The Bible begins with the earth in total darkness and covered with water and ends with a new earth which has no sea and no night. (Genesis 1:2; Revelation 21:1 and 22:5) Everything that comes between is there to tell us how to get from the first place to the last. Darkness is where the … Continue reading In the Beginning
Things I know about mental illness
1. I know that mental illness sometimes has external causes. One common example would be SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) a usually mild form of seasonal depression caused by reduced hours of sunshine in winter. In the area where I live there are 17 hours between sunrise and sunset at the summer solstice and only 7 … Continue reading Things I know about mental illness
Seek the peace of the city
When God’s people were led into captivity in Babylon, He instructed them, by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah: “Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace” (Jeremiah 29:7). Do we … Continue reading Seek the peace of the city
Danger in the Shallows
I have often heard preachers take Ezekiel 47:1-12 as their text and deliver stirring messages about the need to plunge into the River of Life. Here is the living water, flowing from the temple of God, turning the desert into a paradise, giving life to everything it touches. This is an allegory for the grace … Continue reading Danger in the Shallows
Loving God
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) This short passage is considered the central and most important statement of the Jewish faith and is commonly referred to as … Continue reading Loving God
Surviving the weather apocalypse
I was almost five years old when the great blizzard of 1947 hit southern Saskatchewan. After it was over my mother took a photo of me standing on top of what must have been an almost 10 metre snowdrift. Our driveway passed through multiple rows of trees and that snowdrift fully blocked it. A passenger … Continue reading Surviving the weather apocalypse
Questions
Questions If I outsource my thinking to an algorithm - a robot - does my ability to think begin to atrophy? What about my conscience? If I let the algorithm decide right and wrong for me, does my conscience atrophy? Maybe even my humanity? What does it mean to be human? Why do I have … Continue reading Questions
To every thing there is a season
And this has not been my season for writing. It has been a season for trying to keep up with my bookkeeping work, a season for medical appointments (for both of us), a season for packing and downsizing, with no time left for writing. Most of this other busy-ness will come to an end ten … Continue reading To every thing there is a season
A pinch of salt
Image by Олександр К from Unsplash About 30 years ago we attended a family reunion in Massachusetts. For supper one evening, we were served succotash to acquaint us with the type of food available to our ancestors upon their arrival in 1638. Succotash consists of corn and lima beans, native North American vegetables cultivated by … Continue reading A pinch of salt
Walk towards the light
Each one of us bears the marks of past events that have hurt us, perhaps even deeply wounded us. There are things we have done that turned out bad; things others have done, deliberately or unknowingly, that have troubled us. The marks and the scars may remain; but if we are walking towards the light, … Continue reading Walk towards the light
Flatlander Faith 