What will my children’s future be like?  It is a question that we all ponder as parents, sometimes with hope, sometimes with fear.  Yet, I believe that we have much more to do with shaping that future than we might sometimes feel we have.  This week, I want to talk about the multi-cultural, multi-faith world in which our children are growing up, and what a gift that is for them.   I can only breathe a sigh of relief that yesterday the Dutch election went the way it did, with the far-right anti-Muslim candidate, who was going to get rid of...

What will my children’s future be like?  It is a question that we all ponder as parents, sometimes with hope, sometimes with fear.  Last week, I asked the question: Will my children have meaningful employment in the future?  I explored the rapid technological changes and pondered the choices we have to shape our society and communities into the kind of places we want for our children.  We are not helplessly along for the ride on the societal, technological train.  We can choose to live in a way that creates sustainable and meaningful work for everyone.  My motto is “Live simply so...

What will my children’s future be like?  It is a question that we all ponder as parents, sometimes with hope, sometimes with fear. Today I want to explore what it means for my child to have meaningful employment in the future.  We are in a time of such continuing rapid technological change that we may start to wonder if humans will be needed for work at all.  Just this week there have been reports about increasing automation or increasing use of computers in jobs that we once thought would never be touched, that could only ever be done by humans.  We’ve...

There are many words we use in the church which aren't used in daily culture or which mean something a bit different in church than they do outside of the church.  Here is a list, with definitions of some of the Vocabulary of Faith, defined from a United Church perspective: PDF to print Vocabulary_of_Faith.pdf           The Vocabulary of Faith                                   You are invited to ponder these words and to pray them.   Amen – so be it, let it be, Yes!!!   Belief -something or someone...

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...

“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...

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...

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...