Wrestling with Shifting Faith in a Restless World
“Every child, every person needs to know that they are a source of joy; every child, every person, needs to be celebrated. Only when all of our weaknesses are accepted as part of our humanity can our negative, broken self-images be transformed.” ~Jean Vanier, Becoming Human Dear Jean, After a 4:30am wakeup call,…
“Compassion is not only relevant to those who are blameless victims, but also to those whose suffering stems from failures, personal weakness, or bad decisions. You know, the kind you and I make every day.” – Kristin Neff, Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind I’m sitting on the Embarcadero, San Francisco, watching…
Fluidity is beautiful. I remember the first time I came into contact with this word. In fact, I remember the exact day. I had purchased a copy of a book. “Sexual Fluidity, Understanding Women’s Love and Desire.” I saw in a bookstore in 2010. I cracked it open in a coffee shop, and I dared […]…
Dear Jean, Julian of Norwich, in her Showings, wrote “But Jesus, who in this vision informed me of all that is needed by me, answered with these words and said: ‘It was necessary that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be…
I haven’t had a break in nearly eight months. Last year I dove into full-time seminary studies as well as full-time work. The overtime I’d banked from working during the Fort McMurray fire evacuation allowed me that. It wasn’t the ideal decision, but it was the most expedient one. I made sure, however, that I…
This silent prairie morning will explode into an irrational flurry of colourful vestments, litanies, songs, and the tender laying on of hands The day will burn on, hot and furious, (even as the church is quiet, peopled with intense gazes) and will raise a fire of “Now! Now! After twenty five years of toil, loss,…
Dear Jean, I sat down with my long-term care residents yesterday for our last spirituality group together. Oh they’ll still meet next week, and for many more many weeks thereafter, with another chaplain to dig into the important things in life; but I will have finished my First Basic Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education by…
