A Man’s View of A Mother
I live with an eternal effect of the impact and legacy that my mother lived and breathed and taught without fail. I celebrate that today.
Embracing “Tidings of Comfort and Joy”
Some Christmas song lyrics are cycling in my head almost every day: “God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay…” and “O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy…” This December has brought into sharp focus the reality of death and the uncertainties about the plans we make for ourselves and for our families. Within a week, two elders who were dear friends of mine left their spouses, families, and communities grieving their sudden passing. It makes me wonder if my plans for Christmas and for my family will be altered just as suddenly. Would I embrace the Read More
Good Years and Solid Grace
Yesterday I worked quite energetically at putting water on dry ground, making sure my tomato plants don’t wither. I spent long minutes at each of the flower beds for which Rita cared. I was trying to imagine how deeply the moisture was penetrating the ground as I sprayed expensive water from the garden hose. In the back of my mind, I could picture the water meter in our basement spinning furiously. Just a few hours later, we were celebrating a short downpour of rain. This rain wasn’t carefully aimed at a few tomato root systems. This rain wasn’t strategically planned Read More
The Impact of 215
Sadness, anger, horror, incredulity, shame, regret, and repentance are just a few of the emotions and responses that cycle through my soul since hearing of the discovery of 215 children’s bodies buried at an Indian Residential School in British Columbia. Read it here. These are people that died away from their homes and communities; people that disappeared without explanation and without record. It is the ultimate evidence of an arrogant, racist, and elitist system that married governments and churches into one deliberate machine intended to erase a people and to eliminate identity and to destroy any residue of ethnic sovereignty. Read More
The Ditch Is Not the Road To Anywhere
I was four years old when I first became aware of the ditches on either side of our country road. I’ve never forgotten my childhood version of ditch trauma. I was hanging out with an older brother to whom had been given the job of herding a group of cattle in the ditch on the side of the road in front of our farmyard. The cattle were able to find edible grass there where the last bits of moisture in the arid Kansas summer provided some green feed. I was playing along the edge of the road when a county Read More
Who Wants To Be A (Meek) Millionaire?
Why do we value shortcuts to power, to wealth, to knowledge, and to socio-political outcomes? Why do Jesus and the apostles frame the journey to both power and wisdom in terms of meekness? (Matthew 5:5; James 3:13) My dad and mom were both rather quiet when it came to expressing opinions and judgments to others. My dad liked to think about things, and take some time with a topic before delivering a rant or strong opinion. Not always, but usually. I watched the same traits in my numerous, older siblings. I learned something I didn’t realize until later: that our Read More
Receive Love; Replace Despair
“For God so loved the world…” These are the opening words of what we call the Gospel, the Good News. Among Biblical quotations, those words are probably most often quoted and most easily recognized. But sometimes it doesn’t seem as if God actually loves the world. I could show you images and clips of news that paint this world in the darkest terms, with not a lot of hope. Even with some bright spots in the story, it seems we often desperately wish that there were an escape tunnel where we could just run and get away from the terrible, Read More
Peace On Earth? Or a Piece of the Earth?
A Parable A long time ago an uncle, a successful lawyer, looked with pity on his brother living on the family farm. The farmer brother had dropped out of school, and was satisfied to eke out a comfortable living on this very valuable, large piece of property that had huge potential. Pity turned into desire. Desire became a dream. The lawyer began to understand that unless he took over the farm no one would ever appreciate the wealth the farm was capable of producing. Negotiations didn’t convince the farmer. So the lawyer found a way to legally take control of Read More
The Harshest Words of Jesus May Not Be What You Think
As a young boy, it made a lasting impression on me when our local church ousted a young man who happened to be the pastor’s son. This son had apparently reached the limits of the church’s tolerance for resistance to the system and for pushing the boundaries of personal behaviours. So, he was removed in a public ceremony at which he was not present, and was considered from that point on to be an outsider of the church community. The tears, the explanations, the sense of loss to the community had a huge impact on what I considered for my Read More
The Broccoli Conspiracy
Maybe my doubts are not as logical as I think. Maybe my conclusions aren’t as trustworthy as I hoped. What if God isn’t shaped by my doubts or my conclusions?