In our younger years, my wife and I lived with our two children for a number of years in a tiny, isolated, Canadian arctic settlement on the west coast of Hudson Bay. The settlement was accessible only by air on an airstrip that had been … Read more

Some years ago, I checked in at a high-rise hotel, and was instructed by the hotel clerk how to find my room. I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the floor to which I had been directed. When the door opened, I stepped … Read more

We acknowledge ourselves as being called upon to be representatives of Christ or ambassadors of Christ, but to be the aroma of Christ? Doesn't that sound a little bit strange? Experts tell us that distinctive smells have more power than … Read more

One day a number of years ago, a cousin of mine, his wife, and their three children were picking wild cranberries on an island in the Saskatchewan River. Accompanying them was the elderly uncle of my cousin and me, who … Read more

One day as I was idly surfing the net, I came across a photograph of the circa 1828 modest wooden clapboard church in northern Europe where my maternal grandparents were married in 1888 and where my mother and her two … Read more

My wife and I have a bird feeder hanging just outside our kitchen window, and we enjoy watching the various kinds of birds that come to eat. Throughout one summer, two blue jays, in all probability mates who must have … Read more

Throughout my working life, my family and I lived in a number of different locations across Canada, and for a time lived in a west coast community which owed its existence to the fishing industry. Virtually everyone in the community … Read more

Shortly after my wife and I moved to Ontario, Canada, in 1970, we sought out the cemetery containing the grave of Joseph Scrivens, the author of the beloved hymn, What A Friend We Have In Jesus. The cemetery is located … Read more

Exhortations to "commit" or "to be committed" appear frequently throughout the scriptures. But what do the words really mean? Too often, their meanings are casually interpreted as kinds of half-serious resolutions like people tend to make at New Year's, or … Read more

Once when the 747 aircraft on which I was a passenger was making its final approach to a busy airport, from my window seat I was idly watching the car traffic on a busy two-lane highway below. For some time … Read more

As a young man, I worked for some time in a men's correctional institute. Actually, the institute could have been better described simply as a prison, as any serious attempts at institutional rehabilitation were at the time still in their … Read more

We hear a great deal about recycling these days, and are constantly being urged to handle our household waste in such a manner that it can be reprocessed into something new, rather than simply be dumped into a landfill. As … Read more