Chaplain's Corner

“Change is in the wind” – when isn’t it. As far as the winds of change go, they never quit blowing; sometimes gently and sometimes with a ferocity that scares us.

This last year there has been a lot of buzz about human rights in Manitoba. The National Museum for Human Rights opened in Winnipeg in the fall, and news stories arise regularly centering on this topic.

Although at the present the events related to radicalized Islamic terrorists are far from us, there is a growing sense of vulnerability that people are feeling.

Belief in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is extremely relevant in the work of spiritual care in any Canadian health care facility.

Within the next month, 2.2 billion Christians, 31.5% of the world’s population will stop to remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

As I drove to work On January 7, 2015 news of the shooting at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo was being aired: twelve dead and twenty wounded.

Within a short time we know instinctively, whether a person is safe. We may not know why we either feel safe or unsafe, but if we have a measure of personal and psychological heath, we get a sense whether or not a person is safe.

You may recall the debate that arose in the middle of November when a church in Winnipeg cancelled its agreement with the Mennonite Central Committee group that was planning a fund raising event at the church.

Fear is a powerful motivator. This past fall we saw how powerful it was as the United States and Canada began to respond to the Ebola crisis in Africa.

It is customary to reflect in the early days of January. It is funny how calendars order our lives. No 24 hour period of time is significantly different than any other.