During my time working in New York City, USA, I would regularly attend midday prayer at St. Thomas Church. Its Anglo-Catholic style is very high church even by Episcopal Church standards. The priests faced the altar when performing the … Read more

I was assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 860 in the Shawondassee District, Virginia, USA, from 1996-2002. Those were probably six of the best years of my life and definitely the best job that I ever had. My son was an enthusiastic Scout and … Read more

One morning as I was walking from Penn Station in New York City to the 8th Avenue subway, one of the free newspaper vendors interrupted his normal patter and cried out, "Smile, you woke up today! Think about the alternative!" The crowd's … Read more

Several years ago, I wrote a cheque to help fund a mission team going to Honduras. When they returned, the team leader, Joe, presented me with a small wooden cross from Honduras as a thank-you for the donation. I placed … Read more

As I was preparing to go on a mission trip to Honduras, I commented to my wife about how much it meant to me to go, because, for at least one week this year, I would be living the kind … Read more

Several weeks ago, I had tentatively agreed to go on a mission trip to Honduras. As is often the case in such situations, after having made the commitment, I was assailed with second thoughts: "Since we have just moved, would … Read more

Over the years, as I have been teaching Sunday School or conducting worship services while camping with my son's Scout troop, I have noticed a curious phenomenon. I would spend many hours researching, organizing, outlining, and even drafting whole paragraphs … Read more

The other weekend, my son and I were shopping at the Target store for a birthday present for my wife. She wanted a pedometer so she could keep track of how many miles she walked each day for exercise. We … Read more

Several months ago, on March 21 , I wrote about the experiences of a group of college students from our church who went to Cite Soleil in Haiti to build houses. It was, for them, an unforgettable experience. It … Read more

This past January, a group of college students and adults from our church went to Cite Soliel in Porte au Prince, Haiti, to build houses for two homeless families. Cite Soliel is the worst slum in Haiti, which is the … Read more

Springtime is recruiting season for the Boy Scouts. Each February and March, Cub Scout dens that are ready to cross over and join the Boy Scouts will visit various Scout troops to check out their programmes, see how the troops … Read more

One of my favourite "western" movies is John Ford's "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon". There is a scene in which the grizzled, soon-to-be-retired cavalry Captain Nathan Briddles, played by John Wayne, rides into the hostile Indian camp in an effort … Read more

(with acknowledgement to Mary Daniel, who wrote My Little Red Wagon for June 24, 2000 ) When I was a young boy growing up in the 'fifties, I led a life with a degree of freedom that my son, … Read more

When my son was younger and it was his turn to say grace, he would invariably use the same one: "Dear God, thank you for this food and a beautiful day." Week in, week out, regardless of the weather, the … Read more

When, a few months ago, I wrote Signs of the Season , which was published as the Daily devotional for November 29, 1999, I thought it would just be a nice Christmas-time devotional illustrating the pleasure that small random … Read more

Shortly after we were married, my wife matter-of-factly announced that she intended to give 10{8395b6ce96fcf25a14d80edc3b65c36a8995b6c1ba5f8c16ac11d8adaa79f35b} of her salary to the church. My first reaction was "Whoa, let's not be too hasty about this!" After all, we had just bought a … Read more

Each spring and fall, I help teach the Scoutmaster's Fundamentals course in our local Scout District. The course involves a Saturday indoor session and a weekend campout. A fair amount of effort is required before the actual sessions to make … Read more

For me, the Christmas season officially begins with the appearance of a box of candy canes in the passenger's seat of my car, usually the Monday after Thanksgiving. My wife puts them there for me to give to the tollbooth … Read more

One of the surest signs that we are growing older, or growing up, as my father would say, appears when we start sounding like our parents. We find ourselves not only making the same points that they made to us, … Read more

The highest rank a boy can achieve in Scouting (in the United States) is that of Eagle and it is estimated that less than 4{8395b6ce96fcf25a14d80edc3b65c36a8995b6c1ba5f8c16ac11d8adaa79f35b} of all the boys who start in Scouting will become Eagle Scouts. In order to … Read more

One of the first things a boy learns to make in Boy Scouts is a tripod. I am constantly amazed how one can take three sticks that cannot even stand up by themselves and by simply leaning them against one … Read more

When I first became active in my son's Scout troop, camping trips were a major source of stress. Scouting emphasizes planning and preparation, and I would worry whether we had planned for every contingency: would the weather co-operate, would the … Read more

For the last several years our church has sent a mission team to Guatemala each summer to help build houses for widows and orphans of the civil war. It is an expensive proposition since there are no discount airfares from … Read more

This last Sunday, I noticed one of the first signs of summer: an announcement in our church bulletin to sign up for this year's Appalachian Service Project. Each summer our church, along with churches throughout the country, sends a group … Read more

Several years ago I was on a train, returning home from a tax seminar. The train was crowded and I was sharing the row with a complete stranger, an older black gentleman. As well-trained and polite travellers should, we acknowledged … Read more

Christmas has become an increasingly trying time for me spiritually, what with the never-ending exhortations to buy; the often fruitless quest to find just the right gift for those who give you no guidance and the every increasing commercialization of … Read more