There Was No One At All (01/30/06 - 12 Comments)
It was just about a year ago that I first posted an article about my Aunt Nancy, a woman who was the subject of a popular, mysterious song written decades ago. Every few months I find myself reflecting once more on the life of my aunt. Despite having something else I had planned on writing for today, it just seemed right to me to spend some time editing an article I wrote last year. For...
When I Grow Up... (01/04/06 - 0 Comments)
I don't do memes. I have not (to my recollection) done a single one of them since the dawn of this site. I have often been tagged to do them but have always resisted because, quite frankly, I don't care what character I most resemble, but it a character from Lord of the Rings, Narnia, or Napoleon Dynamite. I also don't really care to know what theological system I most clearly adhere to, what type...
State of the Domain (12/29/05 - 0 Comments)
Today I am going to post the blogging equivalent of a "state of the nation" address. We'll call it a "state of the domain." I wrote this post earlier and realized that I had not been entirely honest and forthcoming, so have added information to it. I realize that this information (discussing readership, privilege and so on) may be confused with boasting or some other ignoble desire, but I assure you it is nothing of...
Merry Christmas (12/25/05 - 0 Comments)
There's something a little bit silly about Christmas, isn't there? After all, we have no real evidence that Jesus was born on December 25. Sure there have been plenty of people who have attempted to prove some link, but in the end we just have to accept that there is really only a small chance that Jesus was born this day. Until recently I thought it was silly to remember Jesus in a special way...
A Desperate Jealousy - Further Thoughts (12/20/05 - 0 Comments)
A short while ago I posted an article here with the tongue-in-cheek title of "A Desperate Jealousy." In that article I expressed my desire to have a mentor. I said, "I am absolutely desperate to have someone who will invest in me. I am desperate to find a person, or have a person find me, who will play Paul to this Timothy." That article seems to have struck a chord with other men, both young...
Effectual Worrying (12/15/05 - 0 Comments)
In April of 2002 I was bored. Not just a little bored either, but mind-numbingly, depressingly, discouragingly bored. Having recently been laid off from a job I had held for several years due to the company closing, I was working as a system administrator at a small company in downtown Oakville. The pay was decent and the office's location was great but the job itself was terribly boring. It was repetitive and boring - there...
Blogging and a Committment to the Ninth Commandment (12/05/05 - 0 Comments)
Last week Laura Brumley, she of A Practice in Belief fame, wrote a little article she entitled (rather verbosely, I thought) "blogging, the ninth commandment, and your prerequisites to reading this blog." It seems odd to me that Laura can read "A Reformation Debate: Sadoleto's Letter to the Genevans and Calvin's Reply" and "The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love" but she cannot capitalize her titles. But I digress. That post coincided with my reading...
A Birthday Reflection (12/02/05 - 0 Comments)
Today is my 29th birthday. Yes, I know that I'm younger than you thought and that you have children older than me. I get that a lot. Actually, having a birthday in December has always meant that I'm younger than my peers so I am quite accustomed to people saying, "You're younger than I thought." I don't know that I have ever actually revealed my age on this site and know that many of the...
A Desperate Jealousy (11/21/05 - 0 Comments)
I am desperately jealous of Josh Harris. Of course I would assume that there are lots of people who are jealous of him. After all, he wrote a silly little book about dating courtship that must have sold more copies than The Prayer of Jabez and probably made him filthy, stinking rich. If my understanding of the Christian publishing industry is accurate, and I think it is, Harris must sleep every night on an enormous...
Sorry Doesn't Know How to Count (11/20/05 - 0 Comments)
I have no idea where she picked it up, but my daughter has begun to answer my son's apologies with the phrase, "Sorry doesn't know how to count!" She may have made it up. Wherever she got the phrase from, she does not seem to understand what it should logically mean. To her it means something like, "I don't accept your apology." In reality I suppose the phrase should be concerned with grace, with saying,...
