My Life As A Movie
Today, I had the opportunity to speak to a group of students at Alberta Bible College about making choices in life. Prior to my presentation we had all seen a video of Donald Miller speaking on the theme of “my life as a movie;” so we all had certain concepts in our head. If your life…
Continue readingDaring Greatly
I do not know much about Theodore Roosevelt but these words of his resonate with me. It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in…
Continue readingSolitude
I went away for a few days to be alone with God. I had some decisions to make about the future and I wanted to hear from God. I believe that he can and will guide me. I believe that I am to be open to his guidance in my life; but, it is hard…
Continue readingGEMS
My maternal grandfather went by the name, George Edward Maclaren Smith. “Maclaren” was his own invention. He liked the sound of it; it served him well when he wished to emphasise his Scottish heritage to seek employment; and he liked the initials G. E. M. S. on the steamer trunk that carried his belongings from…
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Ernest Shackleton
It is often recounted that Ernest Shackleton ran an ad in the paper seeking men who would join him on a Trans-Antartic expedition. The ad is thought to have said, “Men Wanted: for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honour and recognition in case of…
Continue readingRecent Reading
I like it when I discover what other people have read. It gives me ideas about books I would like to read, authors to investigate, or even genres to consider. Here is a list of some of my recent reading with some brief notations. Novels: The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood – Atwood is one of…
Continue readingTo Writers and Bloggers of This World
Writers and bloggers of this world, will you hear the words of Annie Dillard? For those who have ears to hear, this is the life. I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as with a dying friend. During visiting hours, I enter its room with dread and sympathy for…
Continue readingThe Risk of Prayer
I read an interesting paragraph in an Annie Dillard book. I admire those eighteenth century Hasids who understood the risk of prayer. Rabbi Uri of Strelisk took sorrowful leave of his household every morning because he was setting off to his prayers. He told his family how to dispose of his manuscripts if praying should…
Continue readingPerspective
As I was heading out to catch the train at 8:00 am on Friday morning I saw the grey skies and knew that many people would be down. We Vancouverites love to complain about the weather. But then God hit me with the sense of how I first saw Vancouver when we used to visit…
Continue readingOn Earth as it is in Heaven
Matthew 6:9-13 (King James Version) Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us…
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