“I’ll be there within the hour”, I said to a manager of the sporting goods store in Barrie. He’d been giving me advice about a fishing rod and reel I wanted for my granddaughter’s birthday and he promised it would be worth the drive rather than doing it online. And it proved so for two reasons.

Not unlike in Jesus’ day we have cultural conflict that at root may be a disagreement about what produces a healthy society. For some it is tight adherence to rules and regulations, trusting experts and hoping everyone does what they are told. For others it is personal freedom, regardless of the impact on others because rules, regs and experts can’t be trusted. Many variations on those two themes swirl around.

As we’ve done in previous years our Monday Thoughts will take a break until September. But unlike other years we will offer occasional reflections and podcasts with no particular schedule as the wind blows and the Spirit leads.

In February 2019 Susan suggested I write a book entitled “Falling Down Stairs – Step by Step Directions.” My credentials are a lightning bolt scar over my right eye from 13 stitches from body surfing down some stairs at high speed that year. The slide wasn’t so bad, but the sudden and complete stop at the bottom did the damage.