That's the message from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, marking 1 September as both the start of the Orthodox ecclesiastical year and the Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Natural Environment, an observance the Ecumenical Patriarchate established in 1989 and which now brings Christian communities together worldwide: "a symbol and practical promotion of the unity... Continue Reading →
Haiti: “The biggest disgrace is indifference”
by Jim Hodgson - Reposted from Unwrapping Development More than 42 years after my first visit to Haiti, I can’t disagree with that assessment. It was offered June 16 by UN secretary general António Guterres near the end of his one-day visit to Port-au-Prince. The visit came 40 years after the fall of the Duvalier family dictatorship;... Continue Reading →
RIP Wendell Berry
A Poem on Hope It is hard to have hope. It is harder as you grow old, for hope must not depend on feeling good and there’s the dream of loneliness at absolute midnight. You also have withdrawn belief in the present reality of the future, which surely will surprise us, and hope is harder... Continue Reading →
Summerland Sauce Project supports farmers impacted by wildfire and rescued Okanagan crops
Chef Ned Bell (left) and Farmer Thomas Tumbach started the Summerland Sauce Project to turn veggies into help - Photo: Summerland Sauce Project Casey Richardson - Aug 29, 2026 / From Castanet A project that bought crops from Okanagan farmers impacted by the Bald Range wildfire and turned them into seasonal sauces and preserves raised... Continue Reading →
What is “enough” anyway? What would a ‘degrowth church’ look like?
by James Adair, BROADVIEW, Aug. 6, 2026 [I find the concepts below compelling. As churches often claim they are cocunter-cultural to my eye they simply mirror the capitalist culture that surrounds and feeds them . How often have I preached on the Parable of the shrewd Manager trying to avoid praising the servant who took... Continue Reading →
Trump’s “big deal” scorecard
Photo by K K on Unsplash Thoughts from Eileen Workman Trump seems entirely incapable of getting out of his own way. I say this because, as I’ve observed: Mr. “Art of the Deal” seems unable to make any sustainable deals that actually help the American People. His fallback is always to use force, punishment, shaming,... Continue Reading →
Rae is raving mad — With thanks to Thomas Paine
On December 13 1776, in the dark days of the US War of Independence, Thomas Paine wrote a little book called “The Crisis”. He began with these words - “THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country;... Continue Reading →
‘It’s about dignity’: Anglicans call for relief as U.S. blockade strangles Cuba
Alongside Hope executive director Will Postma (fourth from left) visits a rural community in Cuba in 2018 By Matthew Puddister - Published August 5, 2026 - Reposted from the Anglican Journal Everyday life for the average Cuban today starts without electricity, Jose “Pepe” Bringas, general coordinator of the Episcopal Church of Cuba’s Integral-Missionary Development Program... Continue Reading →
“Courage is fear that has said its prayers” — More from Anne Lamott
[Some differences between my experiences (and my spelling) with those of Anne Lamott. Still, great words here.] [Anne Lamott] August, ugh, not my favorite month. If I were God’s West Coast representative, I would not have scheduled it, and gone directly from the heat blasts of July—which we would endure with only once or twice... Continue Reading →
We are living through one of history’s greatest paradoxes — in Canada
The Politics of Isolation CHARLIE ANGUS / THE RESISTANCE / Substack / JUL 31 There have been countless books written about the political crisis of our time, but one small book stands out. Hyperpolitics, by Belgian historian Anton Jäger, puts forward the thesis that the dramatic failure of left and centrist politics is rooted in... Continue Reading →