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...

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...