Category Religion
Merry Christmas
From my family to yours, may the peace of the Christ-child be with you not just today but always. I picked up the poster below, which lists the various names and titles of Jesus, back in the 1970s. I figured I could find an image online, and sure enough, I found this one on Amazon. […]
Christmas Eve 2020
This was going to be the year. Christmas Eve in Bethlehem. What could be more meaningful? It was one of those bucket-list type of things. And surprisingly cheap.a return flight from Basel would only be a couple of hundred dollars. We know people who know people who would have found is a cheap place to […]
Reflections on Advent
This is the second Sunday of the Advent season, the time set aside to prepare for the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a time of anticipation, and spiritual reflection. Most years there is a Christmas Market in in front of the Rathaus (city hall) in Vienna. It is big and colorful with lots for […]
Ever Heard of Him?
One of the delights about visiting someplace new is learning bits of local history, things you don’t read in history books. I, for example, had never heard of Saint Arbogast. Had you? Walking through Dottingen one afternoon, I visited St. Arbogast’s Chapel on the spur of the moment. I’d seen the tower from a distance […]
Reminder for Tough Times
A friend posted this on Facebook, and I though it worth passing on. This has been a rough year for so many people in so many ways. It isn’t always easy to keep a positive attitude. It reminded me of a passage from The Bible, from the fourth chapter of Philippians: Do not be anxious […]
Thanksgiving Day
Given that it is a holiday in Canada I thought it was a good time for some reflections on the day. This is an edited version of my first Thanksgiving post from 2014. Following a Canadian tradition that goes back to English explorer Martin Frobisher in 1578, Canadians today are celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday. The […]
Getting It Wrong
I was amused when I saw the snake. Even more amused when I saw the apple beside it. It was a half hour wait between trains, so we wandered down Offenburg’s main Street. We saw enough to mentally mark it down as a place for a Saturday excursion. At first I thought the snake was […]
What’s Best For Lydia?
I was going to make considerable comments on this situation, then decided to leave it with what was published on the website. Does this situation seem right to you? Iranian Christian converts Sam Khosravi and Maryam Falahi request prayer, after the appeal court in Bushehr upheld a decision to deny them custody of their daughter […]
Castle Chapel
I’m not sure if the castle in the spa town of Bad Wurzach has guided tours or is even open to the public. But its chapel is. Having a few minutes before my bus, I dropped by. Today the building houses a school, some apartments and a religious order. In the early 1940s it was […]
You and God
I’m supposed to be at the beach today, but the border was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m thinking of sand though. Which brought this poem to mind, a modern classic about humans and our relationship with our Creator. I must admit I’ve always felt it was a little simplistic, even if I agree […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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