"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon
Winter doesn't want to loosen its grasp on Flatland. It seems to have dug in deeper even as the Sun has tried to climb higher in the sky. I feel I am watching an epic struggle between an unmovable object and an irresistible force. And even though I know how the story will end, it truly seems as though the outcome is presently in doubt. Like watching "Apollo 13" I am fascinated, stuck on the edge of my seat, unable to look away.
I sometimes wonder if I am the only one who sometimes sees his life circumstances reflected in the world around him. This seems so self-indulgent and self-delusional, but these past several weeks have left me with a distinct sense that there are also immense powers and principalities battling for supremacy in my life and their straining potentialities are beginning to shape my circumstances.
As a 'Christian' you might properly mock me for not being more sanguine about my seeming lack of control - and you would be right, too. I did voluntarily submit my life to my Lord and Savior and thus I have no cause to object to the circumstances I find myself in. "Not my will, but Yours, Lord." Much easier said than done.
The natural desire to defend, deflect and to even launch a preemptive attack is strong, and I am no better at resisting temptations than anyone else I know, and in most cases far less able. And yet I wake each day and put one foot in front of the other. The tsunami may overtake me soon, but I have obligations, responsibilities and even simple mundane tasks to fill my moments while I watch for darkening clouds on the horizon.
My faith seems to be sustaining me, and my ministry - such as it is - is comforting as it is frustrating. People are such....PEOPLE! Lost, angry, frightened, unreliable, dangerous, confused and reckless - they bump into my life with heart-wrenching abandon - often doing what I'm doing. Putting one foot in front of the other while quiet desperation hangs on us all like a shroud.
I'd like to be specific, but I can't. Let me just say this - I was warned that there would be days like this. But no amount of preparation can fully steel one against the onslaught that is the pain of people's lives and the destruction they leak out on others because of it. And then in the middle of this there is a moment of truth, a breath of compassion, a twinkle of joy, a mote of hope caught in the light. And it is enough for the next few steps.
Spring. Promise. Hope. Change. The chance of a well-hit tee shot flying clean and true. The powers that be may rage on unabated, but I will stoop to brush the snow away from another new flower bravely pushing through the cold earth towards the sunshine. It will be enough. Even if the Summer never comes.
Shalom
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
X-Files
With everything that's going on in the world it's not like we needed another story to confirm the extreme weirdness of life on Earth. This is the original story that has sent G.B. Trudeau, author, artist and creator of the 'Doonesbury' daily comic strip off on this storyline.
As Billy the Bard once wrote, "Oh Lord! What fools these mortals be!"
Where the heck are Mulder and Scully when you really need them?
Shalom
As Billy the Bard once wrote, "Oh Lord! What fools these mortals be!"
Where the heck are Mulder and Scully when you really need them?
Shalom
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Early Morning Connections and Miracles
Social networking is growing exponentially. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other net-based social networking sites and communities are fast weaving themselves into people's daily lives. Mine too.
This morning I was perusing my usual sites including checking out Facebook to see if any of my friends had updated, commented or posted. A friend I recently connected to who knew me over 30 years ago and had lost touch said "Hi" via the chat widget. What ensued was, I think, remarkable. And yet, it may be not so remarkable in the very near future.
We exchanged "hellos" and chatted about being up really early. We talked about my friend's upcoming vacation and then my friend shared a deep, personal loss. Just like that! Boom, it was in front of us. Tragedy had touched my friend's family. I hadn't known, but now I did. I was able to offer some meager words of comfort, but in that simple moment we were connecting and I was praying the sense of isolation that so often comes with pain would be lessening for them.
Facebook - that much maligned, virus-ridden, controversial, time-consuming, frustrating and unwieldy network - had just made it possible for me to minister to someone that I might never have been able to reach any other way.
What my friend doesn't know, and probably won't unless they read this post, is that lately I've had doubts about my ability to serve others in this way. This morning I got the chance to offer my support to someone else and I was able to do it. And I needed to know that, just like my friend needed a bit of encouragement.
It's a miracle.
Shalom
This morning I was perusing my usual sites including checking out Facebook to see if any of my friends had updated, commented or posted. A friend I recently connected to who knew me over 30 years ago and had lost touch said "Hi" via the chat widget. What ensued was, I think, remarkable. And yet, it may be not so remarkable in the very near future.
We exchanged "hellos" and chatted about being up really early. We talked about my friend's upcoming vacation and then my friend shared a deep, personal loss. Just like that! Boom, it was in front of us. Tragedy had touched my friend's family. I hadn't known, but now I did. I was able to offer some meager words of comfort, but in that simple moment we were connecting and I was praying the sense of isolation that so often comes with pain would be lessening for them.
