Monday morning and there’s another sad story: a person who vocally opposed vaccinations for COVID-19 has died from the disease. Before dying, the patient tells loved ones, “Get vaccinated.” I doubt that these stories do much to change the minds of people who are firmly against COVID vaccinations. What does bother me, however, is the…
Last month, I told you about an AI program that can predict protein shapes. Just like the letters that make up a word, the amino acid chain makes up a protein, and the 3D shape it forms determine what a protein does in the body. If one of the amino acids changes, the shape changes…
Our bodies hold a mystery at the molecular level: how do the chains of amino acids that make up all our proteins fold into 3D shapes? When your body uses proteins, it does not read them from one end of the chain to another (like it does for DNA, or like we do when we…
Father, comfort and sustain our health care workers in these horrendous days. Protect them and their families and friends from the worldwide pandemic. Give them courage and hope. When they are overwhelmed and exhausted, give them respite and rest. In a profession where the standards are so high, help them forgive themselves when the workload…
COVID-19 has achieved one positive change that four decades of advocacy failed to achieve. It has forced society to recognize that care work is essential and needs to be considered part of a well-functioning economy. Care work can be broadly described as work, paid or unpaid, that helps others meet their basic needs. The pandemic…
Canadian faith leaders have an important role to play in promoting COVID-19 vaccines, including helping their members overcome vaccine hesitancy. That was the message Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, delivered to more than 1,300 participants of an online information event last Wednesday. The event was arranged by the Canadian Council of Churches, Canadian…
As Christians, you would think we’d be ahead of the curve when it comes to self-care. So many directives for taking care of our bodies and minds can be found also as biblical directives.
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My father served for many years on the Council of his Christian Reformed Church. Meetings were held every Tuesday evening. Every Wednesday morning when, leaving our house for school, my Dad’s suit coat would be hanging on the wash line outside. My Mom refused to have him wear it into the house when he came home late from his meeting because it reeked of smoke.
“You know, our culture venerates heroes who go on fighting till the end, whether on the battlefield or in a hospital bed. Sometimes, though, retreat is the better part of valour, especially if that retreat avoids unnecessary suffering and leads to new life. I’ve fought this cancer for 13 years. I’m ready to retreat to be with my Lord.”
A couple weeks back, laid up from that daycare-derived sinus infection, my thoughts turned theological. I tend to be the sort that binges Netflix while convalescing, but occasionally a moment of mystical clarity intrudes (abetted, I’m sure, by the psychotropic properties of Advil Cold & Sinus), and well, when that happens, I let it take me by the hand.
I enjoy the writing I do for various Christian publications. As each deadline approaches I pray that I’ll be given something worthwhile to say, which will in some way give glory to God.
“Our job is to listen.” That’s how Margaret Johnston-Jones summarizes the role of the chaplain in the hospital. It’s not about preaching to people or trying to convert them.
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