The Sound of Humming

The hum of the washer, in tune with the hum of the dryer have been harmonizing all day Monday and Tuesday. Add to that the notes of steam as the sheets are ironed and you have the melody on Monday. Tuesday started with the discordant screech of the vacuum, the mix master where Grandma is making more cookies and cakes, along with the intermittent beeping of the oven timer. Add to this the smell of yet another batch of granola and you have the aroma of Linwood House in preparation for the next set of guests/friends.

Right on time our friends from the Downtown Eastside arrived and filled the house with laughter, chatter, scuffing slippers on hardwood floors and the hissing of the latte machine. This is the hum of those arriving in the front door of Linwood.

Sue and Jen began the first session of The Journey with worship, journaling, thinking about labels, and rewriting that label. Each woman picked a smooth stone and in white chalk wrote those negative labels. You could see the agitation in many of them as they sat with those labels, wrestled with them, some shutting the door to addressing the subject. Sue and Jen then had each woman come and wash those labels off, take a permanent marker and write their name on the rock and beside it “Child of God”. Tears were flowing and the wind of the Spirit was gently touching them.

It was great to embrace those who had been before and see them enter with the inner walls down a little more than last time. Hearing their laughter at dinner was a beautiful humming sound. E who is very nervous came to help wash the dishes, T is very shy and I enjoyed sitting quietly with her after the tables were cleared. Every one of them loves to come and see Grandma and be engulfed in her bright gaze and infectious laughter.

All of this combines into the sounds of humming that belong to the heart when it experiences, whether momentarily or longer, a safe place for the heart. I believe these sounds of humming are also heard beyond Linwood House.