Posts by Trinda Jocelyn

Sara Pippus Driving through the Black Hills this past summer, we finished up our holidays surrounded by great rock formations and lush forests. What a fantastic place to explore hiking trails and large stretches of forest. Now and again, around the bends in the road, would be large gaps in the forest. Trunks of trees stripped bare of bark and large stretches of charred land left little of the former beauty. Forest fires, old and new, make their way indiscriminately through these old growth forests each summer. Fire tragedy seems to have no upside and the scar left on the…

Charlotte Kowalson On Labour Day weekend, I had some of my usual gang over for lunch and then to stay to watch the football game. Lunch was the kid’s favourite – chicken strips and my husband’s homemade fries. The kid’s mom, Selena, brought the dessert-a chocolate, quick oats, and coconut confection that we all call fiddle-diddles – an absolute favourite of all, and because we were all going to watch the game she brought lots of cookies, about four dozen for eight people! Everyone had also brought their own snacks and, of course, there were lots of cookies left over…

Janelle Ross It’s not like having the flu or a cold, where I know I will get better, but chances are I’ll get sick again, one day. It’s not like when I cut my hair short for the last time and I said to my friends this will be it because I’m past that age and I’ll never have long hair again. Or the time I graduated from school and said no more to the books and the learning. Or the time I carried that second child in my belly, thinking he would be the last. It’s not even like…

Mary Muirhead Listening to the CBC, I overheard a conversation with a young man who had just written a book. OK, there are lots of new books out there, but my ears perked up when he mentioned his Buddhist upbringing. His family had stressed the importance of being helpful and useful to others; in fact, the message of his book was to point out the importance of our everyday contacts as we go about doing what we do. I think we all agree with him; we know this. We have heard, and perhaps have ourselves told stories of kind words…

Glenda Jacobs When Walking with Our Sisters came to Red Deer, Alberta, it was one of those events that happen once in a lifetime; it changed not only me, but also my community.  For nine months, we prepared for the sisters to arrive. For my settler descendant community, it was an art installation at our museum; for the aboriginal community, it was ceremony which brought an opportunity for healing. Walking with Our Sisters was created to raise awareness and action about murdered and missing Aboriginal women and children. In the installation, each woman and girl is recognized by vamps, which…

Andrea Muirhead A few years ago I heard one my friends talking about something that he referred to as “First World Problems.” These are the things in life like complaining about your slow Wi-Fi connection, or your bottled water being warm, modern conveniences that we take for granted and then we complain about them. I appreciate that I live in Canada. I am thankful for more than one set of clothing and more than one pair of shoes. I am grateful for my education, my family, my friends, and the freedom to be a Christian. Fall is a great time…