“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing,” quipped George Bernard Shaw. Well, few of us set out to make mistakes intentionally, and they may not feel quite as useful while we’re making them as they do in hindsight, but they are inescapable. If … Continue reading Mistake I Wish I’d Made
On the west side of the Manitoba Legislative Building, there stands a monument to the “Famous Five” – five Alberta women, including former Manitoban Nellie McClung, who petitioned the courts to recognize women as “persons” – something that seems obvious to us, but which was not recognized in Canadian law until 95 years ago – … Continue reading Decreed on Paper, Cast in Bronze
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by negative things that happen, to rebel against things we don’t like, to push back on others to compel them to act (or even believe) in certain ways. We criticize others – our family and neighbours, this group or that, sometimes society as a whole – and this can lead … Continue reading On the Plus Side
“When you can’t change the direction of the wind, adjust your sails,” advised H. Jackson Brown. Over the summer, Canada sailed into a full-blown tempest in its trade negotiations with the United States, and people are naturally anxious about what this storm will mean for the economies of both countries. Trade negotiations are not simply … Continue reading Trade Winds and Tempests
“It has been borne upon me again and again that, to many, the chance of a vacation does not even come,” lamented Horace Westwood one summer while he was serving All Souls Church, when he would spend his summers at Winnipeg Beach. He believed it was essential for everyone to enjoy an opportunity to detach … Continue reading Margins of Leisure
Last month, Canada conducted its quinquennial census and the public response ranged from amusing to disturbing. My only disappointment was that I received the short-form census, as I have every year of my life, because I would have happily completed the long form. I’m a fan of the census because I believe in evidence-based decision … Continue reading Counting Yourself In
In The Future of Faith, Harvard theologian Harvey Cox boldly announced “the unanticipated resurgence of religion in both public and private life around the globe,” while cautioning that there was a “a profound change in the elemental nature of religiousness.” Although this offered a brief glimmer of hope to many church leaders, they overlooked his … Continue reading The Changing Landscape of Religion
Warfare is the height of folly, yet we cannot point to any time in history when war wasn’t raging somewhere on earth. So-called ‘Just War theory’ seeks to establish four pillars to vindicate armed conflict – just cause, legitimate authority, last resort, and proportionality – but Erasmus correctly showed that this theory is largely a … Continue reading The Limits of War
“I have opened my mind to the open air of the universe, to things as they are,” affirmed naturalist John Burroughs. “Our life depends from moment to moment upon the air we breathe, yet its winds and tempests may destroy us; it depends from day to day upon the water we drink, yet its floods … Continue reading An Ode to the Open Air
Even though it may be quite impossible for us to accept the physical resurrection of Jesus as a fact of history, we may yet accept the Easter myth as it has come down to us – a curious mix of pagan rites and Jewish festivals, Christian legends and folk traditions – as a reminder of … Continue reading Rise Again
