Christian leaders speak out, and trek, on Day for Creation Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT
German Protestant who sought media independence, remembered Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Focus on human aspect of Holy Land conflict, says churches' leader Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Indian churches hail halting of permission for Vedanta's mining Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Patriarch unveils Kremlin icon hidden after Russian Revolution Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Express train will carry Mother Teresa's message across India Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT
posted on August 30, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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“You’ve got to be kidding. I’m too old for that kind of stuff,” my friend said in response to my suggestion that a fitness class might help us both with a weight problem.
posted on August 23, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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“She has a rather long nose.” Thus was my first impression of the tiny, white-haired, 70-year-old lady that was to occupy the front bedroom for the following winter months.
posted on August 16, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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I stood precariously balanced on the kitchen counter, trying to put the summer screen into the kitchen window. It has a mind of its own and tries my patience every spring. At last it fits. Carefully I step back onto the chair I have placed beside the counter. I miss it and start to fall.
posted on August 9, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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“Pat, Elaine, Fernne.” So often I heard my mother call those names. She probably only wanted one of us but she automatically called all three.
posted on August 2, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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When asked where the prettiest spot we ever camped was, I have to confess (as a Presbyterian elder) it was in a place where there was a “no camping” sign.
posted on July 26, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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There is a good deal of talk nowadays about the “quality” of time spent with children. That word would have confused my mother.
posted on July 19, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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The funeral was over. The relatives had gone and the freezer was stuffed with more food than I could ever eat. But mostly, it was time I had too much of … minutes, days, weeks, months of time.
posted on July 12, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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I set the small grey kitten on the white hospital blanket and waited—waited for the magic to start.
posted on July 5, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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“How old is the baby?” I smile at the new mother. I guess my grey hair is not intimidating; she replies with a smile, “Three days old!”
Wow! This is a different world.
posted on June 28, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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“Well this is different,” I said to myself as with widened eyes I took in the large sanctuary. (My own church contains nine pews on each side.) I wondered if I should reconsider this adventure; then I found the rest of the congregation fast on my heels and I was propelled inside.
posted on June 21, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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For six months after my husband died, I did not see the top of my dining room table. Funeral papers and federal, provincial and local government documents were stacked there along with all the sympathy cards … Much later I said to a friend, “If I’d known there was going to be so much paperwork, I wouldn’t have let him go.”
posted on June 14, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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The years had dimmed our memories of travelling with our children. (We’d forgotten all the potty stops and car-sick kids.)
posted on June 7, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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I pushed hard against the peeling, painted door. As it opened, my senses were filled with wonderful odours … leather, shoe polish, oiled wood floors. Such a heady perfume could take my breath away.
posted on May 31, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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Like many Christians, I’v had difficulty trying to comprehend the Trinity. The enormity of God fills me with awe.
posted on May 24, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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I watched as the tiny spider at its end, without fear, spun itself down until it rested on a nearby chair. It was really faith in action.
posted on May 17, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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The mind is a curious thing and I was learning fascinating things about it. But the practical aspects of the job were a far greater learning experience.
posted on May 10, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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We waited together…
Waiting for time to stop.
posted on May 3, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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I grinned as my eyes slid over the old photo of us, grubby but smiling, sitting around the campfire at the end of the climb. We’d been so young and full of enthusiasm. I’d learned something special that day; something that has stood by me through the years.
posted on April 26, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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The dark-haired young man with his grandpa’s blue eyes turned and kissed his lovely bride.
My heart stopped. This was a reenactment of a wedding 25 years earlier.
posted on April 19, 2010 in Columns, Patricia Schneider
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One of my earliest memories is of arguing with some girlfriends during the war years. They insisted that God didn’t like the Germans.
