It’s fitting then that while you read this, I’ll be at a conference in New Orleans, listening to Shane Claiborne talk about wealth and stewardship. A perfect end to a year that focused on Claiborne’s teachings and his call to be a better Christian.
The first candle has been lit and Advent begins. On Sunday night, we set our own advent ring on the table at home and […]
My friend Paula is an expert on “end times” information. I am not an “end times” expert…and have not delved deeply into all the scriptural information on the subject as she has, so I listen but don’t let it worry me too much.
Do we gain anything by waiting for Advent?
We are only marking the beginning of the season of Advent this weekend, but the commercials advertising everything we should want for Christmas have been […]
I heard an expression that “There are no atheists in foxholes”—meaning that when people are in trouble they call out to God… no matter who they are.
I don’t know if that’s true. But I’d guess that “Dear God, please help” is most uttered phrase around the globe.
I propose a simple advent. For each week, I will offer one song and one image here on the Messy Table. May these be useful […]
I have lost a good friend. Actually I have been losing her for years. When I finally questioned her she admitted I had said something many years ago that had upset her. Somehow, like yeast in dough, it had grown larger until it consumed what we had once had…a deep caring for each other. Then finally she said to me, “you’ve changed.”
Beangirl came home from school today, talking about the moment of silence they held for the people of Paris. Blue said he knew something […]
We lived in Germany from 1955 to 1958. Those were years I will never forget. It was a horrendous trip over with me constantly throwing up and the fog horn blowing continuously. Worse was the fact that I knew the trip was going to have to be repeated three years later on our return to Canada.
I have a calendar in my home study that has a strange trait: it has two November Fourteenths instead of one November 13th and one […]
She held the coins in her hand all the way from home. Small coins in a closed hand. The day was warm and dry, […]
Recently, I ran across the above statement made by war correspondent Matthew Halton in 1945, regarding the Second World War. It somehow spoke to me about how we look at life and death now-a-days.
Next week, Canadians will pause for a few moments to remember the sacrifices made in the wars in which our nation has fought for the […]
By the time a child is six they are a living, walking blueprint of who they will be for the rest of their lives. Will […]
October is over and, with it, the tenth anniversary of our Spanish pilgrimage. Over the past month, The Spouse and I have told stories, […]
My friend Paula and I have been discussing prayer. She is a great believer in prayer and prays often.
Some time ago, my minister preached a sermon during which he said something that stuck with me. “What if the Bible isn’t a book of certainties,” he said, “but a book of encounters?”
October 31 is an important day, but maybe not for the reason you think. Yes, October 31 is also the day candy sellers and dentists […]
There’s been a little change around here this week. Nothing earth-shattering. Just a trip to the hairdresser for me. I hadn’t been in months […]