Most readers of this blog will now be on Daylight Saving Time. Here in Saskatchewan we didn’t set our clocks ahead. When I was a boy, the province was on Mountain Time and towns and cities could choose whether to go on Daylight Saving Time. In addition, the eastern half of the province lies in … Continue reading Daylight Saving Time is hazardous to your health
Whimsy
Why learn French?
The World Almanac says that there are only 70 million French-speaking people in the world. That's not very significant, why should I bother learning it? Not so fast! If you look closely, the World Almanac is giving the estimated number of people for whom French is their mother tongue (even at that it is questionable, … Continue reading Why learn French?
All of a sudden it’s spring!
In books the scenario goes like this: the trapper / prospector / homesteader (choose one) is shut up in his isolated cabin in the north country. The snow gets deeper and deeper, the temperature gets colder and colder, the wood pile gets smaller and smaller, his winter supply of food is almost gone. The days … Continue reading All of a sudden it’s spring!
No compulsion in matters of religion
Around 204 AD, Tertullian wrote: "As the religion of others does not concern us, and neither profits nor harms us; therefore it does not become any one religion to force itself upon another; since it must be accepted voluntarily, and not by coercion, for what is required is the offering of a willing mind." In … Continue reading No compulsion in matters of religion
Leaerning to recognize the tempter’s voice
[Another excerpt from When I Was Thirteen, the diary of a young girl in South-Western Ontario. The writer was Christina Young, but she used the pen-name of Mary McKenzie when the diary was published 20 years later in a weekly paper. As an incentive to keep writing in her diary, she had vowed to take … Continue reading Leaerning to recognize the tempter’s voice
Finally, Some Answers About CLL
This is also helpful if you're married to someone who has CLL.
Dear Pastor, Please, Burn All The Church Growth Books You Have
I was first exposed to the church growth doctrine a little more than forty years ago; it sounded like an adaptation of a commercial sales growth strategy then, and it still does. Let's just forget about numbers and focus on building God-centred relationships with other people.
Mr. Average Canadian
In 1926 Stephen Leacock tried to describe the average Canadian man of his day. Eighty-nine years have passed and Mister Average Canadian of that day is long dead and buried. Therefore, I will take it upon myself to describe his modern counterpart, according to census statistics. In 2015 Mr. Average Canadian is 42 years old … Continue reading Mr. Average Canadian
He didn’t say whether he thought this was a good thing
[Stephen Leacock was for many years the head of the Department of Economics and Political Science at McGill University and the author of numerous textbooks and history books. To counterbalance this very serious work, he began writing humour and soon his income and fame from these humorous writings far outstripped the income from his serious … Continue reading He didn’t say whether he thought this was a good thing
France this week
Today is the release date in France of a new novel by Michel Houllebecq entitled "Soumission" (Submission). In the book, the French presidential election of 2022 pits the candidate of a new Muslim political party against the candidate of the Front National. The Muslim candidate wins, then goes on to transform the public schools into … Continue reading France this week
Flatlander Faith 