Ever since he was a boy, the one thing Mr. Perkins looked forward to most about the Advent and Christmas season was the annual service of Lesson and Carols. Perhaps it was the fact that he had grown up in a large city church – a church with a long tradition of excellence in musicRead More »
Midweek Reflections
Welcome to our blog here at St. Stephen’s. Here you’ll find midweek reflections from diverse voices, as well as occasional musings. Our hope is that this provides one more way for us to connect during these challenging times, along with Sunday worship and our weekly Zoom check-in.
Lord of Thought and Will?
The official hymn of my alma mater, Wycliffe College, opens with a line that is startlingly efficient in its forthrightness and its strangeness: “King of Love, O Christ, we crown you/Lord of thought and Lord of will….” (#451 in our blue hymnal) The concept of Christ’s Reign can be foreign to those of us inRead More »
Musings on Remembrance Day
Our air raid shelter was at the bottom of the garden. It was also called a dugout, literally dug out of the ground. It stood on a thick slab of concrete and was covered with corrugated iron that curved over it like a tunnel. When it rained it sounded like thunder.
Lessons from the oxygen tank
My dad died of Pulmonary Fibrosis a few years back. Receiving a diagnosis like this is pretty much a death sentence. There is no cure, and it progresses rather quickly. Eventually your lungs just stop working and you can no longer breathe. My dad’s case was exceptionally rare, as he managed to live a fullRead More »
“Like Stars Appearing”
The First Reading for this Feast of All Saints features a rare moment of dialogue between two flesh-and-blood humans in St. John’s Apocalypse: Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” ThenRead More »
The Back Pew
Anglicans love the back pew. I suppose an interesting social history might be written on the subject putting forward all sorts of reasons that the front pews remain empty while the back pews are always occupied.
Seeing the Back of God
Exodus 33:12-23 Moses is one of my favourite Old Testament characters. I even named my car after him: Moses Mazda! From his rescue as an infant from the banks of the Nile to his growing up as the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, from his exile in Egypt as a wanted man to his settlementRead More »
Giving Thanks
If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is Thank You, it will be enough. –Meister Eckhart When we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving this upcoming Sunday, we will read from Luke 17:11-19, where Jesus heals the ten lepers. What catches my attention are not the nine lepers who go merrily on their way,Read More »
St. Michael and All Angels
We don’t seem to think about angels all that much anymore. Maybe it’s because our culture doesn’t connect with the classical image of fluffy, harp-strumming cherubs. More likely, it’s because the very notion of Divine Messengers is just plain weird: sentient beings other than homo sapiens is the stuff of science fiction and fantasy. AndRead More »
“The last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The parable of the labourers and the vineyard, which we will hear this coming Sunday, suddenly seems to be very relevant during this time of “coronatide.” All our lives have been turned upside down to some extent, especially our work lives. There are many who have lost their jobs, or have been laid off notRead More »
Throughout your Generations…
The readings for this Sunday are available here. Believe it or not, it’s already September. September 2, 2020, to be precise. It’s also the Wednesday after the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, according to the steady tick of the church calendar. I for one don’t want to know how many weeks it’s been since we allRead More »
All Desires Known…
The readings for Sunday are available here. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” My spiritual journey over the last few years has involved a concerted effort to learn what it means to simply be myself in a ministryRead More »
