I don’t take the Bible literally. I take it seriously. No Christian really takes the Bible literally, if they are honest. If they did, books such as “A Year of Living Biblically” (A.J. Jacobs) wouldn’t become bestsellers, because all Christians would be living that way.   Every Christian interprets scripture. John Wesley of Methodism said that we bring the faith tradition, our God-given reasoning ability and our personal experience to the reading of scripture, then we consider it humbly in community so that we have checks and balances on our personal interpretations.   If we are honest with ourselves, that is...

As a Christian, I am happy to pay the carbon tax. As a woman of faith, I know that it is a responsibility given to us by God, a responsibility of which Jesus reminded us, to care for our earth. And our earth is in trouble right now. Forget the debates about whether this is fully human-caused or a natural environmental cycle, humans have had a part in making climate change worse, and we can have a part in lessening the effects.   I was driving to work this morning and watching the children bicycling and walking to school. I thought...

What is the point of prayer?  Why spend time in prayer? Why teach my children to pray?  Those are key questions that I am pondering these days.   I believe in prayer.  I believe that prayer is essential to my living.  But I think that there are many false assumptions made about prayer.  First of all, I don’t believe that just because I pray for something, as good and wonderful as that thing might be (like the healing of a loved one), that I am going to get what I pray for.  God is not my servant.  I don’t present God...

Enough is enough!  As Christians, we must start speaking clearly and loudly against hate speech of any kind, whether it is directed at our Muslim or Jewish neighbours, at LGBTQ2 or neighbors of any particular cultural background, or immigrants, refugees, women or any other group that is targeted because they are deemed to be in some way different.  Hate speech gives permission, for those who will take it, to carry out violent actions against those groups – such as the shootings at the mosques in New Zealand this past week.   It is time to say, Enough is enough!  We as...

So often lately I’ve found myself shouting at the radio, “Why don’t you come to church?”  No, it is not the radio that I want to come to church.  It is the people behind a certain news item I’ve heard.   A recent study showed that loneliness is as detrimental to the health as smoking.  It also showed that loneliness was of epidemic proportions, especially among those in their late 20s, mid 50s, and late 80s.  It was as I listened to the report of this study that I started shouting, “Come to church!”   Another report talked about the benefits...

I have decided that I will NOT use the ME Rewards sent to me weekly by the Co-op Stores. ME Rewards is their new promotion, standing for Member Experience.  But when I opened up the first ME Rewards e-mail and scrolled down, what jumped off the page for me was ME, ME, ME, ME!    And what I thought was – we teach our pre-schoolers not to say, ME, ME, ME, ME!  But here are these awards that are saying, ME, ME, ME, ME!  And this from a cooperative store that was founded on the principle that everyone benefits when we...

I am not so happy today – and that’s okay. We all have our days – frustrated days, sad days, dull days, lonely days, and happy days. But they are not all happy days. Yet, that is the message we get in advertising and over social media. It can appear that everyone is having HAPPY days – great parties, wonderful dinners, fabulous vacations, exiting adventures – everyone except us!   The truth, however, is a very different story. Loneliness, anxiety, and depression are on the rise in our society. Behind the masks and smiles and fancy parties lies the reality that...

How many pairs of socks do I or my children really need? That question confronted me as I read an article in an archaeology magazine that told the story of a young upper-class boy, attending a boarding school in the 1500s, who had only two pairs of socks. His personal tutor at the school had written to his parents asking that they provide a third pair of socks for this lad, since the two pair he had with him had been mended many times and were almost beyond repair. The article went on to describe that socks at the time were...

“I love the Christmas season; it’s Christmas Day I hate.” So said one of the youth in our congregation. An interesting statement, and one that perhaps others of us might echo.   There is something amazing about this season, when we focus on and celebrate love and generousity and joy. Not knowing the actual date of Jesus’ birth, the early Christians chose the time of the Winter Solstice, the season with the longest nights and shortest amount of daylight, to celebrate the coming of Jesus, the Light of the World.   One can easily imagine how profound the celebration of Christ’s...

What is hope? And how do we teach hope to our children? Both of these are challenging questions. Let’s start with defining hope!   The dictionary definition of ‘hope’ speaks of anticipation and desire, and wanting something to happen. However, if we speak of ‘hope’ from a faith perspective, it is something more. The hope of which we speak is not like writing a wish list for our birthdays or a letter to Santa and then desiring or expecting to receive at least some of what was on the list.   Hope, within the Christian faith, goes much deeper. It is...