2026 Census Thoughts – Blessings

How interesting that the Canadian census time should so closely coincide with part of this week's Shabbat reading! Thousands of years after Moshe counted the tribes in the desert, I found myself facing a similar kind of numbering.

How remarkable to see our modern Canadian civic duty align so perfectly with this week’s Shabbat reading! While the census in Parashat Bamidbar was specifically focused on those who could be prepared for war and the struggles of the wilderness, it reminds us of the profound transition from a crowd into an organized community.

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B'midbar (Num) 1:1-3 CJB

"Adonai spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said, “Take a census of the entire assembly of the people of Isra’el, by clans and families. Record the names of all the men twenty years old and over who are subject to military service in Isra’el. You and Aharon are to enumerate them company by company.”"

Source: The Complete Jewish Bible available on Amazon

In our daily walks of faith, it is all too easy to get caught up in the modern noise and bureaucracy. But this week, a mundane household chore left me pausing to reflect on the **beautiful grace** of the time and place we live in.

I am talking about the **Canadian census**.

A dear friend recently sent me articles detailing all the complex ways people are trying to avoid filling out their forms. If you were led into tossing your census out, there is good news—all is not lost.

The Good News

If you threw your envelope away, **do not panic.** You do not need to embark on a complicated legal crusade. In fact, your civic duty might be incredibly simple this year.

You can fix a lost form in under ten minutes. Go straight to the official portal at census.gc.ca, click "Start questionnaire," and generate a new code using your address. Alternatively, call the Census Help Line at 1-833-852-2026 to request a paper form.

A Quick Ten Minutes

When I finally bit the bullet, I was surprised at how few questions I had to complete! It took only a few short minutes online. No intrusive prying—just a swift, quiet modern convenience.

The Journey to Bethlehem

As I hit the "submit" button, my mind wandered back to the **Census of Quirinius**.

Think of Mary and Joseph. There was no digital portal or friendly Census worker dropping off the form. Mary, heavily pregnant, had to endure a grueling, dusty, **90-mile journey** from Nazareth to Bethlehem. There were no paved highways or rest stops—just the slow pace of a donkey across a rocky landscape.

They travelled through dangerous territory just to be counted by an empire that viewed them as numbers. Yet today, we often feel "under attack" simply by a request for our postal code.

Shifting Our Perspective

How blessed are we? We can fulfill our duties while sitting in a comfortable chair, sipping tea. We don't have to pack up our lives or sleep in stables just to register our households.

When the world encourages resistance and frustration, **let us choose a different path.** Let us look at our modern lives through a lens of historical gratitude. The next time government mail hits your counter, take it as a quiet reminder to thank God for the smooth roads and light burdens we carry today.

What "mundane" task has turned into a moment of worship or gratitude for you this week?

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About the Author

Sister Su is a survivor through her Saviour and has been blessed to see many miracles in her life. Currently digging her way out from under a mountain of debt while battling chronic illness, she dreams of one day earning her doctorate in practical theology.

For more information, visit her Linktree - Sister_Su.

Thomas Shipley: A Voice in the Storm and the Beauty of Creator's Timing

There is a specific kind of silence that happens when the grid fails in a small town. No fridge hum, no furnace rattle—just the wind howling across the Saskatchewan prairie. But the oddest part of the night wasn't the blackout; it was my phone suddenly giving up the ghost at 8% charge. It wouldn't recharge or even flicker, despite being plugged into a backup battery. It just stayed dark.

That’s when I heard the nudge in my heart: "Listen to the radio."

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A prairie storm reminds us of the light Thomas Shipley brought to human history and the beauty of the Creator's timing.

I picked up my trusty crank radio and started turning the handle, generating a small beam of light and a crackle of static in the shadows. I tuned in just in time to catch the tail end of an interesting tale on Our American Stories. It was a story about a man named Thomas Shipley.

Who was Thomas Shipley?

I’d never heard the name before, but the timing felt like a clear tap on the shoulder from the Creator. Thomas Shipley was a Christian abolitionist in the 1800s. He wasn't just a man of words; he was a man of radical action.