Working Man Hands (Redux) (11/19/05 - 0 Comments)
I have received a few "complaints" of late that I have not been writing enough articles of a personal nature. That is probably true and I hope to remedy that, at least somewhat, next week. In the meantime I thought I'd share an article I wrote a couple of years ago to honor my father on Father's Day. This was and remains one of my favorite pieces of writing. Like most boys I idolized my...
Today We Remember (11/11/05 - 0 Comments)
My son has recently taken an interest in wars and the military. I have a 39-volume Time-Life series of books covering the Second World War and he loves to sit and look through the pictures. He often bemoans the fact that he cannot yet read as he would love to be able to learn about what the soldiers are doing and against whom they are fighting. A few weeks ago I pulled an old box...
Personal Worship (11/09/05 - 0 Comments)
Earlier this year I posted an article in which I described a method I use for personal worship (or devotions, quiet time, etc). At the time I was hoping it would spark discussion from others about how they spend daily time with God. While the article brought about some discussion few people shared about how they spend their times of worship. Personal worship is, of course, personal and some people may be unwilling to share...
Growing Up (11/05/05 - 0 Comments)
For the past couple of years we have been able to observe an industrious pair of robins building a nest in a tree directly outside our bathroom window. Just about a foot below the window and perhaps 8 feet out from the house, in a little crook of a crabapple tree, they build a nest of grass, mud and bits of string. Before long the mother begins spending all her time sitting on the nest...
Oh, How Long Till I Become Holy? (10/12/05 - 0 Comments)
In the past several days I have found myself turning time and again to a particular song, a song that has been in my collection for many years and which I have always enjoyed. Sung by a short-lived band named "Doulos," the title of the song is simply, "Again." The song seems to capture something that has been precious to me recently.
Reflections on a Funeral (09/26/05 - 0 Comments)
Yesterday afternoon I attended the funeral of my friend Mike (context here and here). It was quite a nice funeral, as these things go, and was more a celebration of his life than a time of mourning for his death. There were hundreds of people in attendance, enough that my friend and I, and many other people, were forced to stand throughout. It was also ridiculously hot for an late-September funeral in Canada. As always, the funeral gave me opportunity to reflect on a few things and I thought I'd share some of those today.
A Heavy Heart (09/19/05 - 0 Comments)
Last week I shared an article about my friend Mike. I though I would update the situation. This morning I received the following, long-awaited email. I have modified it very slightly to protect the family's privacy.
"...it is with a heavy heart that I inform you all that Mike passed away peacefully on Saturday morning September 17th at 6:15 am at Princess Margaret Hospital. Mike's mom and I were with him when he went and held his hand and told him how much we loved him and that he would be missed, and that he was incredibly brave for all that he has been through this past year...
Sunday Reflection (09/11/05 - 0 Comments)
This was a particularly busy week for me. I had several hard deadlines I had to meet and only just managed to get the work done. I find that the busier the week, the more I appreciate my day of rest. As I reflected on this, I remembered a hymn written by John Newton. So as I rest, I leave you to ponder "Safely Through Another Week." It is a song of thanks for another week of safety and a song of petition, that we may feel God's presence near to us during the upcoming week.
I Just Don't Want To Get Over It (09/08/05 - 0 Comments)
How does a man say goodbye to his little girls, knowing that he will never see them again? And how does he do so without letting them know that this is the last time they will see their daddy? Does he look them straight in the eyes and affirm his undying love for them, or do words fail him so that he can do little more than hug and kiss them for the last time and then send them on their way? Does he still hold out hope that he will see them again? Or does he know in his heart of hearts that this is the end? Maybe he is so worn down from his long fight with cancer that he can barely feel or express emotion anymore. Maybe he just wants to be gone.
The Edge of My Faith (08/25/05 - 0 Comments)
Over the past few days I have been giving some thought to my faith: the things of God in which I have great faith, and those in which I have little faith or even no faith at all. This time of reflection has been both a delight and a sorrow; a joy and an embarrassment.
I have seen that my faith can be understood as something like a graph. Certain points along the Y-axis are very high and quite unshakeable.
