A cow saved my husband’s life.

He had been strong and healthy, a former football player.

Then, at the age of 60, it was discovered that he had been born with a heart defect which he had never suspected.

Normally, the aortic valve in the human heart has three flaps, which open and close. (this is called a tricuspid valve).

My husband’s valve was bicuspid (had only two flaps).

With time, bicuspid valves usually become narrowed, causing a life-threatening condition.

When we found out about this health development, we decided to move to a Newfoundland outport.

Rural Newfoundlanders are somewhat xenophobic ( afraid of strangers), and our new neighbours wondered why we had moved from Ontario to a remote fishing village established in 1497.

However, when we explained my husband’s health condition, they became wonderfully welcoming and supportive.

We felt that the lack of pollution, the relaxed pace of life, and the sound of the soothing ocean waves would strengthen my husband, and prepare him for surgery.

Thankfully, we were right.

He gradually became stronger, and was able to undergo heart surgery at the world-famous Heart Institute in Ottawa, Ontario.

His defective heart valve was replaced by a valve made from bovine (cow) tissue.

The valve is not directly transplanted, but rather the new valve is made from cow tissue.

My husband made a complete recovery, thanks to a world-renowned surgeon, and the cow tissue valve.

I thank God for the technology, and the cow, ( or cows) whose tissue saved my husband’s life.

(Cows used for bovine tissue transplants are raised under sterile conditions).

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Do you agree with Alexander Pope’s famous words : ‘A little knowledge is a dangerous thing’ ?

We can get ourselves into difficulty when we have a little learning about something, but not the complete facts..

I once counselled a lovely young woman who found herself pregnant and unmarried in her senior year of High School.

As we talked, and developed rapport, I asked her how she felt about her situation in becoming a mother.

Her answer surprised me.

She said that she was happy and proud, and she felt that God must be pleased with her.

She knew about Jesus, and his teenage, unwed mother , Mary.

She had concluded that since God had chosen Mary as Christ’s mother, then surely God was proud of her for becoming a single mother too.

Her beliefs made me aware of how parts of the Bible, and indeed the message of Christianity can be easily misunderstood.

In Western Society, which is becoming increasingly pagan, many people have misconceptions about the Bible and the good news of salvation.

Christians are too often seen as legalistic and judgmental. We are sometimes thought of as narrow-minded, and old-fashioned. This is obviously not the case. Jesus came so that we could enjoy an abundant life, and He opened the door for humans to develop a personal relationship with God.

At the time, I didn’t explain to the young woman that Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps I should have.

I didn’t want to come across as judgmental and harsh, but I think I missed my chance to accurately explain the Good News of the Gospel.

I hope though, that other Christians came into her life to guide her, and mentor her in her growth as a follower of Christ.

God asks us to always ‘expect the unexpected’ and to be ready to share our faith with those who ask us for the reason for our hope. Opportunities to evangelize may arise when we least expect them.

Let us pray that God will give us increasing opportunities to share our faith and our trust in our Lord.

The young woman kept her precious baby, a daughter, and raised her with the support of her parents.

I continue my work with the Pro-life Movement, or, as I prefer to call it, the LIFE Movement.

The photo is courtesy of Peter Oslanec on Unsplash

These are happy days for boxers who have a sensitive side.

Boxing, also known as pugilism, is the ‘sport’ of fighting with the fists. The object of the competition is to deliver painful blows to one’s opponent.

Nevertheless, some boxers may have a sensitive side ; they may be upset by wearing boxing gloves which have been cruelly made from the hides of animals.

Luckily, a Mexico based company called ‘Desserto’ is now producing vegan leather from cactus plants.

They have joined with ‘Sanabul’, a manufacturer of boxing apparel, to produce cruelty free boxing gloves.

These should appeal to boxers who are eco-conscious.

Desserto, making cactus leather, is joining other vegan leather companies.

PINATEX is a type of vegan leather made from the leaves of the pineapple plant. It originates in the Philippines .

SAMARA is a company producing vegan leather from apple peels.

In British Columbia, cork leather is being manufactured from the leaves of cork oak trees, which grow mainly in Portugal.

Western Australia and Indonesia have begun producing mushroom leather, made from the roots of mushrooms.

While vegan leather may satisfy some of the needs of environmentalists and animal activists, the production of these textiles actually involves the use of harmful chemicals, which can negatively impact the earth.

