Loss and connection in the time of covid

Loss and connection in the time of covid

I met James in 2008 when I interviewed him for a job. He was about my age. He had a son about my son’s age. He was recently divorced, too, just like me. He liked politics, Star Trek, old movies and NFL football, and I liked three out of four of those things, too. It…

Old Frisian Freedom
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Old Frisian Freedom

I own a copy of the two-volume edition of the 24 volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary (O.E.D.) in a slipcase with a magnifying glass in a little drawer on top, needed since the print is exceedingly small. In looking up the word freedom, the dictionary refers me back to the word free since freedom…

When the gospel is hijacked
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When the gospel is hijacked

As I walked through downtown Ottawa in early February, I was disturbed by signs saying ‘God Supports the Truckers’ and ‘Stand Up for God’. Leaders of the blockade spoke statements of hate and lines from the Lord’s Prayer in the same breath. Prayer sessions were mixed with calling down God’s judgment on a restaurant worker…

Harvesting hope in a season of drought
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Harvesting hope in a season of drought

In 2020, the fallout of the covid-19 pandemic brought with it a dramatic increase in global hunger. Ongoing war and conflict continued to impact people’s food security. Changing weather patterns also resulted in an increase in floods, droughts and other natural disasters, leaving vulnerable families struggling to meet their food needs. Canadian Foodgrains Bank works…

The covid blues

The covid blues

For nearly two years now the globe has endured a series of lockdowns and emergency measures occasioned by the covid-19 pandemic. Until recently, I treated this as a temporary blip in our lives, assuming that we would soon be returning to normal. Earlier this year, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that masking mandates would be…

Cultural war and peace
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Cultural war and peace

How did it come to this? Eighteen months after citizens were banging pots and waving banners in support of health care workers, parliament had to pass a new law to stop abusive attacks as doctors enter hospitals. Over Christmas, public pressure was needed to take down a social media offer of a monetary reward for…

Let’s do covid together
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Let’s do covid together

I look across the room at him and smile. He’s sporting a Wolverine-type look, hair bushy along the jawline, absent on the chin for when he wears a mask to teach math. We’ve been married more than 18 years and we’re like salt and pepper; me with my soft, quiet mannerisms, him with his loud…

Introducing the winners of CC’s ‘Map and Mend’ Art & Poetry contest

Introducing the winners of CC’s ‘Map and Mend’ Art & Poetry contest

During our Fall 2021 Art and Poetry Contest, we were delighted to receive contest entries related to our “map and mend” theme from digital art to pencil crayon, from well-established artists to people trying blackout poetry for the first time! Scroll down to find the five contest winners and three honourable mentions. First place for…

Praise God for vaccines
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Praise God for vaccines

In the spring of 2019, I was diagnosed with superficial bladder cancer. The cancerous growth was surgically removed but reappeared nine months later and removed again. My surgeon suggested follow-up treatment at Edmonton’s Cross Cancer Clinic for BCG immunotherapy. BCG stands for Bacillis-Calmette-Guerin. BCG was developed by French doctors Albert Calmette and Camille Guerin in…

Scientists & wise Men
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Scientists & wise Men

The standard models that physics uses to explain the cosmos have some unresolved issues. If we consider only ordinary matter, for example, galaxies are not heavy enough to prevent them from spinning apart, given how fast they rotate. There is simply not enough matter-based gravity to hold them together. This problem with galaxies is one…

What church is this?
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What church is this?

The sound of carols playing in the shopping malls and coffee shops is a sure sign that Christmas is coming. “Do You Hear What I Hear?,” “Mary Did You Know?,” and “What Child is This?” are familiar questions that help us ready our hearts and minds for what’s to come. One of the unspoken questions…

Pa-rum-pa-pum-pum
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Pa-rum-pa-pum-pum

It was an annual tradition back in my days at College Street Public School. Every Friday morning from mid-November until Christmas break, the whole school – grades one through eight – crammed into a makeshift auditorium. We had no gym back then, only two adjacent classrooms with a removable wall between them. Chairs and desks…