Social Synthesist and author Eileen Workman provides answers to two pressing questions I have about Donald Trump. 1) Has he always been this abusive and cruel in his business and political dealings. And 2) while he is considered by many a laughing stock, serving up daily dose of clown-like horrors atop a vicious bullying narcissism,... Continue Reading →
Celebrating great Americans — A new series of blogs Time for something different here at takenote.ca. Setting aside stories of the dark fascist in the white house and his posse of oligarchal henchmen I want to commence a series celebrating great modern day Americans. Today I feature Henry Louis Gates, Jr., someone I have only... Continue Reading →
James Murray, circa. 1879 in the scriptorium In 1992, a Lutheran Bishop joined a group of us Anglican clergy for a supper meeting at the local golf club in Sooke a short drive from Victoria. While my memory of the discussion is somewhat hazy, at one point during the meeting he simply said, “words matter.”... Continue Reading →
A sermon for the parish of St. Saviour, Penticton BCSunday, February 9th 2025 / Fifth Sunday after the EpiphanyThe Very Rev. Ken Gray “Are you saved brother?” I used to hear this question a lot some years ago. It was spiritual lingua franca when I was coming into adulthood in the 1970s. Christians, especially evangelicals,... Continue Reading →
Every activist needs a poet. Very few are poets; certainly I’m not; I don’t sit still long enough; my powers of observation are limited. Like chess, I find poetry overly demanding of my short social media-distracted attention span. To engage poetry I must concentrate: Read the text out loud, several times if necessary; savour the... Continue Reading →
Mary Oliver in 2008, and for today Of The Empire We will be known as a culture that feared death and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity for the few and cared little for the penury of the many. We will be known as a culture that taught and rewarded the amassing of things,... Continue Reading →
[Assis Naim Ateek, Sabeel Community] Dear Friends, What should our new year's message be when so many of our sisters and brothers in occupied Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and throughout the Middle East are experiencing fear, despair, anxiety, and the prospect of an uncertain future? I believe that an appropriate message should be of hope... Continue Reading →
Standing in a Penticton pulpit yesterday I thought aloud about suitable music for the Epiphany season. Today, on the Feast of Epiphany itself I have a suggestion which came to mind during yesterday’s sermon, a text by the English clergyman and theologian John Hanry Newman (1801-1890) who in 1833 wrote Lead Kindly Light enroute to... Continue Reading →
Condolences to the Rev. Martin Elfert whose mother recently died. He has written beautifully of her later years and of his experience in losing a parent. I hope readers enjoy the delightful story he shared today on Facebook. Some of you will have met Martin while he worked at the Sorrento Centre for many years.... Continue Reading →
Photo: HBO For my theatre friends and colleaguesReprinted from The Washington Post article by Naveen KumarA "Russian doll of a role" This sounds soooooh good – Watch party anyone? [Kaveen Kumar to end] “It may surprise you to learn that Jessica Lange, whose work onstage and screen spans nearly 40 years, had never done Chekhov.... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 