I am writing these Ponderings on April 15 th , and there is a skiff of fresh snow on the ground.  Our niece sent us pictures of a recent visit her family made to Butchart Gardens near Victoria.  The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming and spring was clearly in the air.  This time of year a part of me longs for the resurrection of spring.  Yet on the Prairies, including in Edmonton, I am always amazed that when it rains or even when it snows, people often say, “Well, yo

The psalmist proclaims, "There may be tears for the night, but joy comes in the morning." In many ways this passage reflects our Holy Week journey. Today, Maundy Thursday, we remember Jesus celebrating Passover, and what we now call the Last Supper, with his disciples in which he predicts that one will betray him. They then go out where Jesus enters into agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. On Friday we remember Jesus' crucifixion, death and burial. Thursday and Frid

Holy Week is approaching.  Following Palm Sunday, this Sunday, we will launch into a week of contemplation and reflection which includes the remembering the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday and the Crucifixion on Good Friday. During Holy Week this year we will have the opportunity to walk the Labyrinth in the sanctuary beginning Monday, March 30 th .   The Labyrinth will be open through Thursday from 10:00 – 4:00. On April 3 rd , Good Friday, we will have a brief Good Friday Se

Tomorrow, March 20 th , is the first day of spring.  It just might be my perception, but it feels like this winter has been exceedingly harsh with cold temperatures; snow, snow and more snow; and ice so pervasive that parking lots are turning into skating rinks. So on the eve of the return of spring, I am reminded of these words from a familiar hymn written by Natalie Sleeth: In the bulb there is a flower In the seed an apple tree, In cocoons a hidden promise: Butterflies wil

Traditionally Lent is a season of soul searching, an opportunity to take an honest look at one’s self and identify both one’s strengths and weaknesses.  As a clinical educator I observed that growth and change come when someone makes a mistake or experiences a failure, reflects on what they did, and explore what they could do differently.  Refusal to recognize and admit a mistake and reflect on one’s experience stunts growth and limits one’s ability to change.  It also keeps

Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin' And you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin' The times they are a-changin’…  These words of Bob Dylan remind us that this Sunday we “Spring Ahead” one hour as we enter into Daylight Savings Time.  If you forget to move your clocks ahead Saturday nigh

Lent is a season that invites us into a close examination of lives and ask the question “Am I living the faith that I espouse?”  It is based on Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness in which he fasted, prayed and was tempted away from what he claimed to believe.  In the book some of us are reading during this Lenten Season the author, Jesse Zink, suggests that we are living in a market based society in which we are simply consumers who should find meaning through purchase and cons

I am writing these “Ponderings” on Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten Season.  I reminded the waitress at breakfast this morning that this was the first day of Lent, and she asked me what I was going to give up or abstain from during this Lenten Season.  I quickly responded, “Snow”! She reminds us that the tradition of the faithful during Lent is to give up something, or abstain from something.  In the spirit of ecumenism, I would like to quote what Pope Leo XIV sugge