Monthly Archives: January 2016
Speaking Christian
I didn’t know it was a language. The taxi driver asked us, “Do you speak Christian.” I don’t. Though I am a Christian, I try to avoid some of the jargon that has sprung up around the faith. In North America it is all too easy to live in a Christian sub-culture that bears absolutely […]
Rabban Hormizd III
There must be some sort of special devotion that causes a person to choose a monastic life. Part of me wishes I had that kind of faith. Though I would probably miss my creature comforts. When I look at the cliff that is Rabban Hormizd Monastery I image what it must have been like for […]
Rabban Hormizd II
In most countries a seventh century Christian monastery would be a place of pilgrimage, or at least a tourist attraction. But this is Iraq, and ISIS is only 20 kilometres from here. There are no tour buses. There is no-one else here. Well, there may be a few nuns, be we don’t see them. But […]
The Refugee Family
I guess you could call them political refugees. It’s a familiar story, I’m sure you have heard it before. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They got out before the soldiers came because they had been tipped off. You can attribute that to divine intervention if you like, or just to […]
Rabban Hormizd I
You can look out from the terrace of the monastery and see where ISIS’ advance was stopped in 2014. Destroying this place would have been the first task on their “to-do” list. High above the Iraqi town of Alqosh, Rabban Hormizd monastery has been a site of Christian worship for almost 1400 years. Founded in […]
Bethesda
In the New Testament book of John here is a reference to a place of healing, pool, that in English is rendered Bethesda. The Hebrew word translates as “House of Mercy.” Just outside of Ottawa there is a retreat centre that aspires to be such a place, the Bethesda Renewal Centre. On New Year’s Eve […]
Refugees and Migrants III – What’s The Difference?
Sometimes I get sidetracked. I wrote this post a couple of months ago as part of a series, and then never got around to posting it. Given that the Middle East refugee crisis is likely to continue to dominate the headlines in 2016, perhaps it is time to look at the subject again. I am […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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