A privilege thrown away

hwy401_overhead_signIt baffles me to this day. It was rush hour. I was eastbound on Hwy. 401, just entering the city limits of Toronto. All the digital signs hanging over the highway were flashing a warning. A collision had blocked two lanes of the Collectors. There was only one way to avoid getting stuck in traffic.

“Express Moving Well,” the overhead sign said.

But it didn’t matter. As many drivers as were entering the Express lanes to dodge the delay, were entering the Collectors where straight ahead of them the traffic was snarled beyond belief. Despite all the warnings, they were travelling headlong into gridlock. I couldn’t get that image out of my head of lemmings following each other blindly over the edge of the cliff. Then it hit me. It wasn’t a death wish or that they didn’t care. It was that they hadn’t bothered to read the signs. They just didn’t read! (more…)

The Christmas shepherds

The Shepherd, painting by Lauren Grace O'Malley, courtesy Vintage Wings of Canada
The Shepherd, painting by Lauren Grace O’Malley, courtesy Vintage Wings of Canada

They are the most soothing and at the same time perhaps the most mysterious symbols of Christmas. They appear in carols, in the Bible, in Christmas cards and just about every nativity scene one could imagine. They are seldom quoted, but always acknowledged as trusted and worthy guides to a safe and protected place.

“And there were in the same country,” it says in the Book of Luke, “shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night…” (more…)