with “God” that enveloped me in Florida. That feeling diminished steadily as I drove north and has subsided to a whimper since arriving back in frozen suburban Ontario. I started to think that “God” lived in Florida, or surely somewhere below a certain line of latitude and I wanted to move there.

Last Tuesday I was wrestling with my computer, not God. I was sitting outside of the library in the ritzy clubhouse of the Glen Lakes community where we are staying for January; there to take advantage of the good Wi-Fi signal in an attempt to make a call or two with a new Internet telephone gadget I bought. The battle was long and I eventually lost. The device seems to have developed Alzheimer’s and my trusty computer seems to have come down with debilitating arthritis.

If I asked you what time it is, you could give me an answer. Years ago I decided the world was full of clocks and I stopped wearing a watch. I can think of only a very few times that I really needed to know what time it was and there was no clock around. In those circumstances I went to my back up plan and asked anyone near me and I’ve always got a reply.

A faith journey is a strange thing; at least mine is. I muddle along a dark forest path experiencing another ‘dark night of the soul’ and finally, breaking out into a sun filled clearing, I find other folks who’ve been there a long time. What took me so long? How depressing. Still, it’s a little invigorating to know I’m one of relatively few.

I get emails from my friend Robbie all the time. Many of them are about friendship and wishing folks the best in all things. The one I received today struck me as strange. It ended with the wish/prayer, “May 2009 be the best year of your life.” I read this first thing in the morning and was just taking my first sip of coffee so I may have been crabby. I didn’t object to 2009 being a good year, even better than any other year but for 2009 to be the best year of my life!?

A friend of mine in the blogosphere is appearing in a production of Hair that will be performed in February. I would love to be able to see it. Ever since I heard about it, I have been fascinated about this being performed in a church, mainly because of the group nude scene. I understand this will be handled in a very appropriate way though.