May 4, 2025

  I invite you to consider the following unplanned encounter with nature. It’s after dinner on a warm spring evening. The sun has set and soon stars will be twinkling in the sky. On the drive back home from a wonderful day by the lake, fields pass by on either side. In the distance there is a light from an approaching car. A large deer suddenly appears, damaging your vehicle. The deer is seriously injured. Standing by the driver’s door, you are visibly distraught while also feeling grateful that no one in the car was injured. As a result of this encounter, you decide to change how you drive on that stretch of road in the future. Maybe you drive a little slower or drive a little more attentively while watching out for deer warning signs. Changes intentionally occur.

April 27, 2025

Poor Thomas gets a bad rap. He is always being called Doubting Thomas. But he isn’t alone in doubt. In fact, he is just the last and a long line of doubters. Let’s break it down. Last week on Easter Sunday we heard that Peter was the first doubter. He looks in the empty tomb, and where the grave clothes have been set and yet he does not understand. OK, not understanding isn’t really the same as doubt, but he certainly doesn’t believe that Jesus has risen.

April 02, 2025

The Easter stories in the four gospels have a lot of similarities. For example, it is always women or a woman who come to the tomb very early on the third day. There is a stone at the entrance that has either been moved or will be moved in the story. For all the similarities there are also differences. Details added to each gospel that help us see the faith and theology of each of the gospel writers. The writer of the gospel of John is the most theological and it is the last of the gospels to be written. So, we should pay careful attention to John as a window into the theology of the early church.

The Good Friday service held April 18, 2025 at Forest Hill United Church. The joint service included:

• Forest Hill United Church

• Trinity United Church

• St. James’~Rosemount United Church

• Calvary Memorial United Church

April 6, 2025

A discussion of the importance of having connection with those around us as exemplified by Jesus.

“Jesus is in the home of his closest friends and supporters, Mary, Martha & Lazarus. And Mary once again is in the spotlight. She has been anointing Jesus’ feet with perfume; an extravagant act since its’ value was probably the equivalent of a year’s wage for some. Yet she anoints him, which we are told is symbolic of burial rituals that Jesus will undertake in the near future. Judas speaks out against her saying “the money for the perfume could have gone to the poor”. But Jesus says, “the poor will always be among us whereas I will not.” This response of Jesus’ has been misused to diminish our responsibility of caring for the poor among us or as justification to ignore their needs. The quote is actually from Deuteronomy 15:11 which says: There will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother to the needy and to the poor, in your land.” In this passage I see this interaction in terms of what it says about Jesus’ relationships and the significance of the connections Jesus made not only with the poor, with the powerful, but with family, with friend, with the world and context in which he lived.“

March 23,2025

We are into the third week of Lent and as we continue our journey to become purveyors of ‘Awe’ we are looking at curiosity. So, I’m curious… (see what I did there? LOL) I’m curious what you think of when you hear the word “curious”? 

Curiosity kills the cat?

Curious George?

In both these examples, …..