Spiritually Speaking

The achievements of the World Partnership Walk serves to remind us of our responsibility to others. Karima Ramji August 15, Those who are close to us can teach us so much from their own lessons, and that can inform our lives. Shana Lynngood August 11, Forest fires across the northern hemisphere are shocking in their ferocity, but there are spiritual lessons of hope to be gained. Anna Bowness-Park August 8, There is no place so remote that we cannot hear and feel divine Love's guidance when we listen. Anna Bowness-Park August 4, Alastair McCollum July 28, The word faith means having a complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

Fiona Prince July 25, Two people can sit together and see creation differently - as either a sunset or a continual sunrise. Fiona Prince July 21, Rather than seeing it just as luck, the cave rescue can be seen as an example of God's presence in challenging circumstances. Drew Snider July 18, Displays of nationalism and patriotism can evoke different responses, depending on the context, and whether we are insiders or outsiders.

Larry Scott July 14, Matt Jackson July 7, We need to consciously plan for a global society that is just, democratic, humane in its essence and respectful of all life. Sheila Flood July 4, Sheila Flood June 30, Rabbi Harry Brechner June 23, Paul Newman June 16, Suresh Basrur June 13, Suresh Basrur June 9, Maryam Baksh June 2, What does it look like and how is it reported and remembered? Spiritually Speaking June 1, Kevin Aschenbrenner May 30, Love should be the status quo, not something we aspire to.

Bishop Curry woke us up to that. Kevin Aschenbrenner May 26, A number of media outlets published. Drew Snider May 23, When we think of Pentecost we can gain encouragement from the lesson it teaches us.

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Drew Snider May 19, We must protect and benefit all peoples; be kindness itself with a year perspective. Wayne Codling May 16, Lyle McKenziw May 12, The experience of a friend in hospital brings to light how meditation can change one's view of life. Wayne Codling May 9, Buddhism is not centered on a creator God. Therefore, there is no need for Buddhists to explain why suffering exists in the world. Suffering simply exists just like everything else and needs to be. Wayne Codling May 5, Come to this interesting talk by a leading Jewish scholar. Tuesday, Wednesday May 30 at 7: Spiritually Speaking May 3, Religion can be seen as a search for meaning through story telling.

A few weeks ago, Jews celebrated Passover, a holiday built around telling the story of liberation from slavery in Egypt. Alan Rutkowski April 28, Anna Bowness-Park April 25, What is the impact on our community when basics such as affordable housing are disappearing? Reverend Canon Nancy Ford April 21, Spiritually Speaking April 18, Across the country we slowly put down our lives to face Humboldt in solidarity.

Keith Simmonds April 14, Spiritually Speaking April 11, The best way to bridge our differences is to hold a party! Spiritually Speaking April 7, Sunday, April 15, 11 a. Spiritually Speaking April 4, Karima Ramji March 31, He turned up outside the church a year ago February. Keith Simmonds March 28, Keith Simmonds March 24, Shana Lynngood March 21, We learn how to pay attention to our own needs and wants.

Shana Lynngood March 17, Vowing to liberate all beings is not an individualistic missionary-like approach to saving anyone. Rather it requires that I look at my own responsibility. Joshua Goldberg March 14, As public opinion is focusing on the racism inherent in Canadian institutions, it may be useful to take a closer look at how practising Zen meditation can uncover our inherited racist attitudes. Soshin McMurchy March 10, The first Bodhisattva vow is not to liberate some beings, it is to liberate ALL beings, even though there are so many that they are innumerable. Joshua Goldberg March 7, Above all the books on how to pray, the simple prayer of a grandmother has been a powerful teacher.

Julianne Kasmer March 3, Managing End of Life Choices: Spiritually Speaking February 28, Sometimes we think of reconciliation as being between two divided parties. Most of the time it is. However, reconciliation can mirror our connection with God. The word is used mostly to indicate petty, negative talk that demeans and dismisses the subjects of the conversation.

Brian Fraser February 20, True kindness is something we give without any judgement or strings attached. Kate Spencer February 17, Alastair McCollum February 14, For any person of faith, spirituality challenges us to look beyond ourselves and to make a positive difference not just for ourselves but for others.

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Alastair McCollum February 10, Alisdair Smith February 7, Christopher Page January 31, When we build community—in cultural festivals, activism, faith contexts or elsewhere—we can come together to address the conflicts of the present with the help of texts written in other times. Lincoln Shlensky January 27, Members of all community service groups have the spirit of friendship, the spirit of service, the spirit of loyalty and creative imagination to keep their vision alive with purpose and energy.

