There is a big difference between a paper cut and a stab wound. Though some might argue that a papercut hurts much more, it heals quickly, and soon you forget all about it. It was just a little cut and, after all, the paper didn’t mean to hurt you. Stab wounds, on the other hand, are rarely accidental…
Read MoreWelcome to this place outside where you were told the Light lived.
Welcome to a place of fear-filled change, mighty rest, or rebellious hope…
Read MoreI live in Regina, SK, on Treaty 4 Territory, where it is pretty dark this time of year.
I love it.
I savour it.
When it starts to dissipate, I find myself thinking fondly about when it will return the following year…
Read MoreThis year, four of my closest friends are navigating their first Christmas after separating in their respective marriages. As a child of divorced parents myself, Christmas is always a reminder of relationships unravelled. This year our community is unravelling further still. My heart yearns for the contrast of cold weather and warm homes, for hot drinks over long conversations, for a peaceful break from the hectic rhythms of the year, while my mind knows some of those conversations will be heavier this year…
Read MoreChristmas records appear in heavy rotation when the calendar hits December 1st at my house. I can't help it; I'm just a sentimental fool for Christmas music. I have some well-worn favourites, but my most cherished cuts will always be the jazzy classics. Give me Bing Crosby and Carol Richards crooning out "Silverbells," and I'm already imagining decking the halls of my house with garland and lights…
Read MoreI teach World Religions at a Christian university in Ontario, and the course material often disrupts the Christianized world of some of the students. For many, taken-for-granted notions about other religions and their adherents are shaken up, and mostly in a good way…
Read MoreIt has been such a pleasure walking through the Advent season with you. This has become such an important resource for so many across North America. We continue to be surprised and delighted by all the folks who choose to take this annual advent journey with us. So thank you from the bottom of our leafy hearts for being a part of this…
Read MoreTake a moment and read Luke 1:68-79.
There once was a man, trained in the scriptures and a tradition, who could not bear children with his wife. One day they received a word from God that they indeed will have a child. What’s more, this child will DO something. This child would somehow be a catalyst for change in their world. And their world needed a catalyst…
Read MoreI stopped being a child in 2018. I stopped seeing the sun in 2019. I stopped knowing the difference between truth and faith in 2020. I stopped living in 2021. Time had turned on its head and flipped me off. This was the battlefront, and I was ill-equipped…
Read MoreI came across a google doc in my files the other day called “Christmas in our Bubble!”
Don’t be fooled by that exclamation mark. It’s not true enthusiasm but a stubborn attempt to force some cheer onto our family’s plans for December 25, 2020…
Read MoreWelcome to the 2024 New Leaf Advent Reader, Advent Undone: When the Mysteries of Christmas Have Come Unravelled. In the coming weeks, reflections will be coming to your inbox and online from writers and artists across Canada. As we wait for the arrival of Jesus on Christmas day, the season of Advent makes space for our complicated emotions and complex situations.
Read MoreThere is a small forest near my home that I love to walk in at dusk. The trail is well-worn. My feet know the way by heart. Why do I choose this trail time and again? There are certainly ones that are more peaceful and full. Maybe it's because God and I have done a lot of business there together. I've looked for His divine presence in the soft pine needles on the earthen floor on more than one occasion. I've added a lot of tearful prayers to the sounds of gently swaying trees as night falls…
Read MoreAs I reflect on today’s scripture readings and read in John how the religious people of the day denied Christ, it makes me think of those who are skeptical of reconciliation, those who are so comfortable with this present life that they do not want to think of our past history and the life’s journey of Indigenous people who have survived residential school or descendants who are suffering from inter-generational trauma. I have to ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” “Who does He call us to be?” “How do we obey the Great Commandment?”
Read MoreAs we reach the end of the Advent season, it’s not lost on me that the reflection I’ve been asked to write falls on December 22nd; the arrival of the winter solstice and the longest night of the year.
The reality of encroaching darkness has been with us for some time, and perhaps – like me – you’ve had to fight the urge to crawl into bed by 5:00 pm as your body tries to tell you it’s time for sleep, and the daylight seems to last only for an instant…
Read MoreEssential to any meaningful relationship is ongoing communication. We know this on an instinctive level. This is especially true of a parent-child relationship. Parents listen intently for that first word and look forward to the time when their child can communicate their needs with words rather than tantrums…
Read MoreI put my Christmas tree up this year the day after Halloween. It’s the earliest I have ever done so. If you knew me, you might be surprised at that. I’ve historically been a person who gets a wee bit overwhelmed by the expectations and the busyness of the season, so Christmas decor doesn’t usually go up until after American Thanksgiving (it’s ok, Canadian friends; my husband is American, and he loves American Thanksgiving, which is why that is an acceptable demarcation of seasons in our home). But this year? This year is different…
Read MoreAdvent is a time of waiting. Waiting for a time when it does not feel like evil is triumphing. Waiting for God’s restoration, when all in the world will be set right. Waiting for the Christ child to return as King.
This year as I reflect on the season of advent I realize more than ever that I am tired of waiting…
Read MoreIt’s Monday night and I am sitting at a long wooden table. Around me are eight others from our neighbourhood, a mix of professional artists and people who just love art…
Read MoreAdvent is one of my favourite seasons in the church calendar. Scott Erikson, in Honest Christmas, writes: “Advent means ‘coming’ in Latin, and these weeks are meant to prepare our hearts, minds, and souls for the arrival of God-with-Us, Jesus Christ, born to the virgin Mary a couple of millennia ago. You’re supposed to feel the wait – the anticipated arrival of something you want so badly – and by feeling the wait deeply, you’ll be even more satisfied by the celebration of the arrival of Christmas Day.”
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