What can an old picnic blanket teach us about the Kingdom of God? Perhaps more than we imagine. As summer begins to wind down, discover how faded fabric, shared meals, and simple hospitality reveal that God’s grace is often found in the ordinary moments where we make room for one another.
Tag Archives: Friendship
The Gospel According to the Borrowed Tomato
There is a particular kind of conversation that occurs regularly in neighbourhoods during the summer. It usually begins with someone standing at the front door holding vegetables. Now, this is already one of the great signs that Ordinary Time has fully arrived. Because in winter, people appear at your door carrying things like snow shovelsContinue reading “The Gospel According to the Borrowed Tomato”
The Long Beautiful Work of Belonging
And perhaps that is how belonging often happens.
Unexpectedly. Over years of shared prayers, coffee hours, griefs, laughter, committee meetings, casseroles, and ordinary faithfulness.
The Theology of Borrowing a Ladder
But the Kingdom of God seems remarkably comfortable working through small acts of generosity.
Walking the Camino Episode 13: From Compostela to the Clubhouse: Pilgrim Feet and Family Fairways
Returning home from pilgrimage often reveals that the lessons of the Camino belong just as much on familiar fairways and everyday paths as they do on ancient roads in Spain. With warmth, gentle humour, and gratitude for family, this reflection explores the joy of carrying a pilgrim’s heart into ordinary life, discovering that grace continues to unfold wherever we walk with attentiveness, companionship, and thankful hearts.
Walking the Camino Episode 12: Going South to Go North
The Camino may eventually come to an end, but the work God begins through pilgrimage continues long after the final destination is reached. Returning home invites us to live with new eyes, slower rhythms, and a deeper awareness of grace in ordinary life. This reflection explores the transition from pilgrim to everyday disciple, reminding us that the most important steps are often the ones we take after the journey is over.
Walking the Camino Episode 11: When Queens Becomes the Next Stage of the Camino
Pilgrimage does not end when we return home—it simply changes landscapes. The lessons learned on ancient paths continue to unfold in familiar places, revealing that classrooms, workplaces, neighbourhoods, and everyday routines can become the next stage of the journey. With warmth, gratitude, and gentle humour, this reflection explores how the Camino continues long after Santiago, reminding us that every new season offers fresh opportunities to walk with the same attentiveness, humility, and grace that shaped us on the road.
Walking the Camino Episode 10: The Journey Home… Or, How Not to Get to Toronto in One Day
The journey home from pilgrimage is rarely as straightforward as we imagine. Delays, missed connections, and unexpected detours have a way of reminding us that even the trip home has lessons to teach. With warmth, self-deprecating humour, and the perspective of a seasoned traveller, this reflection discovers grace amid travel mishaps, revealing that God’s companionship extends through airports and interruptions just as surely as it does along the Camino itself.
Walking the Camino Episode 9: The Day Before the Journey Home A Day in Santiago
The final full day of pilgrimage is often filled with gratitude, reflection, and the quiet realization that the journey has already begun to change us. As the prospect of returning home draws near, we discover that the true destination has never been a place alone, but a heart made more attentive to God’s presence. With warmth and gentle wisdom, this reflection explores the bittersweet grace of preparing to leave while carrying the gifts of the Camino into the life that awaits beyond it.
Walking the Camino Episode 8: The Day to Santiago
Reaching Santiago is a moment of profound joy, gratitude, and quiet wonder. Yet the final miles reveal that pilgrimage is about far more than arriving at a destination—they celebrate the countless small steps, unexpected encounters, and moments of grace that have shaped the journey along the way. With warmth, humility, and the heart of a pilgrim, this reflection explores the gift of arriving, reminding us that every ending in God’s Kingdom is also the beginning of something new.