20-22 Covid-19 Daily Reflections

  A movie star who lives in a 3.2 million dollar apartment suggested in her tweet that a pharmacy should not lock up its products. She then went on to say that they should let poor people steal from their stores. We all remember that no too long ago, congress charged a former president for inciting violent storming of the Capitol. His action was considered a threat to democracy and the stability of the nation. Twitter and Facebook then took action to shut down his accounts. What happened to Cynthia Nixon since her last tweet? Nothing from Facebook and Twitter. Her comment has put many retail workers in danger. It is ignorant and unkind. It is in many ways undermining the fundamental right of business people, the right to do business safely and fairly. If we follow the trend of her thought, we will encounter further decay of our democracy. She basically advocates violence and chaos. Many business people I know have given sacrificially to the poor. They have helped these ...

  One of the most known facts about Alberta is how fast our weather can change. We can have almost 20°C different from the morning to the evening. I always have a jacket in my car because of that. It can be challenging if we do not prepare for it. It is a common joke: "If you don't like the weather here, just wait a couple of hours." We might complain about the weather and yet pay very little attention to the ups and downs of our spiritual life. We are not always consistent in what we are about in terms of our faith. Sometimes we can be so unpredictable. We can criticize other peoples' behaviors and realize that we do the same thing. We can be so loving at one moment and then become frustrated in the next. How we relate to others is a manifestation of how we experience God's grace in our lives. We might participate in all religious activities and don't even feel God's presence and closeness. It appears as if we practice acceptable hypocrisy. Th...

  Some people find it hard to make promises. Others make promises as if they mean nothing. Sometimes we make promises while knowing very well that we can only fulfill that if we work with God's help. Our wedding vow is one of those. Most of us would not have the courage to say the vow if we really appreciate what it means. I understand that some folks might also say marriage is overrated. Marriage is not something that we can rate. It is a way to honor someone by stating a commitment in front of our families and friends. How should we go about making promises? We make promises to others out of loving-kindness. Loving-kindness means the following: We have to have a meaningful relationship with the person to whom we make a promise. It is about understanding our responsibilities and commitment in that relationship. It is about acknowledging that she or he is a gift of God in our life. There is no casualness in the art of making a promise. We understand that as we cherish t...

  The rain yesterday was a welcome event for many of us in Southern Alberta. It had been so hot and dry for about ten days or so. Some of my farmer friends were praying for rain because it looks like a hot and dry summer. That will be disastrous for our province economically that we have a drought this summer. Alberta doesn't need any more bad news. Spiritual dryness is another phenomenon that many people of faith have experienced during the last year. Somehow we discover how empty we are when we don't have to rush around. Our spirituality does not depend on other people's approval. Some pastors have struggled because they don't get their spiritual high on Sunday morning worship. Believers through the ages have had similar experiences. St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1515) wrote about his experience of spiritual desolation, feeling distant from God, temptation, and removed prayer life. John of the Cross (1542-1591) realized the need for spiritual purification i...

  I went for a short hike yesterday, the day after my 2nd vaccination shot. I needed some time to clear my head. I needed some solitude so that I could hear God more clearly.  I had not had any side effects from the shot so I was able to enjoy my hike alone.   Listening to God is always a learning process for me. Some might suggest that it demands a listening heart. What does that mean? We will learn to talk less so that we can hear others without judgment. We are guilty of trying to respond to others so quickly that we fail to listen. Sometimes we listen in order to find an answer for what we hear. That is not understanding. It is just pretending. "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." (James 1: 19) A listening heart is an obedient heart. During my short hike, I had to face the facts of my own disobedience. It is not an easy thing to hear. But it is essential in molding our hear...

  My heart sank when I read about the news about the unmarked graves of 215 children from the Indian Residential School in Kamloops, BC. According to the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Report, there were about 4100 children deaths. Some indigenous people say the number is much higher, about 6000. Maybe more. For some of you who are new to this tragedy in our Canadian history, here is an excerpt from the Globe and Mail about Residential Schools in Canada. "From the 1870s to the 1990s, residential schools were part of a systematic federal policy to assimilate Indigenous children into European culture, based on racist assumptions that their own cultures were inferior. Children were separated from their parents and lived in poorly funded schools where federal- or church-run staffs punished them for speaking their own languages. Physical and sexual abuse, malnutrition, and disease were common. There were 138 residential schools reviewed by the Truth and Reconcilia...

  Starting May 31st, our speed limit for residential area in my city is 40 km/hour unless posted otherwise. It will be interesting to see how many tickets will be issued. The city officials have failed to convince us that it will save lives. Some folks are cynical and call it the Cash Cow. I don't trust that I can change my driving habits that quickly so I wrote 40 on a piece of paper and stick it on my steering wheel. It is a reminder of not getting back to the old habit. It will be bad if I fail to do so. As Benjamin Franklin once said: "It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them."   Unbreakable bad habits are our chronic sins. It is the kind of sin that we come to God and ask Him for forgiveness only to discover that we have to do it over and over again. Some people would argue that driving fast and dangerous driving are not the same. We can take that conversation into many directions and find no common ground. Some people would say that "white lies...