Walk Softly With Your Eyes Open (Caleb)
Caleb is now in the North Fraser Pretrial Centre awaiting an appearance in court.I was arrested three weeks ago in the municipality of Oak Bay in Victoria, B.C., my hometown. The arrest itself was pre...
Have I Lost My Ability to Believe?
Caleb, my son, is back in jail.After a three-month “run” on heroin, cocaine and other cocktails, he was picked up on a breach of the conditions of his release. No new charges; only the past with which...
What To Do With Hurtful Memories
Grappling with the past is no small matter.For some families, memories are the mortar that binds them together; for others, different interpretations act like the explosive C4, detonating at inappropr...
Making It Through the Hard Times
People ask: How do you manage to keep (relatively) stable during tough times with the family?The question led to these five axioms.1. Distinguish Between What I Can Impact or Control From What Impacts...
For God’s Sake, What About Mercy?
To love an addict raises a lot of questions for a Christian. To love poses not only emotional and spiritual challenges but also requires, as my friend Allan Tysick says, ‘wrassling with the faith.’Ope...
Waiting for News While On the Edge
The tide was out, and the gulls were quiet, floating just offshore of Rathtrevor Beach. The tide would turn soon but, at this moment, the air was fresh, scented with just a tinge of seaweed, the breez...
Staying Afloat in Waves of Grief
Twice in four days I turned for a last look, once knowing I would never see her again, the other wondering if this was my last glimpse of him.Two weeks ago Thursday night, my wife Gaye and I saw Caleb...
A GlassBlower Who Loves His Craft Provokes Wonder
The small town of Jerome hangs 5000 feet above sea level, in the Black Hills of Yavapai County of Arizona. In the 1920’s, when the town was famous as a copper mining centre, 10,000 people roamed the s...
A Mountain Top Experience in Red Rock Country
The visit to the Chapel of the Holy Cross requires the ascent of a mountain.Churches are constructed for many reasons: to provide a place for the community to gather out of the cold or the sun; to cap...
If I relapse…. (Caleb)
Caleb was released into a native recovery house the middle of May. I talked with him by phone on May 16th. He sounded positive and happy. When Gaye and I arrived home from vacation nine days late...