Kenton J. Kutney

We've been surprised by some truly overwhelming examples of kindness and generosity shown towards us in our trying time of difficulty. (You know who you are - and better yet so does God.) Finished my rounds of chemo and now a 3-month break from tests, appointments and treatments. What a blessed way to conclude a long year of illness. Time now to rest and renew. We are grateful.

Day 1 "wise men still seek Him believing to understand love blossoms to life Day 2 "no mere fairytale  for this genealogy  runs back through all time" Day 3 "this story starts where  many stories get their start  love, but immortal" Day 4 "a few hundred years  awaiting God's next big move  He visits a teen" Day 5 "boy meets girl, in love yet there's a classic plot twist this love's a faith leap" Day 6 "something has happened  O Mary, what have you done  ponder in your heart" Day 7 "fear ... 'fear not! fear not!' there must've been some real fright  so many questions" Day 8 "have you heard the news  the stars' configuration  let the quest begin" Day 9 "celestial choir sings shepherds and their flocks by night lit by guiding star" Day 10 "poor but rich in heart shepherds especially bless't great is their reward" Day 11 "stars, sheep, cows, angels creation ca

This is a theological reflection that has grown during my cancer journey. Someone texted me in June when faced with a splenectomy that it was like a terrorist attack on body. I know they meant well. But immediately that didn't sit right with me. What terror? That's not biblical. Who's the terrorist? Does Satan have so much power to take over and ravage my world? He'd like us to think he's all that. He's a prowling, roaring toothless beast.  Yet I feel - I know - I am surrounded by ministering angels, abiding in the abundance of life in Christ, wrapped in the comfort of the Holy Spirit , and loved by the awesome grace of my Father. A sinner saved. Wow. It's all true! So I can truly say it again: it is well with my soul!

Standing comfortably amidst the contradiction... On the one hand I'm still having trouble walking from the ensuite bathroom to the bed without a rest break; on the other hand, these opening lines from the poem 'Song of the Open Road' make me want to wander and explore: "Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,  Healthy, free, the world before me,  The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose." (Inspired by Whitman's 19th c. travels through the American frontier).

white horses crest  waves wash over my life  the ebbing tide flows  sweeps foam through my feet around my toes  my soul dances dappled by Light in pleasant tidal pools  eddies of memories  i wander through the timeless Now a waking dream  sojourn with you always be  with me  in the present the benevolent present  of your presence castles grand  now gone with time  rock hard granite  smoothed down fine thousands and more thousands  grains of sand  flying footprints  washed clean away  by the enduring mystery  of timeless Now 

I need  not  your sympathy,  shallow pity I want  your empathy,  understood deeply  Hard-earned kinship through suffering  Any rube can endure  but to infer to learn from  Wisdom  in the crucible  this is Grace at work  in the tapestry of life

Remembering a dear old friend - a creative mentor, godly and faithful friend. I read this today in his honour to family and friends gathered together to say goodbye and to celebrate. From a novel by Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter , about memory and time: "And so you have a life that you are living only now, now and now and now, gone before you can speak of it, and you must be thankful for living day by day, moment by moment, in this presence. But you have a life too that you remember. It stays with you. You have lived a life in the breath and pulse and living light of the present, and your memories of it, remembered now, are of a different life in a different world and time. When you remember the past, you are not remembering it as it was. You are remembering it as it is. It is a vision or a dream, present with you in the present, alive with you in the only time you are alive." You have today. And you have memory. Cherish both. Love with all your heart. 

  A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society Eugene H. Peterson InterVarsity Press, 2000 -  212 pages.  (This revised and expanded edition includes the Psalms of Ascent in The Message translation as well as a new epilogue. This is a book for modern pilgrims who want to learn to live in communion with God. Also available from IVP is a companion volume, A Long Obedience Journal.) Just the other day I was taken back to a book on the Ascent Psalms that I initially discovered while attending Regent College written by pastor-theologian, Eugene Peterson, called "A Long Obedience In The Same Direction".  What took me back in my memory was a newly released online video by Fuller Studios which featured Bono from the rock band U2 joining in conversation with Peterson at his rustic home at Flathead Lake, Montana. As Bono walks the path up to their home he is welcomed by Jan Peterson in a most grandmotherly way. Immediately Eugene's raspy sage-like voi

A Conversation with Author Wendell Berry http://world.regent-college.edu/leading-ideas/we-are-still-near-the-beginning

  Annie Holmquist   | April 8, 2016                                    Although he was in power for only a handful of years, Hitler and his Nazi government slaughtered millions. One of the more well-known victims of that slaughter was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed on   April 8 th , 1945 , a few short weeks before Hitler’s own death. Unlike many of Hitler’s victims, Bonhoeffer was not a Jew, but a Lutheran minister, scholar, and theologian who boldly spoke against Hitler’s policies. Bonhoeffer landed a position in the German government during WWII and subsequently used that position as cover for assassination attempts against Hitler. While awaiting execution, Bonhoeffer recorded a number of his thoughts in a work we now know as   Letters and Papers from Prison .   One of these essays, entitled   On Stupidity,   records some of the problems which Bonhoeffer likely saw at work in Hitler’s rise to power: “Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of pow

