A Good Break

What a weekend. Friday evening Andy & Helen Harrington, good friends from Canada (though originally from England) came through on their way to California. It is always wonderful to have time to catch up with friends and Andy and Helen are special people. Andy Harrington heads up Youth For Christ in Vancouver [...]

Abbey of the Arts

Last week I had the opportunity to have morning tea with Christine Paintner who explores the relationship between spirituality and the creative arts.  I always enjoy getting together with like minded people.  We had a delightful time sharing our common interests in spiritual direction, photography and writing.
Among other things Christine runs a retreat in November [...]

Jesus - A Man for all Nations

Here is a meditation video I put together for the MSA Seed Sampler on Indigenous Peoples and Christianity. I think that it is easy for us who are Westerners to think that Jesus was a white male who would fit comfortably into our culture. But it isn’t true. In fact I suspect [...]

A Native American Prayer

This prayer is attributed to Chief Sealth (for whom Seattle is named). It is not written as a Christian prayer but I think that the sentiments expressed in it could easily be.
We belong to the earth this we know
The earth does not belong to us;
We belong to the earth , this we know
All things [...]

Harry Potter Goes Eco-Friendly

Here is a bit of news that I hope warms the hearts of all Harry Potter fans.  And all accomplished by a small non profit based in Vancouver. I am not sure what the connection is to the international prayers I have been highlighting but it seemed too good to ignore.
“The seventh book in the [...]

An African Prayer

One of my favourite books of prayers is An African Prayer Book, compiled by Desmond Tutu. It gives some powerful prayers and liturgies from Africa that really make me feel connected to the African people who wrote them. Here is one by Desmond Tutu himself that I think is quite profound.
Victory is Ours [...]

Under the Southern Cross

It is not just art that is impacted by our cultural views of Jesus. Our prayers are shaped by our culture too. Over the next few days I will share some that I have gathered over the last few years from different countries and cultures.
Here is one from the South Pacific Islands. [...]

Theological Diversity in a Globalized World.

Yesterday I read Barbara Kingsolver’s essay A Fist in the Eye of God, in which she talks about the incredible diversity present in nature. The longer a crop has been grown in a country the greater the diversity of seed types that can be found. So a huge number of wheat strains exist [...]

But I Tell You

I have just been sent a delightful book by Barclay Press called But I Tell You: Jesus Introduces A Better Way to Live, by Karen Oberst.  It gives some fresh insights into the Sermon on the Mount which have come directly from the original Greek.  I particularly enjoyed the quotes like this one by Corrie [...]

The Healing Hand of Jesus

I just came across this beautiful picture of Jesus healing the lunatic boy on Matt Stone’s blog while I was hunting for paintings of Jesus from different cultures He has lots of other views of Jesus from African, Native American, Aboriginal and other cultures that I think you might enjoy as well.