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.
Here we are on Christmas Day, the end of Advent, but also the beginning of the season of Christmas, not just a single day. For some, a season of Christmas means the season of social over-commitment. Where the season is extended because there are so many family and friend gatherings that the celebration extends into January. But, in the church calendar, the season is marked by the time between the Feast of the Nativity on December 25 until Epiphany on January 6th….
On November 11, I trudged slowly through freshly fallen snow, to the front door of the long- term care facility, my Mom’s home for almost three years. The walk was slow, deliberate, knowing this would be the last time I passed through the door. Before sunrise that morning, her caregivers called, well acquainted with moments like this, letting us know it was time to return after days of keeping vigil by her bedside. My mother’s long journey with dementia was nearing its end…
Hope is an audacious thing. It’s this fine silver thread that weaves itself in and through our hearts and binds us to Possibility in a way that defies reason and explanation. We trust Hope, against all odds. We see it, that fine silver thread, glimmering in the darkest of spaces, and its beauty is so heartbreakingly breathtaking that all we can do, sometimes, is weep in its presence….
This felt like the worst year of my life. Maybe in retrospect it will not even crack my top five, and I doubt it will crack 2025’s global top billion, but my therapist says not to gaslight myself by making it a competition. In any case, I don’t feel like writing on the Advent Reader themes of Coming Light or Hopeful Presence right now….
I love the unexpected twists in today’s Gospel reading. These departures in the narrative from what we might expect keep us rooted in Advent’s true discipline—watching and waiting in the real, messy details of our lives and the world around us….
What is a true prophet? The frail reed is the religious system of oppression (amongst others) of Creator Sets Free Day. This is Jesus pointing out the failings of a system of life that created barriers to community, barriers to being viewed as a full person, worthwhile in life. He points out that these things are happening not because cure is the only way to be included in life and have value….
For me, reflecting on 2025 is filled with moments of excitement and joy, but also moments of deep personal sorrow. Maybe that's why I was drawn to the lectionary reading of Ruth. It’s the resilient story of two women, Ruth and Naomi, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. After experiencing the deep sorrow of losing their husbands, they find themselves in a period of placing one foot in front of the other, despite the unknown destination…
“Dear Nick,” one fan wrote. “I’m feeling empty and more cynical than ever. I’m scared to pass these feelings on to my little son.” Australian rock legend Nick Cave, 68, invites fans to ask him anything, typically responding with deep compassion to one person per week. The letters are honest and raw, shot through with spiritual longing…
The vision that unfolds in Isaiah 11:1–10 is heart-stopping. We begin with a picture of new life, new possibilities springing from death: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” This isn’t just poetic language. It’s a promise that when all seems lost, God brings something new….
