OVERCOMER

Overcomer Major Morgan Hillier (with his wife, Major Lisa Hillier, inset) shares a note of encouragement— always written on a napkin, beside a Tim Hortons coffee cup—on social media every day

Coffee Conversations

SHARING HOPE AND ENCOURAGEMENT, ONE DOUBLE-DOUBLE AT A TIME. by Giselle Randall

In October 2019, Major Morgan Hillier, the Salvation Army pastor at Mount Pearl Corps, N.L., met a friend for coffee at a Tim Hortons.

“He was going through some challenges. As we were talking, I gave him some advice, which I wrote on a napkin,” says Major Morgan. Wondering if others would find it useful as well, he snapped a picture and uploaded it to social media.

“All of a sudden, my accounts lit up with people commenting and sending me messages, so I thought, Why not keep doing this?”

It was the beginning of Coffee Conversations, a note of encouragement—always written on a napkin, beside a Tim Hortons coffee cup— that Major Morgan shares on social media every day. But as much as his words inspire others, they are also for himself. He often adds the hashtag #overcomer.

“That’s what I’ve called myself for the last two years,” he says. “I’ve overcome so many obstacles to be where I am today.” Dark Time Major Morgan was a pastor in Bay Roberts, N.L., when he suffered a concussion while playing hockey. Over the next five years, he had three more. The last one— from hitting his head on a cupboard door—did the most damage.

“It took me out of ministry for a while,” he says. “That was the year I lost my memory. I lost who I was.”

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head or body that makes the brain shake quickly back and forth. Although

not usually life-threatening, the effects can be serious. Short-term symptoms include headache, nausea and disorientation, but a concussion can also lead to memory loss, changes in personality and depression.

“I remember sitting in band practice after clearance to play again, and not being able to read a note on the page—and I’ve been playing cornet since I was eight years old,” Major Morgan says. “I had sticky notes everywhere to remind myself to do

“I was just angry at the whole world.

It was devastating.” MAJOR MORGAN HILLIER

Being You “Everything I write applies to me first,” says Major Morgan

things. I even forgot my kids’ names.

“But it also brought up buried memories, unhealthy memories. It put me in a dark place.”

In the middle of this, the Hilliers were transferred to a small, rural community in central Newfoundland, a move that was also hard on his two youngest daughters.

“The congregation was amazing throughout our journey, but it was a struggle for me,” he says. “My whole personality changed. I used to be easygoing, loved to laugh, loved life. Now I was just angry at the whole world. It was devastating.”

Being There Things started to change when The Salvation Army got Major Morgan in touch with a local counsellor.

“She pulled me out of the darkness,” he says. “We came to believe we were there for the opportunity to connect with this counsellor. It was an appointment for healing. God knew what we needed. It’s not always about the moment we are in—it’s about God’s plan. He is always faithful and can be trusted.”

Late one night, while driving near the ocean, Major Morgan paused for a moment. Opening a Bible app on his phone, Psalm 46 caught his eye.

“It described my life—mountains crashing, devastation all around me. It felt like everything was falling apart,” he says. “And then it says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ And I realized, He’s there. He’s there through it all.”

“Everybody Needs Hope” Throughout his recovery, Major Morgan made a practice of writing down positive thoughts. After the response he received to the first encouraging message he shared on social media, he decided to continue the conversation. Every day during his morning coffee break at Tim Hortons, he writes a note, posts a photo and leaves the napkin for others to find.

“I share ideas I’ve read, thoughts from a sermon I’m writing or inspiration from a walk,” he says. “But everything I write applies to me first—it’s what I need for the day. And usually, after those coffee conversations, my day takes on a whole different perspective.”

Sometimes, it makes an impact on others as well. Major Morgan recalls a message from someone who discovered one of the napkins he left on a table.

“This gentleman was in town for a doctor’s appointment, and he was very anxious,” he says. “He dropped by Tim Hortons for a cup of coffee and saw my napkin. It was a note about finding peace, reflecting on ‘be still’ from Psalm 46. He said it gave him the reassurance he needed to go to the appointment.”

The response he’s received to this simple gesture of encouragement has surprised Major Morgan.

“It evolved more than I thought,” he says. “But people are searching for peace and comfort and strength in this chaotic world. If I can offer a little advice, something to help people get through the day, a glimmer of hope—we need more of that. Everybody needs hope.”

Inked Major Morgan’s tattoo is a permanent reminder of the words of Psalm 46: “Be still, and know that I am God”

House Rules Will the members of House Atreides—Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson)—survive the intricate challenges and dangers of Dune?

