Category Archives: Deep holy thoughts

Donald Edward Grayston Obituary

Posted on November 16, 2017 by donald

GRAYSTON, Donald Edward Born August 31, 1939 Died October 23, 2017 Survived by children, Megan (Rick Bohonis), Rebekah (Mark Edwin) and Jonathan, sister and brother-in-law, Helen and Douglas Williams, other relatives and friends. An Anglican priest who worked in many … Continue reading →

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What day is it today?

Posted on August 6, 2017 by donald

Today is August 6. Three “days” connect with the date of August 6: in the traditional Christian calendar with the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ (there are some contemporary commemorations at other times of the year); with Hiroshima Day; … Continue reading →

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Objections to Omar’s award

Posted on July 5, 2017 by donald

Predictably, the “nattering nabobs of negativism” (thank you, Spiro Agnew) have crawled out from under their rocks to criticize the (in my view, none too generous) award of $10.5 million to Omar Khadr in recompense for his years of torture … Continue reading →

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The national apology to Omar Khadr

Posted on July 4, 2017 by donald

A glorious moment! The government has acknowledged that Canada did not do right by its young citizen, Omar Khadr, and will compensate him and his lawyer, Dennis Edney, with $10,000,000. Is this a lot of money? Given that Omar was … Continue reading →

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The gates of Hell

Posted on April 21, 2017 by donald

Sometime in the nineties I took a group of SFU students down to the Ground Zero peace centre in Poulsbo, Washington. GZ was started in the eighties by Jim and Shelley Douglass, longtime peace activists–Jim was a friend of Thomas … Continue reading →

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Happy Easter: “the Alleluias are back”

Posted on April 14, 2017 by donald

“‘The Alleluias are back’: Thomas Merton’s Easters.” The Merton Journal 19.1 (Eastertide 2012), 3-5. Fiona Gardner, then editor of The Merton Journal (UK), asked me, somewhat late in the publication schedule for the Easter 2012 issue, to write an Easter-related … Continue reading →

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Shrove Bloody Tuesday

Posted on February 28, 2017 by donald

Decided to add the “bloody,” because I have been watching, indeed inhaling, the BBC series, “Sherlock”–Sherlock Holmes updated to the 21st century: just wanted to get your attention [ ]. So yes, today is Shrove Tuesday. My evening minder has … Continue reading →

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45 years and away they go . . .

Posted on February 25, 2017 by donald

Yes, I have come to the time when the ongoing challenge of acquisition and relinquishment has tipped, permanently, I hunch, in the direction of relinquishment. A couple of weeks ago, my friend Judith Hardcastle bought some spanking new packing boxes. … Continue reading →

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Zen and the enlighenment of Christians

Posted on February 7, 2017 by donald

I have often been asked to recommend an introductory book–to Thomas Merton, to meditation, to Christianity. Recently a friend lent me a book she had enjoyed: Resurrecting Jesus–Embodying the Spirit of a Revolutionary Mystic, by Adyashanti. He is a teacher in … Continue reading →

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Charles Brandt: fifty years a hermit

Posted on November 5, 2016 by donald

Last February, my friend and colleague Dave Chang and I travelled to the hamlet of Black Creek, north of Courtenay on Vancouver Island. Our purpose: to interview Charles Brandt–hermit, artist-bookbinder and award-winning ecologist. (The interview will be published in v. … Continue reading →

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