Center for Action and Contemplation faculty member Brian McLaren introduces the 2026 Daily Meditations theme: โGood News for a Fractured Worldโ โ Sunday, January 4, 2026 [Brian McLaren] Our world is deeply fractured. We see the symptoms all around us. We see it in politics. We see it in social media. We see it in... Continue Reading →
Inspiration for the New Year
On New Years Day I typically share W. H. Audenโs poem New Year Letter, a truly imaginative and insightful piece I commend to you once again. This year however, I want to share something different, a sort of what I got for Christmas this year kind of report. I have almost finished "Joyride: A Memoir"... Continue Reading →
A response to David Frum
First published by Dennis Windigo, December 29, 2025 David Frumโs publication this week โGood Intentions Gone Badโ in The Atlantic wants readers to believe that recognizing Indigenous land rights is an unfortunate mistake โ an ill-timed indulgence that threatens economic growth just when the country needs it most. He writes that the courts are โinventing... Continue Reading →
Talking to myself is OK โ At least thatโs what I say to myself
Based on Talking to yourself when youโre alone: Psychology shows it often reveals powerful traits and exceptional abilities - By Redac / 29 December 2025 โHey Kathie, I saw Ken walking down to the post office the other day.โ โReally. So tell me, was he talking to himself?โ โFunny you should mention that; he was,... Continue Reading →
Within a hair
Another in a series by me. For other chapters see below โWhat clipper did I use last time? Number three, or number four?โ I had procrastinated long enough. Looking like a modern day Einstein, my hair scrambled madly off in all directions, a sort of Labradoodle look with a dry, scratchy beard attached. It was... Continue Reading →
Truth amongst the tinsel – Making sense of it all
Originally published by the New York Times as The Kingdom of God Is Ruled by the Humblest of Men, an essay by Peter Wehner While long for a blog post, I commend to readers Peter Wehner's exploration of the significance of Jesus' incarnation as a babe at the biblical Bethlehem. We typically hear such explanations... Continue Reading →
The Little Towns of Bethlehem
My favourite poetic Christmas tradition it to read this very Canadian piece written by John Terpstra, the Little Towns of Bethlehem. If God arrived in Christ in Bethlehem Christ arrives in the places and spaces of our nation, places familiar and unknown to us, though I am privileged to have lived in, or passed through... Continue Reading →
No cats under my Christmas Tree this year โ Seasonal gift suggestions, by Juno
Internationally known dog-blogger, Juno, a six year-old Labradoodle, lives with her humans in Summerland in the BC interior. Meet Sesame (pictured above), a cherished former member of the Gray family household who left them years before my arrival. I am told that in those days, one returned home to two dogs and two cats, a... Continue Reading →
โI say YESโ โ a Song for the Fourth Sunday in Advent
Itโs Carol Service at church this morning. Typically the 4th Sunday of Advent focuses specially on Mary, the โMary of the Annunciation.โ Church today will pay homage mostly to โMary of the Nativity,โ including her pondering of what happened on Christmas Day and afterward. In this space today, I return to Mary of the Annunciation,... Continue Reading →
Heather Cox Richardson, Thomas Paine, and a call to courage
โTyranny, like hell, is not easily conqueredโ HEATHER COX RICHARDSON - December 18, 2025 NOTE: Exclusive language retained โThese are the times that try menโs souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and... Continue Reading →