So you think stacking firewood is easy. You are right, but only if you know what you are doing. Depending on the tree species in your region โ here, we have easy access to fir, alder, hemlock, and Western Red cedar โ there are many things to consider before stacking, even before you venture into... Continue Reading →
Victoria journalistโs new book teaches youth to โread past the headlineโย
Published 8:00 am Saturday, February 21, 2026 by Sam Duerksen at Victoria News Gregor Craigieโs new book, Sticking to the Facts: 10 Ways to Fight Misinformation, illustrates the growing problem of misinformation and offers practical steps of how to fight it. As a Victoria-based journalist and a father of three teens, Gregor Craigie paid close... Continue Reading →
Drinking from our own well: How a Salt Spring Island experiment recovered Christian contemplation
Published February 23, 2026 by By Nicholas Fournie in the Anglican Journal When the parish of All Saints by the Sea consecrated its new church in 1994, it did something unusual: it placed meditation and silent prayer at the very centre of the celebration. That choice, made on a quiet island in the Diocese of... Continue Reading →
Traditional Religion meets evolving contemporary needs
Originally published as โChristianity isnโt just in decline โ itโs become obsolete, says sociologist -- The problem isnโt simply about belief. โ[Traditional religion] doesnโt fit ordinary life,โ says Christian Smith.โ by Julie McGonegal - Feb. 6, 2026 on Broadview Christian Smith says that traditional religion hasnโt merely lost adherents โ itโs become culturally obsolete. Thatโs... Continue Reading →
Seeing the long arc of history โ Heather Cox Richardsonโs gift to us all
From Facebook Every night, a history professor in Maine writes a newsletter explaining American politics. Over 2.6 million people read it daily. For many, her words feel like rescue from chaos. Midcoastal Maine, sometime after dark. Heather Cox Richardson sits at her desk near the ocean. Outside, America is screaming. Breaking news alerts flood phones... Continue Reading →
AI and ME โ A photographic quandary
AI generated image by KJG Reading Phillip Toledano in the Washington Post has me thinking about my own photography. I wonder if it is time for me to up my game, to try something different, possibly to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into my workflow. While I try to avoid AI everywhere else โ in word... Continue Reading →
Good hearts and troubled minds and sore feetย โ More from Anne Lamott
[Ken Gray] So hereโs an idea. Letโs invite Anne Lamott up to Vancouver to visit with supportive and faithful Canadians. What a great event that would be. My secret agenda would be to welcome her here for an extended period of time; maybe sheโd stay . . . So often I find myself drawn to... Continue Reading →
A new take on Chaos and Craziness by Anne Lamott
A few days old but Too good not to share. [Anne Lamott on Facebook] We are not crazy. Things really are catastrophically bad. Jesus lies down daily with a cool compress on His head. My friends and I await the rain of frogs. Of course we experience hopelessness in the face of the murder in... Continue Reading →
Gone Fishinโ
Chapter ten in the series Stories from Somewhere, by me, Ken Gray โMayday*Mayday*Mayday.โ My shouted distress call must have looked silly. There I was, standing in a wobbly west coast dory, shouting into a bank of dense fog that had quickly appeared out of nowhere, covering us in our little skiff. Close to the shore... Continue Reading →
A Rae of Sunshine — Thoughts on Tyranny, Justice, Sovereignty and Politics
Excellent thoughts from Bob Rae on substack - Jan 10, 2026 Dedicated to those who are continuing the fight against tyranny around the world, and those who have died in the struggle [Bob Rae] The French philosopher Blaise Pascal is famous for his sharp aphorisms. One of my favourites is this: โJustice without force is... Continue Reading →