Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of an "atmospheric river," but by now those of us who live in British Columbia have become all too familiar with the term. When one of those rivers in the sky released its torrent, we experienced such massive flooding and mudslides that my city and our … Continue reading Hope Is Drawing Near
I love playing with words, whether it's relaxing with a New York Times crossword puzzle, or learning to solve cryptic crosswords, or using different letters to paraphrase Psalm 23. So for my last sermon, I thought of including my own acrostic psalm of thanks in keeping with my sermon text from Psalm 111. "I will … Continue reading Thanks Be to God!
Have you ever walked away from a conversation obsessing over what you should have said instead? What would have been better? What could have been clearer? I felt that way after last week's webinar on Living Well After the Pandemic hosted by Faith Today. It was an honour for me to be invited as one … Continue reading Pandemic Lessons to Carry Forward
"Dear Friends . . . we have confidence before God" (1 John 3:21). That’s an amazing statement of faith, isn’t it? In this ongoing pandemic that has re-shaped so much of life, in times of loneliness and distress, in times of illness and loss---dear friends, we have confidence before God. When you spend two days … Continue reading Dear Friends, We Have Confidence Before God
For Lent one year I wrote a series of dramatic monologues featuring a scribe, a woman in the crowd, Pontius Pilate (the governor who had sentenced Jesus to death), and Simon Peter (one of Jesus' closest disciples). Each reflected on the choices they had made concerning Jesus, what led to their choice, and what if … Continue reading New Day, New Choices
When I first started blogging, I ended each post with a writing/reflection prompt, and continued that practice over the years. Most of the writing prompts were questions based on a particular blog post, but sometimes I would include a suggested writing exercise: What helps you rest from your work? Are your neighbours strangers, acquaintances, or … Continue reading Prompts to Get You Writing
Have you ever received a star word? Some churches celebrate Epiphany by passing out stars with printed words to everyone in the congregation. Each star word is different---"delight," "compassion," "giving," or some other word that's meant to be a surprising and beautiful gift to ponder and carry into the new year. Just as the star … Continue reading A Promise of Healing, Freedom, and Joy
This week I received a free calendar in the mail along with this note: I've never once felt the need to urge you to throw away something I sent you. But this year, PLEASE, throw away your 2020 calendar. Let's do our part to put this year behind us. In many ways it's been a … Continue reading The Top 10 of 2020 from April Yamasaki
April Yamasaki 