Birds on a wire
Look at this branch they made for us. / So what if they forgot the leaves? / We can always build a nest somewhere else. / You have to love the face / that it joins one tree to the next, / and that it lies perfectly straight.
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Art | Arts & Culture | News
Creation through the eyes of five artists
Redeemer’s art gallery is reopening after summer renovations with the exhibit The Book of Nature, featuring five artists’ work inspired by God’s creation. The exhibit includes oil paintings, textile art, woodcut prints, cyanotype images and mixed media artwork incorporating found objects. Bullet holes in the sky “The Book of Nature means, for me, the natural…
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The art of ornitheology
In Matthew 6, Jesus told us to “look at the birds of the air” for lessons that birds can teach us about ourselves and God’s care for us. The word “ornitheology” was coined by theologian and avid birdwatcher John Stott, blending together ornithology (the study of birds) with theology (the study of God). It’s a…
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Sunrise, sunset
I’ve always thought of algorithms as those sneaky things that monitor my every move online. Oh, it’s for a noble purpose – to filter the information and conveniently present the most relevant material, right? There’s no denying it’s easier than ever to find answers to burning questions like, “Who invented ice cream?” or “How old…
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The birdwatching boom
“When I was a kid I think [birdwatching] was perceived as uncool by most young people, and most participants were doing it as a retirement pastime and social activity,” Caleb Scholtens, a 27-year-old birdwatcher and ecologist from Hamilton, Ontario, told Christian Courier. “Now I feel like the concept of ‘uncoolness’ has weakened and people are…
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Return of the rodent
When we bought Eskerhazy Farm in 1991, we had an active beaver colony living on the northwest corner of the property. They had created a large pond which was full of all sorts of wildlife, from shoveler ducks, mallards and teal to muskrats and a moose with her calf, the two of them standing up…
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A kaleidoscope of joy
There are moments in life – profoundly ordinary and yet captivatingly beautiful moments – when all my senses are engaged. They converge into a kaleidoscope of things intangible, but exquisite; immanent, but somehow just beyond reach. It’s that walk in the woods, for instance, when last year’s leaves softly squish under each footstep. Ferns and…
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Chimps at war
The news is filled with reports of wars and conflicts, in which modern weapons inflict widespread death and suffering. And those are just the conflicts that reach our feeds. We live in a time when small, local conflicts are increasing. Wars affect millions of civilians, both adults and children. Humans are, unfortunately, experts in the…
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Trail napping
I’m often overwhelmed. Too much on the go, too much to do, and too much to keep track of. If it’s not stemming from work-related ambitions and responsibilities, it’s stemming from emotions I fear or am uncertain how to navigate. Recently, I was feeling particularly overwhelmed. I was nearing the end of a degree, working…
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What makes a book ‘Christian’?
I generally dislike allegory. I’m in good company. J.R.R. Tolkien once said, “I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.” I never could connect with Pilgrim’s Progress. Nevertheless, I have no problem with the allegorical elements of Godhanger by…
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A case of mistaken translation
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. (Matt. 10:29 NIV) Recently, I was reading an article about the comprehensive nature of God’s care for creation. Under the heading of God’s sovereignty, the article referenced the quote from…
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Learning to breathe
Sometimes the world forgets to breathe, / so we quietly breathe for her; / we move the leaf blocking the light / from a tiny sapling of fir; / we hush as movements in the trees / cause rustling and the grass to stir; / allow fauna to roam in peace, / their peaceful footsteps soft and sure.
