Celebrating 9 years in Canada: a one-way ticket to hell?

Les Brown said religious people are afraid of going to hell; spiritual people have already been there. With a degree in religion in my back pocket, and years of religiously attending church every Sunday morning, I certainly never wanted to go to hell. I moved to Canada instead. Today I’m looking back on nine years in this larger-than-life country.

When I first came to Canada, I decided to rent a small, almost one hundred year old farmhouse on a twenty-six acre lot just outside the city. It was an interesting experience. In my old neighborhood, you’d find about twelve apartment buildings on that same size lot, leaving very little space for each individual. Many people want to escape that anonymous and crowded city life. Having all that space to myself with virtually no one caring about what I did was quite liberating. I had large bonfires, launched fireworks and had a pretty good time, until winter came. Winter on that property was unpleasant to say the least. The furnace was undersized…