It must have been about 1980 or so. The students had finished classes and exams. We teachers had meetings and then went home early. I stopped by a bookstore to pick up a set of Eerdman’s Handbook to the Bible to give each graduate as a gift. I put them in the trunk of our…
It is a good habit, even a spiritual discipline of sorts, to make careful provisions for the end of one’s life. Especially people with dependents should have a will and other documents in place in case they pass away unexpectedly. For me, the cold winter months seem like a good time to do some updating…
Snow settles like psalmson the cathedral of pines,each flake a whispered prayerin winter’s deep silence. Through frosted windowpanesI watch the sacred dance –crystalline choreographyof mercy falling soft and slow. The evergreens bowbeneath their white vestments,patient bearers of winter’s weight,keeping faithful vigil in the cold. And somewhere beneaththis blanket of grace,dormant seeds waitin their earthen chapel,…
Christmas may not look the same for me now that I’m blind, but it means even more than it used to. My memories of the season are blurred around the edges – the powder-white world is a little more grey, the sparkle of stars a little less bright – and while the lights of the…
Anniversaries have a way of shifting our perspective. They invite us to slow down and remember the road behind us, noticing what has changed and what has stayed the same. With Christian Courier marking its 80th year, I’ve been reflecting on nostalgia and memory: how the past shapes who we are today, and how God’s…
The water is cool. It always is. I hesitate on the second rung with my feet submerged. The air is cool, too, but the colour of the light convinced me to swim. Silver ripples on the water, golden light on the trees. This swim will last me all winter. My family’s church is connected to…
Who doesn’t love July – summer in all its youthful exuberance? Happy childhood memories waft into my mind on the warm breeze. I remember days floating on my back in Lake Erie’s waves, gazing into a sky so deeply blue I imagined it might swallow me whole. Or afternoons spent pumping hard on my bicycle,…
“Check it out,” says Jack. His cellphone screen displays a 1966 Massey Ferguson 165, exactly like the tractor we had when we started farming. “Gas?” I say, “Multi-power?” Jack nods vigorously. “Wow,” I say, duly impressed. “Yeah, and it’s a pretty good price compared to the others.” “Others?” Aha! There’s more to this conversation than…
It was tobacco harvesting time and the days were long, so the Hovius family was in bed early. At 9 p.m. they were startled awake by a loud knocking. It was the driver for Keillor Construction. He told them there had been an accident in Dresden, where their father, Enne, and their oldest brother, Wiebrand,…
In the work of faith and justice, we stand on the shoulders of faithful servants from previous generations. Arie Van Eek is one of this cloud of witnesses who Creator blessed us with for 91 years. Arie was the first Executive Secretary of the Council of Christian Reformed Churches in Canada (CCRCC). His affable and…
As daylight dwindled, I sat alone. The crickets chirped their lullaby. The campfire flickered gently. I savoured the peaceful evening and happily pondered the lively afternoon spent with our daughter Stephanie and her girls (ages 9, 7 and 5). September in Ontario had started off with a late summer heatwave and our grandkids enthusiastically churned…
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