Vegan leathers are much less durable than animal leathers. They tear and scratch easily, and need to be frequently replaced. Since the cost of these items is comparable to their animal leather counterparts, they are much less economical in the long run.

Environmentalism, and the Animal Liberation Movement are just two components of ‘The Great Reset’, and globalism. Humanity is being increasingly encouraged to be concerned with ‘protecting the environment and animals’, while slowly being conditioned to accept global socialism, the restriction of personal freedoms, and the deaths of millions of pre-born babies.

May the Lord continue to give us guidance, courage, and wisdom in these perilous times. Our hurting world needs to hear the good news of salvation more than ever before.

The pictured gloves are from Sanabul’s website.

The lawyers could not bring their client to court because she was too large.

The legal team, under the direction of Steven Wise, president of the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), brought an order of ‘habeas corpus’ (unlawful imprisonment) on behalf of their client, Happy the Elephant.

Happy, a 47 year old Asian elephant, had been captured as an infant, and was being held captive at the Bronx Zoo. She had been showing signs of depression since her mate, Grumpy, had passed away.

Lawyers were making the argument that Happy should be granted legal personhood. Writs of ‘habeas corpus’ generally apply to humans, but the legal team argued that Happy should be granted ‘personhood status’, which is the capacity to bear legal rights.

After a great deal of legal debate and appeals, Happy lost her case to be transferred to an animal sanctuary in December, 2020, and remains at the Bronx Zoo.

Judge Alison Tuitt stated that Congress, rather than the Bronx Supreme Court should be involved in deciding the personhood of Happy, and other non-human animals. And thus, we should not be surprised at ongoing political efforts, and lobbying, with the goal of granting personhood status to animals.

Animal Liberation activists maintain that humans and animals have equal moral worth.

We all know, however, that, pre-born human beings have no legal protection under the law.

We can be sure that God sees the sinful and bizarre developments which occur when people attempt to decide which living beings have legal rights, and which do not.

God sees. God knows. God will act, in His time.

Photo by Magda Ehlers

Do you remember the strangest question you have ever been asked ?

Mine came from a former student, who was very bright and inquisitive.

One day she approached me after class and asked : ‘Why do you wear the letter ‘t’ around your neck ?’

I explained that this was not a letter of the alphabet, but instead, it was a cross, a symbol of Christianity, and I told her that I was a Christian.

I often wonder whether she further further investigated the Christian faith.

In a part of Canada, called Quebec, it is now against the law for employees of publicly- funded institutions to wear symbols of their religious faith while at work. The law came into effect in 2019.

We are living in a post-Christian era ; Canada has officially been a secular country since 1967.

What this means for us is that we cannot assume that most people know what Christianity, and the good news of salvation is about.

My husband has a colleague of another religious faith, who, since he noticed eight different church buildings in our village, asked us, shyly, which one is the Christian church.

This should not discourage us. However, it is a ‘wake up’ call, telling us that we need to work together, as followers of Christ. We know that our Lord wants us to work in harmony, as believers who share a common faith.

People who do not (yet) know the Lord are watching us more carefully than we might realize.

They notice what we say, and what we don’t say , and how we present ourselves in public. They observe how we treat others who hold different values than we do, and they watch our facial expressions when we think that no-one is watching us. ( before mask wearing).

They have observed whether we have remained consistently peaceful and patient during the pandemic, knowing that God is in control.

In the coming days, all of us are going to have additional opportunities to serve the Lord , according to our different giftings.

May God give us the grace never to become discouraged.

He has chosen us, and has uniquely prepared us to further the Kingdom of God at this point in history.

May we not disappoint Him.

Lisa tried to light up a cigarette while she was on the witness stand in our courthouse.

The sheriff stopped her.

She was there because she had threatened someone, after a night of drinking.

I was there in my role as Court Observer.

Lisa was frustrated , and visibly agitated , because there was no judge in the courtroom.

We cannot afford video conferencing, and so, on days when the judge can’t show up, he telephones the court, and the call is placed on speaker phone.

When Lisa realized that the judge was listening to her, she began her defence.

She told the court that she knew she was a sinner, and that she had a chronic problem with alcohol. She knew that threatening was wrong, and she promised the judge that if he excused her, she would never threaten again.

Then she reminded us that one day we would all stand in front of the judgment seat of God, and that we would all be judged for what we have done, and what we have failed to do.

It was one of the finest ‘sermons’ that I have ever heard.

The judge, moved with mercy, dismissed her case.

