The day after his consecration and installation, the new bishop drove into a decaying and run-down part of his city. He parked in front of an old, run down church, and walked around to the small, equally old and run down rectory. On the veranda an aged priest was sitting in the sun. “May I […]

In late July, the day June and I returned to the mainland from our Newfoundland holiday, we stopped for a short visit with a couple now living on Cape Breton Island, at whose wedding I officiated just about exactly 18 years ago. They are one of the few couples I “married” with whom I keep […]

I’m a sucker for “list” books. Just a random selection from my bookshelves; “The Big Questions: Philosophy”, “The Big Questions: Mathematics”, and “The Big Questions: God”. Also “50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know” and “50 Mathematics Ideas You Really Need to Know.” Then, “30-Second Quantum Theory: The 50 most though-provoking quantum concepts each […]

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there is an exchange between the Prince of Denmark and Polonius (father of Ophelia). Hamlet asks him to take good care of some visiting actors. Polonius fatuously replies, My Lord, I will use them according to their desert. Hamlet retorts, God’s bodkin, man, much better: use every man after his desert, and […]