As a Quaker, Shipley believed with every fibre of his being that every person was created equal, carrying the "Inner Light" of God. While the world around him was filled with the darkness of slavery and kidnapping, Shipley stood his ground. He used his own body as a shield during riots and spent his life in courtrooms fighting for the freedom of those the world tried to ignore.

Light in the Darkness

There I was, in the middle of a literal prairie storm, cranking for a tiny bit of light, hearing about a man who was a beacon of light in a much grimmer storm of human history.

It’s a reminder that the Creator’s timing is always perfect. When my "modern" power cut out at that odd 8%, the Ruach HaKodesh led me to a story about a different kind of power—the power of a person who knows their worth and the worth of their neighbour. Shipley didn't need a power grid; he had a soul-deep connection to the truth.

Sometimes we need the lights to go out so we can finally hear what we’re supposed to. If you’re sitting in the dark tonight, whether it’s a power outage or just a hard season of life, keep cranking. The light is coming, and the message you need to hear is already on the airwaves. We just have to tune in.

"For you light my lamp; ADONAI my God lights up my darkness." — Tehillim (Psalms) 18:29 CJB

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Digging Deeper

If you are curious about the life of this remarkable man, I discovered a book on Amazon by Isaac Parrish that provides a moving portrait of his courage and faith:

Brief Memoirs of Thomas Shipley and Edwin P. Atlee: Read Before the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, &C, Tenth Month, 1837

This classic reprint offers a window into the dangers and daily work of these reformers. It’s a powerful read for anyone interested in how principled activism, grounded in faith, can change the world.

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About the Author

Sister Su is a survivor through her Saviour and has been blessed to see many miracles in her life. Currently digging her way out from under a mountain of debt while battling chronic illness, she dreams of one day earning her doctorate in practical theology.

For more information, visit her Linktree- Sister_Su.

Dream Interpretation Books: Seeking a Messianic Perspective

Which Messianic Dream Book Would You Choose?

For a while now, I have been getting a persistent internal prompting: "Get your dream book published."

Before writing my own, I wanted to see how other authors approach dream interpretation from a Messianic perspective. My search on Amazon led me down a fascinating rabbit hole. Now, I am completely stuck between two highly compelling books.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my work!For more information please see the policies page.

I need your help deciding.Which one would you read and review first?

Let me know which unique perspective you want to explore first by dropping your vote in the comment section below!

Option 1: The Ancient Language of Dreams by Ken Johnson Th.D.

Being Holy But Not "Holier Than Thou:

Today is three weeks and six days of counting the Omer, 27 days! Are you counting the days up towards Shavuot (Pentecost) too? Can you believe we are already 28 days in? Almost four full weeks of preparing our hearts for Shavuot; we are just past the halfway mark. We are also at the midpoint of the month of Iyar—how time flies!

Today is also Pesach Sheni (the Second Passover). It’s such a beautiful reminder of our Creator’s heart for "second chances"—He literally built a day into the calendar for those who missed the first feast because they were away or ritually unclean. If you feel like you’ve "missed the boat" on your spiritual goals this month, today is a wonderful reminder that His grace provides a way back.

I had great plans to create a Pesach Sheni Seder plate because I was quite weak on the first Passover, but the power was off for most of the day. When I tried making the chana flour matzah recipe from memory, it turned out too thin and then too thick—it looks more like pieces of a hard tack map (Australia, Antarctica  China and South America Japan!) than matzah. Frankly, I was plum tuckered out from dragging my cart with drinking water and groceries up the hill yesterday!”

Even my matzah got a bit 'puffed up' with pride! These three pieces—resembling Australia, Japan, and China—remind me that sometimes our best attempts turn into something entirely unexpected.

This Week's Readings: Parashat Emor

• Torah: Vayikra (Leviticus) 21:1–24:23
• Haftarah: Yechezk’el (Ezekiel) 44:15–31
• Brit Chadashah: 1 Corinthians 8

Who Really Changed the Sabbath? A Look at History and Ezekiel 20:20

Today marks twenty-one days of counting the Omer—three full weeks of preparing my heart for Shavuot.