Paul Newman January 24, Community is essential to spiritual traditions and practices. In the Christian tradition, as Jesus began public ministry, one of his first activities was inviting others to join him in this work and in community together. Lyle McKenzie January 20, Sheila Flood January 17, Join us in honour of UN Interfaith Harmony Week and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, panelists from the diverse traditions will discuss how to take this turbulent period of history and build the stable, egalitarian, humanitarian future we all want.

Sheila Flood January 13, Finding inspiration in Hindu teaching can help navigate this life, fraught with unexpected journeys to the edges of precipices, its uncertainties, its roller coaster ups and downs. Suresh Basrur January 10, It has been a heavenly experience. Recently, I spent three weeks in India, visiting family members in two cities. Every time I visit India, I feel spiritually rejuvenated.

Suresh Basrur January 6, There is a very important message that I take from the account of the Wise Men coming to worship the Baby Jesus, namely, that Jesus came not just for people of any particular religion, but for everyone, everywhere. Drew Snider January 3, But if we nurture what is spiritual and life giving for us, then maybe the New Year is a stepping stone to a larger spiritual transformation. Larry Scott December 30, At this time of year, peace can feel very far away. Anna Bowness-Park December 27, Reverend Canon Nancy Ford December 23, Karima Ramji December 20, Hanukkah or Chanukah - lighting the candles is a special ritual with reasons for how it is done that can teach us all valuable lessons.

Fiona Prince December 16, It turns their kinds of love into blessings instead of problems. Paul Newman December 13, Christians look to Jesus as the criterion of wisdom. He was full of the Spirit of God. For wisdom we can look to what he taught and lived. Paul Newman December 9, Prayer is a powerful tool. It has been used throughout history as a form of non-violent protest. Martin Luther King Jr. Maryam Baksh December 2, I have to confess, I am not an art aficionado. Recently, though, for the first time, my knees buckled on seeing a work of art.

Drew Snider November 29, Ferries buoys Saturna with bottled water. The healing and unifying effect of singing together at Christmas This Christmas celebrates years of the continual singing of the carol, Silent Night Anna Bowness-Park December 15, The importance of sharing our faith and honouring others. Celebrating religious festivals together is an opportunity to better understand our neighbours Fiona Prince December 12, Shepherds play a prominent role in the story of Jesus' birth.

They were the first to receive the message and the first to visit the stable, according to Luke 2: There is a pervasive urban legend that shepherds were the outcasts of society—the lowest of the low. People who could not do anything else were sent out to tend the sheep. I don't think that's so. Yes, they lived out in the fields for months at a time, so they couldn't keep the cleanliness laws, but consider who else in Old Testament accounts were shepherds of flocks—Abraham, Moses, David, and Rachel, who became Jacob's wife.

I think shepherds were people who were trusted to look after a valuable asset—a man's flock of sheep. They guided the sheep, protected them, gave them water in an arid land, healed their wounds and sheared them. The shepherd knew his sheep well, and disciplined and trained them. We, too, are shepherds. We shepherd our children when we discipline, guide and encourage them; when we teach them how to interact with others, how to socialize in acceptable ways, how to express themselves creatively. We shepherd causes and businesses when we work as a leader who knows how to bring out the best everyone has to offer.

Strong enough to flip a full-grown sheep onto its back for shearing. He must be courageous enough to face lions and wolves and defend the flock's youngest and weakest against attack. When we realize that the most vulnerable among us require the best we have to offer.

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We are shepherds when we calm the nervous flock by being peaceful souls ourselves. When we heal their wounds, both physical and emotional. The shepherds at Bethlehem were the first to hear the message of Jesus' birth because he would become one of them. He would shepherd his flock as they did, only his flock would be people like you and me. I hope you have opportunities to be a good shepherd today, and to allow others to shepherd you. Sunday, December 16, Angelic Messengers.

And it doesn't matter what brings us to the nerve of life. It might be truth or falsehood or a confusion as to what is real. What matters is that we face the nerve of life when it appears, the way Jacob wrestled the unnamed angel in the bottom of the ravine until it blessed him.

