Laundry in a Time of COVID
To Exist for Others: Embracing the Call to Encounter
What might it look like for the church to move through the world with an openness to deeply encountering others? How might the church cultivate a posture—or, better, a spirituality—of encounters? First, a church of encounter must be open to risky solidarity. To encounter our neighbours, next door or across the globe, requires meeting them as they are and not as we would have them be. It requires meeting others in their pain, their need, or their anger. That sort of encounter is risky, because there is a possibility that we may be asked to give up our comfort for the sake of another’s good. More…
The Spirituality of COVID Risk
As scientists have rushed to understand this new health risk, people of faith have also raised questions about a theology of risk during this crisis. Some describe COVID-19 as a global wake-up call for social justice and human rights. How can faith communities best contribute to the common good in this pandemic? As they seek to be part of the solution, faith communities should develop fluency in the biomedical language of health risk and faith leaders should “translate” such risk communications into their local contexts in order to help protect and support their congregations and communities. More…
There’s Hope for Families: Catechesis During a Pandemic
Volume 32, Number 2, Fall 2020
A View from a Jacuzzi
The other day I was one of a crowd who spent much of a wet Saturday afternoon in a jacuzzi. My advisees, who formed the crowd, had advised me to try it; you'll like it, they said. Till then I had not even known how 'jacuzzi' is pronounced. I had taken it to rhyme with the name of Beachcomber's memorable operatic soprano, Rustiguzzi. (Who was Beachcomber? Why, England's magnificent answer to Stephen Leacock. You never heard of him? I'm very sorry for you. Now let me get on.) I found, however, that the proper rhymes for jacuzzi are words like woozy, boozy and floozie. Whether that is good or bad news I'm not sure, but facts are facts. Previously I had thought of jacuzzis as reserved for hedonists in Hollywood and sybarites in San Francisco, but now I know that under certain circumstances members of Regent's teaching faculty may also use them. Every day, it seems, one learns something new. More…
Gift Beyond Measure
The truth is that the first time I worshipped at St. John’s Anglican Church, I was stalking J. I. Packer. On the third visit, there he was, up in front—tall, thin, white hair, long black outfit—kneeling at a little wooden desk, leading the congregation through the service. More…