Facebook - that much maligned, virus-ridden, controversial, time-consuming, frustrating and unwieldy network - had just made it possible for me to minister to someone that I might never have been able to reach any other way.
What my friend doesn't know, and probably won't unless they read this post, is that lately I've had doubts about my ability to serve others in this way. This morning I got the chance to offer my support to someone else and I was able to do it. And I needed to know that, just like my friend needed a bit of encouragement.
It's a miracle.
Shalom
Friday, February 27, 2009
It's Complicated
My life, that is. Stay tuned, or not, as the case may be. I'll be back with stuff to say (I hope) when the dust settles.
Shalom
Shalom
Monday, January 26, 2009
Budget Rant
I haven't put up a good old rant in a while so hang on kiddies, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.
Tomorrow's budget promises to offer more spending than Imelda Marcos on a shopping junket on Rodeo Drive. Over 34 BILLION in government money that does not exist yet is to be earmarked to begin being pumped into the public trough. The sound of the hogs coming to root will be deafening. If this plan goes forward our government will burn through 100 BILLION dollars that do not exist yet (that's how much of the national debt we paid off in the last decade) by the year 2013.
And why?
Because Jack (The Sky Is Falling) Layton says that we are in "the worst financial crisis since the 1930's"? Because Michael Ignatieff "sort of" agrees with him? Not so fast Jack & Mike. Unemployment was higher in the 1980's recession than it is right now. Today Canadian unemployment stands at just over 7% and it was 27% in 1932. It is today a far, far cry from every third person out of work as in the Great Depression. Also in the 1930's the numbers didn't include students or most women. We are enjoying far, far higher employment today as a percentage of our total population than at just about any other time in our history.
Now I agree that the manufacturing sector in southern Ontario is having a bad time, relative to recent years, but let's be honest for a minute here. Manufacturing jobs have been bleeding away from the industrialized western world for more than two decades and frankly, if the businesses in southern Ontario didn't recognize this and make some plans to diversify then this would have happened sooner or later. So it's sooner.
I have been reading the top auto magazines for 30 years and the editors and pundits of the auto industry have been literally begging and pleading with the Detroit so-called "Big Three" to "wake up and smell the coffee" for most of that time. I was in the parking lot at Safeway today and I parked my Impala between a Toyota Tundra and a Toyota Camry. That problem didn't happen to the auto industry last year. It's been coming for quite a while, and while I believe government can help workers with the transition, propping up an industry as obtuse and inflexible as the North American auto manufacturers makes about as much sense as holding a beer drinking contest to promote sobriety. As an interesting aside, there are now more people employed in Great Britain in automotive design, manufacturing, supply and distribution than when British Leyland owned everything. Foreign ownership made the industry BETTER there, not worse.
Back to our "bail-out" budget. The Bank of Canada just announced that they are predicting that the recession we are in will end as soon as September. That's just 9 months from now. And we have no chartered banks in any sort of situation that could be considered even mildly problematic. Our banks could probably loan other banks money right now. And we don't have mortgage companies that are sucking up dollars faster than a fat kid with a Slurpee on a hot August afternoon. American mortgage giant Freddie Mac just announced that "about 30 BILLION more dollars" would keep them afloat for a while longer. There is no such silliness going on north of the 49th parallel.
What IS going on up here is the fact that we are the highest taxed nation in the G7. We are in the top 10 world wide and we work about half the year before we start getting to the money we can spend on ourselves and others can use to create wealth, jobs and a vibrant economy. The truth is that the money we need to spend our way out of this recession doesn't have to come from the Canadian Government's Mastercard - all they have to do is leave it in your pocket and mine. All the government has to do is get it's taxation jackboot off the throat of small and medium businesses - who employ the vast majority of Canadians and who generate most of our true wealth. But nooooo.... The lobbies of the multinationals, the unions and the special interest groups will suck up the cash and determine where the wealth goes before the entrepreneurs even get a chance to make their case.
In Canada the modus operendi of our Federal Government is to take as much money from the people as they can and "redistribute" it through programs. Inefficient, wasteful and bureaucratic. But hey, we vote these guys and gals in and then they believe they can do what they want, or worse they try to figure out what we want and do what we want - sort of.
Now I KNOW you are smart. A person is smart. But people are dumb, panicky and stupid (Thanks Agent K). And what we need right now is for an adult to walk into the room and get everybody to settle down. Unfortunately for us, the adults are hiding out in the staff room and they've barricaded the door. And we are panicking because we are being told to - not because our situation is as bad as is being touted.
