Léo's Insights
A place where issues related to the Christian walk and its application to home education is discussed.
Topics are meant to challenge you to think differently, to make a difference in this world, starting with the children you have been blessed with.
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Lessons Learned (Part 3)
A few years ago, I heard some sound wisdom while helping a friend at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. This is a place were you will find no pretensions. Everyone is genuine and sincere. All understand that they fall short of the glory of God.
At this gathering, people shared their sad stories without fear of being judged by others because everyone is well acquainted with their own faults. As I listened to these accounts, an old man not only shared his story of profound loss and destruction, but offered his advice for recovery from alcoholism. I will never forget his wisdom and even though I cannot point to a specific Chapter and verse of the Bible in direct support of his statement, I can testify from a lifetime of experience that his insight was genuine and most certainly true. He simply said he finally came to a place where he could seriously deal with his problem the day he stopped believing his own bullshit!
Continue reading “Lessons Learned (Part 3)”
Lessons Learned (Part 2)
I ended my last blog by questioning how we have complicated our lives such that we have lost our focus on God, family and friends?
I spoke of our busyness and how we unquestioningly accept and believe what we are told. How does this happen?
Perhaps it is best to start by going back to the beginning of time. We are all familiar with the story of Adam and Eve: their creation; their freedom; the directives God gave them; how they failed; the consequences of their disobedience; and the repercussions of their disobedience for all of mankind.
Continue reading “Lessons Learned (Part 2)”
Lessons Learned (Part 1)
Continuing with my recent return to blogging, I would like to share the lessons I learned while flitting in and out of consciousness during my struggle with Covid.
Before I begin, I must share that most of what occupied my thoughts at the time made no sense at all. Repeating that I have enjoyed Divine health most of my life, I can easily say I have had very little to do with pharmaceutical drugs and I am blaming the hospital-administered drugs for causing the hallucinations and lack of reasonable cognizance. Still, some things kept returning to me as I analyzed life and living from the base perspective of either no return or an opportunity for renewal.
Continue reading “Lessons Learned (Part 1)”
Restart on Blogs
For those of you who have been faithfully following my blogs, you may have noticed they ended abruptly and inexplicably at the end of January (2022). In a most incredible case of irony, something happened to test the very statements I had made in my last blog when I questioned what one might be thinking about when knowingly on his/her death bed. I speculated about which things would be occupying one’s thoughts, assuming, of course one was lucid enough to have them and suggested these final earthly thoughts would be about God, family and friends.
Faithful followers will remember the 2021 summary in which I shared my experience of a very bad year. There is no need to go over this again, except to say the bad news has continued and 2022 has, thus far, presented me with yet more opportunities for “learning and growing”. Keeping in mind that blogs are created quite a while before they are presented, by the time my last blog was uploaded, I was in the midst of a struggle for my own life!
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What Matters and Why It Is Important: Relationships (Part 3)
Most of us are glad to have seen 2021 fade into history. It was certainly filled with many disappointments, frustrations and discouragement, not to mention deep sorrow and grief for our family, as well as for many others.
Our bad year ended in yet more sorrow as we suffered the tragic loss of my dear mentor and friend, the iconic and legendary Ted Byfield. Adding this loss to the litany of deaths and other sorrows that occurred in 2021 led me to seriously reconsider what life and death are all about.
Imagine for a minute being on your deathbed, knowing you are about to depart from this world. Assuming your mind is clear enough to reflect on your life, what do you think will be on your mind? Let me share what I believe will be on most minds at this juncture between life and death. Continue reading “What Matters and Why It Is Important: Relationships (Part 3)”
One Byfield Legacy: Relationships (Part 2)
Last time, I announced the passing of Edward Bartlett Byfield. Ted was a journalist at heart, but he was also a teacher, a historian and a political pundit responsible for coining the phrase “the west wants in”. This became the rallying cry of the western-based Reform movement which eventually led to Stephen Harper’s nine years as Prime Minister of Canada.
I knew of Ted for years as an incredible writer and the architect behind the twelve-volume “Alberta History” and “Christian History” projects. I was a financial supporter of both projects and remain the proud owner of both original sets. I can still remember the excitement I experienced receiving each new volume in the mail. It took me over twenty years to get both sets, one book at a time.
Due to my long-standing support of both projects, Ted came to visit me about fifteen year ago with the intention of squeezing a bit more out of me to facilitate the distribution of the Christian History Project. What started as a fundraising mission resulted in us becoming good friends, a friendship for which I am eternally grateful.
Continue reading “One Byfield Legacy: Relationships (Part 2)”
Ted Byfield is Gone: Relationships (Part 1)
I may have completed the last blog a bit early! It was entitled Goodbye 2021 and was a review of how awful 2021 was for many of us, particularly Faye and me. I assumed the remaining two weeks of 2021 would be less disappointing, but that was not the case.
2021 ended with yet another school-related issue that required a great deal of diplomacy, negotiation and contending with the bureaucratic jungle of the Department of Education. Not that any one person can be blamed, but it can be very difficult to get people to think outside of the established status quo. Somewhere along the line there must have been a memo prohibiting people from challenging the narrative, but I must have missed that one!
Then, as we neared Christmas Day, I received more disappointing info about a very dear friend, followed a few days later with news of his passing. The iconic, legendary Ted Byfield died on December 23 at the age of 93.
Continue reading “Ted Byfield is Gone: Relationships (Part 1)”
Christmas Break (Part 2)
Léo’s Insights is taking a two-week Christmas break. It will return on January 10, 2022.
Christmas Break (Part 1)
Léo’s Insights is taking a two-week Christmas break. It will return on January 10, 2022.
Goodbye 2021!
As we near the end of this tumultuous year, I would like to provide an update on our corporate and personal state of affairs. I apologize in advance for the length of this blog.
I want to be clear before I proceed that I am not sharing this personal information with you to get sympathy. Rather, many of you have been actively following, supporting and encouraging our efforts to keep Education Unlimited alive and well. Most see EU as a sanctuary of freedom and a breath of fresh air in a world that is becoming increasingly authoritarian and manipulative. You have come to appreciate that we are vigilant in protecting your autonomy, particularly in regard to the education of your children.
The second motivation for this review is to comfort you with the knowledge that you are not alone in this crazy world. Everybody seems to be hurting in one way or another. This is not a time to pretend everything is “great”. This is when we need real people with real answers to real issues. Sometimes, all we need is a hug. We have received a multitude of hugs during this painful year and this is my way of thanking you and “hugging” you back.
Continue reading “Goodbye 2021!”