Yesterday I stopped at the pharmacy counter in Walmart to pick up a prescription. There were several pharmacists in the back busily preparing prescriptions for others. I waved at the head pharmacist and said, "How are you Marc?" There was an almost imperceptible hesitation before he answered "Fine'" The clerk who was serving me smiled … Continue reading Do you really want to know how I’m feeling today?
friendship
Sitting around the fire
We were in a small mission congregation in a major Canadian city. A middle-aged single lady, I'll call her Anne, had been attending for a year or more. One day she said to me, "It seems like there is a warm fire burning here and you are all gathered around to warm yourselves by that … Continue reading Sitting around the fire
I dreamed there was no God
[From an out of print book, When I Was Thirteen by Christina Young. I first posted this in March of 2013, and thought it worth posting again as it seems to me that far too many people today are living in just such a nightmare and do not know that it would be possible to … Continue reading I dreamed there was no God
Friendship
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! (John 11:33-36).I have at times wondered … Continue reading Friendship
The cause of divisions
At one point in Jesus’ earthly ministry, those who doubted suggested that He performed miracles through the power of Beelzebub, or Satan. “But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how … Continue reading The cause of divisions
What is wrong with this picture?
We send missionaries all over the world from our North American congregations. We rejoice when reports come back of the faith taking root in countries where the prevailing belief is animism, Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam. Then we go into Tim Horton's and the person behind the counter is a recent immigrant from one of those … Continue reading What is wrong with this picture?
The Lonely Ache of Popularity
Bill was tall, fair, handsome, sensitive. He was also the Eighth Grade football hero ‒ the one who scored the goals and carried the home team to victory. Girls in the top two grades were openly–or secretly–nuts about him. Like Grace, the girl who lived down the street from him. She was a nobody, shy … Continue reading The Lonely Ache of Popularity
A man of simple tastes
Carl McNeil, the oldest man in Fullarton, was of Scottish descent as his name implied. Carl was well-educated and well informed, a pleasant man to visit with, but not worldly wise; his values came from a different era. He never married, never had a driver's license, never smoked, never tasted tea, coffee or strong drink. … Continue reading A man of simple tastes
The cat who came in from the cold
I glanced out the window one evening in late fall and was startled to see a white kitten sitting on our doorstep. I walked around to the door and opened it, half expecting this kitten to dash off in fear when he saw me. I was amazed when he calmly got up, walked into the … Continue reading The cat who came in from the cold
Flatlander Faith 