Now will the new budget and the wrangling over it wreck Canada? Probably not, at least not right away. We have so much and we are so wealthy that it's going to take a lot of mismanagement and waste to truly run our country onto the rocks, but the feds are giving it their best shot. No, I think what will happen will be what so often happens. We will miss the opportunity to be great. We will miss the opportunity to break out and leave the hurting USA and other economies who hitched their wagons to that misbegotten star in our economic dust. We will once again win the silver or the bronze or at least make the top 10. And the most frustrating thing about that will be that for the vast majority of us that will be "good enough".
We could be "The Next BIG Thing", but we'll settle for being "the next best thing".
*sigh*
BTW - I'm not the only one who thinks deficit spending is a bad idea for Canada.
Tomorrow's budget promises to offer more spending than Imelda Marcos on a shopping junket on Rodeo Drive. Over 34 BILLION in government money that does not exist yet is to be earmarked to begin being pumped into the public trough. The sound of the hogs coming to root will be deafening. If this plan goes forward our government will burn through 100 BILLION dollars that do not exist yet (that's how much of the national debt we paid off in the last decade) by the year 2013.
And why?
Because Jack (The Sky Is Falling) Layton says that we are in "the worst financial crisis since the 1930's"? Because Michael Ignatieff "sort of" agrees with him? Not so fast Jack & Mike. Unemployment was higher in the 1980's recession than it is right now. Today Canadian unemployment stands at just over 7% and it was 27% in 1932. It is today a far, far cry from every third person out of work as in the Great Depression. Also in the 1930's the numbers didn't include students or most women. We are enjoying far, far higher employment today as a percentage of our total population than at just about any other time in our history.
Now I agree that the manufacturing sector in southern Ontario is having a bad time, relative to recent years, but let's be honest for a minute here. Manufacturing jobs have been bleeding away from the industrialized western world for more than two decades and frankly, if the businesses in southern Ontario didn't recognize this and make some plans to diversify then this would have happened sooner or later. So it's sooner.
I have been reading the top auto magazines for 30 years and the editors and pundits of the auto industry have been literally begging and pleading with the Detroit so-called "Big Three" to "wake up and smell the coffee" for most of that time. I was in the parking lot at Safeway today and I parked my Impala between a Toyota Tundra and a Toyota Camry. That problem didn't happen to the auto industry last year. It's been coming for quite a while, and while I believe government can help workers with the transition, propping up an industry as obtuse and inflexible as the North American auto manufacturers makes about as much sense as holding a beer drinking contest to promote sobriety. As an interesting aside, there are now more people employed in Great Britain in automotive design, manufacturing, supply and distribution than when British Leyland owned everything. Foreign ownership made the industry BETTER there, not worse.
Back to our "bail-out" budget. The Bank of Canada just announced that they are predicting that the recession we are in will end as soon as September. That's just 9 months from now. And we have no chartered banks in any sort of situation that could be considered even mildly problematic. Our banks could probably loan other banks money right now. And we don't have mortgage companies that are sucking up dollars faster than a fat kid with a Slurpee on a hot August afternoon. American mortgage giant Freddie Mac just announced that "about 30 BILLION more dollars" would keep them afloat for a while longer. There is no such silliness going on north of the 49th parallel.
What IS going on up here is the fact that we are the highest taxed nation in the G7. We are in the top 10 world wide and we work about half the year before we start getting to the money we can spend on ourselves and others can use to create wealth, jobs and a vibrant economy. The truth is that the money we need to spend our way out of this recession doesn't have to come from the Canadian Government's Mastercard - all they have to do is leave it in your pocket and mine. All the government has to do is get it's taxation jackboot off the throat of small and medium businesses - who employ the vast majority of Canadians and who generate most of our true wealth. But nooooo.... The lobbies of the multinationals, the unions and the special interest groups will suck up the cash and determine where the wealth goes before the entrepreneurs even get a chance to make their case.
In Canada the modus operendi of our Federal Government is to take as much money from the people as they can and "redistribute" it through programs. Inefficient, wasteful and bureaucratic. But hey, we vote these guys and gals in and then they believe they can do what they want, or worse they try to figure out what we want and do what we want - sort of.
Now I KNOW you are smart. A person is smart. But people are dumb, panicky and stupid (Thanks Agent K). And what we need right now is for an adult to walk into the room and get everybody to settle down. Unfortunately for us, the adults are hiding out in the staff room and they've barricaded the door. And we are panicking because we are being told to - not because our situation is as bad as is being touted.
