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...

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...

Why do I follow the Way of Jesus?  It is a question that each of us who embrace Christianity need to ask ourselves.  And then, for those of us raising children, why do we want to introduce our children to the Way of Jesus and raise them within this faith?   Up until a few decades ago, we weren’t faced with this question.  We lived in a society that was mostly Christian.  On a census form, people typically aligned themselves with one of the Christian denominations, even if they didn’t go to church very often.  Now people feel free to choose...

To Your Excellency, the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Please don’t make fun of my faith. I cheered you on the day you were installed as Governor General of Canada. I celebrated that you acknowledged the Indigenous Peoples and spoke in one of their languages. I agree with you that climate change is mostly human caused and that we must quickly become the solution. I also believe in God, a God who is the creator of the universe. To me, it takes just as much faith, maybe even more, to believe that the universe started with a random fluctuation. I believe in...

Playing with emotions! That’s what we’ve been doing the past few weeks.   I’ve been talking about playing with our emotions because we need them.  There are not good and bad emotions.  Throw out whatever you’ve been taught about green (go for it), yellow (caution), and red (don’t do it) for emotions.  Emotions must move!  That is why they are called e-motions.  They are about a movement that is happening within, in response to what we are experiencing around us.   Our senses take in information.  Our brain processes that information and sends signals to the body, to keep us safe...

Time to play with separation & fears!   The world is a scary place, whether you are two years old looking up and out at all these things that are bigger than you and out of your control….. or you are 52 or 72 or 92 listening to the news or facing challenges among friends and family.   It does not take much to stir up fear, alarm and anxiety in our lives.  We get a daily dose and somehow have to find our way through.  Having 24/7 news accessible online does nothing to help our alarm levels.  So what are we...