The Messianic Sabbath readings for today contained a scripture I hold very precious: Ezekiel 20:20.

About two years ago, I was trying to come up with ways to memorize where different scriptures were located in the Bible. I had come across a Psalm I really liked and wondered, "How am I going to remember this and where it’s located?" Then, it came to my heart: "Look in the Book."

I picked up the Bible beside me, let the Holy Spirit do the talking, and let my fingers do the walking. I opened it directly to Ezekiel 20:20: 

"Sanctify My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God."

I couldn’t believe it. It was the answer to what I had just asked. It was as if God was saying it would be an easy task to remember if I looked at it with "20/20 vision"—by sanctifying the Sabbaths our Father set aside as holy.

I made a conscious decision right then and there that I was going to do my very best to do as He asked. However, sanctifying the Sabbaths has not been easy.

I thought it would be simple. I had been raised to sanctify Sunday as the Sabbath, so how could it be so difficult to switch the day to the actual Sabbath—the seventh day of the week? Let me tell you, it’s been a big surprise. I have never faced so much temptation to not properly observe the Sabbath in my life. Chores can sit there for a week or two, and suddenly, once the Sabbath comes, they feel incredibly important to get done. Then, as soon as the Sabbath is over, that urgency disappears. Pretty weird, eh?

This experience has shown me that there must be something vital about observing the Sabbath as set out in Scripture; otherwise, I wouldn’t be facing such a difficult time doing it.

Who Changed the Sabbaths?

Constantine - The Pagan Roman Priest Behind Sunday Worship

Have you ever wondered why people worship on Sunday and not on the seventh day?

I knew the change happened in the early days of the church, but after the days of the Apostles. When I did a little digging, I was surprised to find who actually outlawed Sabbath services. They were outlawed by a Roman leader who was a sun worshipper claiming to have converted to Christianity. This leader did some horrible things during his lifetime and resisted being baptized until he was on his deathbed.

Here are some of the horrible things that he did:

• Megalomaniacal Acts: Even while claiming to be a Christian, he remained High Priest of the pagan sun worshipers. He even set up a statue in his new capital that depicted himself with the features of the sun god. He built a city in his own honour, Constantinople, and littered the empire with colossal statues of himself.
• Execution of His Eldest Son: In 326 AD, Constantine ordered the execution of his son and heir, Crispus. He then had his son’s name and image erased from all public records to scrub him from history.
• The Brutal Killing of His Wife: Shortly after his son's death, he had his second wife, Empress Fausta, killed by suffocating her in an overheated bath—some historical accounts say she was essentially boiled alive.
• Betrayal of Family and Allies: He ordered the execution of his brother-in-law, Licinius, after promising him safety when he surrendered. He didn't stop there; he also had his own young nephew, Licinius II (the 11-year-old son of Licinius), killed to prevent any future challenge to his throne.
• Ruthless Political Murders: Throughout his reign, he was known for being an absolute autocrat who would eliminate anyone—including close advisors and friends—whom he perceived as a threat or who simply displeased him.

In addition to this, he set about trying to get rid of anyone who chose to follow the laws set out by the Creator after decreeing all Sabbath worship be moved to Sunday

What boggles my mind is how anyone in their right mind would think it is a good idea to follow what this man decreed. It boggles my mind even more that in this day and age—where the truth is so readily available—we continue with traditions established by such a person.

I have to ask you: Do you really want to follow the decrees set out by a man who was so clearly demon-possessed?

Today, I challenge you to look at your own traditions with "20/20 vision." Open the Book for yourself, let the Holy Spirit do the talking, and see if it’s time to stop following the man-made rules of the past and start sanctifying the days our Father actually set aside as holy.

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About the Author

Sister Su is a survivor through her Saviour and has been blessed to see many miracles in her life. Currently digging her way out from under a mountain of debt while battling chronic illness, she dreams of one day earning her doctorate in practical theology.

For more information, visit her Linktree- Sister_Su.