Devotionals
Resurgence
Here in winter, the days seem to finish before they have barely begun. I wake to a frozen world, stark trees immobile in iron-hard earth, all swathed in layers of snow. The only movement is ice crystals glittering in pale dawn light. Before I know it, the blue...
Facing Doubt, Finding Faith
He might have been called Thomas the realist, or skeptical Thomas. But Jesus Himself gave Thomas the title he would be known by down through the centuries -- doubting Thomas. The apostle refused to believe that the resurrected Jesus, whom he had seen crucified, had...
A Heart Revealed
He holds her hand, stroking the wrinkled, fragile skin with his thumb. She does not respond but he lifts her hand to his lips for a kiss anyway. In this peaceful moment before she sleeps, he remembers how her eyes once danced and her voice had a laughing lilt. She...
A Sense of Place
There is a phrase echoing around in my mind, easier to describe than to define ˗˗ sense of place. It is warm golden pine needles carpeting the ground, spicing the air with each cushioned footstep. It is shafts of sunlight dropped down through tree columns, alive with...
Are You Listening?
There is an expectancy of hope resonating throughout time. Can you hear it? A whisper, a murmur, a hum of anticipation beginning in a garden, rippling in a flood, rustling across a desert, then gaining volume in the voices of prophets. Someone is coming! History...
By Virtue and Valour
I can remember the smell of the Royal Canadian Navy ship on which my father sailed, a pungent blend of diesel fuel, marine paint and salty sea air. Once a year the crew’s families were invited onboard for a tour. My brothers and I clambered on the large guns mounted...
A Channel of Thanksgiving
I remember … my father coming home, tall and handsome in his navy uniform, setting down his bag full of gifts from far away places and sweeping me up in his arms. I remember my mother, lovely in a fresh summer dress, pearled and perfumed, her face aglow for her...
On the Wings of the Wind
When my cracked living room window was replaced last fall, I hardly expected it to impact my inner life. But it has, because now I have a window I can open to warm summer breezes, sounds of bird song and scents of freshly mowed grass and lilacs. A shy mourning dove...
Bridging the Gap
Crossing the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC gets my adrenaline pumping. After winding through the tall, sheltering trees of Stanley Park, traffic streams onto the soaring orange bridge arching over the Burrard Inlet. Suddenly substantial ground drops away, and...
God’s Country
A road trip I took a few years ago caused me to celebrate being part of this vast, diverse country of Canada. As I traveled across the fertile plains of southern Manitoba to the rolling green hills of central Saskatchewan, I felt proud to be a citizen of this...