Vol XVII. No. 25
Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019 http://colleagueslist.blogspot/.ca http://colleagueslistii.blogspot.com
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Dear Friends:
The first robin of the season appeared in our back yard yesterday morning and it triggered some thoughts in me that I would like to share with you in this issue of Colleagues List.
I offer other items as well, and hope you will find my selections to be helpful.
PLEASE NOTE - If a link below, seems to be dead, cut and paste it into the address bar at the top of your web page and it should work.
SPECIAL ITEM
A Personal Reflection
THE FIRST ROBIN
A Hopeful Sign of Spring
I write this short piece on March 17th, and although St. Patrick deserves comment, I would like to say a few words about the robin that appeared in our backyard crabapple tree this morning for the first time this year.
Thoughts rushed through my mind and I want to share a few with you.
It's been almost six months since we said good-bye to robins (probably forbearers of the one we met this morning) and we have had a lot of time to think about new beginnings during cold winter days and nights.
Being homebound for much of the past two years has caused my partner, Marlene, and I to reflect more intently than we might have otherwise.
The first learning I'd like to share is that we have grown more cautious about our spending. This does not mean we want to live in poverty, but we do want to be wiser with our expenditures. We learned, during the past 24 months, that we could enjoy life without some of the things we were used to accumulating. Restaurant meals and cultural events are important, but we need to be more discriminating with the way we allocate our budgetary resources. It's taken the shock of the virus for us to see this.
A second learning involves interpersonal relations. Before we knew about masks and social distancing, we didn't think much about the passing of germs or the respect we paid to each other's space. While I have harboured a certain resentment against masks and the forced space respect paid to others, I think that we have learned a few things about how we had unintentionally imposed ourselves on others unthinkingly. Soon, I hope that masks and social distancing will be history, but not the important lessons we learned from required and changed behaviour.
There is a final learning I have had in my work as a teacher. I have engaged a lot with Zoom during the past 24 months and have focused on the way I present myself and share the content of my message. I have thought about "message received" as much as "content sent." While I still have much to learn about the art of pedagogy I would like to think I am a more disciplined teacher than I once was. The same holds true for the way I write and the way I proclaim the Good News - which still serves as important aspects of my vocation. (Of course, others are the final judges of my effectiveness.)
I don't think that proud robin in our backyard tree had any awareness of the thoughts triggered in my mind when I encountered him/her this morning. But I would like to thank that bird for what became learning for me. Perhaps you have benefited as well.
Wayne
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COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
Ron Rolheiser, San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site, March 14th, 2022
"Lenten Ashes"
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Philip Yancey, Colorado
Philipyancey.com, March 17th, 2022
"No More Tears Left"
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Jim Taylor, Okanagan, BC
Personal Weblog. March 6th, 2022
"Names and Statues"
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Mark Whittall, Ottawa, ON
Sermons and Blog, March 11th, 2022
"Rock, Rope and Faith"
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NET NOTES
MOURNING THE DEATH OF BILL PHIPPS
Friend and Colleague for Many Years
United Church of Canada, March 5th, 2022
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YES, PUTIN IS EVIL
Be Able to Say So
Religion News Service, March 9th, 2022
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WAGING SPIRITUAL WARFARE AGAINST WAR ITSELF
Christians Can All Do Something
Catholic Register, Toronto, March 11th, 2022
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I'M ASHAMED OF MY FELLOW RUSSIANS
What They Believe About Ukraine is Wrong
Broadview, March 7th, 2022
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MAKING RUSSIA GREAT AGAIN
Christian Week, March 13th, 2022
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POPE FRANCIS AND PATRIARCH KIRILL
Francis will Not Accept Ukraine Invasion as a Holy War
National Catholic Reporter, March 16th, 2022
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CURRENT CANADIAN VIEWS ON UKRAINE
Lethal Aid, Humanitarian Assistance, Sanctions Against Russia
Angus Reid Institute, March 16th, 2022
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ANOTHER BLOW TO MEGACHURCH EVANGELICALISM
Clergy Sexual Abuse or Extramarital Affair for Canadian Evangelist
Religion News Service, March 9th, 2022
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CANTERBURY SAYS FAITH HELPED HIM DURING DEPRESSION
BBC News Service, February 20th, 2022
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ANGICANS, LUTHERANS SEE LIMITED IMPACT FROM FULL COMMUNION
A Lot Still Has to be Done
Anglican Journal, March 1st, 2022
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WISDOM OF THE WEEK
Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:
Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. … It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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If we are to heal our ecological wounds, we need to shift from settler views of individual land ownership to Indigenous views of communal land stewardship.
- Liuan Huska
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Real radicalism implores us to tell the whole ugly truth, even when it is inconvenient.
- Brittney Cooper
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