What will my children’s future be like?  It is a question that we all ponder as parents, sometimes with hope, sometimes with fear.  Over the next few weeks, I’m going to explore some aspects of this topic such as “Will my child have a job?”  “How can I help them succeed?”  “What kind of world will they live in?” “How can I protect them?” “How can I help them be resilient?” and more.   What will my children’s future be like?  There is so much that feels out of our control as parents.  How often do we feel helpless? Rapid technological...

I woke up at 4:45 this morning.  I was gripped by some form of deep-seated fear—the kind of feeling that seems all pervasive, lacks logic and often occupies that precious place between sleep and awake.  For some reason, I started praying to the 5th century Irish Saint Brigid who is known for her gifts of protection and healing.  It was enough to get me through to 6:45 when the clock radio goes off.   Why the fear, I wondered?  I mentioned my pre-dawn fear to my partner Susan during breakfast.  Turns out, she was awake about the same time with the...

“Enemy Aliens” – that is how my Ukrainian ancestors were labelled by the Canadian government during the first World War, and how they labelled Japanese Canadians during the second World War, using the label to justify confiscation of property, savings and possessions, and confinement to internment camps.  “Enemy Aliens” – two words that demonized people, proclaiming loudly that, because of their ethnic group, they were one of the “others”, definitely not “us,” and definitely to be feared. There was no assessment of whether the person might have arrived as a refugee in Canada fleeing persecution and conscription (as did my Ukrainian...

People are choosing their own reality, says Matt Taibbi contributor for The Rolling Stone magazine.  In conversation with Trevor Noah on the Daily Show, Taibbi was referring to Kellyanne Conway’s comment on Trump’s version of the inauguration attendance numbers as alternative facts (contrary to what the press and real-time photos actually report).  Excuse me for a moment while I put my seat belt on so I don’t fly out of my chair.  As Barak Obama would say, “C’mon people.”   Interestingly, this whole transaction evokes a much older one.  During his interrogation of Jesus, Pilate is on record as asking, “What...

It was the morning for my son to write his Grade 12 diploma exam for Social Studies.  The day before the news had been filled with the presentation of “alternative facts” and “post facts.”  I looked at my son as I dropped off at school and said, “I think for your exam you might want to stick to the facts and not give “alternative fact” answers.”  He smiled, nodded, and said, “I probably will, Mom,” as he got out of the vehicle and headed into the school.   I can’t imagine any of us as parents telling our kids that it...

We live in a digital world. We parent and grandparent in a digitally driven world.  Remember the fear on New Year’s Eve, 1999, that the whole world might come crashing to a halt as computers failed to make the transfer to the year 2000.  Yet here we are seventeen years later, with more technology than ever driving our daily lives, and our children’s lives.    I was in EB games the other day to order the newest Nintendo gaming system, Nintendo Switch, for our oldest son.  Another family was there ordering one of these new systems for each member of the...

My grandfather and his brother, my great uncle, were born in the late 1800’s.  Both were farmers in Southern Ontario.  My grandfather voted Liberal. My great uncle voted Conservative.  As I paid attention to my extended family, I noticed that one’s identity was tied to a particular party and that’s how one voted—pretty much always for “the party”.  For my grandfather’s generation and their children, who we affectionately call the baby boomers, partisan politics is for the most part, a way of life.  For those who are Boomers and older, politics is often a “dyed-in-the-wool” expression of either/or—one political party or...

Are you getting enough sleep?  Maybe you’ve heard the numbers.  Adults need 7-8 hours to stay healthy, alert and emotionally well.  Children need 10-11 hours.  Teens probably need at least that if not more.   However, we live in a society that does not make room for sleep.  To many who are so-called successful in their work brag about how little sleep they can get by on.  Politicians are making major decisions that affect all of our lives and affect the world after long sessions into the wee hours of the morning or through the night (though that is more in the...

During this season when we are still waiting for more sunshine and less cold, warm your days with prayer.  You are invited to use these prayers for morning, noon and evening to stay rooted in the love of God.   Using the same prayers over and over again, day by day, is a way of deepening your connection with God and with your own faith.   A new set of prayers will be made available for the beginning of Lent.   Daily Prayers for Epiphany* (*Epiphany: from January 6 to February 28th - a season of the church year which celebrates Jesus as...

Welcome to the Minister’s Reflections—a place for noticing, for seeing, for gathering thoughts.  Here is the place for theology, for exploration and discovery, for wonder and rest.    If you are reading this, awesome!  Know that I was already thinking about you before you got here and, that I count you among those who form the wider and yes, even global community, that gives shape and identity to High River United Church.    Most of the time it will be me (David) writing here.  My partner and colleague Susan, writes Adventures in Faith and Family which also appears as a link...