The newest member of the TakeNote team This piece by the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas is part of Sustainable Faith: An Interfaith Season of Creation, a series from Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) in which leaders from across Massachusetts' religious and ethical traditions write, in the first person, about how their faith connects with... Continue Reading →
“You must go at your life with a broadax” — Remembering Annie Dillard
Daniel Lewis, Sept. 16, 2026 The New York Times Annie Dillard, who as a young American writer walked into the woods and came out with a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on the wonders and horrors of creation, the modern classic โPilgrim at Tinker Creek,โ died on Tuesday at her home in South Wellfleet, Mass. She was... Continue Reading →
Hope in the age of wildfire
After one week evacuated from our home in Summerland, an exodus forced by the Bald Creek wildfire, one of the worst in the history of British Columbia, ย we join another 20,000 home and business owners hoping for an imminent and safe return to our homes and our little Town. A very small section of Summerland... Continue Reading →
Local research tracks how Meta’s Canadian news ban and a decade of wildfires have eroded trust in the information Canadians rely on during fire season
[Ken Gray - As evacuated Summerland residents continue to receive news of safe return, social media channels are rife with misinformation, some mischievous, some ignorant, some ill-informed, and some raw with anger. The research described below offers analysis and possible solutions.] First published by UBC Okanagan News August 5, 2026 On August 1, 2023, a... Continue Reading →
A day-5 evacuation story
Image: Hope, Susan Norie From Facebook [Ken Gray - I don't know Banu Tรผlรผmen's but they tell a beautiful story admist so much uncertainty.] I don't quite know how to describe these past five days. There are stories everywhere. Some heartbreaking. Some heroic. Stories of loss and uncertainty, but also extraordinary stories of kindness, generosity... Continue Reading →
We are living through one of history’s greatest paradoxes — in Canada
The Politics of Isolation CHARLIE ANGUS / THE RESISTANCE / Substack / JUL 31 There have been countless books written about the political crisis of our time, but one small book stands out. Hyperpolitics, by Belgian historian Anton Jรคger, puts forward the thesis that the dramatic failure of left and centrist politics is rooted in... Continue Reading →
Simple disciplines for healthy living
Dr Amir Khan GP MBChB(hons) MRCGP DCH DRCOG DipDiab PGCE On Instagram These are five things humans have done for generations that modern life has quietly pushed aside. The wonderful thing? Theyโre completely free. Memorise something. Give your brain a workout instead of outsourcing everything to your phone. Sing. It doesnโt matter if youโre in... Continue Reading →
John Stott’s Soteriology
Shared from Facebook [Ken Gray - While my own appreciation of the gift of salvation differs considerably now as travel, study, and experience have broadened my own understanding, my indebtedness to John Stott remains intact and significant. He was one of the greatest preachers I ever encountered. As a London-based student from 1977-1979 I attended... Continue Reading →
Wild, Wide, and Deep
[Ken Gray] An excellent reflection from Carmen Lansdowne, theologian and former Moderator of the United Church of Canada. Returned from a conference hosted by The International Association for Mission Studies which gathers scholars who have spent their careers thinking about what it means for the church to go outward โ and, just as often, repenting... Continue Reading →
Meeting Mother Earth, again
Creating...One thread...One stitch...At a time Slowly Some of us enjoy fast food, fast travel, or fast talking. Others, however, like to take things slow. I want to introduce you, dear reader, to Hilary Rice who lives, and thrives, slowly, with priest husband Mike near Madoc, Ontario. Kathie and I first met this couple at the... Continue Reading →