I've never really liked the layout of my blog. I like the content, I like the colours, but the blog itself seemed too narrow. It seemed to waste a great deal of space. So I googled "how to widen the margins" and came up with this blog posting. So I became a 'follower'.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
How to widen your blogger column
What you hear on a Kettle
Last evening a group of us were at the Edmonton Oilers game to stand at our Kettles as we "kicked off" this important fund raising event. The funds raised in Edmonton go to fund our Community and Family Services whose diverse support of those in need.
Monday, November 23, 2009
What's the value of your opinion?

I'm not an economist but it seems to me worth is established by the exchange individuals are willing to make. You see that demonstrated on eBay. Someone owns a clock and puts it on eBay - then others offer money based on what they think the clock is worth. Whatever the owner thinks the clock is worth is irrelevant to the final agreement. The value is established by the purchaser.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Loss
We were at Glenmore Temple this morning. There was a definite sadness in the air as they announced some very personal losses for members of the congregation. One in paticular, the 18 year old grand-daughter of one couple, was killed in a severe collision south of Calgary on Saturday. Wendy and I were driving through the city and heard the radio announcement regarding the traffic detouring due to the accident.
I never hear those announcements without thinking about the families involved. For some time when we lived in Mississauga I was on the "on call team" for Pastoral Care at the Credit Valley Hospital. One evening we passed a serious accident, and just as we got past the intersection my pager went off. At the hospital I found a father who was mourning the death of his 16 year old daughter. She had been on the back of her friend's motorcycle though her Dad had forbidden her to be out on the bike! Now he was phoning his estranged wife to tell her the tragic news. There is little comfort in those moments without a sense of eternity.
Believing our days will continue to unfold as they have in the past is how most of us approach each day. It isn't going to always be this way. It just isn't.
Preparing for such moments has to happen in the calm, for in the storms of life there is no time to develop character or hope or faith. As a pastor I've seen to many families torn apart in times that should have driven them together.
So how will you prepare?
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Delta in Kananaskis
Jill, our contact at the Delta in Kananaskis assures us that our dates for the second week of January 2011 are set, and we have some other neat ideas for the week when the officers of the AB & NT Division will gather in this idyllic setting for our retreat. I couldn't help but stop and take some photos of the mountains where winter is settling in.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The hard art of listening
Mr. Caldwell, Calgary's Mayor, Barbara, Darrel and myself at the table prior to our dinner!
This was a hard day. First it was about listening, and listening intently. Second the listening was about a hard subject. Listening is exhausting - or at least I find deep listening to be tiresome.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Mr. Thomas Caldwell
We awoke this morning to a bright sunny day in Calgary. The picture outside our window was striking as we saw again those snow capped mountains towering over the mountains. I like living in Edmonton but I miss that sight! There really is not much like it.


