Reflecting on the church

It has been a long year since our first COVID Easter, which we observed virtually. And now we have just observed our second. But with the warmer weather coming and vaccination picking up the pace (slowly) in Canada, I dare to hope that 2021 will be a better year for all of us. And perhaps some of us will remember lessons we have learned during this extended time of reflection.

In that spirit, I offer this picture of the church I have attended for 24 years, a fixture in downtown Ottawa since the late 1800s.

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Virtual Easter, 2020

It’s become a cliché to say that we are living in unprecedented times.

Plagues are not new, though, although the speed of modern travel and widespread access to it have no doubt changed how fast and how far contagion spreads. Advances in technology have also changed the way we experience a global pandemic, as we log on and look on the lives of our neighbours, whether they are next door or in a different time zone.

It’s also not new that we have a responsibility to think of those neighbours.

So who is a neighbour? The way that Jesus recounts the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke, chapter 10 tells me that a neighbour is one who shows mercy.

So who is my neighbour? Our networked lives tell me that all of you are, whether you are singing on a balcony in Milan, in intensive care in the UK, wondering how you will pay the bills with no job somewhere in the Americas, or waiting for the full force of COVID-19 to be felt in the developing world.

May we all remember to show mercy when we have the opportunity to do so, and may we all remember God’s greater mercy on this Easter Sunday and in the days and weeks to come.

Happy Virtual Easter, neighbour.

The Lord is risen!

Chillin' in Ottawa with the 18-55mm

Although the calendar says that spring arrived over two weeks ago, the Ottawa Valley has decided to ignore the good news. Instead, we're still being treated to below-zero temperatures, brisk winds and snow on the ground.

In spite of all this -- or perhaps because of it -- I decided that I needed to break out of the house over the Easter weekend and spend some quality time with my camera. A couple of hours walking around Ottawa's Sparks Street Pedestrian Mall and Parliament Hill should do the trick and, if I got too cold, I could always duck into a coffee shop. (It's nice to see Sparks Street gradually shedding its dead-zone mode but it's still got a long way to go, especially on the weekend.)

I started out with the 35mm f/1.4 on my Fujifilm X-E1 but realized soon enough that I like the flexibility of 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 zoom for walking around. It's somewhat heavier, but it balances well and I like the flexibility it gives me for framing a scene. The sun was brilliant against a deep blue sky, so I didn't get the chance to see what difference the recent firmware upgrade has made to the lens' OIS performance. Perhaps I'll do that in the next post.

For now, here are a few shots from a chilly weekend in Canada's capital with my favourite all-purpose lens and Fujifilm's own red-filtered black and white goodness.

A Happy Easter to all.

Steel and stone.

The beauty of Parliament Hill.

Saluting George Brown.

My turn (to shoot this photographic cliché).

Architectural history.