I once engaged in an abrasive act of NIMBYism. I willingly participated with a large group of neighbours in a “not-in-my-back-yard” demonstration against some folks who had just moved into the area. This was an act of radical inhospitality for which I offer no apology. Here’s what happened. In the early 1980’s, a group of…
In the beginning was the Word.Before the book, even before language,there was the Word. A calling, inviting, creating,ordering and blessing Word.A Word born of a divine lovethat overflows into all of creation,saturating all things with that love.The Word of the Creator did not return empty. A generative Word. And the Word gave birth to more words.Words…
I first noticed it in personal correspondence. It seemed quaint, maybe even a tad archaic. But the word recurred in all the letters, and often many times in each correspondence. There it was in his last letter to me. “I am glad you have reissued [Beyond Homelessness] again.” “I have been so glad to reread…
Can there be resurrection /
among the ruins? /
Dare we imagine new life /
rising from these streets of death?
The psalmist confesses, “You gave me room when I was in distress” (s. 4:1). You held space for me. You allowed my anguish to be heard. From my experience in ministry to young adults, I can attest that such “holding space,” such giving room for distress, for lament, for sorrow, is at the very heart…
On his newest album, The Glad Surprise, Steve Bell reaches out and grabs the heart, the imagination, the despair, the hope, the longing, the pathos and the eros of the soul . . . and that is all in the first song! What is a poor listener to do, but pour a glass of wine,…
They say that wisdom comes with age. It isn’t always true, but when we turn to Canadian singer-songwriter, Bruce Cockburn, such deep wisdom is all there on his stunningly beautiful 2023 album, O Sun O Moon (True North). By the artist’s own admission, this is a collection of songs written by an old man. But…
The teaching technology was primitive and the chalk dust was flying. The professor’s face had a thin coat of white and within minutes the board was full of diagrams, words, arrows, circles. When there was no more room on the blackboard, the professor, in his almost trance-like enthusiasm, moved to the walls and the fire…
“I am in awe of the poetic power of the scriptures, how you can’t approach the subject of God without metaphor.” So writes Bono late in his wide-ranging and engaging memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. The artist cannot tell his story, or the remarkable story of U2, apart from Christian faith, or apart from…
When it comes to books addressing the themes of home and homelessness, it is not surprising that memoir seems to be a pervasive genre. Home is, after all, rooted in story. The memories of significant events, foundational relationships, celebrations, the feel of the familial abode, the landscape of our youth, conjure up the feelings of…
At 76 years old, Bruce Cockburn is one of Canada’s most decorated musicians: 37 albums, 13 Junos and a recipient of the Order of Canada. As Cockburn makes his way around North America for his 50th anniversary tour (second attempt, due to covid), one of his encore songs may catch listeners by surprise. “When the…
The voice of God comes to you. Deep in your soul you know that this really is God. You are not given to the religious enthusiasm of “hearing God” speak to you in audible ways, nor do you suffer psychosis. Nonetheless, you have no doubt that this is God’s voice. But the voice says something…
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