In early spring of this year, I traipsed around to various dry cleaners and tailor shops in Montreal, looking for scraps of fabric. When I entered a shop and made my request, the staff invariably look at me oddly: “You want leftover scraps of fabric?!” In most cases they eventually granted my request and I…
A wave of crows accompanied us each morning as Reuben and I walked to his bus stop. The birds flew low overhead by the tens and hundreds, cawing and wheeling as they went. They were flying from their roosting site on the Saint Jacques escarpment near our house toward a large landfill in Laval. Reuben…
A few weeks ago I made a telephone call to a courthouse here in Quebec. It was an important matter, involving questions I rarely have to think about in English, let alone in French. I asked the Clerk whether we could speak in English. This led to a series of questions since, with the recent…
This photo is a favorite of mine. It is a selfie of sorts, taken with my dad in 2018 at the Waterloo Clay and Glass Museum, down the road from where my parents live. The exhibit was a 30-year retrospective of the work of Susan Low-Beer, a Toronto-based sculptor and artist who has exhibited widely…
The relationship between the church and surrounding culture is a complicated one. Many questions arise as we relate to the world. What good can we affirm in the wider culture? What is potentially dehumanizing about our society? Are we entangled with our culture in unhelpful ways? What has our culture gotten right about human flourishing…
A friend recently went on a book-buying spree as an act of protest. A couple of hours after setting out to a used bookstore, she appeared outside my office. Her arms were piled with children’s books by Roald Dahl. She invited me to pick out one that I might like – I went with Matilda. Here…
Over the past two days there has been unfolding news of devastation in Syria and Turkey. Early in the morning of February 6, while most were at home sleeping, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the region – followed by a major aftershock 12 hours later. I write these words on the evening of February 7 and there…
For two weeks this past fall, I lived my life in translation. This was not my first time in Taiwan, but from the moment I landed in Taipei I was aware that most of my encounters and experiences involved mediation. Often this was through the kind and gracious work of translators – those who worked…
Deconstruction is a couple of generations old now. It was originally formulated by Jacques Derrida in the late 1960’s to express the complexity of our relationship to our cultural traditions. It meant accepting that our confident knowing had to be reassessed. Today, deconstruction is having another moment in the spotlight. Specifically, among those who inhabit…
There is a grandfather clock in my office at the college – a careful piece of craftsmanship that likely dates from the 18th century and which seems to have crossed the Atlantic from Scotland. Its face features hand-painted thistles and its case has a thin and now delicate mahogany veneer. Alas its mechanisms are seized…
There is a question that looms for pastors, elders and other church leaders this year. The last time we had to answer it was in 2016 and the next time will be in 2033. Should we cancel worship services on Sunday, December 25th? Most Presbyterian congregations normally hold services on Christmas Eve rather than on…
Where to start with the foods I’ve enjoyed eating over past weeks? There was pan-seared (Alaskan) halibut with pesto pasta and roasted cherry tomatoes. Bircher muesli for breakfast with fresh blueberries. Moose Tracks ice cream (thank you, Kawartha Dairies!). Fresh scones with butter and a warm cup of coffee. Thinking of this wonderful food only…
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