“I brought a book I think you’ll find interesting,” my cousin said as we sat down for lunch recently, handing me a paperback copy of The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. I believe, now having read it, that she might have been nudged to give me this book because she knows, perhaps as much as [...]
During a lunch meeting with friends today someone spoke of past states of generalized anxiety which professionals often tried, unsuccessfully, to pin down – fear of flying, fear of social situations, “What are you afraid of?” That didn’t work. Then, my friend recounted, while sitting with people she didn’t know she blurted out her frustrations [...]
Each author in this series has generously given me permission to post their work. The views and experiences shared are their own. Where applicable, links will also be provided at the end of the piece. AIDS didn’t become important to me until somebody I knew died. I imagine that is also the case for most [...]
Millions of Roman Catholic pilgrims climb the 283 steps to St. Joseph’s Oratory – praying on their knees. In the early days of my AIDS diagnosis I used to go to a “healing mass” at Our Lady of Lourdes on Sherbourne Street here in Toronto. I can’t say I wholeheartedly believed there was much hope [...]
Anyone from “the rooms” who’s heard me talk about 2, 3, 11 and others, especially since my comeback following Craig’s death, knows that I’m having trouble – at best – articulating my beliefs regarding spiritual matters and – at worst – am profoundly confused. The way from my heart to my head, or vice versa, [...]
Praying over bread and wine (or grape juice) used to make them the body and blood of Christ – literally, according to the faithful. Then someone dressed Jesus in a white wafer and, poof, a melt-in-your-mouth Christ. And, while I could see how it would upset the modern-day Pharisees, such a fuss over spontaneously giving [...]
As I walked up to the subway this morning I passed a young Tamil-Canadian family crossing the street from St. James Town to attend Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church – so a confession is in order. I have received Communion from Jesuits there which, as a Protestant, I am not permitted to do. [...]
As I look forward to hearing and singing the music of the Christmas season I think back to the break-neck pace we kept in the family at this time of year when I was a kid. This probably would have been the Sunday for our church’s candlelight service, or perhaps the 20th, and it was [...]
Because I do not know the exact date in May this seems as good a time as any to mark the twentieth anniversary of my HIV-positive diagnosis. It was March of 1990 when I received definitive word at which time suspicious blood samples from the previous May were tested for HIV specifically and they were [...]
