NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

“An equinox occurs twice a year around 20 March and 22 September…The oldest meaning is the day when daytime and night are of approximately equal duration…An equinox occurs when the plane of the Earth’s Equator passes the  center  of the Sun.” [Wikipedia] This year’s September equinox occurred at 02.29 on September 23 What effect did the passing of the Equinox have on you? Here in Southern Ontario, were you mourning the fewer hours of daylight? Did you think with regret of the cool, wet summer with the lack of hot weather in which to enjoy the beaches? Or perhaps you regret not taking full advantage of the good weather whenever it arrived? Are you looking forward to the crisp autumn days, or perhaps even to getting out the skis and heading to the slopes with the arrival of the first snowfall? These are all valid responses to this event… But perhaps the best response to this landmark of the passing of the seasons, and so of the passing of the time of our own liv...

I have gradually become lactose-intolerant over the last few years. At first I attributed the symptoms to old age; my digestive system was simply getting 'cranky'. It wasn't until I found the sight of coffee (which I take with plenty of milk) off-putting that I began to take things seriously. After all, I could imagine living quite happily without a lot of things but coffee wasn't anywhere near the top of that list! After three weeks of NO coffee, it began to smell good once again. A trip to the store and the purchase of some lactose-free milk, and I was once more enjoying my favorite beverage. So what does this have to do with "Nudgings"? There are many forms of intolerance in this world and society. The intolerance that we project on someone or something else is huge. However, my thoughts led me to another form of intolerance... that which has marked my spiritual journey over the major part of my ...

What if Peter hadn't gotten out of the boat? Most of us are familiar with the story in Matthew 14:22-33, where the disciples are out in a boat and they drift away from shore. They see Jesus walking on the water towards them. Peter gets out of the boat, and walks on the water towards Jesus until just before being rescued by Jesus, he loses his confidence and begins to sink. A sermon I heard recently asked the question "What if Peter hadn't gotten out of the boat?" That would surely have changed the story! Without Jesus being the rescuer, centuries of Christian would have been deprived of the expectation that they would be rescued if they only kept their eyes on Jesus. Similarly followers or disciples of Jesus would  not  have been left with the example that the best kind of discipleship is that which includes taking risks or chances. Actually without Peter taking that risk, for whatever reason he did, there is no story worth remembering! What intrigued...

"The goldenrod is yellow,  The corn is turning brown;  The trees in apple orchards  With fruit are bending down." Last week, driving through the countryside, I noticed the goldenrod showing yellow heads and this poem began to echo in my head. September is here.. And with it school starts again for both teachers and kids. Every year in early September these words would be written on the chalkboard of my primary classroom and for me they are still an integral part of this time of year. This year as they repeated themselves in my mind, they began to take on a different meaning from before. I have now surpassed the three score and ten years mentioned in Psalm 90: 10 “The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only trial and trouble; they are gone and we fly away” [NRSV] and so I am comfortably ensconced in the autumn of my years.  Some friends, my age and younger have been diagnosed...