I have a December confession. At some point in the coming few weeks I will hit a panic moment: “How will I ever get everything done?” The degree of panic has diminished over the years, but there is still that recognition of the intensity of this month. There is a lot going on – on the calendar and in the mind and soul. On Nov
I was at a 67’s game the other night and one of the referees made a bad call which disallowed a goal. It was interesting to watch the crowd “turn” on that official so that he could do nothing right after that. It was a spiral downward in terms of response – boos when he returned to the ice, cheers when he fell down. While
As I reflect on the weekend of the tornadoes and widespread power outages there is much to ponder. The trees on our street in Greenboro are mostly all toppled by the tail end of one of the tornadoes. A few houses are damages and 5-6 vehicles crushed. We were not home at the time and our property was not affected – except for a buckled
Are we there yet? Such a question may evoke memories of a summer car trip. It is a question that assumes that the destination is what is important and the journey is secondary. I think the order is different in the faith story. Roads or desert pathways are a common place of holy encounter in scripture. As we begin the worship cycle in September, we
As I write this, I am getting ready to take a May trip to Nova Scotia to open the cottage in Pugwash. There are times when I think it is crazy to have a cottage 15 hours away. But, when I think of going there and being there, my heart and soul lift. There is a joy that emerges when I close my eyes and
As we have been working on developing vision and mission statements as part of the Mission Forward process, one of the richest conversations we have been having is what words to use and not use regarding Christian faith. Are the words Christian, Christ or Jesus descriptive or are they words that have negative connotations in our cultural context? This is an interesting time for the
The calendar marches on into April. I love the month of April. The earth awakes from winter. The days get longer and warmer. There will still be a snow storm or two, but April snow is so different from November snow. This year all of April is part of the Easter season as we celebrate the wonder and gift of new life at various levels.
As I write this pondering, I have just finished preparation for the 6th week of the course that I am co-leading – “Would you want Jesus as your Financial Advisor?” It is part of the wonderful work of the Ottawa School of Theology and Spirituality. It has been a great experience and it has been challenging to wrestle with the teachings of Jesus out of
I am in the midst of co-leading a course at the Ottawa School of Theology and Spirituality (www.osts.ca ) on how our faith affects our attitudes, values and choices regarding money. I am working with a financial advisor to lead the course. We are calling the course – “Would you want Jesus to be your Financial Advisor?” We are now three weeks into it and
I spent a couple of hours last week at a pretty important place for my soul. It was at my family cottage in Nova Scotia. The cottage has been part of my life for 47 years … so it is an old friend. I was sitting on the deck last week taking a moment to be still and to absorb the beauty, wonder and fullness
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Ottawa, ON K1V 8N8
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