Through most of human history, a belief in God was assumed.  People could not imagine going through their days without God to guide them, reassure them, and comfort them.   Then, we began to see the world through the eyes of science.  We developed scientific explanations for so many of the things that were previously unknown and alarming.  We now know how a volcano works and why an earthquake happens.  We have the information to know that blizzards or hurricanes do not come as punishment from “the gods.”  We understand more and more of the intricacies of the body and illness,...

Will our kids have faith? It is a question that I have been asked by both elders and parents. Will our kids have faith?   My answer: They already do!  Kids are natural at faith.  They catch the wonder, the mystery, the possibility, and the presence of God. They have theological insights that are deeply profound and challenging. They notice God in the world around them. They watch for and learn from the faith they see in the adults with which they have contact.  Children vibrate with the delight and compassion and mystery of God, and easily welcome it in their...

As we come to the end of Advent, the time in which we prepare to welcome once again the birth of Jesus into our lives and into our world,   we ponder the word “love.”   I invite to pause for a few moments each day, and ask yourself, What is love? Where do you experience love in your life? How do you seek to share radical love in the world around you? Here are some of my thoughts.   Love is a word, that in English, can mean many things. We say, “I love this cookie.” Or “I would love...

As we near the end of Advent, the time in which we prepare to welcome once again the birth of Jesus into our lives and into our world, we ponder the word “peace.”   I invite to pause for a few moments each day, and ask yourself, What is joy? Where do you experience joy in your life? Where do you notice joy, true joy, in the world around you? Here are some of my thoughts.   Joy is not the same as happiness. Joy is something much deeper and much more important. Joy is a deep down feeling that comes...

In these middle days of Advent, the time in which we prepare to welcome once again the birth of Jesus into our lives and into our world, we ponder the word "peace." I invite to pause for a few moments each day, and ask yourself, What is peace? Where would you like peace in your life? Where is there a need for peace in our world? (That’s not a hard one to answer these days, though the achieving of peace may be quite difficult – but there is always hope in God.)   Here are some of my thoughts. Peace is...

In these first days of Advent, the time in which we prepare to welcome once again the birth of Jesus into our lives and into our world, we ponder the word hope.   I invite to pause for a few moments each day, and ask yourself, What is hope? Here are some of my thoughts.   Hope is wanting something to happen. It is a deep desire, something that you want so badly. But it is more than that. Hope is trust that somehow things will work out. It is believing that good things can & will come. It is knowing...

Every night when I leave our church building I fix my eyes upon the pendant light shining in our church's front entry way which we keep on 24 hrs as a beacon of hope in the downtown.  I often gaze at this light and pray for all those folks that I couldn’t get to that day, for all the folks that I was able to be with and, for all those who might cross my path tomorrow.  I imagine the light guiding those who need hope, peace, healing, and love in their lives to “safe harbour”—to safe respectful sanctuary—to the unconditional...

Would Jesus recognize Christianity in North America as his Way? I doubt it.  The more I study the gospels and read the letters of the New Testament, the more I believe that Jesus would be puzzled, if not actually dumbfounded, frustrated, and angered, by some (much) of the presentation of Christianity in North America, since settlers, explorers, and invading armies first arrived.    Jesus said, “Do not judge”  (Matthew 7:1) and yet I hear so much judgement in the voices of people who call themselves Christian.  I truly believe that Jesus would have sat at table with those of the LBGTQ...

November 11, 2017   Good morning everyone.  I invite you to hear these words from poet and writer, Susan Bentall Boersma:   There is a yearning  in hearts weighed down by ancient grief  and in centuries of sorrow.  There is a yearning  in hearts that in the darkness hide  and in the shades of death abide,  a yearning for tomorrow.   Captured in the ritual of today’s ceremony of remembering and silence, there is a yearning.  There is a yearning for an end to strife and violence and needless suffering.  There is a yearning for right relationships and justice amongst all...

I just made a coffee date with a friend.  We meet about once a month to check in about life, the universe and everything. The topics flow from what’s going on at home, to what we’re noticing around us, to recent discoveries in the world of science or how to best come alongside our adolescent sons.  It’s great.  I’m grateful.   I just wanted to share that.  Partly because I have the sense that this is becoming a rare practice (which is why I feel grateful).  Lately and for whatever reason, I am aware that in our North American context, there...