Goodbye
I have been blessed to play with these kids in a really fun amusement park. I’m going to miss the daily engagement with them all. I’m going to miss having this bully pulpit. And I’m going to miss hanging with all of you.
I have been blessed to play with these kids in a really fun amusement park. I’m going to miss the daily engagement with them all. I’m going to miss having this bully pulpit. And I’m going to miss hanging with all of you.
I got a hug from a stranger in a church. It was great.
You all don’t always think of yourselves as unique and interesting enough to brag on yourself. But I humbly submit that you’re wrong.
When I asked a fellow tourist from Dublin what she thought of Hanoi, she exclaimed, “I crossed the street!” We laughed because it is an accomplishment.
Would Dad understand the Red Spot Project?
Early in ‘72 Dad had to go to Yemen where he had a job through the United Nations. The Sunday before he left, he made an announcement at the start of worship: “I have to go away for work and I’m leaving my family in your care.”
This is a snapshot of a typical Protestant congregation today, which is likely to have more people attending on a Sunday who have no strong denominational ties.
“This is about more than sex. This is about: What is God? What is God’s character? What is sin? It affects our doctrine of God. It affects our doctrine of sin. It affects our doctrine of scripture.”
Two stalwart members walked by and one said to the other, “I think I’ll sit beside you today, somebody’s sitting in my pew.” I could see the couples’ shoulders tense.
Letter One: “I did not know that the Presbyterian Record and staff are supporters of the Liberal Party of Canada by having political articles in there [sic] magazine.”
The Canadian Forces flight 3129 landed around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 10th last year.
Some quote Matthew 25:35-40 to prove we have a biblical responsibility to care for and shelter the “other,” the “stranger.”
Two flash portraits of two of the most interesting people I met in Hungary—and a really quick note:
Chasing public opinion leads to the bottom. A politician can always find broad public favour in the lowest common denominator.
July I went to a Dionysian wedding. Dionysian?, you ask. Sure; that’s what they said. It was an attempt to create a new ritual where confidence and faith in old rituals had disappeared.
It started, as these things often do, from the unlikeliest source: The Committee to Nominate Standing Committees.
As a liberal I’m very critical of the smugness of liberals. As a liberal I’m also critical of the holier-than-thouness of evangelicals. Both these poses drive me absolutely batty.
Trees grow old. A maple can live to four centuries, but not in the city. They can’t shed and regenerate where we live.
Addictions. So many addictions. The greatest of which is social norm: To be accepted.
I spent some time in January reading the11 issues of last year’s Record. Perhaps it was the frame of mind I was in but I noted a narrative that echoed from issue to issue.