To me, the remarkable thing about the person with leprosy whom Jesus healed, is that he took the time to savour his healing, to feel the joy and gratitude, and to remember Jesus, the Giver of this gift of healing.

Where all the others healed were eager to rush back to Jerusalem, to show themselves to the priests who would declare them officially...

I came across an article in a recent issue of the journal Psychological Medicine which talked about depression.

The study’s findings suggested that religious people were just as likely to experience depression as non-religious people; and even more so, in some cases.

On some level, these findings are surprising. Don’t you think?

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This is a confusing story, let’s face it.
The ending is so shocking. So opposite to what we’d naturally expect.

This downright crooked and conniving manager swindles and mis-manages his master’s funds and property.

And, then, what does the master do?
The master “commends” this manager, appearing pleased with him,...

We all know the joy of finding something that was lost. It can be something small like a set of keys or a wallet or a cell phone, and we give a hoot of joy or silent thanks when we find it again. The joy we feel can be for much more important things, not necessarily our own, and we can experience it as a wider community when the lost is found.

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Who are we, really, without all our stuff, our possessions?

In our consumer society, we’re constantly surrounded by so much stuff we can buy and have.

We’re tempted always to want more.

We become what we buy.

We so closely identify with all our possessions, which then become to “possess” us, enthrall us, overwhelm us.

The...

Imagine. For eighteen years, the woman can’t straighten her spine. The weight of her life pressing down on her discs, curving her back, so that her frame of reference gets smaller and smaller. Her world becomes the circle just in front of her feet, no longer able to feel the sun on her face, no longer able to see the stars at night. Then...

Why does Jesus sound so stressed, strident, divisive? (Luke 12:49-56) Jesus saying that he hasn’t come to bring peace, but instead, division, is really strange. Jesus saying that households would be divided father against son, mother against daughter, confuses us. Why does Jesus say this? Why this upsetting image of conflict and division?

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One of your questions for this summer’s “Wrestling with the Big Questions” sermon series, had to do with our parents, and the Fourth Commandment which states we are to honour our parents.

And how is it that we can honour our parents, in situations where one or both of them had a decidedly negative or destructive impact on us?

A...

Two weeks ago, I was reclining on a lounge chair on a small beach area on Golden Lake, west of Eganville. It was early evening. The sun was setting over the trees at the western shore of the lake. Nothing stirred. Everything was serene, calm, quiet.

I loved it. The water surface was as flat and smooth as a mirror. The air and sky around me had...