Well, that was interesting! In the past (I won’t say “normally” because it is hard to know what “normal” is!) it would take me over 45 minutes to get to the church on snow days (it usually takes me 11 minutes, still). In snowy weather drivers are more cautious (as they should be), traffic is heavier and bunched up because people are driving slower (as they should), and it is stop-stop-stop-and-crawl as I pass the three schools on my route. This morning . . . it took 12 minutes. I think that schools being ...

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The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. Thus says “the Teacher” . . . also known as Qoheleth . . . also known as “the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes”. The passage is found at the beginning of the book. When...

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I think that I probably use this in some form every year, post-Christmas . . . but then again, it is appropriate to use every year! The challenge – or reminder – comes – from Howard Thurman: When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with the flocks, then the work of Christmas begins:  to find the lost, to heal those broken in spirit, to feed the hungry, to release the oppressed, to rebuild the nations, to brin...

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Since its inception the tag-line for our Monday Musings newsletter has been that this is an attempt to keep us in contact with what is happening in the lives of the people of Trinity Church. You have been invited to slip a note under my door or e-mail me with something you may wish included: a word of praise or a request for prayer, an update on family news or a reflection of your holiday time because this is your page. It hasn’t always worked that way. Sometimes people have passed information along to me. Sometimes I’v...

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We have been fortunate. More than 490,000 Hydro One customers just experienced power outages caused by one of the worst wind storms in recent years. High winds of more than 100 km/h swept across the province late Saturday night causing significant damage and delaying power restoration efforts. In Ottawa, Hydro Ottawa reported outages across the city due to the windy conditions Saturday evening.  Power was restored overnight. Compare this to what Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear calls a collection of tornadoes that is considered ...

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Well, we’ve waited for it. Anticipated it. Knew it would be here eventually. But this just isn’t right. How can we go from cold and snow to a predicted high of plus 8 this afternoon to a possible low of minus 9 overnight? From winter to spring to winter in the space of 24 hours? Life in Ottawa, I guess! I just wish the snow would stick around. I guess I’m just that kind of guy – let winter be winter and let December have snow. Let it “look like Christmas”.   And that brings us back to the...

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And so it begins. Advent. Our “countdown to Christmas” (as opposed to a “countdown to Christmas festivities”). To the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent (as opposed to the anticipation of gift opening that begins with a calendar filled with cheap chocolate). Advent symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and congregation as we affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and th...

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And so it begins. Advent. Our “countdown to Christmas” (as opposed to a “countdown to Christmas festivities”). To the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent (as opposed to the anticipation of gift opening that begins with a calendar filled with cheap chocolate). Advent symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and congregation as we affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and th...

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We knew it was coming. That it would be here eventually. And as promised, here it is . . . a bit of snow. Not Saskatchewan snow. Not Manitoba snow. Not even Georgian Bay snow. But snow none-the-less. It’s here. It may melt over the next few days. But we know that it will be back!   Also coming sooner than we may want is Christmas with all of its trappings: Black Friday and the push to buy buy buy . . . to make Christmas special. As if celebrating the birth of the Christ Child isn’t special as it is. Perhaps w...

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Last year’s Remembrance Day observation was a more private affair, as larger public gatherings were prohibited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year “the public” is allowed to attend the ceremony at the National War Memorial although all will need to remain distanced and wear a mask for health and safety purposes. The event will broadcast nationally on television. Whether or not you are able to attend in person, take time, and pause at 11:00 to (as Veterans Affairs Canada puts it) remember “the men and wom...

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