Fragments

As I reflect upon what has shaped my practice of ministry for a subject this semester, I am struck again by how we are influenced by others. My grandfather for example. Not simply in the sense of how important and loved he was - but rather, as I take in his experiences of WWI and his fathers post-trauma, his own forming during the Depression and the style of man and father he chose to be during WWII and beyond. His choices, his experiences have shaped my families emotional responses.

No blame attached - we all shape our families and communities. We each take responsibility for our own choices - but the canvas we begin to write upon is never blank.

Fragments of his choices and experiences have filtered through and moulded some of me.