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 →
Podcast: Theologian Ronald Rolheiser talks about a spirituality for our wisdom years by John Dear, July 13, 2026 in the National Catholic Reporter On this week's episode of "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," I speak with writer and theologian Oblate Fr. Ronald Rolheiser about his latest book,Insane for the Light: A Spirituality for Our Wisdom Years,... Continue Reading →
So great to find an article recently on Photoblogger.com about low-vision photography. With other “legally blind” photographers, (<20/200, uncorrectable) I am not alone in facing challenges using my digital mirrorless camera (Fuji XT-5), a machine designed with fully sighted photographers in mind, though increasingly responding to the needs of us living with sight challenges. Chris... Continue Reading →
I lost touch with Bill and Anne Osborne many years ago. An online search tells me that Bill died in 2018; Anne is likely still living in Victoria somewhere. (Please forward this blog to her if you are in contact with her.) We shared music, church, and the arts together in the mid-1970s. Bill was... Continue Reading →
by Max Planck Society, edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan A new study by an international research team led by Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig) has revealed striking similarities in the way humans and dogs interact in very different societies. The research is published in... Continue Reading →
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not a true-blue Toronto Blue Jays fan. I am a “faux” fan, a “sort-of” fan, one who checks the score online before watching game recordings, one who seeks to avoid what the historic ABC Wide World of Sports called, “the agony of defeat.” I remember watching that poor skier crash down... Continue Reading →
A retired bishop told me recently that “when you retire, the church forgets you.” While blunt, I think they may have a point. Writing in UK Church Times: “Retirement: The Church of England depends on retired clergy, 19 June 2026, Bishop Colin Fletcher argues that “much more needs to be done to nurture clergy retirees.”... Continue Reading →
Rachel Ward's journey from Hollywood to regenerative farming - Reposted from Forgotten Facts on Facebook In the spring of 1983, a British actress named Rachel Ward appeared on American television for four nights, playing a character named Meggie Cleary in a miniseries called The Thorn Birds. Around 140 million people watched. For four episodes she... Continue Reading →
Not everyone has their own personal Dictionary of Quotations, myself included. It is time, however, to rectify that omission. I love hunting down quotations, for sermons, articles, or blogs. So often, others can say things better than I can. So I will use their words, with attribution. I remember buying my first Oxford Dictionary of... Continue Reading →
Author, composer and professor Fr. Michael Joncas holding a June 2024 letter from former U.S. president Joe Biden by the bookcase where he framed and displayed the original 1976 score of "On Eagle's Wings," in his apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota, May 2026. (NCR photo/Camillo Barone) by Camillo Barone, NCR staff reporter By the mid-1970s, Fr.... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 