vilmablenman
Apology & Analogy
At last. An apology—from the Pope himself, standing on Canadian soil, on First Nations grounds. And yet…so many questions still linger,...
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vilmablenman
- Jun 21
- 2 min
Celebrate! It's Summer Solstice
Celebrate it! Today, June 21st marks the summer solstice in our northern half of the hemisphere. It’s the longest day and night of light,...
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vilmablenman
- May 24
- 3 min
Decisions, Decisions
We make them daily—monumental or inconsequential, from the moment we awake. Get up now or five minutes from now? Do I have a quick bowl...
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vilmablenman
- Apr 18
- 2 min
April--Arrival and Departure
In his ground-breaking post-war poem, “The Waste Land,” T. S. Eliot argues: April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead...
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vilmablenman
- Mar 16
- 2 min
Lent--Loaned Time
Yes, it’s the simple past tense of “lend” but when capitalized, the word, “Lent” denotes a liturgical season—40 days preceding Easter....
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vilmablenman
- Feb 8
- 3 min
My Black Church & Black Identity
As another Black History Month rolls in and rolls on, I’m thinking of the forces that shaped my sense of Black identity, thinking of the...
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vilmablenman
- Jan 4
- 3 min
Go for Goals!
It’s Day 4 of 2022. How are you doing so far with your goals and resolutions? I’m asking you this not because I’m a goal-setting guru or...
8 views1 comment
vilmablenman
- Dec 14, 2021
- 2 min
Christmas Comes Again
It’s another Covid Christmas with Omicron arriving just in time for the holidays. Oh dear. But despite the sobering reality of a pandemic...
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vilmablenman
- Sep 30, 2021
- 2 min
Truth & Pain
Today, the last day of September, the sunflowers bend their heavy heads, still pointed sunward. Today, the first National Truth and...
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vilmablenman
- Jul 1, 2021
- 2 min
Canada Day or Crying Day?
So, it’s Canada Day, and I don’t know what to say. What to say in the wake of the 215 remains found in unmarked graves at Kamloops Indian...
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vilmablenman
- Jun 14, 2021
- 2 min
Summer Birthday--Bring It On!
Yes, it happened again—another birthday, last week in fact. But I must say, after 60 plus years, I’m getting used to birthdays. And I’m...
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vilmablenman
- Apr 24, 2021
- 1 min
Take a Deep Breath
This week we held our breath for the George Floyd murder verdict. Seems like we've been holding breath for years, for many reasons:...
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vilmablenman
- Apr 23, 2021
- 2 min
Holding Hope
Last Wednesday, I looked out across the backyard, past the wet fence, seeing only the milky morning sky and thinking: Another sunless day...
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vilmablenman
- Mar 31, 2021
- 2 min
Take This Trip This Easter!
Gethsemane Virtual Tour For Tired Pandemic Travelers This is the place, Gethsemane, an olive garden grove, much like your apple orchards...
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vilmablenman
- Feb 20, 2021
- 2 min
Black History Month: BitterSweet
It was 25 years ago that Jean Augustine, the first Black female MP, stood up in Parliament and introduced a milestone motion: Declare...
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vilmablenman
- Aug 24, 2020
- 2 min
Back To School in Covid Times?
School will be a strange new world this September with Covid-19 still in the air.
35 views1 comment
vilmablenman
- Jul 19, 2020
- 2 min
Summer Reset for Mental Health
With the heat wave and patios opening, you’d think we are ready to wave goodbye to the pandemic and the anti-racist revolution.
24 views1 comment
vilmablenman
- Jul 5, 2020
- 2 min
Read my Canada Day-Inspired Poem: Lullaby for Olivier Le Jeune
I want to sing for him, sing something his mother may have sung
before she found him missing, sing to him as he lies cold.
32 views1 comment
vilmablenman
- Jun 26, 2020
- 2 min
Speak Right Words Right Now
Finding the right words for the uncomfortable conversations on race.
203 views5 comments