Once Upon A Time, Long, Long Ago
Once upon a time, in a land far away, a King awoke and surveyed his kingdom from the highest tower of his palace. He saw fields with green crops beginning to bear fruit. He saw a land of peace where neighbours cared for neighbours and disputes were settled with little struggle. He saw sheep and…
Continue readingForgiveness
At a time when racism, violence, and suffering seem to be greater than ever, these words of Fyodor Dostoyevsky are very appropriate. “I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication…
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Rest in the Grace of the World
I have been sensing a tendency toward fear and depression both in my own soul and in the words of those around me. I am considering these words by Wendell Berry and what they might mean to all of us at this point in history. “When despair for the world grows in me and I…
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The Road Goes Ever On and On
The Road goes ever on and onDown from the door where it began.Now far ahead the Road has gone,And I must follow, if I can,Pursuing it with eager feet,Until it joins some larger wayWhere many paths and errands meet.And whither then? I cannot say.– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring At 54 years of…
Continue readingI Can’t Help Myself
Words and Music by Sandra McCracken; from the album “In Feast or Fallow” (Listen while you read) I confess the things I am afraid of: thorns and danger just around the bend I pray for tongues of fire and bands of angels to come and circle ’round me like a fence I lift my eyes…
Continue readingTargum on Psalm 121:2
A targum (see the definition here) continued. Psalm 121:2. My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. The Lord, who has the resources The Lord, who is just The Lord, who has the power The Lord, who has the plan The Lord, who has shown His love The Lord, who knows me better…
Continue readingTargum on Psalm 121:1
In the first century AD Jewish Rabbis would give spoken explanations and expansions of the Jewish scriptures known as targumim (singular: “targum“).1 A targum was given in the common language of the day because the Hebrew language was in decline and the people needed an explanation of material that they could no longer understand. There…
Continue readingLeadership Prayer Breakfast
Today, Calgary Mayor, Naheed Nenshi, spoke briefly at the 45th Annual Calgary Leadership Prayer Breakfast. This breakfast started as an opportunity for Christian leaders to come together to pray for the city and our country. Since those early years, Calgary’s cultural and religious diversity has increased. Today there were references to Christians, Muslims, and Jews…
Continue readingLost Community
We have lost a good deal of our sense of community. If we think of changing the world at all, we think of doing it by ourselves and for ourselves. How much of our sense of “injustice in the world” is directly or indirectly related to the limitations this injustice places upon our own lives?…
Continue readingCold Capitalism
It has once again become fashionable to quote Ayn Rand.1 United States presidential candidate Mitt Romney recently announced his running mate to be Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan is the United States Representative for Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district who has his staff read this quote: “I swear—by my life and my love of it—that I will…
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