The Last Train

The rural areas across Canada have a hard go of it these days. High percentages of unemployment, opportunity, and the move to centralize business, institutions, and housing in the city, has lead to such a change in demographics and a different quality of life, a change in farming and a change in the world that has quickly become global.

 Elders who have spent there lives in tight knit rural communities, are sadly now left watching their children and grandchildren leave for a 'better life.'

 Communication and connection now is a computer screen, where family and friends are miles away from one another, and only memories of a lifestyle that was once a happier, healthier sense of family, and community. Ironically we are technologically more connected but feeling more isolated from ourselves, from others, and from Spirit.


My cousin Carla sings in her song, The Last Train about this situation and depicts an all to common circumstance that exists within small rural communities.

I moved to the country over 20 years ago. I don't ever regret that decision. I love the peace and solitude. I love the connection I feel with the natural world, with my rural community and with the God of my understanding.

Many of us have lost connection with the earth ,and are caught up in the concrete consumer world, where there is physical poverty and homelessness and a poverty of spirit.
In spite of these changes, I am hopeful when I see young people wanting to move to rural communities. God only knows we have to have hope.

Home Town Battle Field

I have never seen war, and I am very grateful for that. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to experience war. Those individuals that do, are changed forever, in innumerable ways that for the average person are absolutely unimaginable. Our daily " problems " pale greatly, and seem insignificant in comparison to the affects of war on the individuals that have been on the front lines.

We don't have to look far to see that war, civil unrest, and human rights abuses exist throughout the world.

I became motivated to learn more about the affects of war when I was in University. The main reason was because of Christopher Hedges book, War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning.

This week I saw two extremely compelling items, that coincided in relation to one another. They both moved me deeply. The first was a photography project about the genocide in Rwanda. Most people are very aware of this event, that lead to 800,000 deaths of Rwandans. Pieter Hugo's riveting and powerful photography about the Rwanda genocide and forgiveness, is entitled Portraits of Reconciliation   that is very poignant.
You can listen to the interview on CBC Radio Q program, Portraits of Forgiveness 20 years after the Rwandan genocide.

The now retired Lieutenant-General, and Canadian Senator, Roméo Dallaire, was appointed Force Commander for the United Nations for Rwanda in 1993, where he was witness to this genocide, which later lead him to become a dedicated, and outspoken advocate, for mental health, genocide prevention, human rights and war-affected children. Roméo Dallaire suffers from PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome a direct result of the atrocities he witnessed in Rwanda.

The second item I saw was the singer song writer J. P. Cormier's new and powerful song, Hometown Battlefield go viral, about Veterans and PTSD, what they experience when they go to war, and return home.
J.P.'s song is deeply heart felt, a beautiful expression to honouring our soldiers, and that has now touched thousands of Veterans, soldiers, and their families.