Yme Woensdregt, Author at The HighWay

Watching and Waiting

Yme Woensdregt — Sat, 30 Nov 2024 09:48:47 +0000

Happy New Year! — A little premature? For some it is, but not for others. Different peoples celebrate new year at different times. Our society, which is governed by calendars that marches to the tyrannous beat of time, celebrates the New Year in a mad rush of parties and drink at the end of December. […]

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St Nicholas

Yme Woensdregt — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 09:45:38 +0000

On December 6, we celebrate the feast day of St Nicholas. I have fond memories of celebrating “Sint Nicolaas” or “Sinterklaas” as a young child with other Dutch families in New Westminster. We’d all be together in a large hall, with our hearts in our throats, waiting for Sinterklaas to arrive with his mischievous helper […]

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How Inclusive Are We?

Yme Woensdregt — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 08:21:30 +0000

2SLGBTQIA+ General Synod, Winnipeg, 2007. I wept at a table in the rapidly emptying conference room after another acrimonious debate on the motion to authorize dioceses to permit the blessing of same–gender unions. It passed in the House of Laity; it passed in the House of Clergy; it was lost in the House of Bishops. […]

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I Celebrate Being ‘Woke’

Yme Woensdregt — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 08:07:08 +0000

Recently, someone accused me of being ‘woke’. It’s the new insult used by the alt–right. My first impulse was to sputter in dismay and dismiss it as another ad hominem attack. It’s easier to impugn the character, motive, or integrity of another person rather than have a conversation about the merits of one’s position. Then […]

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LIVING: For Eternity or in The Here and Now?

Yme Woensdregt — Mon, 01 May 2023 08:25:05 +0000

Does God exist? A few years ago, ABC’s Nightline featured a debate between two Christians and two atheists about the existence of God. Ray Comfort, a street preacher, and Kirk Cameron (the former sit–com actor who played eldest son Mike Seaver on “Growing Pains”) faced members of the so–called Rational Response Squad. In the Christian […]

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I Am An Agnostic Christian

Yme Woensdregt — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 08:22:02 +0000

A recent blog suggested that if we understand faith as “trust in relationship,” then faith will always have an element of doubt. The author writes, “Faith is never a certainty. Rather, it is a deep trust that something is true.” He names it “being an agnostic Christian.” We all have questions about some of the […]

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A Blessing for a Dying Church

Yme Woensdregt — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:13:33 +0000

As you read this, we are in the season of Lent. I have been reflecting on the report that the structures of the Diocese are in a palliative state. It occurred to me that Lent is a good season for this kind of deep reflection. I turned to a profound blessing which undergirds my own […]

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What Does It Mean To Love?

Yme Woensdregt — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 09:09:48 +0000

February is the month for the feast day of St Valentine. It has become a time when people celebrate love. Hearts abound in cards and decorations and news stories. But who was St. Valentine? What does he have to do with love? And what does it mean to love? We know very little about Valentine, […]

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Now the Work of Christmas Begins

Yme Woensdregt — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 09:15:40 +0000

One of my favourite poems comes from American theologian Howard Thurman: “When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, […]

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Three Advents

Yme Woensdregt — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 16:50:49 +0000

The season of Advent can be difficult to celebrate. All around us, the world is already celebrating Christmas. Carols play in an endless loop, and I confess that I also start playing carols earlier at home. Advent is a season of preparation, anticipation, and hope. It comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.” […]

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