Hello, My Beautiful Lovelies!

While I don't watch TV (aside from streamed Hockey games when my Winnipeg Jets are playing!), I have found myself lately watching short videos on the computer... usually, believe it or not, cooking shows. One of them is a woman who starts every segment with "Hello, my beautiful lovelies!" before she dives into a new recipe. 

There's some comfort in it, in that there's a distinct LACK of drama (life has enough of that these days!). 

The way she starts, however, is with a positivity that is genuine and inviting. The videos do not edit out when an egg shell falls in a bowl, or a cake fails to rise. She presents an authenticity as though the viewer were sitting in the same kitchen, chatting casually as friends, not worrying about the imperfections in cooking (or life!)

It's a bit of a break from the reality of masks and protocols, of Advent planning and press-conference-scanning. 

It's an invitation to be imperfect, to be okay with not always being okay, and to be embracing the beauty in others. 

For in a time of fear and stress, who wouldn't benefit from a kind greeting and genuine compliment? Who wouldn't enjoy a friends' relaxed laughter, and a fun try-something-new adventure?

I think the point of this is: we can make that happen. We can choose how to be present to each other. (I'm not suggesting that we go for an artificially happy-happy space; rather to be open to the movement of the Spirit as God puts the right people in our paths. 

We have the ability to interact with one another as we are: beloved of Christ, siblings in the Lord. Beautiful, lovely, chosen. 

Imagine how our days will be if we start out that way.

Hello, my beautiful lovelies!!