Nancy Wales

A Soul Map

I often find unexpected spiritual inspiration in the world around me, even in something as seemingly mundane as a commercial tagline. Recently, Mazda Motors’ simple phrase, “Move and be moved,” struck a chord with me.  Four simple words promoted a fresh reflection on our community’s current congregational direction statement: “Moving with Love.”

Let me offer its wording to you before I continue sharing my thoughts.

“Moving With Love”
Immersed in Life and Love
we embrace this moment of possibility
as a graced path to Transformation.
Listening to God, to the universe, to the world’s pulse,
we trust that healing and whole-making energies

are released in ourselves and the planet,

as we commit to valuing diversity
in our witnessing, listening and discerning,
everyday caring and conversing,
our partnering and advocating,
risk-taking and justice-making.

Direction Statement: Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, 2021-2025

It has been my experience that each of our congregational direction statements, like this one, always seem to carry a quality of the now and the not yet. “Moving With Love” is not only a declaration of our mission but beckons us forward on a communal and personal journey. Words committing us to embark on a sacred walk that is evolving, always in progress, and never quite complete.

Personally, the phrases of Moving with Love, have become more than just a directional guide for our community, they have become a soul map and a spiritual checklist for me. Moving With Love invites me to assess the manner in which I move through this world.

Am I tuned into the pulse of God?

 Am I listening to others deeply today?

Where have I witnessed the sacred in the ordinary?

  Am I risk-taking and justice-making?

Not rhetorical questions, but daily invitations to live more fully, more lovingly, and more intentionally.

Sure, Mazda likely meant something entirely different when it said, “Move and be moved,” but the Spirit finds ways to speak through all things.

May we continue to move and be moved with love as our map and transformation as our path.

-Sister Nancy Wales, csj

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’
”
— Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

Be Seen. Be Heard. Be part of the Change.

“The act of voting is the most important act a citizen can perform in a democracy.”
— Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer from 1990 to 2007

Many young Canadians, sadly, have not been exercising their right to vote. In the last three federal elections, 2015, 2019, and 2021, voter turnout among eligible voters, ages 18 to 24, has declined. In fact, this age group had the lowest turnout of all voter demographics in the 2021 federal election. These trends are concerning and do not bode well for the future of engaged citizenship.

According to Elections Canada’s 2015 National Youth Survey, many young people feel that their voting will not make a difference. They also believe that the government does not care about their views. On top of that, young voters are often less informed about how to register and vote, and many perceive the process as confusing, difficult or not pertinent to their lives.

Despite this, today’s youth, in this election, form the largest voting bloc in Canada. This gives them a powerful voice and one that politicians cannot afford to ignore. They have the decision-making power to play a decisive role in shaping the next federal government, but only if they show up and cast their ballots.

If you are part of the over-fifty crowd, like me, where more than two-thirds of us typically vote, we have a role to play too. We can encourage first-time and younger voters to make their voices heard by participating in the 2025 federal election.

Let us help our newest, younger voters understand how to register, where and when to vote, and why their participation matters. More than ever this time around the front burner issues, cost of living, housing affordability, and labour and employment concerns directly relate to their days ahead. Let us clearly, kindly message all eligible voters:

Do not sit this one out.
Be heard. Be seen. Be part of the change.

No matter which party you support or who ultimately wins, elections shape our future. Civic participation by voting is one of our most powerful ways to influence what comes next.

 -Sister Nancy Wales, csj

Sources: https://electionsanddemocracy.ca/elections-numbers-0/table-voter-turnout-age-group

https://www.ctvnews.ca/federal-election-2025/article/heres-why-young-voters-could-tip-the-federal-election/

 Images: Unsplash/Glen Carrie, Phil Scroggs

AWAITING: A Reflection on Holy Saturday

Today, across the world, we encounter a profound stillness. Symbolically, on Holy Saturday, churches, chapels, and tabernacles are empty - sanctuary lamps extinguished, and altars are stripped bare. This bareness mirrors the tomb itself and draws us into the mystery of Holy Saturday.

Holy Saturday, often overshadowed by the solemnity of Good Friday and the jubilance of Easter Sunday, calls us to pause, to wait, and to reflect. Today occupies a unique space between two defining moments of the Christian faith.