  On Silence “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” On Judging Others “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” ―   The Cost of Discipleship On Gratitude “In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.” ― Letters and Papers from Prison On Injustice “We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” On 'Defending' the Bible "Do not try to make the Bible relevant. Its relevance is axiomatic. Do not defend God's word, but testify to it. Trust to the Word. It is a ship loaded to the

Give us grace, almighty Father, to address you  with all our hearts as well as with our lips.   You  are present everywhere: from you no secrets can  be hidden.   Teach us to fix our thoughts on you,  reverently and with love, so that our prayers are  not in vain, but are acceptable to you,    Now and  always, through Jesus Christ our Lord. — Jane Austen

You are holy, Lord, the only God, and your deeds are wonderful. You are strong. You are great. You are the most high. You are almighty. You, holy Father are the King of heaven and earth. You are three in one, Lord God, all Good. You are Good, all Good, supreme Good, Lord God living and true. You are love. You are wisdom. You are humility. You are endurance. You are rest. You are peace. You are joy and gladness. You are justice and moderation. You are all our riches, and you suffice for us. You are beauty. You are gentleness. You are our protector. You are our guardian and defender. You are our coverage. You are our haven and our hope. You are our faith, our great consolation. You are our eternal life, great and wonderful Lord, God almighty, merciful Savior.  — St. Francis of Assisi

Our Father, you called us and saved us in order to make us like your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.   Day by day, change us by the work of your Holy Spirit so that we may grow more like him in all that we think and say and do, to his glory.  — Soren Kierkegaard

Put a couple of poems on audio: Click here to listen

Follow one person's journey through life with the ups and downs of a rare blood disorder, and discover how to minimize regrets and maximize your opportunities! Listen here: Now available on audio!

GROUP SHOT: Back row from left - Sophia, Eden, Chancho, Robyn, Emet, Micheal, Chica Front - Ken and Joy still together after 25 years!

  Bonhoeffer - Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy:  A Righteous Gentile Vs. The Third Reich By Eric Metaxas, 2010 Would you be a spy? How far would you go? Could you really die for your faith? Have you ever wished you could do more as a spiritual leader? I have always been intrigued by the frumpy, unassuming character of G.K. Chesterton's sleuthing 'Father Brown' who also serves as a brilliant mystery crime-solver.  The role of a pastor seems almost timid against the principalities and powers.  It sounds fictional, but Bonhoeffer's life delicately balanced disciple making pastor with creative teacher, bold Confessing Church leader refusing allegiance to Hitler, and ultimately working as a double agent to plot Hitler's assassination.  This biography is declared to be one 'definitive, deeply moving narrative'.  I certainly found it to be compelling reading as I compared the uncertain times of the world in our day with the moral courage demonstrated by pastor Bonhoe

(I thought this was clever) It is almost gardening time... Time to sow peas of mind, Lettuce be thankful, Turnip to help our neighbour, and always make thyme for loved ones!  

http://www.onbeing.org/blog/chris-martin-an-inclination-toward-warmhearted-inclusivity/8478#.VuSBNUxfD4A.facebook A great article on autism and navigating this world together. 'Perhaps it’s time to reimagine how we view and serve the autism community. A social deficit, like attending equally to all facets of the environment, can be restaged as an ethical strength, enlarging what we care for and about. We often demand that people with autism learn how to act more like “us,” some specious version of normal. But what if we spent more time trying to understand how each individual voice, precisely because it is different, might contribute to a larger and more invigorating conversation about who “we” are and how we’re changing to meet an increasingly complex and diverse world?'

A BEND IN THE ROAD IS NOT THE END OF THE ROAD When we feel we have nothing left to give And we are sure that the “song has ended”– When our day seems over and the shadows fall And the darkness of night has descended, Where can we go to find the strength To valiantly keep on trying, Where can we find the hand that will dry The tears that the heart is crying– There’s but one place to go and that is to God And, dropping all pretense and pride, We can pour out our problem without restraint And gain strength with Him at our side– And together we stand at life’s crossroads And view what we think is the end, But God has a much bigger vision And he tells us it’s only a bend– For the road goes on and is smoother, And the “pause in the song” is a “rest,” And the part that’s unsung and unfinished Is the sweetest and richest and best– So rest and relax and grow stronger, Let go and let God share your load, Your work is not finished or ended, You’ve just come

Here's something a little different. A 2-in-1 book review: Something old and something new, something borrowed and definitely something 'blue'. Lincoln's Melancholy - How Depression Challenged A President And Fueled His Greatness , by Joshua Wolf Shenk, and Sideswiped - Three Keys To A Fresh Start After Suffering A Broken Heart , by Michael Voll.  One old and one new biographical exploration of brokenness; depths of the soul not well understood for many centuries. These are two stories for our time as depression is the number one disability we are facing today, ten times worse than it was 50 years ago. We're obviously not just talking about having 'the blues'. From a young age the sensitive Abraham Lincoln experienced psychological pain and distress - and he eventually learned how to adapt and endure. First there were the deaths of his mother, aunt, and uncle due to terrible illness, the loss of his brother in infancy, a long absent father courting a ne