I am away from church today, a rare space of rest from preaching and presiding. On such days I have more time to read and write. I am currently reading "East West Street: On the Origins of "Genocide" and "Crimes Against Humanity"" by Philippe Sands. It is a memoir and history of the origins of... Continue Reading →
Organist Mark McDonald stands below Christ Church Cathedral’s organ, Canada’s largest pipe organ west of the Rockies. (Olivier Laurin/Victoria News) Published 9:00 am Wednesday, May 27, 2026 by Olivier Laurin Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once called the pipe organ “the king of instruments.” Considered by many to be a marvel of music and engineering, the pipe... Continue Reading →
[Ken Gray] As son, Cameron and I have tickets for a Jays game in Toronto in late July, I have all sorts of fears. For one thing, they are playing the Tampa Bay Rays with whom they are frequently on the losing end. The experience of a win in the Rogers Centre is a huge... 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 →
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 →
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 