My gut made me exercise
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My gut made me exercise

Many of us, when we reach a certain age, look down at our bodies and vow to make a change. We want to get thinner or become healthier, so we start an exercise program and hope it will extend for more than a few weeks. Our change in behaviour is a conscious act of will,…

What teens want their parents to ask 
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What teens want their parents to ask 

Dear Parents and Caretakers,  Something needs to be brought to your attention: your child needs you. This might seem obvious, but I think more time needs to be spent contemplating this statement. It is well known that Gen Zs are significant recipients of mental health struggles. Increased pressures – both academic and societal – as…

When Mysticism Becomes Medicine
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When Mysticism Becomes Medicine

Trauma has become one of the most exciting areas of medical research and therapeutic treatment today. Revolutionary discoveries about the mind-body unity of the human person are bringing hope to many people living with deeply embedded emotional and psychological pain. Books like The Body Keeps the Score by the Dutch scientist Bessel Van Der Kolk…

Our theology of suffering
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Our theology of suffering

For 15 years I have been working as a registered nurse both in Canada and abroad as a missionary in Malawi, East Africa. Recently, I began studying to get my master’s degree in nursing as a primary care Nurse Practitioner. This is a growing field in Canada, and I am excited about the potential for…

Deregulation of GMOs causes concern for Council of Churches
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Deregulation of GMOs causes concern for Council of Churches

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For three months last year, Health Canada invited feedback on new rules for “Novel Food Regulations” with a specific focus on plant breeding. Since 2006, the insertion of foreign DNA has triggered a Health Canada safety assessment of genetically modified plants and foods. As new genetic engineering techniques like CRISPR have been developed, plant breeders…

Dutch hearts, Greater risk
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Dutch hearts, Greater risk

“I found out that I am a carrier of PLN (Phospholamban) when I was 33 years old. I knew that I should be informed about my own health, but never did I think that finding out about it would take me to where I am now.” PLN, as this carrier discovered, is the gene that…

Breath and breathless
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Breath and breathless

The men (they are mostly men) arrive at the clinic and take their seats in the waiting room. It’s a nondescript medical office with a busy receptionist, examination rooms and various types of medical equipment. This clinic is unique, however, because the patients all arrive with a black nylon bag over their shoulders. Some of…

Sharing ‘the spare’
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Sharing ‘the spare’

Earlier this summer, Chad McDonald’s pastor changed Chad’s life. The method might surprise you: he did it by donating an organ. One working kidney was what stood between Chad MacDonald and renewed strength and health, and Pastor Joel Ringma was able to provide that life-changing donation. Less than a quarter of Canadians are living organ…

Three ways to garden around pain
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Three ways to garden around pain

“It’s not so hard to bend down; it’s getting back up again that’s the problem.” You may have heard others who share my distress at back, hip and leg pain. If you suffer from these infirmities, I offer three suggestions to help you continue working in your garden. The first is simple; go to your…

In the valley of the shadow of covid
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In the valley of the shadow of covid

Severe pain radiated from the left side of my chest. My lungs felt scraped raw; two rib joints were so swollen they protruded like giant knuckles. “It’s just inflammation from your body fighting covid. There’s nothing we can do,” the attending doctor said, after several tests had normal results. “Go home and rest. Take Advil.”…

‘Big Breath In’ Took my Breath Away
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‘Big Breath In’ Took my Breath Away

I didn’t really want to read George Keulen’s memoir Big Breath In about his journey with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and lung transplant. Don’t get me wrong – I love reading, and I enjoy a good memoir. But there’s something about people sharing their stories of these specific experiences that makes me feel vulnerable. I am…

The care and ethics of brain surgery
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The care and ethics of brain surgery

In the late 1960’S, when I was an undergraduate studying psychology at McGill, one of the topics discussed was Dr. Penfield’s work at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Dr. Penfield had discovered that for some forms of epilepsy, small areas of the brain caused the seizures, and if he surgically removed these areas, the patient’s seizures…