Reposted from Castanet Snowpack levels in the Okanagan and surrounding regions are catastrophically low this year, which has led to wide-ranging concerns over drought and the health of local watersheds. On Wednesday, the Syilx Okanagan Nation formally declared a watershed emergency across the Okanagan, Nicola, Similkameen, Kettle, Salmon and Bessette watersheds. The Nation says it’s... Continue Reading →
Christopher Lamb on CNN Pope Leo XIV says control of artificial intelligence must not remain in the hands “of a few” while warning that technology is fueling world conflicts, setting out his proposals in the first major theological document of his pontificate. These include protecting the distinctive “grandeur of humanity” amid rapidly changing technology and... Continue Reading →
Reposted from Letters from an American, by Heather Cox Richardson on Substack. An audio version can be accessed here. [Heather Cox Richardson] On May 22, 1964, in a graduation speech at the University of Michigan, President Lyndon Johnson put a name to a new vision for the United States. He called it “the Great Society”... Continue Reading →
Notes by Ken Gray: I am Looking forward to Sunday’s Pentecost service shared between St. Stephen’s Anglican Church and Summerland United Church. We share costs and facilities between us at our historic 1910 location in downtown Summerland. Now a few years into a very special relationship between our congregations, we occasionally gather together for shared... Continue Reading →
The text below is a recent summary of a recent meeting concerning the relationship between fee-simple land ownership and BC DRIPA legislation. It was found on Facebook here. Written by Geoff Meggs "Anxiety about the threat to fee simple private property posed by Aboriginal rights is so deep in British Columbia that Green MLA Rob... Continue Reading →
Truth be told, Christina is more Kathie’s friend than mine, though for the purposes of this blog I will claim her nonetheless. We first met at the Peach Orchard Dog Park. (Where else?) At the time she and husband Doug owned one border collie, Nik. Eventually they rounded out their flock adding Sky (called Sky... Continue Reading →
The Trump critic and satirist has also been one of the most thoughtful, funny, and genuinely decent people on television Reposted from Robert Reich May 19, 2026 Friends, Stephen Colbert’s last show is this Thursday evening. CBS refused to renew his contract, and you know exactly why: He mocked and criticized Trump. CBS says it’s... Continue Reading →
[Joan Chittester remains one of the most dynamic and insightful writers on faith and justice today] Today prophets of pietism tell us to "pray for peace" and "pray that God's will be done." And this is certainly important. But they do not demand that we ourselves do something to ensure either. Instead, the professional pietist... Continue Reading →
I have a long relationship with the Requiem by French composer Gabriel Faure. Unlike the bombastic operatic showpiece by Verdi, the intensely dramatic rendering by Mozart, or the massive work by Benjamin Britten, Faure’s Requiem is intimate, melodic, of small scale, and sublime. It whispers, though never shouts. Surely we all want to drift off... Continue Reading →
I have enjoyed the company of this lovely and talented couple in many ways over the last two decades. They have been parishioners at both St. Stephen, Summerland, and St. Saviour, Penticton. Their mission-oriented work in Papua, New Guinea intersects well with my Anglican Communion environmental work; we share some friends in common including the... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 