A Reflection for the Longest Night

And so we gather in the dark — not to escape it, but to honour it.
Because darkness is honest. It does not pretend.
Because darkness is where seeds grow.
And because, as the gospel writer tells us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

The ‘Bentures Continue!

My youngest granddaughter and I used to have ‘bentures’ when she spent time with me, because she couldn’t say adventure. This week, my mother and I are having bentures, exploring the past!

Geographic Memories!

My mother and I are spending a week in Manitoba, it’s where she grew up and this pool is located in her hometown of Altona, where we lived for a year. It’s also the place where we came for many weekends and holidays when we lived only 200 miles away. This is the pool where…

Women’s Work!

Somewhere along the way, I absorbed the idea that ‘women’s work’ ie. work in the home, was less valuable than men’s work. It’s no surprise that I internalized this, I was a teenager in the 70s, the age of women’s liberation, readily available contraception and women were entering the workforce at unprecedented rate. I refused…

Newfoundland: Revisited!

Twenty years ago, I spent eight very long, very challenging, months in Newfoundland. Ever since then, every time someone commented about the friendliness of Newfoundlanders, I inwardly winced because of that experience. Despite one of my best friends from theological school being a ‘Newf,’ I found it difficult to reconcile what everyone told me about…

Fathers

A few months ago, when my son came to pick up his nine year old daughter after a sleepover at our place, she ran and jumped into his arms and exclaimed with joy and excitement, “Daddy!” The mutual love was apparent and heartwarming. In that moment, I felt both happy and sad. So happy that…

Snottin’ and Ballin’

Yesterday, on a beautiful, sunny morning, a small group of Liz Feltham’s family and friends gathered to bear witness as her husband spread her ashes in a place she loved. Later that day, a larger group gathered in a friends home, to share stories, to hear Amazing Grace played on the bagpipes, and to raise…

Neglected Beauty

Normally, by this time of the year I have spent HOURS in my garden beds. Weeding. Mulching. Trimming. They have become us much a part of spring as getting the deck furniture out, having the first drink on it and the first bonfire of the season. This year, between horrible spring weather and a heavier…