A cartoon in a French-language farm paper forty years ago has remained embedded in my mind. The cartoon showed a row of flowers in a garden. The flowers were tall, with healthy leaves and symmetrically arranged petals. Except for one. This flower was shorter than the others, the stalk was crooked, the leaves rather bedraggled … Continue reading Justification by the blood, not sweat
The Puzzle of Plastic
My wife and I went shopping for groceries the other day and forgot to bring our environmentally correct reusable shopping bags. As a punishment, we had to pay 5¢ each for plastic checkout bags, plus sales tax. These bags are a serious threat to the environment you know. The younger generation probably always remembers to … Continue reading The Puzzle of Plastic
The Foundation of an Enduring Church
“Nothing else is sought in this book but that we, who come last, desire to see the first things and wish to return to them in so far as God enables us. We are like people who have come to a house that has been burnt down and try to find the original foundations. This … Continue reading The Foundation of an Enduring Church
A Fading Faith
For twelve years we lived in a little village in Ontario. Directly across the street from our home was the United Church manse. The minister and his wife were a pleasant older couple, professional and polished. There came a Christmas Day where we were all snowbound after a three-foot snowfall that began the day before. … Continue reading A Fading Faith
Massachesetts Melodies
Three hundred and seventy-four years ago, the good shippe Confidence landed at Watertown in Boston Bay and disembarked a group of men and women come to establish a new home in a new land. They moved inland to an area along the Musquetaquid River and established the town of Sudbury, the second town above tidewater … Continue reading Massachesetts Melodies
A Clearing in the Woods
I know the Lord will make a way for me,I know the Lord will make a way for me.If I trust and never doubt,He will surely lead me out,I know the Lord will make a way for me.Denver and I were into the final stages of preparing for Vacation Bible School, selecting choruses to be … Continue reading A Clearing in the Woods
Catechism Classes
About the only thing my parents had in common was a feeling that the church in which they had been raised had let them down. My father was a descendant of New England Puritans, with some French and Scottish blood thrown in. He was born in Iowa, grew up in Minnesota and arrived in Saskatchewan … Continue reading Catechism Classes
Forty-two Years
Chris and I were married August 1, 1970. She was 17, the product of two dysfunctional homes, looking for some stability in her life. I was 28, restless, confused, in debt, not sure what I wanted to do with my life, had little control over my temper — not really a stable shelter from the … Continue reading Forty-two Years
