Sowing and Scattering
All throughout the Easter Season, we have readings from the Acts of the Apostles. This often seems like a triumphant procession of the Faith. But read carefully, it is also the story of the beginning of almost endless persecutions that will go on for the next several centuries. Immediately after the stoning of Saint Stephen, Saul is breathing fire and persecuting Christians. We read in Acts 11:19 and 8:1 that the believers were scattered for their own safety. It seems that these seeds are scattered by the wind. However, we know that they do bring forth fruit in cities and in regions far away from Jerusalem.
When I was young, I lived on a farm and most of my cousins were city kids. We had several areas of fields which were too wet to use machines to sow crops and so we would sow the crops by hand. One of my city cousins got very upset at this because he said we were throwing away all this expensive grain. …
Read More
Who Are You Voting For? Who Are You Speaking For?
When you read this Canada will either be in an election or close to one. The press has been saying something similar for a year or more, I know.
The Trade/Tariff War with the US, the longing for a change in government, the economic hardships, immigration, housing, etc., etc.: all issues are urgent. You hear the same voices as we always have, but about different matters.
You have to live long enough to remember enough elections to compare tactics and strategies and I have! As the very short-time Prime Minister Kim Campbell once said, “Election campaigns are not the time to talk about serious issues.” Though she was pilloried for it, politicians have lived by that rule.
The brief election campaigns that Canada has mean that the media buildup to elections is many times longer than the actual campaign.
But this is the system we have. So, let’s use it.
Read More
The Power of the Picture
Just the other day I had an individual send her first picture of her first grandchild to me. It was an ultrasound scan, which nobody thinks unusual anymore. How many times have I spoken to colleges, universities, and high schools and have had to change my approach completely from 20, 30, or 40 years ago now? One of the very first things I ask them is, “Who has their first picture?” and when I explain that I mean an ultrasound picture, all the hands go up. Then my question is, “Was that you or is that somebody else?” In effect, if we take into account the reality that it is that person’s first picture then we have to ask ourselves, what is the worth of that person? We’ve all seen the ultrasound ads on the subways, whether for quitting smoking or quitting alcohol use while pregnant, and nobody gives them a second look. They become so standard, but we know what they say.
As part of the pro-life movement, we need to be very clear that we’re into a different phase in our own time. As Marshall McLuhan said, “we are in the post-alphabetic society”. That is a society where the visual or the power of the image is everything.
Read More