Desert Ordeal

IN DUNE, A YOUNG MAN HOLDS THE FATE OF THE GALAXY IN HIS HANDS—IF HE CAN SURVIVE THE DANGERS AND PERILS OF A HOSTILE PLANET. by Ken Ramstead

Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

LONG BEFORE STAR TREK,

long before Star Wars, long before Game of Thrones, there was Dune.

Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel created a multi-faceted universe, complex characters and a rich plot that influenced a generation of readers. The Hugo and Nebula awardwinner has sold almost 20 million copies worldwide and is often cited as the greatest and most influential science-fiction novel of all time. Culturally, it brought environmental and ecological issues to the forefront

Two Against Dune Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica, ponder their next move

Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

“This is an extermination. They’re picking off my family one by one.” PAUL ATREIDES

on college campuses and inspired numerous novels, music, games, comic books, a film and two TV miniseries.

The most recent attempt to tackle Dune is Denis Villeneuve’s movie of the same name. Delayed a year by the pandemic, it is coming to theatres and streaming services this month.

Death Trap In the far-distant future, the known universe is ruled by Emperor Shaddam IV of House Corrino, backed up by the Sardaukar, his feared shock troops. Power is divided among various major and minor Houses, of which the most important are House Atreides and House Harkonnen, bitter rivals. The key to interstellar travel in the empire lies with “spice,” the incredibly rare and expensive substance that alone makes stellar navigation possible, while also providing increased lifespan and mental capabilities. Spice is only available, however, on the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, a desert planet sparsely populated by the fierce warriors known as Fremen, and sandworms—fearsome and colossal creatures.

Whoever controls Arrakis controls the fate of the galaxy.

Cruelly occupied and despoiled for decades by House Harkonnen, the emperor has granted Arrakis to House Atreides, ruled by Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac). Seeing the potential as well as the peril, Leto takes control of the spice-mining operations, bringing his advisors as well as his son and heir, Paul (Timothée Chalamet), along with Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). But Paul has prophetic visions of the planet and of a mysterious girl of the desert (Zendaya).

Far from guaranteeing the future of House Atreides, Arrakis is an

Desert Director Denis Villeneuve and Javier Bardem (Stilgar) on the set of the movie

Defiant Warrior As House Atreides’ Warmaster, Gurney Halleck will do whatever it takes to protect the family he serves

intricate death trap. With the connivance of the emperor—and a bitter betrayal—Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) unleashes a massive assault that decimates House Atreides’ toehold on Arrakis.

“This is an extermination,” Paul says. “They’re picking off my family one by one.”

Duke Leto is assassinated, and Paul and Lady Jessica barely escape the Harkonnen trap, fleeing to the deep desert and the uncertain assistance of the Fremen. But will they find the support and shelter they need to fight back against their Harkonnen enemies?

Viewers will only know the fate of Paul and his mother when the planned sequel, which roughly covers the second part of the novel, is released.

“I would not agree to make this adaptation of the book with one single movie,” Denis told Vanity Fair magazine. “The world is too complex. It’s a world that takes its power in details.”

Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures Real-Life Purposes At first glance, moviegoers may spot similarities between Paul’s odyssey and the Christmas story. Paul and his mother escape to the desert to save themselves from the Harkonnen death squads and their Sardaukar allies, just as Mary and Joseph, with the newborn baby Jesus in tow, escaped to the Egyptian desert once the parents were warned that their child had been marked for death.

And one of the reasons Paul escapes death in the first place is that his coming had been prophesied to the Fremen by the Bene Gesserit, an ancient and powerful sisterhood whose agents had planted such stories throughout the galaxy.

Vanity Fair Photo: Chiabella James, courtesy of

But whereas these tales were hearsay and rumour, Jesus’ coming had been foretold centuries earlier—and not through word-of-mouth.

The Old Testament contains numerous passages that predict Jesus’ coming in startling clarity—47 of them, to be exact. To give just one example, Jesus’ Crucifixion was foretold in Psalm 22:16-18 a thousand years before His death, long before such a Roman method of execution was even practised!

More specifically, the Bible includes prophesies that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (see Micah 5:2), would be born of a virgin (see Isaiah 7:14), would spend a season in Egypt (see Hosea 11:1) and that a massacre of children would occur in Jesus’ place of birth (see Jeremiah 31:15).

Collectively, they were all proof of Jesus’ divinity. And as Jesus went about His ministry, He knew that He was fulfilling these prophecies and, therefore, used this knowledge to confirm His claims of being the Son of God in the flesh.

As we enjoy the fictional Dune, it’s important to remember the real-life purpose of God. Whereas Paul was trying to free Dune from the evil occupiers of that planet, Jesus Christ waged a battle to free all of us from sin. This gift of life can never be forgotten as we prepare yet again to celebrate in the coming months the birth of Jesus.