Aug 30
I walk out of a downtown cafe and the usual sights present themselves: a group of tattooed teenagers with wild hair alternating attention between their smart phones and one another; a few black-clad Hutterites in town for the day to shop; a couple of businessmen rushing importantly off to their next meeting; a few university students out on the patio, enjoying the last few days before classes start. It’s a beautiful day, and there’s life all around. Read more
Part of yesterday was spent at a local agricultural/historical museum put together by the The Prairie Tractor & Engine Museum Society. While I wouldn’t say that antique tractors and machinery, farming demonstrations, and “parades of power” are exactly my cup of tea, it was neat to see the way they had put together a kind of old prairie town circa the early 1900s. Read more
It’s late afternoon, and I’m looking and listening out my new office window at a thunderstorm. Thunderstorms are common on the prairies, of course, and can be truly breathtaking. They are wild and unpredictable—they can last for hours, or be gone only minutes after they arrive. The rains come fast and hard, the sky booms, crackles, and sparks—lit up with the pyrotechnics of heaven. Read more
Things have been pretty quiet around here for a while, so perhaps something of an update post is in order. The past two weeks or so have been spent saying difficult goodbyes to our friends in Nanaimo and packing up and moving back east to our roots in southern Alberta.
Times of transition are tough. We currently find ourselves up to our ears in boxes and and clutter and mess as we prepare to pack up and head back across the Rockies next week to begin a new chapter in our lives as family. We have done this moving thing a number of times now, but it never gets easier. It is simultaneously celebratory, reflective, disorienting, emotionally exhausting, and painful. Read more
If you’ve ever snooped around on my About page, you’ll know that I am not a native west-coaster. I have called this place home since 2005, but prior to that virtually my entire life was spent on the Canadian prairies. The past six years have been a delightful time of discovering a place completely unlike the one I grew up in. Read more
Not a lot of time for blogging this week as I’m in Vancouver attending the annual Regent College Pastors Conference. As always, it’s been great to get away and enjoy a time of worship and intellectual stimulation in the beauty of springtime in Vancouver. A few loosely connected reflections, coming out of what I have seen and heard so far this week… Read more
Every night, bedtime prayers with my kids conclude with some version of the same phrase: “And help ____ to have a good sleep with no bad dreams. Amen.” This is the non-negotiable conclusion to all bedtime prayers in our house. Should I omit or modify this peroration in any way, this transgression will be swiftly brought to my attention, and I will be enthusiastically exhorted to rectify the situation. The day is not complete, it seems, without entrusting our sleep and the subconscious cogitations it may or may not contain, to the care of God. Read more
Over the last few weeks I have noticed a feeling of unsettledness and mild disorientation as I begin my morning ritual of coffee and a trip through my news reader/aggregator. At last count, I have over 130 subscriptions to various blogs and news sites, some of which are (incredibly) updated 3-4 times daily. I have no idea if this is a “normal” amount of information for the technologically-savvy to wade through on a daily basis in our brave new cyber-world, but the sheer volume of words I make some attempt, however minimal, to regularly keep up with is proving increasingly unwieldy. Read more
Feb 22
Because it is loosely related to themes under discussion here over the last little while, and because it is a pretty accurate reflection of current religious appetites (especially here on the west coast), and because it is pretty amusing, and because, well, I just like posting David Bentley Hart quotes: Read more
Last Thursday afternoon was an afternoon like many others, for me. The workday was winding down; I was cleaning up a few loose ends before heading home to take my daughter to the pool for swim club. In many ways, it had been a good afternoon—nice and quiet, mostly uninterrupted, and ideal for sermon writing and reflection. Read more
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the conclusion of tonight’s edition of Coach’s Corner on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada. Cherry’s shtick was his usual combination of lightly-informed, opinionated bravado and Canadian hockey machismo, but as is increasingly often the case, it was also the opportunity for him to step up his soap box. Read more
I spent a chunk of my day off yesterday in a dingy little tire shop waiting for winter tires with hordes of other Vancouver Islanders caught unprepared for our recent blast of winter. I passed the time, in part, by finishing off Douglas Coupland’s Player One: What is to Become of Us, a novel/lecture series characterized by Coupland’s customary mixture of bleakness, humour, and though-provoking storytelling around questions about the meaning of life and what it means to be human. Read more
A little later this month, my wonderful wife and I will mark our 15th wedding anniversary. In some ways, it seems like a lifetime ago that a fresh-faced 19 and 20 year old walked down the aisle of a church in small-town southern Alberta to make a commitment that we scarcely understood, but have grown into together. We’ve spent over half our lives together now, which is a marvellous thing. I doubt and second-guess many things in life, but the decision to spend my life with Naomi is not among them. She is one of God’s best gifts to me. Read more
Fall is a beautiful time of year on Vancouver Island, but yesterday and today it’s been pounding rain, driving wind, and lots of time indoors. I’m usually the first person awake in our house and occasionally I will begin the day by throwing on the headphones and listening to the music of Canadian singer/songwriter Steve Bell. Steve has that rare gift of being able to combine fantastic music with lyrics that are deep and insightful and illuminating and life-giving. I remember a few years back when I had a part-time teaching gig at a college for one semester, I would listen to Steve Bell every day on my 45 minute commute. His music invariably did a very nervous and apprehensive soul good. Read more
Last week I was driving back from a breakfast meeting and happened to catch a bit of a CBC radio program where the hosts were discussing an apparently growing service dedicated to reminding people of how awesome they are. At Awesomeness Reminders, it’s all about you and your awesomeness and being continually aware of this awesome reality. For the low, low price of only $10/month ($20 outside the USA and Canada—apparently non-North Americans begin with an awesomeness deficit), you can receive a daily phone call carefully crafted to convey just how awesome you are in order to fortify you to face the challenges of the day ahead. Read more
Sep 3
A couple of loosely connected thought, links, and quotes for a Friday morning…
A few weeks ago, I came across an excellent new collaborative blog called Wondering Fair (a number of contributors are alumni from Regent College). Interesting and engaging topics, good writing, nice accessible look and feel… definitely worth adding to your reader. Due to my ongoing interest in how technology shapes us as human beings, I was particularly drawn to David Benson’s post on why he doesn’t own a mobile phone. His summary hits the nail on the head, in my view: Read more
I haven’t read the book or seen the movie (and plan on neither), but I’ve heard enough about both to be cynical. And to find this article by the Vancouver Sun‘s Pete McMartin, recounting his trip to see Eat Pray Love, absolutely hilarious in a depressing, if-only-this-wasn’t-so-true sort of way. I just about sprayed coffee all over my computer screen after reading the title alone (“Bleat, Flay, Loathe … One Man’s Search for God on a Cineplex Screen”). Read more
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Rumblings 