Launched out of a desire to foster a uniquely Canadian reflection on our faith, the New Leaf Writing Collective is a collaborative effort providing space for conversation around issues that planters, starters, and spiritual entrepreneurs are facing in our current landscape.
Water is life. We need it to survive. A hot July afternoon has us craving for multiple glasses of the cold stuff. Water is also comfort. Nothing beats a steaming cup of chai on a chilly December morning. But water outside my body, especially deep water, is a different matter altogether. It presents itself as danger…
There is a big difference between a paper cut and a stab wound. Though some might argue that a papercut hurts much more, it heals quickly, and soon you forget all about it. It was just a little cut and, after all, the paper didn’t mean to hurt you. Stab wounds, on the other hand, are rarely accidental…
Welcome to this place outside where you were told the Light lived.
Welcome to a place of fear-filled change, mighty rest, or rebellious hope…
I live in Regina, SK, on Treaty 4 Territory, where it is pretty dark this time of year.
I love it.
I savour it.
When it starts to dissipate, I find myself thinking fondly about when it will return the following year…
This year, four of my closest friends are navigating their first Christmas after separating in their respective marriages. As a child of divorced parents myself, Christmas is always a reminder of relationships unravelled. This year our community is unravelling further still. My heart yearns for the contrast of cold weather and warm homes, for hot drinks over long conversations, for a peaceful break from the hectic rhythms of the year, while my mind knows some of those conversations will be heavier this year…
Christmas records appear in heavy rotation when the calendar hits December 1st at my house. I can't help it; I'm just a sentimental fool for Christmas music. I have some well-worn favourites, but my most cherished cuts will always be the jazzy classics. Give me Bing Crosby and Carol Richards crooning out "Silverbells," and I'm already imagining decking the halls of my house with garland and lights…
I teach World Religions at a Christian university in Ontario, and the course material often disrupts the Christianized world of some of the students. For many, taken-for-granted notions about other religions and their adherents are shaken up, and mostly in a good way…
It has been such a pleasure walking through the Advent season with you. This has become such an important resource for so many across North America. We continue to be surprised and delighted by all the folks who choose to take this annual advent journey with us. So thank you from the bottom of our leafy hearts for being a part of this…
Take a moment and read Luke 1:68-79.
There once was a man, trained in the scriptures and a tradition, who could not bear children with his wife. One day they received a word from God that they indeed will have a child. What’s more, this child will DO something. This child would somehow be a catalyst for change in their world. And their world needed a catalyst…
