Category: Uncategorized

“Consider the birds,” a wise man once said. So I did. My daughters, wife and I, over breakfast on this springtime morning watched our backyard, and considered the birds. Chickadees, juncos, house sparrows and finches. Magpies, grackles, crows and jays. Robins, flickers, a song sparrow. At least I think it was a song sparrow… I…

Until it’s not. Do you remember when Tony Hawk landed his first 900? Millions of people, including myself, watched history get made in real-time during the 1999 X-Games when Tony tried and tried and tried again (10 failed attempts in all) to land the first 900 degree spin (that’s 2-and-a-half full rotations). It was an…

What do you notice? What do you pay attention to? Most of us, most of the time, are paying attention to the time (or lack of it), the thing we’re stressing over, or the thing that’s undone. That’s how we’re wired. We’re good at spotting danger and conflict, and paying attention to the things that…

We like to say that we live in an era of progress and innovation. The devices in our pockets have offered us new ways to communicate, make beautiful things and connect with people. I love technology (but not as much as you, you see). I spend most of my day behind one kind of screen…

We love to hustle these days, don’t we? Hustle is worn as a badge of honour, and is touted as the key to success by many a motivational speaker. But I’ve having my doubts. I’ve had seasons of hustle, where I worked through lunch, burned the midnight oil, and was out catching worms with the…

Yesterday a report came out showing that the 8 eight richest people in the world have as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the world. And I, for one, was relieved. This shocking statistic made me feel the same relief as I did in school when the teacher asked a difficult question (from the…

We have a room in our basement, the office. “It’s our sewing room,” my wife would interject. But since my wife’s not here right now, is she? So for our purposes — and despite the fabric, patterns and thread covering the desk at the moment — it’s the office. We have been talking about how…

Teaching our children what to fear is important if we want them to stay safe. Watch out for cars. Don’t touch the stove. Don’t accept rides from strangers. A healthy fear of potential danger is what will keep them alive which, as a parent, is generally priority number 1. As humanity learns more about the…

December in Manitoba can be a cold, dark month. Winter threatens to take hold of the land with each northern gust of wind. Sunlight is in short supply during these shortest days of the year. The combination of darkness and cold have a way of working themselves into your bones as everyone settles in for…

My friend Elena recently shared James Tissot’s “The Anxiety of Saint Joseph” as part of an Advent reflection, and the painting immediately resonated. This is a picture of Joseph, an often overlooked character in the Christmas story, sitting alone with his thoughts and inner turmoil among the wood shaving of his workshop. While his wife-to-be,…