Maybe you’ve seen the “I stand with farmers” bumper stickers or the tweets from celebrities like Rihanna. Maybe you drove past the hundreds of people protesting in Vancouver last December or the thousands in Toronto. Maybe more recently the protests in Brampton or Edmonton have stopped traffic for you. Or, like me, you came across…
Helen Bosch has been a CC subscriber for 60 years, since she arrived in Canada with her husband Gerald and five children from Friesland in 1961. “We lived with another Dutch family for six weeks in Nova Scotia before we could rent a house. They gave us a subscription to Calvinist Contact. From that time…
In 2020, the year of improbable hope, my sister told us she was pregnant and then the doctors told her that her baby boy would not live. A few months later I quit my jobs and flew to Florida.
These days when our focus is narrowed in on our own vicinity and the ever-changing pandemic in our own city and province, we want to invite you to walk in someone else’s shoes for a change. To accompany our February story “Wuhan, One Year Later” we asked Crystal, a photographer who lives in Southwest China,…
Malik Dieleman is a Toronto-based photographer and multidisciplinary artist. In this conversation we explore the process behind his fine art print series titled “Days of Creation”. In this conversation Malik explains the historical method of making cyanotype prints. He talks about how that process intersects with the Creation narrative and what it means to be…
Elise Arsenault is a writer and musician based in Hamilton, Ontario. She released an EP called “This is a Reunion” in the Summer of 2019 and is currently pursuing her Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Christian Courier talked with Elise about her music and…
Being heard, being seen, being witnessed – these are essential to human dignity and survival. In Genesis, an African slave woman stumbles in the desert, pregnant, with nowhere to go. God comes to her. She names him “the God who sees.” In Hosea, the holy city – God’s city – is ravaged. Personified as a woman, the city cries, “Who will be a witness to my affliction?”
I know it. He knows it. I am here only to serve one teriyaki chicken on steamed rice extra broccoli extra carrots, your meal is ready sir, you’re welcome. I may be the only human he speaks with face to face this week, this month.
The stories I grew up with linked oranges with Christmas and chocolate with Holland’s liberation. That smooth, sweet taste triggers memories for many Dutch people who lived to see the arrival of smiling Canadian soldiers and to hear the laughter of free people. What was Liberation in the Netherlands like, 75 years ago? Tiny Bolderheij smiles at the question.
Caution – doors are now closing. This pithy phrase, oft-repeated on trains, aptly describes our reality today. With the spread of coronavirus, international travel is shuddering to a halt. Borders are swinging shut. In March, Canada closed its borders to international arrivals with the belated exception of non-essential American citizens. Caution – borders are now closing. Mind the gap!
Listen: Our forefathers ate this meal in Egypt at night, in urgency, staff in hand, screams of grief ringing through the land. They ate matzah, roasted lamb and bitter herbs. What is matzah? Dry, flat pieces of unleavened bread. Now we lift the matzah high, recite: This is the bread of affliction / which our forefathers ate in the land of Egypt. / Let all those who are hungry come and eat with us . . . / This year we are still slaves. / Next year may we all be free.
One deep breath, then pull open the wooden door. That’s all it takes to slip into another world. The wooden door swings shut behind me and my senses are flooded: sunlight, incense, curved arches, candles, pastel icons, voices chanting in harmony, embroidered robes rustling. I forget to breathe in the thickness of the air. It is my first time in a Russian Orthodox cathedral. I am overwhelmed. I am amazed. I am uncomfortable.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
Uploaded Failed |  |
In uncertain times, we need hope-filled news!
