This is a prayer for those who are in mourning, who grieve during this Advent and Christmas season. Creating space to feel and name pain is a God-given practice that we need. The grief you have might come and go. It might be an old pain that you are used to carrying or it might be a new... Continue Reading →
Handling the Holy
For Wendy on the occasion of her 70th birthday. Blessed are those whose touch leaves more life than it takes. Wendy is one of the people in our church who takes care of the details. She is the one who sorts through the candles before the Christmas Eve service, taking out the ones that burned... Continue Reading →
Low and Slow
Have you ever noticed how toddlers, when they are navigating tricky terrain get really low? They bend their knees, get their centre of gravity closer to the ground. If you have littles in your life, take a look at how they learn to walk on new ground. When our kids were little, they insisted... Continue Reading →
Conversations on Beauty
Kristy-Anne Swart is a Calgary based photographer and friend. You can find her work at http://www.upandawaystudios.com or on instagram @kristyanneswart . Throughout our friendship, we've had amazing conversations about art, faith, motherhood, beauty and so one day we just decided to record our conversation. Here is a "slightly" polished version of that conversation. I took... Continue Reading →
The Days After
- JEH MacDonald, Morning After Snow, High Park 1912 --This reflection was originally published at http://www.christiancourier.ca Advent led us to it. Christmas opened a door. And now we are here, sliding into a New Year. Again. The bustle of finishing 2019 is over. The buzz of buying, gifting, making, cooking, gathering and celebrating is... Continue Reading →
Creating and Undoing: Of Good Books and the Moving Spirit
Once, when I was a grad student, living in Vancouver off of a part-time starbucks barista wage, I did not have money for christmas presents. So I decided to do what I love to do, have always loved to do, and do almost every day to this day which is, to tell people about books... Continue Reading →
Good Father
-a good dad, ca. 1983 There are so many ways the men in my life embody the fatherhood of God. I have friends who are dads to teenagers and young adults and they are incredible at taking each of their kids seriously, seeing them for them. Not what they should be, could be, but just... Continue Reading →
They Keep Coming
The Mothers by Kathe Kollwitz, 1919 Another shooting. At this point which one am I even talking about - all of them. Of people in their places of worship. They keep coming, these incidents. And every life taken is an entire world. There was a shooting at a synagogue in California, and here... Continue Reading →
Jesus of the Descending Theology
Here is my last prayer/poem for the season. It was a full few days of EASTER RESURRECTION PREACHING and then right off to Toronto for discussions on justice and the church which were full of lament and honesty and Jesus. And the exact right thing to be doing in Resurrection Time. Here is my Easter... Continue Reading →
Jesus of the Tables
Jesus of the tables You threw them up and over and in doing so you threw up and over all our ways of common sense And business as usual And status quo And “we thought we had to do it this way.” Jesus of the tables, You opened them ensuring there was a space... Continue Reading →
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