Mark Nepo Weekly Reflection: There are happenings in every life, sooner or later, that stand out clearly as a turning point. It may be the end of a relationship that's been dying slowly for years; or it may be an unexpected diagnosis that will cause us great hardship. It may be an accident, or an injury. It may be the discovery that we are pregnant, or in love. Or, we may simply wake up one day and know at the core of our being that things must change. The time has come.

We must make a sharp turn and go in a different direction. That moment of realization is both exciting, and terrifying, because it carries us into the unknown. Sometimes, we are brought face-to-face with our own mortality. Perhaps a friend or a loved one dies, and we realize that life is short, unpredictable, and a bit precarious. We understand that we must do what we've been putting off—make changes we have been pondering, but not acted upon. Could be some piece of our life has been dreamed about but ignored; some expression of our soul has always existed, but never been taken seriously.

Life was too busy, there were too many things to take care of, too many demands that seemed more important. Now, suddenly, we realize that time will not stretch on forever, and we'd better get cracking. This is not necessarily age-related.

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We reassess; we question where we are, what we're doing, and where we are headed. These are our Jabbok moments. We are deep in the ravine; we wrestle with our own angel, and come away changed. One in which more of our true nature asserts itself, our wholeness is revealed. As uncomfortable as they are, there is a blessing in these wrestling matches. We cannot help but recognize the truth behind them. We may not activate the changes right away, but we're clear-eyed in seeing them.

They can no longer be ignored. As for myself, I've noticed that when I ignore the urging of an angel, that angel gets larger and louder until I come around. It's best not to ignore a heavenly messenger. Saturday, December 15, Consider the Manger. Thomas Moore The Soul of Christmas.

I seem to be stuck in the stable in the run up to Christmas this year. I can't pull myself away from that bucolic scene of Mary, Joseph and the baby surrounded by farm animals and shepherds. That was a peaceful, humble and adoring beginning for a baby boy who was destined to change the world. He was born in peace, and that is what he taught. Be at peace, my peace I give to you, do not be afraid—were among his major teachings.

The manger is a reminder to us to stay humble and vulnerable, too. As an artist, I have to remain in that state of expectation, without knowing where it will lead. I have to be open to direction that does not come from my left cerebral hemisphere. As soon as I decide to take control of what happens, the piece I'm working on becomes stilted and stale.

I have the feeling that Jesus, as rabbi, didn't plan his sermons ahead of time; he didn't carefully construct his message so as to repeat the theme three time. I imagine that he knew scripture by heart, having memorized it in his village synagogue, and that he had pondered its meaning since childhood. So when he began to teach, he spoke from his own understanding, and not in a conventional way. He was an open vessel with a loving spirit; he spoke the words as they occurred to him. The manger is a symbol of humility for the purpose of this story.

But in reality, it is a lifeline for the animals who live in the barn. That is where they receive their sustenance, where they are fed. If you have an animal of any sort, you know that meal time is the central moment of their day. He became spiritual food for his followers. Putting those ideas together, we find that humility is food for the soul. Openness, vulnerability, the willingness to not be in control, are necessary for spirit to guide us. They are the most difficult practices of all. When you're struggling with them, think of the manger, and notice the peace it brings.

Posted by Silver Spirit at 4: Friday, December 14, "I should be doing something with my life! My friend, Garvice, told me yesterday about a story he had seen on TV about everyday heroes. It featured a woman who noticed how much food restaurants throw away at the end of the day; food, she reckoned, that could be used to feed people in homeless shelters.

She set up a website that allowed restaurant owners to list their remaining food so that shelters could claim it and then come and pick it up. I believe she called it Access. That is such an heroic act for someone who has the skills to set up such a site. What a gift to the homeless community! I had a conversation with my son, Ian, recently about what is expected of good people.

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I grew up with two sisters who had disabilities, and so did Ian's father. I always thought there must be some cosmic reason I had been spared from the fate of my sisters—there was something I was supposed to do to justify such mercy. So, I spent most of my professional life working with people with disabilities.

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Unfortunately, it didn't result in the abatement of the feeling that there was something I should be doing that I wasn't. I wonder if you have similar feelings. Most of us want to be better than we think we are.

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We hold the notion that other people have huge, life-altering altruism, and make enormous contributions to society, and that they are different and better than us. We tell ourselves that we are not doing enough good because we are too lazy, or too self-absorbed, or some other belittling notion. I want to stick a pin in that balloon.

Being kind, and gracious, and generous with the gifts with which we're endowed is enough. We can do good on a small scale and that, too, is an enormous contribution to society.