I don't know about you but I squirmed when I first saw images of Americans celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden. Something about it was too eerily reminiscent of the Gaza strip Palestinian women dancing and celebrating after the attacks on 9/11. I thought of writing my reactions but didn't want to add to… Continue reading On the death of bin Laden
Category: Uncategorized
Practice Resurrection
We're in the season of Easter, a 50 day season to let the implications of the resurrection sink deep into our living, a time to "practice resurrection." That lovely phrase was coined by Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer, brilliant essayist and poet. It comes from his poem Manifesto: the Mad Farmer Liberation Front and you… Continue reading Practice Resurrection
Friday photos
California, how I miss you (it's been snowing yesterday and today in Calgary - as Lily likes to chide Mother Nature, "boo snow!" So trying to savour a few lingering memories with a little California dreaming through photos. Here's a few to check out.
Back on Squinch
I'm back from my eight week Lenten social media fast ... and from a four-week family road trip south to California. The Lent social media fast was needed and helpful. I had been finding myself not very present to life and those around me because I was checking in on Facebook or checking out who… Continue reading Back on Squinch
A World AIDS Day prayer
There's something prophetically right that World AIDS Day (yup, that would be today) falls during Advent. The AIDS pandemic is emblematic of how resistant the wrongs of the human predicament are to our best remedies. So much of what is wrong with human life is unfixable, the lack of a solution mostly rooted in human… Continue reading A World AIDS Day prayer
Are you ready?
Tomorrow starts the Christian season of Advent (from the Latin adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival”). I love Advent for being an invitation into a parallel but alternate reality to the usual December experience, which has morphed Christmas into something almost unrecognizable. Advent is the four-week season of preparation for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. … Continue reading Are you ready?
Welcome to Squinch
Hello and welcome to my blog, Squinch. So first thing off, why the name? It is actually a word in the English language (more on that later), but I've named it squinch as a made-up, mashing together of "square" and "inch." One of my spiritual forefathers, Abraham Kuyper, once famously said, "There is not a square… Continue reading Welcome to Squinch
I'm back
I'm very sorry for being a blog-slacker since mid- August. There has been a lot going on here - start of a new season at church, and also the big decision for me to be stepping down as Sr. Pastor and taking my leave from River Park Church. Betty and I have discerned the need to step away… Continue reading I'm back
Dissecting joy
Author E.B. White once wrote: "Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it." At the risk of killing off joy, I'd like to do a little dissecting. I've been thinking about the experience of joy, but what exactly is it? Is it similar to happiness or… Continue reading Dissecting joy
One happy Canadian
It's Canada Day here in the Great White North, and thought I'd pass along the "I am Canadian" rant that always brings a smile to my face. I'm not a lumberjack, or a furtrader, and I don't live in an igloo, or eat blubber or own a dogsled. And I don't know Jimmy, Sally or… Continue reading One happy Canadian
Squinch 