Unfortunately, eight weeks later, Lisa was back in court. She had threatened someone again. Addictions are the cause of much criminal behaviour. And, underlying addictive behaviour, is emotional pain that must be recognized and dealt with in a healthy manner.

Our village realized that we were in desperate need of more addiction services. After years of lobbying, we received government funding for a Wellness Centre, which will provide counselling services. The centre hopes to be in operation by this summer, if the pandemic is resolved.

Court will continue once covid restrictions have ended.

I pray that I will not see Lisa there again.

Jesus came, not for the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance.

The Lord came to set the captives free.

(Name has been changed.)

The photo is courtesy of iStock Photos.

We lived in this neighborhood for a while, before moving to a quieter home in a fishing village.

The men had small piles of ashes on top of their heads.

I was up at 5:30 a.m. this morning, watching the live Ash Wednesday Celebration from St. Peter’s Basilica.

Due to covid restrictions, the ritual of believers having a small smudge of ashes in the shape of a cross rubbed on their foreheads has been changed.

Instead, ashes were sprinkled on the tops of believers’ heads.

Pope Francis was very generous in distributing ashes on the heads of priests , who were the first to receive them. I was fascinated by the small piles of ashes on top of their heads.

The ashes were distributed with a sombre reminder that we came from dust, and will return to dust.

Life is fleeting, and fragile.

Let us pray for the grace to continue to walk in trust, and in obedience to the Lord.

We need reminders, sometimes, such as ashes, to remain focused on the things that have eternal value.

And so, the forty day long season of reflection, penitence, fasting and almsgiving has begun, and we are moving towards the celebration of Easter.

May God strengthen us on our Lenten Journey

The photo is courtesy of Pixabay.

Flowers are not generally placed in churches during the season of Lent.

Purple is the liturgical colour of Lent.

SOS is the universal symbol for distress.

SOS also stands for a growing youth movement in North America, called ‘Students Opposing Speciesism’.

I confess that I had to research the meaning of speciesism, but I learned that in these days of politician correctness, speciesism is another form of discrimination that we are being asked to avoid.

First coined by Animal Activist Peter Singer, the term refers to the ‘error’ of considering some species more valuable than others. For example, we should not discriminate and say that a dog or cat is more valuable than a frog, or a mouse.

We must be careful, according to SOS, never to use animal names as slurs.

If we rudely call a greedy person a ‘pig’, or a lazy person ‘slothful’, then we are discriminating against pigs and sloths.

According to SOS, backed by PETA, a growing animal rights group, I should feel a constant low-grade sense of shame, since I live on an island that was founded on the cod fishing industry.

Fish have feelings, and have been observed playing. Therefore they should not be eaten, claim animal rights activists.

I remember, however, standing at the site by the sea of Galilee where Jesus made a fish breakfast for his disciples, several of whom were fishermen.

We live in times where animal rights are increasing, while respect for human rights, especially the unborn, and the elderly, is decreasing.

Certainly God expects us to treat his creation with respect.

However, we need to ask whether all the goals of animal activists conform to the Word of God.

Nevertheless, I will remind myself to use the word ‘greedy’, rather than the word ‘piggish’.

The photo is courtesy of Getty Images.

Are you a curious person ?

Since the United States Capitol Building has appeared so frequently in the media in recent weeks, I was curious to find out what the statue on top of the Capitol Building’s dome is.

The statue is ‘The Statue of ‘Freedom’. It was created by the American Sculptor Thomas Crawford, and placed in 1863, several years after Crawford had died. ( Now I am curious again…how did they get the statue up to the top of the dome…?)

‘Freedom’ is the statue of a woman wearing a toga, furs, a laurel wreath and a helmet with an eagle at the top. She holds a sword in her right hand, and a shield in her left.

She represents the value of freedom, which Americans, and most people hold dear. She faces East, perhaps symbolizing America’s independence from Great Britain.

Is freedom important to God ?

Yes. So much, in fact, that he designed humans, his beloved creatures with free will.

We can freely choose to love him, obey him, and worship him.

We are, however, also free to choose to ignore him and to accept the consequences.

In recent weeks, for pandemic and political reasons, our freedoms have been restricted, and we have become increasingly aware of how precious freedom is.

Although freedom of speech can be censored, freedom of thought and belief cannot.

And so, we pray, as the early disciples did, ‘Lord, increase our faith’

The photo, found on the internet, is of the Statue of Freedom, in Washington, D.C.