Integrate!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosedavies/ Is this a picture of sunrise or sunset? We think we know the difference between a beginning and an ending, but it's hard to tell sometimes. I am writing this on Easter Sunday. It's a day for beginning, but it's not a day for a fresh start. The story tells us that rebirth - like birth itself - is messy and terrifying and painful. Christ rises and the women at the tomb are first confused, then terrified, and then joyful. And then they have to tell a story no one will believe. Christ rises with the the memory and the marks of his life. He does not promise a fresh start. Forgiving is not forgetting. He remembers and so do we. Christ rises and although you may not believe in the story, yet you believe the story itself while you hear it. That's how we understand stories: we believe them long enough to learn what happens, to experience a change, to recognize a pattern. This story is about the glory of starting again. This s...

Do you read fiction? I tried to search google to find out how many books the average Canadian reads. In my own life, I know some people who always have a book on the go, and they might read somewhere between 20 and 50 books a year. Lots of others read a few books a year, and some mostly read periodicals. There's lots of evidence that reading fiction does good things for our emotional intelligence.  But that's not why most people read novels. They read because they like to explore new experiences and perspectives through language. Reading a novel takes you into the lives of people who are like you and unlike you, and your response to the novel gives you new information about you (whether or not you liked it). Canada Reads finished yesterday. It's a kind of game show where 5 prominent Canadians each pick a book to represent in a battle to win the title of 'a book all Canada should read.' This year it featured an Olympian, an activist, a movie-maker, a wrestler tu...