Being Friend’s With External Processors
I am an external processor. This means that I think out loud. This blog is a great example of how my personality works. When I have an idea, the very act of writing it down…
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Anger Means So Much More Than Angry
When someone gets angry we should never take it at face value. I’ve learned this a number of ways. I learned it first in experiencing people’s anger with my blog posts. I’ll say something like…
In Support of Non-Violence that Looks Like Violence
A little while ago I was asking if maybe violence was necessary sometimes. For myself, I still take a perspective of non-violence is a discipline and direction that I want to live my life, but…
A Sermon on Potlucks And Sharing Meals
Potlucks is the oldest and most consistent tradition that we have at theStory. From our very first meeting as a community, we met in each other’s homes and ate together. The importance of such a…
The Universe Is Made Up Of Stories
This excerpt is from Sapiens: Any large-scale human cooperation – whether a modern state, a medieval church, an ancient city or an archaic tribe – is rooted in common myths that exist only in peoples…
Guilt and Empathy Are Both Attempts For Connection
Guilt and empathy are not two things that you would normally think would go together. But I’ve been thinking lately of their connection on two different levels. The first is that empathetic people generally are…
Simple Belief Systems Should Be Affirmed
Humans have this need to summarize and simplify our belief system. When you ask people what they believe in, at the core of their being, you get very concise answers. You hear things like God,…
Is True Consciousness Possible When You Hold Onto Faith?
Faith by it’s very nature is a choice to hold to something that cannot be proven. It is a choice of hope despite the lack of evidence that any exists or does not exist. Those…
Does Church Shape Us, Or Do we Shape The Church?
One of the things I’ve grown passionate about with our church is to really spell out and communicate our church practices. As it is these types of practices form us into certain kinds of people….
Nihilism vs Faith
When you allow yourself to explore all philosophical and religious angles, you will come face to face with the world of nihilism. And after exploring all the different options, nihilism becomes quite attractive because it…
Sheltered Workshops Fulfills a Need
I wrote this because organizations like Wawanosh Enterprises should be defended on issues like this. Turning a service like this into a political and economic issue hurts everyone involved. It ends up becoming about making…
Dallas and Celeste
A few years back, this guy with big, dark rimmed glasses sat in our church with his friends. One year later, he sat quietly in a living room in Saskatoon across from me. At some…
A Perfect Example of Why The Sarnia Observer Needs To Die
It’s a nice Sunday afternoon, I’m reading through the news. An insane image shows up of a man on fire on the front page of the Observer forty minutes ago with the headline “Flames at…
Voting Federally in Sarnia-Lambton in 2015 (I Guess I’m Voting After All)
My political leanings vary daily. I read anarchist literature for fun. I’m currently reading Che Guevara’s biography. My religious leanings side heavily with those of the Christian anarchists and liberation theologians and anti-colonial thinkers and…
Living An Intentional Life: A Sermon On Intention
We all wake up every single morning. We all go to bed at night. We all eat. We all breathe. We all live in houses. We all have relationships. What ends up happening with all…
Learning Things That Cannot Be Taught: A Reflection On Relationships
The liturgy, like the feast, exists not to educate but to seduce people into participating in common activity of the highest order, where one is freed to learn things which cannot be taught. -Aidan Kavanaugh…
Insecurity Breeds Kindness or Arrogance?
I just finished watching Netflix’s series Chef’s Table. It was a fascinating show where each episode dives into the lives of personalities of different famous chefs from around the world. With each chef you watch…
Three Kinds Of People With Jobs
There are three kinds of people who have jobs. The Workers: Those that are working to live The Lifers: Those that live to work The Lucky: Those where work and living have no recognizable differences…
Organize People Who Care, Not Those Who Just Want Jobs
One of my key personal values is this: more can be accomplished and more people can be cared for when groups of people share common values and purpose rather than individuals going off on their…
Practices Make The Church #Praxis15
I got an opportunity to join the good people at Praxis Conference in Houston this week. Some thoughts have been spurring. Every church is formed by the practices that they partake in together. The more…