The Wrestler
This painting by Jack Baumgartner portrays Jacob Wrestling the Angel from the book of Genesis. It’s a central metaphor for this blog – wrestling with life, health, urban issues, and even with God.
A Mourning Phase
I am sitting here in my favourite place in Toronto (Mount Pleasant cemetery), in front of my favourite headstone (Jesus washing Peter‘s feet), having just had my favourite breakfast for lunch at my favourite breakfast joint. It’s a beautiful summer day with blue skies and fluffy clouds, no humidity, sitting under the shade of a …
My Tribute to Rick
There’s been a lot said about Rick since he passed. Hundreds and hundreds of tributes on blogs, tweets and Facebook. And his obituary was beautiful, so I won’t rehash most of that. I’ve just been thinking about some of the many stories we shared over the years. And as I find blogging to be cathartic …
The not so Good Samaritan
So I did it. I’ve always looked down on the religious guys that keep going when they see a guy in need on the street, because they are too busy. What self righteous doinks they are! But now I’m quite certain I am one of them. It was the other day. I was on the …
I Don’t Cry
So we’re almost through January 2022. Does that freak anybody else out besides me? For me, this year started out pretty much the same as last. SSDY (same shite, different year) Covid never ends, the vax versus anti-vax divide continues to widen, (separating families from families, friends from friends, and dividing the church, the country …
The Long and winding Road
Yes, it’s been another tough season. Multiple Sclerosis continues to eat away at my body. And I’ve been doing yet another stint in a rehabilitation hospital to try and get better use of my extremities. Along the way they found a sizeable kidney stone in my right kidney and felt very strongly about going in …
4 weeks and 3 days in hospital
It’s been four weeks and three days now since I have been admitted to the hospital. And some of those days have been the hardest of my life. Erinn and I went to a movie four weeks and three days ago. (We went to see the Aretha Franklin movie which as an aside was pretty …
My summer woes (2 of 2)
So on the summer woes front, I’m also seeing lots of pictures of Newfoundland these days. People are on the water fishing, folks are enjoying Newfoundland food, and family are enjoying being with each other. My dad just turned 80, and I was the only sibling who couldn’t be there to celebrate with him. There …
My summer woes (1 of 2)
There is accessible. And then there’s truly accessible. And almost nothing for my needs is truly accessible. When I was in the shelter world, working amongst folks who are homeless, we talked a lot about ‘affordable’ versus ‘truly affordable‘ housing. Affordable housing was calculated based 30% of a person’s income. So if you made $48,000 …
The day someone assumed I was homeless
Well, it finally happened. Erinn and I were running some banking errands the other day. It was crazy hot so as she went into a building to get something, I waited in the shade at the next place we needed to go to. As I’m sitting there, minding my own business, watching the world go …
On Elevators, Covid, Rhythms, MS, God, and TV (Part 2 of 2)
“This pandemic, in a very different way, has been a broken elevator that has stopped us all from experiencing life in the expected way…” This is a direct quote from my friend and teacher Allen Proctor after reading yesterday’s post. He is the executive director of the Haden Institute where I studied to become a …
On Elevators, Covid, Rhythms, MS, God, and TV (Part 2 of 2) Read More »
On Elevators, Covid, Rhythms, MS, God, and TV (Part 1 of 2)
Well, it was a long winter. Not so much because there was a ton of snow that made me housebound, but because there was just simply no place to go due to this Covid thing. On top of that, my elevator broke. For those of you who do not know my current situation, our basement …
On Elevators, Covid, Rhythms, MS, God, and TV (Part 1 of 2) Read More »
A forced quarantine (without covid)
My elevator stopped working. Last Thursday night after dinner I went to go downstairs but my lift would not work. So brutal. I had very little idea of what to do. My bed is downstairs and it is almost impossible for me to stay in my chair for the night. I’m so dependant on these …
Vaccinations, MS, and the Psalms.
It’s March 3. And I am outside, in the park, the sky is blue and the sun is shining, and there is almost no snow on the ground. And on top of that, I got my first vaccination shot on Friday. It all feels as though there is light at the end of this very …
On Grace. And Accessibility. (Part 2 of 2)
Well I finally did it. After three years of using this thing, I capsized my wheelchair; with me in it. I was coming home from a routine trip to the store. The roads have still not been cleared very well from the snow and I have to take a run for it up onto the …
On grace. And accessibility. (1 of 2)
So far this winter the weather gods in Toronto have been smiling on us. That is unless you wanted snow. For me, who gets housebound in snow, I have been so thankful that the sidewalks and roads have not been impossible to navigate in my wheelchair thus far. But I’ve always known that the weather …
My Christmas Grow-Op
Well I might as well add my voice to the mix and say that 2020 was one brutal year. Besides my own life being disrupted by this pandemic, so many others around me are struggling. There’s been so much death. So much sickness. So much struggle. It’s been hard to know where to look for …
When it Rains it Pours
As I look out my door and see the sloppy, wet snow dampening the ground and making it impossible for me to go outside on this shitty, depressing first full day of winter, I realize this view lines up with how I’ve been feeling these days; shitty and depressed. Usually I don’t feel the winter …