What insights does this day offer us? Might this day of invitational waiting speak to us of the quiet, hidden processes that precede transformation. Can we, like the disciples of old, sit with our doubts and hesitations, acknowledging that the path to new life is often paved with darkness, difficulty, and deferred answers? Holy Saturday beckons us to acknowledge that inner change often comes not with instant clarity, but in the spaces in between, where our belief is stretched and refined.

“Transformation is not a future event. It is a present activity.”
— Jillian Michaels

Holy Saturday’s spiritual richness lies in its invitation to trust even when we cannot see the way forward. Our hope has the capacity to sustain and reassure us that God’s love holds us through all the seasons of life.

Let us pause to embrace this sacred, solemn interlude, and allow its stillness to deepen our awareness of the God of Goodness, who is always birthing new life.

-Sister Nancy Wales, csj

“The slow work of God is so much greater than the instantaneous. We can’t rush things into existence.”

Image: Alicia Quan/Unsplash

Beyond the Pages

Children’s books have a unique way of embedding timeless wisdom within their pages. We often view these books as simple or purely entertaining, but they hold much more beneath the surface. Their stories impart life lessons that resonate long after we have closed the book or grown older. Whether we are learning about kindness from Winnie the Pooh, the unconditional love of being accepted as we are from Corduroy, courage from The Wizard of Oz, or the power of self-belief from The Velveteen Rabbit. These stories have the power to carry messages that transcend time.

““There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.” ”
— Mary Ellen Chase

Do you have a favourite storybook you reread? Roald Dahl captures this sentiment perfectly in Matilda, writing, “Some books are so good, you want to go on reading them for the rest of your life.” My awareness of the lasting impact of certain children’s books was brought home to me during a weekly reflection gathering on zoom.

““Children’s books are not just books. They are dreams, they are wishes, they are lives, they are belief , they are impossible things. And that is what makes them so powerful.” ”
— Kathi Appelt

These childhood tales teach us about empathy, resilience, friendship, and the core values that shape us into who we are as adults. Many of us can still recall the wisdom shared by the fox in The Little Prince: “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Have I sparked a memory of a children’s book or a shared memorable reading experience with someone from your childhood? Do you recall a book you enjoyed sharing with your child, a relative, or a student? What made the book or experience so memorable?

-Sister Nancy Wales, csj

Image: Robyn Budlender | Annie Spratt/Unsplash

Becoming a Topsy-Turvy Survivor

stock photo from Unsplash

Picture in your mind, the damaged Delta plane at the Toronto Pearson Airport, endlessly shown by news providers with its roof unnaturally resting on the tarmac. It offers a striking metaphor for our world today. Just like the plane in this unimaginable position, the global situation often feels unbalanced and unraveling.

Personally, I experience myself living in a time of profound disruption, where what I once perceived as quite familiar and secure seems to be shifting under me. Whether it be climate crisis, social upheaval, or geopolitical tensions, it is as if my world is being upturned. Too often I feel “groundless” and disorientated, forcing my inner self to constantly attempt to right itself amid uncertainty and chaos.

The inverted plane symbolizes for me my experience of a shift where everything I once held to be so, has been turned upside down. The certainty I once relied on now feels upended, leaving me in a world where old norms no longer seem to apply. Longtime friendships are threatened, lies are spoken as truth, and the unthinkable happens every day.

Through the prompt emergency responses and skillfully handled evacuation of the Delta Connection Flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air, all passengers and crew, survived.  

I found myself seeing moments of hope in witnessing these survivors and as I looked beyond the wreckage to the plane’s flight code. At its core, the word of endeavor connotes the pursuit of something meaningful or challenging. Is that in itself not emblematic of the human spirit needed by folks of goodwill at this moment in history when faced with the tensions of competing interests. Furthermore, the name connector, in the flight’s identifier, highlights for me the need to focus our individual and communal strivings on actions which facilitate connection rather than words and actions which serve to disconnect us.

The necessity and value of fostering connection with one another at the personal, local, national, and global levels is not to be underestimated. It is vital if we, as global wayfarers, hope to be survivors of our global upturning.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

Stock Images: Jack Millard / Kendrick Fernandez/Unsplash

““What we must do,
I suppose,
is to hope the world
keeps its balance;
what we are to do, however,
with our hearts
waiting and watching—truly
I do not know.”
”
— Mary Oliver