words. faith. identity.
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A boy’s lot and luck (Sex Ed and Ice Fishing)
I really like this piece I wrote for the Christian Courier a few years back. Why not pin it! ______________________ As we rattle and rush across the icy surface of Lake Simcoe I look out the porthole window of the Bombardier R12, watching the snowy world blow by. It’s like being transported in a school…
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Autumn Parish
We walk a route on streets we name and know,past gardens tucked and put to winter’s bed,through brilliant leaves that dance and drift aglowand carpet now the homeward path we tread.The time and space of life thus circumscribed,we live our span as strength and health allowbut chafe at limit strict these years implyand wish our…
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Thanksgiving in Threes
A prayer for thanksgiving. O Living God, you who are Three-in-One and One-in-Three, we give thanks and praise for your abundant gifts—your mercy and grace. We give thanks… For friends who challenge, bless, and care.For books that confound, enlighten, and teach.For scriptures that nourish, correct, and upbuild.For Jesus, who heals, forgives, and saves.For ancestors of…
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A few shots from summer…
A few of my favorite photographs from this summer—from Charlevoix and from the Lachine Rapids, here in Montreal.
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Sonnet 1 – Billings Lake
Retreating glaciers carved the earth below,to leave a quilt of lakes upon the land,where winding threads of river shining flow,and birch and elm and pine take up their stand.Canoe, our passage in this ancient world,On bright-eyed morn, the water dark and glass,Wood paddle stroke creates a gentle swirl,The sunrise, pink orange blue, on surface cast.The…
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Public Proclamation. Yikes!
Hazel Motes is the main character in Flannery O’Connor’s 1952 novel Wise Blood. Hazel Motes is a street preacher of the kind that is rare today and perhaps hard for us to imagine. He stands outside movie theatres, and on the hood of his old car, proclaiming his gospel—he competes with other hawkers of religion…
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Month of Crows
Crows have long held a fascination for humans. My own interest in them goes back to those morning walks to the bus stop. In my mind, September is the month of return to school and also the month of crows.
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Bonjour-Hi
A few weeks ago I made a telephone call to a courthouse here in Quebec. It was an important matter, involving questions I rarely have to think about in English, let alone in French. I asked the Clerk whether we could speak in English. This led to a series of questions since, with the recent…
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Sculpture Selfies
My latest in the Christian Courier (June) ___________ This photo is a favorite of mine. It is a selfie of sorts, taken with my dad in 2018 at the Waterloo Clay and Glass Museum, down the road from where my parents live. The exhibit was a 30-year retrospective of the work of Susan Low-Beer, a…
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Breath and Breathless
My latest in the Christian Courier… __________________ It is good to celebrate our embodied life in God’s creation. 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…
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Redemption on the 58
A short story about a bus ride, momentum and mercy. It had been another frustrating day in the lab, and I just wanted to get home. To grab a beer, drop onto the couch and watch another few episodes of Vikings of Valhalla on Netflix. A perfect segue to the weekend. “How many times can…
Got any book recommendations?
encrusted words 