Hello, Beach Metro News readers. I’m the newly-minted pastor at Calvary Baptist Church. We are located at the corner of Main Street and Benlamond Avenue – I am sure that many of you have passed us in your travels. As you can imagine, being invited to be the new spiritual leader of such a longstanding […]
I am drawn again and again to the idea of blessing. It is a word that I often use to close an email message. Every time I type it there is a hesitancy, as I wonder if I am being presumptuous. Does it sound as if I am trying to bestow God’s blessings? A blessing […]
Two inmates were laying on their bunks in their cell. The one on top remarked, “I don’t like being confined in this prison. Life is so unfair.” The inmate on the bottom responded, “We should change our perspective. We should think of this as more of a gated community!” When life is unfair, as it […]
Many of us at this time of year look at our gardens with a slight tinge of nostalgia. The plants are still gorgeous, but hey, we’re Canadians. We know that it’s October and winter is just around the corner. Some of us are already looking at seed catalogues, thinking about next spring, or wondering when […]
Do you worry about what your kids are eating? Or what your own diet is like? We are currently sharing our home with a delightful two-year-old and her mother, and food plays a significant role in this little girl’s life. She loves goldfish crackers and grapes and yogurt – sometimes all together. She’d probably eat […]
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission held its closing events in Ottawa from May 31 to June 3. In a completely unrelated event five years earlier, May 31, 2010, performance artist Marina Abramovic closed out her powerful exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, called Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present. Why place […]
Here’s a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don’t worry. Be happy. -Bobby McFerrin A couple weeks ago at the beginning of my Sunday talk at our church, I showed the music video to the classic Grammy-winning song, Don’t Worry, Be Happy. The video features Bobby McFerrin and […]
I travel on the TTC a lot. Meetings. Classes. Shopping. Visits. Out comes my Metropass and away I go. As our beautiful city grows in size and population I find it is becoming a challenge to get from one place to another. The calculations become more and more complex. Should I leave 15 minutes earlier […]
I was preparing this column when the Ottawa shootings took place, throwing Canada into a dark place of fear, confusion, and grief. The following day I received word from my brother in England that our stepmother had just died, ending a long and deeply ambivalent relationship within my family of origin. I’d been planning to […]
I was recently married. For most people that may not seem earth-shattering, but my partner and me were one of the 110 couples married at Casa Loma on June 26 during the World Pride ceremony. Yes, my spouse and I are same-gender: women. It was an amazing experience and our private ceremony captured the love […]
