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‘It’s Always About the Land’

Someone at church once asked me, “Just what do you people want anyway?” Well, first, maybe don’t call us “you people.” We Indigenous people actually expect a lot from Canada, because a lot was taken from us, and a burden was placed on us that we have carried for centuries. We expect Canada will negotiate government to government, ours to theirs. We expect healing of our identity that has been so shattered, mostly by the residential schools and the Sixties Scoop. We also expect an end to the persistent cycles of racism in Canadian society.

Psalm 8 Includes Computers
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Psalm 8 Includes Computers

The moon and stars, flocks and herds, wild animals, birds and fish. Psalm 8 lists each of these as part of God’s creation. But how do computers fit into creation?

Lo and Behold

Lo and Behold

The first speech I ever gave as a schoolteacher was called “Seeing Things,” in which I asserted that “believing is seeing.” I was trying to help the hearers “see” in a way which is shaped with the lens of Christianity.

A Strange and Worthy Wonder
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A Strange and Worthy Wonder

MOST ENCOUNTERS with insects involve the chemicals invented to repel them from our bodies and our homes. With termites, our instinctive repulsion prevents most of us from ever examining the nuances of their behaviour; instead, they squat in the subterranean pits of both reality and imagination as undistinguished globs, wholeheartedly deserving extermination.

From Artisanry to Creation Care
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From Artisanry to Creation Care

BRITISH AUTHOR Robert Penn writes fascinating, unique explorations of common artifacts, which, coming from less adroit hands and minds, would be cliche.

Winter birdsong

Winter birdsong

Small singing birds make me think of prayer. I’m not sure if it’s the metaphor of prayers as birds that attracts me or the thought that prayer and birdsong might be twinned. Which is more fitting?

Wild
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Wild

Over the month of June, we’d been participating in the Wildlife Trusts 30 Days Wild Challenge. Each day, we committed to do – or see or find – something wild. It didn’t need to be ambitious; it could be something right on our doorstep. The point was to notice.

A new Noah’s ark? How about a renewed Garden of Eden
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A new Noah’s ark? How about a renewed Garden of Eden

If humanity’s two original callings were to name the animals and to serve/keep the garden, then protecting marshlands and their myriad species is a gloriously human vocation.

A wealth of wilderness
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A wealth of wilderness

At camp, I discovered a beauty that keeps going.

Our long walk
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Our long walk

That’s how prayer works, I thought. Prayer is holding hands.

What are you not seeing?
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What are you not seeing?

For so many years, I missed this annual wave of feathers and song. While I have always enjoyed watching common backyard birds (finches, cardinals, jays, juncos and chickadees), I assumed that beautiful, multi-colored birds were a unique preserve of more tropical regions.

Microcosm equivalence
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Microcosm equivalence

The God who so loved the cosmos, no doubt loves the micro-cosmos, too.