New ways of doing good
I had to make my way past the sombre line-up of people waiting for welfare cheques at the band office. It was awful. I worked in the office of a northern first nation, and once a month I had to squeeze past the indignity, shame and hopelessness that silently clogged the front entrance. That highlighted…
More-with-Less cookbook gets a new look
The 40th-anniversary edition of the More-with-Less cookbook, with its many full-page photographs, has an updated and more sophisticated look. Rather than simple black-and-white pages, it has moved to a full-colour format, designed to appeal to the eye. Although most of the recipes are the same, the layout has been reorganized, and the tips for eating…
Church growth the result of actions, not words
Recently, I have become curious about the life of the early church. What did its members believe? What did they preach and what did they practise? More to the point, what did they do that made the church grow? We read of no great missionaries spreading the Word after the time of the apostles. Yet…
Learning from the ‘teachers of trust’
If a person has a body that is physically and intellectually disabled, is it ethically right to use technology to keep that body small and childlike so that it is easier to care for? As Jason Reimer Greig addresses this question, he explores the meaning of life. He argues that, while modern society has come…
Questions answered without words
Poetry has always spoken to me. Whether it is the blank verse of Shakespeare, the doubling images of Hebrew scripture, or the lyrics of song, popular or otherwise. But I had not found the time for regular reading and contemplation until a spiritual director on an eight-day silent retreat suggested that my spiritual path sounded…
Pennsylvania Dutch a language with merit
Pennsylvania Dutch has often been ridiculed and viewed as a corrupted German dialect with a mishmash of English words, but author Mark Louden argues that it is actually a distinct language with a proud heritage. The fact that it continues to be spoken, living for hundreds of years within an English-language society, makes it quite…
Shenk adds to Christian-Muslim dialogue
David W. Shenk’s latest book, Christian. Muslim. Friend.: Twelve Paths to Real Relationship, comes at an opportune time for Canadian Christians, since the country has received more than 25,000 refugees from Syria since last fall. While Syria is a multi-faith society, the majority of these refugees are Muslim. Statistics Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey listed…
Future of the church appears grim
Following in the footsteps of Reginald Bibby, sociologist Joel Thiessen examines how Canadians of today view Christianity. In his book The Meaning of Sunday, he concludes that religion is increasingly being pushed to the margins of society and is regarded as less important as the years go by. Canadians tend to believe that religion should…
Unpacking seven myths about youth sports
We just dipped our toe into the world of youth sports by signing our seven-year-old son, Sam, up for a T-ball team. Last summer he discovered a love for baseball and loves playing in the backyard with his little sister and my husband. He even sleeps with his baseball glove, so joining a team seemed…
War is ‘development in reverse’
Disarming Conflict: Why Peace Cannot be Won on the Battlefield. By Ernie Regehr. Between the Lines Books, 2015, 217 pages. War does not resolve conflict, says Ernie Regehr in his recent book, Disarming Conflict. He examines the wars of the last 25 years and concludes that while military force can win battles and can cause…
