The Valley of the Shadow of Death by Brita Miko
As I would walk in Vancouver’s downtown eastside, occasionally I would get a sense that I was walking through the valley of the shadow of death. There was the crying of sirens, which would spike right after welfare cheques came. The cries hear throughout the streets...
I See Jesus by Michelle Wiebe-Santschi
I see Jesus all the time. I saw Him today. in the Bible. He was teaching and preaching. He was healing the sick and raising the dead. He was loving people and forgiving them of their sins. He was performing miracles. He was leading his followers into a new way of...
Contemplative Christianity: Rediscovering the Ancient Paths by Ron Dart
“What the world needs from the church is not busy people but deep people.”—Richard Foster “Take away the life lie of the average person, and you take away their happiness.”—Henrik Ibsen There has been a growing interest, in the last few decades, in the contemplative...
Contemplative Christianity and Interfaith Dialogue by Ron Dart
“East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” —Rudyard Kipling The 1960s was a period of time in which many important ideas were being questioned, many time tried ways doubted and many new ideas brought to front stage. Three...
Merton and Nouwen: Vive la Difference by Jeff Imbach
Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen were two of the most read and best loved spiritual writers of the twentieth century. Each published a prodigious stream of books and articles, and their readers span the ecumenical spectrum. It is no wonder then that they are often...
Do I Know You? by Bladerunner
I wait upon the LORD, Voices tell me there is no way, Rushing, crashing, falling, diving, The thoughts invade my day. I cry unto the LORD, Love unfailing washing my all, Shame, pride, rejection, fear, The winter winds enjoy my fall. I sing unto the LORD, My...
Why I am (try to be) Consistently Pro-Life by Wayne Northey
During World War II, famed literary scholar and “mere Christian” C.S. Lewis delivered a lecture to a pacifist society entitled, “Why I am Not a Pacifist”. From a writer whose pen could never be dull, this piece was Lewis’ authorial nadir. It is akin to Bertrand...
A Reflection–Allegiance by Joram
Here I sit in the legislative reading room in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is easy, being inside this grand structure, to feel that this Provincial Government, this country, is much greater than one person. That for one person to give themselves to this would be natural and...
Riding Along on an Inward Journey… a challenge to self by Joram
Self discipline. Procrastination. Will. Fear. Commitment. What do they have in common? Me. You. Our constant companions weaving in a convoluted tension; an elaborate dance often ending no further than where it began. Nike said “Just do it!” Arnold said “Do it! Do it...
Of Rainbows, Life, and Leprechauns by Joram
When you think of a rainbow what first comes to mind? Beautiful colors? A covenant with man? A drunken, chubby leprechaun furtively attempting to hide a pot of gold? (Who carries gold around in pots anyways? I mean, really.) In life we often remember the “good” and...