Christmas Oranges
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Christmas Oranges

My childhood church Christmas pageants ended with the distribution of treat bags to all the children. Capping a collection of nuts, hard Christmas candies, and chocolate drops was a mandarin orange. As a child I first searched for the longest cinnamon-flavoured ribbon and counted the number of chocolate drops; only later would my attention turn…

Return to the body
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Return to the body

It was awkward and wonderful at the same time. For 18 months our college community had functioned at a distance – with online classes, virtual prayer times and Zoom worship services. The building had been unnaturally quiet, and the dust had settled in the chapel. But there we were, on September 8, 2021, gathered for…

How COVID has strained our friendships

How COVID has strained our friendships

Best friends for 30 years no longer seeing each other because one person isn’t vaccinated. Anger after someone mentions an interesting article about anti-vaxxers that feels like judgement, and the friends stop talking. No matter where you stand on the vaccine debate, just about everyone has a tale of tension among friends during the pandemic….

Floods and shortages add to transportation woes
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Floods and shortages add to transportation woes

Like the Joni Mitchell song, the agri-food industry sometimes doesn’t know what it’s got until it’s gone. That’s especially true nowadays with the issues plaguing us in transporting our farm products across the country and around the world. While we appreciate the work that truckers and shippers do all the time, lately we’ve had to…

The blessed work ahead
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The blessed work ahead

These are lonely times. Not just because many of us are still navigating pandemic restrictions and limitations, either. We’re more isolated than any time in recent memory. Academia is no safe harbour from that loneliness – it’s as prevalent there as it is in the rest of society. That’s rather ironic, given the origins of…

Post-pandemic, should schools still go all-in on technology?
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Post-pandemic, should schools still go all-in on technology?

This month report cards will be going home to parents, assessing how well their children have caught up from more than a year of disrupted learning. Now that we’re back in the classrooms, I’m wondering – along with other teachers – about the long-term effects of our virtual education experiment. Anecdotal evidence suggests that during…

A Light to the Lonely
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A Light to the Lonely

On Thanksgiving Monday, Peter Elgersma and his family rolled up their sleeves to cook for Richmond Hill Community Christian Reformed Church’s second “to-go” thanksgiving dinner. I chatted with Elgersma, a CC board member, about the dinner. Peter and his family, five in total, volunteered to cook and individually package 150 meals for the church’s 28th…

Educators in a dangerous time
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Educators in a dangerous time

Independent schools in Ontario are hurting from the lack of public funding for COVID 19 relief. To keep their students safe, individual schools are footing the bill – where they are able. That’s why Woodland Christian High School in Breslau, Ontario, is part of a group of three independent schools taking the Ontario government to…

Research & Ethics

Research & Ethics

Did you see how quickly the COVID-19 vaccines were developed? Vaccine approval is a complex process, but these vaccines made it through in record time. It shows what can be done when the world comes together around a deadly medical problem; these are among the safest and best reviewed vaccines we have. The research community…

The antivax tantrum

The antivax tantrum

Canadian anti-vaccination activists have been throwing a tantrum. They’ve been blockading hospitals. During the election they were throwing gravel at political events. Yelling and swearing at candidates. Vandalizing candidates’ personal property and election signs. They say it’s because they’ve been “pushed too far.” They say that the government is limiting freedom. They claim they want…

The Virus Ninja
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The Virus Ninja

Before the pandemic, Dr. Benjamin tenOever was used to blank stares after telling people he worked in virology. But now that virus research and vaccine technology are crucial in stopping the spread of COVID-19 – not to mention prevalent in our everyday vocabulary – that has changed dramatically. TenOever no longer has to explain his…

Live music & antibodies

Live music & antibodies

In early August, CBC reported “B.C. COVID-19 cases surge in young people as health officials urge more people to get vaccinated.” In that report, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said 95 percent of people who have COVID-19 right now in B.C. have not been vaccinated or have received only one dose. As a result…