outWORD by Matte Downey

 Me overlooking Stirling.  Stirling Castle is on the hill to my left. Wednesday morning we drove a few miles to the William Wallace memorial in Stirling and hiked up the hill to see not only WW but a fabulous view of the surrounding countryside.  It was warm and sunny as usual (for our trip, not in general for the UK) and as we walked back to the car, we discussed whether or not to go see Stirling castle.  Due to our time constraints, one castle was probably all we would get to tour and we weren't sure which one to choose.  I mentioned that we had driven past Doune castle on our way to the hotel last night and it was only about 10-15 minutes away.  You know Doune castle, the one used as a location for Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail ?  That settled it for Dean: off to Doune we went.  Inside Doune Castle kitchen After Iona, it was the highlight of our trip.  Yes, we swing easily between the sublime and the ridicu...

Something I read awhile back has made me rethink my idea of what constitutes a 'day off.'  Here is the quote from Douglas Steere:  "A day off...is a bastard Sabbath." [1]  What he means is that a day off is not a legitimate sabbath.  'Not working' does not constitute what God had in mind when he initiated a day of rest.  So what does it mean to keep a sabbath, and to keep it holy?  Steere suggests that it is much more than a day of 'not doing.'  It is a day of getting ourselves out of the way.  Embracing silence, embracing prayer.  This quote of Steere's is taken from Eugene Peterson's book, The Pastor .  Peterson goes on to describe how his interaction with Steere initiated a change in how he and his family took a day off during the week.  "We deliberately separated ourselves from the workweek .. .and gave ourselves to being present to what God has done and is doing, this creation in which we have bee...

sooo I used to be a filmaker. no, seriously, it's true! Here are some of the titles I worked on that did not get nominated for any awards but certainly merited consideration, in my opinion: 1. How To Replace a Windshield in Your Motorhome 2. Who Says You Can't Take It With You (30 second promo on how you need a motorhome if you are an outdoorsy guy or at least dressed like one) 3. Great Trek 3 (some youth retreat in Banff...this actually aired on local television) 4. President's Message (um, not president of the USA or any other country, but of the local manufacturer I worked for. I managed to set the shot up so it looked like he was hiding behind a tree, unintentionally of course.) 5. Mercy Street (music video starring one of my favourite friends and stellar artist, Dan. Included fake blood and all. Don't worry, we washed it out of the alleyway as much as we could.) Well, as you can see by the video above, I am back in business, home alone and without proper supervisio...