A New Year's Day reflection by Anne Lamott [Anne Lamott] I will flinch a bit today whenever someone exhorts me to have a happy new year. It might be the word “happy,” which is so giddy and clown-shoe slappy, in combination with my walking personality disorder. It‘s also that the emphasis will be on Hap,... Continue Reading →
Another in my series “Larger Than Life Characters in our little town of Summerland” Dick Spencer and I met shortly after Kathie and I moved to Summerland in the fall of 1994. With his wife, Lois, he was a member of the Anglican congregation I served as priest from 1994-2004. A talented woodworker and carpenter... Continue Reading →
A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour Anglican Church, Penticton BC and for a wider online community of spirit seekers — Sunday, July 6th, 2025, the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost — The Very Rev. Ken Gray Nice to be back with you following five wonderful weeks in Victoria. We return at the height of... Continue Reading →
I am so pleased to help my writer colleague, Norma Hill launch her new book A Summerland Stories Scrapbook at a special event on Sunday night, May the 4th at 6 p.m. in the “Stone” Church on Prairie Valley Rd in Summerland. Years in the making, Norma has assembled, transcribed, edited, and arranged literally hundreds... Continue Reading →
Spirituality and Health Care: An interview with Dr. Jane Philpott [Ken Gray] I first became aware of Dr. Jane Philpott as she stood beside Jody Wilson-Raybould, then Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, both eventually fired from the Liberal cabinet of the day by Justin Trudeau. They took their stand on principle as the most significant... Continue Reading →
Here's an inspiring piece by Anne Lamott published a few days ago in the Los Angeles Times. A cartoon in the New Yorker decades ago showed two prisoners chained to the wall at the wrists and ankles, well off the ground, in a jail cell, in a cave. One man turns to the other and... Continue Reading →
Reprinted from Why ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ Is a Radical Christian ClassicBy Mitchell Atencio - sojo.net - Dec 12, 2022 [Ken Gray] Coming off our recent radio-play production of A Christmas Carol, I decided it was time to watch the Muppet’ 1992 adaptation of the classic Dickens tale. Upon release, the film was variously reviled... Continue Reading →
Author Wendell Berry, a Kentucky native who turned 90 years old on 8/5/24, studied at Stanford University, visited Tuscany for a year as a Guggenheim fellow, and then taught at New York University for two years. An invitation to teach at the University of Kentucky, however, carried him back home. He bought a farm near... Continue Reading →
Following a flurry of online and in-person book launches, I was delighted to receive the following review of Partnership as Mission: Essays in Memory of Ellie Johnson by the Rev. Margaret Marquardt. Such a pleasant surprise from one who knows the tough road of advocacy, long before the word "justice" even entered my own vocabulary.... Continue Reading →
My life, like yours, I suspect, can feel like it has been ingeniously designed for the sole purpose of strangling serendipity. What an awesome first line, not my own words, but an extract from a New York Times opinion piece published today. In high school English class I remember working on first lines, typically constructed... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 