Tag Archives: Christianity

Animals

An Owl’s Reality – The Quadra Project

As Carl Safina’s book title suggests, Alfie & Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe should ostensibly be about the adventures of the author and his wife as they raise to adulthood a nearly-dead baby Eastern Screech Owl that they found on the ground. So it joined their larger family of non-humans, including two dogs, four chickens, a king snake, a parrot and a parakeet.

Alfie, a female, was eventually released to the back yard where she learned to hunt and live independently. But she remained a family member, visiting for extra mice, even establishing with her mate, Plus-One, a nest in a box on the side of the house where the pair successfully raised three chicks. Throughout the book, Safina closely documents the life of the owl and her family.

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Arts

Bringing her interpretation of Tangka artwork to the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery

Tamara Dawn has been travelling to India for the past 15 years. On August second she brings her personal interpretation of Tibetan Thangka art to the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery in a watercolour collection called ‘Buddha as a Principle.’ 

“I was 18 when I took my first trip to the east, I went to Nepal. I went to India when I was maybe 20.  I’ve been  back and forth several times, going to India and Nepal, and then coming back to Canada and integrating what I learned,” she began.  

Cortes Currents: What’s special about India?  

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Spirituality

Nanaimo celebrates first night of ​​Chanukah

Editor’s note: According to the Jewish Independent, Canada is home to the fourth largest Jewish community in the world, (after Israel, the United States, and France). They do not all adhere to Judaism. 52,000 of the 282,015 of the ‘Jewish’ respondents to the 2021 census also stated they follow another religion. The article did not state the numbers of Jews who were agnostic or atheists, only that ‘more than 40% of Canadian Jews have attended Jewish day schools. ‘

Some religious statistics: 100 Campbell River residents stated their ethnic origin was Jewish in the 2021 census, and 50 people stated their religion was ‘Jewish.’ Christians are now officially a minority. Only 33.2% of the city’s population stated they were ‘Christians,’ which does not necessarily mean they attend church services. 63.7% of the the city’s respondents stated they have ‘no religion’ and ‘secular perspectives.’ The 2021 census listed 35 people of Jewish ethnicity on Cortes Island, but only 15 following Judaism. Of the remaining population: roughly 70% had no religion, 19% were Christians and 9% follow other faiths. The only place where the majority of Jews appear to follow their ancestral faith was Area C, where there were 25 Jews and 25 people following Judaism. Roughly 78% of the population stated their beliefs were secular, 20% were Christians and a little more than 2% followed other faiths.

By Mick Sweetman,  CHLY 101.7 FM Nanaimo, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Nanaimo’s Jewish community marked the first night of ​​Chanukah with the lighting of a giant Menorah at Maffeo Sutton Park.

Organized by Chabad of Nanaimo the event attracted hundreds of people to mark the start of the holiday celebrating the triumph of light over darkness.

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Housing, Spirituality

Mission or market? Churches are not always on the right side of the housing crisis.

Editor’s opinion: I believe Christianity needs to be ‘reborn’ in a form more palatable to the 21st century. I do not know what this would look like, but suspect it will be substantially different from what we see now, at least in its outward forms. At the moment, there are probably more Christians outside of the Church than in it.

By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The fiscal reality that churches are increasingly less viable solely as places of worship is repeating itself across the country.  Unable to count on tithes or bums in seats, churches have been either closing their doors or selling off and re-purposing their assets in a land and real estate market only too happy to receive them. And it’s paying big dividends.

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Arts

Ann Mortifee: ‘Dreaming I am Ann’

Ann Mortifee is probably the most famous musician on Cortes Island, which is more of a compliment than it sounds like because there are a lot of talented musicians on Cortes. However from the start of our interview, it was apparent this story was about a lot more than singing. I had this bizarre feeling to lead with the question, ‘When did you start becoming Ann Mortifee?’ 

Her answer came out of the memories of a 4-years-old girl.

AM:  “It happened maybe a hundred times in my childhood. I had the same dream. I’d be standing somewhere looking into a bedroom and there’d be someone lying in the bed. I’d go, ‘Oh no, I’m starting to dream of her again.’ Then I would get this anxious feeling, ‘I’m going to get stuck there in the dream and I’m going to believe it’s real.’ This dream gets more and more upsetting to me. I can feel myself starting to fall asleep and that I’m in a dream.” 

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