Happy things happen and I want to gloat. Sad things happen, and I want to pout. Affirm me, people! But no one in Facebook-land responded for weeks. Not even my family. Not one single like. Not one single comment.
Feza Ertek: From Islam to Christ
Feza Ertek eludes description. The sheer density of her spirituality either attracts or repels. She’s direct in the way that really spiritual people are; as if she’s somehow transcended the minor earthly concerns of the body. We mortals of flesh and blood trade in a currency that Feza transcends. And yet she wasn’t always that […]
Consumed by overconsumption
Cecelia Cheung is a style maven. She trend-sets with little effort, wore skinny jeans eons before they were mainstream, and can tell you when your infinity scarves, chambray shirts, and ankle boots will be passé. And she’s also no stranger to social justice. She spent two months in Japan volunteering for a disaster relief organization […]
Younger and Darker: the future face of the Church?
“If a church in America isn’t growing younger or darker, then it’s not growing,” John Chandler Cleveland says to me over the din of clinking wine glasses and restaurant chatter. He and his wife China are en route between preaching engagements in Canada and their home in Southern California. I’m their ride to the airport […]
Prostitution: by choice or by force?
Red Light Green Light film sheds light on sex trafficking in Canada One movie turned Michelle Brock’s life upside-down. It was 2006. Brock was at a conference in Atlanta, Georgia where the organizers were giving away a few hundred tickets to pre-screen a film. Out of 10,000 people in the audience, Brock and her team won […]
Sad-Faced Valentines: When Missionary Dating becomes a Missionary Break-up
Let’s face it: Valentine’s Day is overrated. For all those who have been dumped, crushed, and heartbroken or are just miserable in this season of over-affectionate romance, take heart! You’re not alone. This post is part of Converge Magazine’s cynical celebration of heartbreak. When Campus Crusade for Christ was still blissfully misnomered in all its […]
The Cinderella syndrome
Disney’s Frozen, loosely based on “The Snow Queen,” came out at the end of November to rave reviews. But I’m conflicted. I’m not sure if I can get behind any Disney princess, no matter how many times reviewers use the words “strong” or “sisterhood” to describe the film. I was a cult follower of Disney […]
6 things you should know about the middle east
Stripped of my carry-on luggage by a trim no-nonsense stewardess, I squeeze through the aisle to find my seat, 19C. I sense alternately curious and judgemental gazes sizing me up as I scan the row numbers. My sensitivity is an old irrational tick. I shake it off. I wonder who my seatmates will be for […]
Millennial mud-slinging
At 40, Soo Sen Sun, a Vancouver lab technician with an MSc in Microbiology, has eschewed her two university degrees and her stable science career in favour of returning to school. She’s going to become a recreational therapist. Her story is not uncommon. The workforce is crawling with career-shifting adults of all ages; the era […]
The Marriage-Myth
It’s 1997. I am 17, ridiculously hormonal, lonely and aching for a relationship. Fed on a steady diet of rom-coms and R&B, I twirl around the kitchen (alone), slow-dancing with my imaginary boyfriend to All 4 One’s rendition of “I Swear.” I regularly weep over Sleepless in Seattle, spend entire slumber parties with girlfriends predicting […]