Job 38, Vs 1-7 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up your loins like a man,     I will question you, and you shall declare to me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?     Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!     Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk,     or who laid its cornerstone 7 when the morning stars sang together     and all … Read more

  Advice from the Wicked. Psalm 1: 1Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; 2but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. This week, in a moment of boredom, I found myself online looking at new lawn furniture.  Its not like … Read more

Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. ~ Frederick Buechner – originally published in ‘Wishful Thinking’. The New York Times recently published an article proposing that because of the health care restrictions of the Pandemic, that many of us were experience life as ‘languishing’.  Languishing is considered an emotional state somewhere between depression and, well ‘flourishing’ and is a state of being where we are aimless, unmotivated and just kind of generally ‘blah’.  As if we can’t live … Read more

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.” John 15: 12-14 3rd Lockdown.  Sigh. It seems like this lockdown is harder than the other two.  I’m just so tired of being worried and having to restrict my movements. And you know what’s interesting – that the rules of this lockdown are absolutely no different from the first one: Stay at home when you can. Wear … Read more

This week I have been watching, with some amusement, the story of the Ever Given; the skyscraper sized tanker that got stuck in the Suez Canal and held up shipping for days.  I saw a meme on social media that read something like “I’ve had bad days at work, but never have I had a day as bad as the guy who got his tanker stuck in the Suez Canal”.  It really puts everything into perspective, doesn’t it. That’s the way of bad days.  The awfulness of the day can be dispelled by perspective and hope. This week is Holy … Read more

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. ( Psalm 139: 14) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1: 26-27) I spend a … Read more

Psalm 18:2 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.   Yesterday I received the first of my Covid-19 vaccinations.  I’m still processing this truth in my life; the vaccination came just as we all received news of alarmingly increasing rates of infections in our end of the Health Unit area.  We now know that Perth and Smiths Falls are under ‘class orders’ and we are likely moving into ‘orange’ or ‘red’ zones next week which will … Read more

Defying Public Health Orders    For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.  In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. (Psalm 91: 11,12)   Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against … Read more

Matthew 5:34-37 (The Message) 33-37 “And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong. Mark 8: 31-33 (New international Version) … Read more