With thanks to Bill Sundhu and Avi Lewis who wrote the following message. [Avi Lewis] My father Stephen Lewis is spectacularly uninterested in social media, so I’m posting this myself (though he has read it and is prepared to suffer the indignity of all I'm about to reveal). When he was Canada’s ambassador to the... Continue Reading →
Music at my funeral
https://youtu.be/hKgUxqXoc9M Today is the day that I will sit down and plan my own funeral, not the entire rite, but the music. Some will ask me if I am feeling poorly. Not at all. My arthritis continues to exert influence; hearing joins sight in disadvantage; diabetic management continues apace, and my memory fails increasingly each... Continue Reading →
“Don’t insult our intelligence” — Bernie Sanders confronts Netanyahu’s government.
No, Mr. Netanyahu, it is neither anti-Semitic nor pro-Hamas to report that in just over six months your extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and injured 77,000, 70% of whom are women and children. It's not anti-Semitic to report that your attacks have destroyed 221k homes in Gaza, leaving one million people homeless, or nearly... Continue Reading →
Famous 3-word phrases
A sermon for the congregation of St. Stephen Anglican Church, Summerland — The 5th Sunday of Easter, May 18, 2025 While rector of St. Stephen’s some years ago I created a sermon series focused on four- or five-letter words. A four letter word sermon talked about LOVE. Five-letter editions unpacked FAITH and GRACE. Today, I... Continue Reading →
The Gospel according to SportsNet
Anglicans and other mainline church preachers seek new ways to share the Gospel in uncertain times “My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (ISA 55:11-12) In Christian circles historically, the Word of... Continue Reading →
Pope Francis and Our Common Home
Left: Bishop Duque at a Methodist assembly in Medellín in 2012. Right: Pope Francis meets representatives of social movements in 2024. With thanks to Jim Hodgson whose post is here. As the world remembers the late Pope, I join with others who reflect on his legacy. Commenters identify his work as a church reformer, some... Continue Reading →
Democracy is not a spectator sport — Advice to Americans from one Canadian
[Ken Gray] Today, I have joined the ranks of the disheartened. FAKE NEWS, though I am stymied by the number and severity of the many horror stories I discover daily. With so many different fronts on which to report, attacks on the leadership of the National Security Agency, potential threats to peaceful protest, the destruction... Continue Reading →
The long con — Worse than any Netflix series
Reposted from James B. Greenberg on Substack The confidence game doesn’t begin with a lie. It begins with a story—one so emotionally resonant it feels like truth. It offers meaning, identifies villains, flatters the audience, and—when fully deployed—quietly opens the vault. Donald Trump’s political rise is not just a break from convention. It’s a textbook... Continue Reading →
Can this tide turn?
From Rawstory.com Seventy days after his return to the Oval Office, Donald Trump is finding his second presidential term honeymoon collapsing as the administration officials make embarrassing mistakes, key allies turn on him and more Republicans are publicly balking at some policies. According to a report from Jonathan Lemire at The Atlantic, the president is... Continue Reading →
Lazy Boy — Definitely not a comfy chair
[Ken Gray] Countless online commenters and analysts have tried to encapsulate the motives of Donald Trump. The explanation I include below is one of the best I have found so far. See what you think. [Shared from Ian Boothby] He’s cruel. He’s bigoted. He’s small minded. So how do we fight this? In a past... Continue Reading →