Doubt sees the obstacles Faith sees the way. Doubt sees the darkest night Faith sees the day. Doubt dreads to take a step Faith soars on high. Doubt questions 'who believes?' Faith answers, 'I.' Author Unknown
The Legend of the Qu’Appelle Valley
by Emily Pauline Johnson I am the one who loved her as my life, Had watched her grow to sweet young womanhood; Won the dear privilege to call her wife, And found the world, because of her, was good. I am the one who heard the spirit voice, Of which the paleface settlers love to tell; … Continue reading The Legend of the Qu’Appelle Valley
The dinosaur question
In 1991 an archaeological research team discovered dinosaur bones in the Frenchman River Valley of south-western Saskatchewan. Over 20 years of painstaking work by hand uncovered the almost complete fossilized skeleton of a T. Rex and then removed it from the rock in which it was embedded. Named Scotty, the massive reconstructed skeleton is now … Continue reading The dinosaur question
The born loser
Monday evening, in preparation for the following day, I placed on our dining room table an envelope containing a bill payment on behalf of one bookkeeping client and a cheque that I received from another client. They were exactly the same size and the thought crossed my mind that I might just pick up the … Continue reading The born loser
Wringing our hands doesn’t help
It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; that the reiteration of the badness of our spiritual condition will make us consent to it. -Lionel Trilling Let's apply Trilling's observation to ourselves as Christians, on a personal level, or as a family, a congregation, or even on a … Continue reading Wringing our hands doesn’t help
Learning to see
Let us not forget that the greatest composers were also the greatest thieves. They stole from everyone and everywhere. –Pablo Casals Writers do much the same thing, though I do not believe it is proper to call it theft. We learn something from everything we read and everything we see. Often it is just a … Continue reading Learning to see
If you want to be a writer, you first need to be a reader
The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading. In order to write a man will turn over half a library to make one book. -Samuel Johnson, 1705-1784. Johnson was a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, biographer, editor and the sole author of A Dictionary of the English Language, first published in 1755 and … Continue reading If you want to be a writer, you first need to be a reader
There is no valid baptism without the new birth
The beginning of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite in Western Canada owes much to the spiritual vision of one man. Peter Toews was the Elder of the largest part of the Kleine Gemeinde (Little Church) which had separated from the main body of the Mennonite church on the Molotschna Colony in Ukraine in … Continue reading There is no valid baptism without the new birth
Hard work is not a Christian virtue
The robots are coming. Technology could eliminate half of all jobs over the next ten years. Working harder isn’t going to save your job. Working smarter won’t to do it either. The economy is changing and the way to ride the wave of change is to change our attitude about work. Several years ago a … Continue reading Hard work is not a Christian virtue
The bishop said I needed a new heart
In January 1953, Dad told the preacher I would attend the catechism classes, then came home and told me I was going. So I went. I didn’t dare defy my Dad; besides I was with the four guys closest to my age, Leonard, Larry, Carman and Allan. I suspect their dads had done the same … Continue reading The bishop said I needed a new heart
Flatlander Faith 