Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, and we all know what that means: Punxsutawney Phil and Wiarton Willie will emerge from their burrows early in the morning and if they see their shadows it will mean that we have six more weeks of winter ahead of us. Unfortunately, whether or not they see their shadows it seems that we still have six more months of burrowing and hiding ahead of us! While the “resistance” against the restrictions placed on us because of COVID is growing it seems the best way to stop the spread of the disease is to ...

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When something catches on, it really catches on, doesn’t it? Who knew that a picture of Bernie Sanders “and his mittens and scowl behind his facemask” (how can you tell there’s a scowl other than that is his "trademark"?) would become the sensation that it has? Not only is the meme everywhere, Mr. Sanders has taken the opportunity to use the picture for something good: his campaign store is selling sweatshirts featuring the photo, and all of the proceeds are going to Meals on Wheels programs in Sander...

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Welcome to Monday . . . and, it seems, welcome to winter. It is a bright sunshiny but somewhat cold day – it’s almost what my kind of ideal January day. There is snow on the ground – and what is winter without snow in Ottawa? I was happy for what happened over the weekend. It is a little cooler than what I like – -2° or -4° is about perfect. I can deal with what we have; I’m not looking forward to the inevitable minus too much which we’ve avoided so far but won’t forever! But it’...

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Ouch! November! I thought that I might title today’s Musings the Post Halloween Edition. Then because of that extra hour of sleep on the weekend (for those who didn’t say hey, I can stay up an hour later tonight) I thought that I  might title it the Time Change Edition. Then I woke up this morning to a howling wind and blowing snow (blowing snow!!!) and wondered if I should call it the Winter’s Coming Edition. As you can see, I went with the old standard: it’s t...

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The thought with great power comes great responsibility (from the old Spiderman TV series and comics) has always resonated with me. Not that I have great power – or any power at all, really – but responsibility seems to be a forgotten and ignored quality in our current environment. And I can hear you now . . . “where are you going with this, Pastor? What do you mean?” There is a lot of information – and misinformation – regarding living in this COVID era. The misinformation se...

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