Good Friday and the important travel companion
Can you believe that I proposed to my wife in a cemetery? It wasn’t premeditated. We went for a walk and ended up there. That’s when it felt right. I got down on one knee like a sentimentalist and said, “This is where it starts and this is where it ends.” The line just came…
Reta-coloured lenses
I’m not sure what happened over the past two years. Maybe I finally accepted that it’s over. We’ve passed the point of no return. Climate change; democracy collapse; and the death of common sense, dialogue and civility. This is our reality and it seems beyond repair. Perhaps it’s only my illusions about such things that…
Solitude and community
Almost 400 years ago, the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote, “All of humanity’s problems stem from [people’s] inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Pascal was probably being hyperbolic, but he was making a profound point, one that aligns with something I discovered and wrote about during my own recent season of…
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes
I’ve never seen mist move in so quickly. A multitude of mysterious wisps just appeared out of nowhere, advancing swiftly across the rolling hills before me like an army of ghosts. It was stunning, haunting, beautiful. I put my jacket and boots on, then stepped outside to wander through it, to feel it rushing by.…
What do I miss about church?
After a month in the woods by myself, my sabbatical plan is to spend three months listening to people who aren’t a part of church culture, to see how they view church and understand why they don’t go to church. My initial sabbatical plan was to do a bunch of typical sabbatical stuff, but COVID-19…
Into the woods
Tomorrow I’m driving to a log cabin in remote northern Quebec to spend a month in the woods by myself. That said, I’m not exactly roughing it. The cabin has electricity, a kitchen, a bathroom and what looks like a comfortable bed. The purpose of this adventure isn’t to prove I can survive in the…
It’s about to get weird
I was about to take a shower, and for some reason, I looked at myself in the mirror. Rookie mistake. You see, I’ve gained 5.5 kilograms in the last year and, without access to my local gym and trainer for the past 13 months, I’ve lost some muscle mass. As I gazed upon my reflection,…
Being, doing and becoming
I’m sure you’ve heard the sayings, “We are not human doings, we are human beings,” “Just be,” or “Stop doing and start being.” I appreciate the sentiment behind these statements, but what do they mean? What does it mean to stop doing? Stop doing what exactly? Everything? Your lungs breathe, that’s what they do. Your…
‘Truth balm’
You are at the centre of every experience you’ve ever had. You’re hard wired to be self-centred. It’s your default setting because, from your relative position, you are the centre of the universe. Most of us eventually come to understand that our perspective is limited to our own experience of reality, which only accounts for…
Are you okay with okay?
It’s been a while since you dared listen to the whispers of your innermost being, calling you to discover who you truly, fully are. That inner voice suggesting there is a power at work within you capable of doing far greater things than you could ever hope for or imagine. But hope is a dangerous…