Now will the new budget and the wrangling over it wreck Canada? Probably not, at least not right away. We have so much and we are so wealthy that it's going to take a lot of mismanagement and waste to truly run our country onto the rocks, but the feds are giving it their best shot. No, I think what will happen will be what so often happens. We will miss the opportunity to be great. We will miss the opportunity to break out and leave the hurting USA and other economies who hitched their wagons to that misbegotten star in our economic dust. We will once again win the silver or the bronze or at least make the top 10. And the most frustrating thing about that will be that for the vast majority of us that will be "good enough".
We could be "The Next BIG Thing", but we'll settle for being "the next best thing".
*sigh*
BTW - I'm not the only one who thinks deficit spending is a bad idea for Canada.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Obama
OK. He's now officially the 44th president of the USA. The first black American president. And I must admit he is also the most eloquent and engaging political public speaker I have heard in my lifetime. He's saying all of the right things. I pray he and his administration will also do the right things. And like many of my fellow Flatlanders, I sincerely hope his influence will rub off on our leaders here north of the 49th parallel.
But, I will still contend that salvation will not ultimately come to us from either 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or 24 Sussex Drive, or the UN or from any human agency.
Yet, I am hopeful that the new American president will be a leader who will exert his influence for the common good of our world. And to that end I will say, and pray, "Godspeed, President Obama."
But, I will still contend that salvation will not ultimately come to us from either 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or 24 Sussex Drive, or the UN or from any human agency.
Yet, I am hopeful that the new American president will be a leader who will exert his influence for the common good of our world. And to that end I will say, and pray, "Godspeed, President Obama."
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Music Hath Charms
As my Christmas gift to you all I want to suggest 5 musical masterpieces you can add to your collection to enjoy in 2009. I am always wrapped in wonderment when I consider how blessed we are to be able to enjoy the creative miracles God offers us through people He has made with the skills to create joy from sound. It is even more wonderful that we have the ability to preserve and recreate these experiences through recorded music. As the Bard of Avon observed, music does have charms. In no particular order here are my suggestions:
Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers - Zoë Records, MRCD 6487; 2008. Since her debut record Failer in 2002 Kathleen, native of Ottawa, has been a busy girl - releasing two more studio albums, a live record, touring extensively and appearing on Austin City Limits just to name a few of her exploits. This 2008 release was recorded in California with excellent players including her husband, Colin Cripps (who works regularly for Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo). This is easily Kathleen's most polished album, with superb lyrics, captivating melodies, catchy hooks and deft production. It's rootsy, country, rocky and raw in places (her publishing company is called "Potty Mouth Records"). In any case it has been in medium/high rotation on my playlist ever since I brought it home.
Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long - A&M / Octone, B000891702; 2007. Loads poppier than their more introspective 2002 debut, Songs About Jane, Maroon 5 appear to have hit their songwriting stride full force. I admit that I bought this one for one song - Makes Me Wonder - and then sort of forgot about it until I heard Won't Go Home Without You on the radio last week. I pulled out the CD and gave it another listen and lo and behold 5 tracks knocked me out. If the band and their A & R people are smart they'll release Not Falling Apart next on the radio. We're gonna be hearing more from these boys.
Dala are Sheila Carabine and Amanda Walther from Ontario. We heard them live at "Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe Christmas - 2008" and bought a copy of their latest album - Who Do You Think You Are? - Universal Music Canada, 0251741144; 2008. I don't have the ability to describe their inimitable harmony, but once you hear them you'll understand. They also are superb songwriters and consummate musicians - and they're pretty young so we can hope for more - much, much more - from them in the years to come. Check out their tune Marilyn Monroe and then fall under their spell. Canada is producing some of the most talented musicians to be found anywhere.
Prairie Oyster has been plying their country/blues/roots trade across Canada in one form or another since 1974. Their most recent album, One Kiss - Open Road Canada / Zoom, 7210; 2006, is a tour de force of their collective abilities, which are greater than the mere sum of their parts. Founding member, Russell deCarle is getting ready to release a solo album in 2009. I didn't own any Prairie Oyster albums until this month. That was a mistake, but One Kiss is gracious redemption. Since the advent of the CD I have found that I very rarely listen to an album all the way through (unless I'm mining my vinyl collection), but I sat through this CD and didn't ONCE want to hit the skip button. I believe you won't want to skip one tune either.
My friend Ben loves music and, like many of us I suspect, has issues with Christmas music. While I agree that most of the Christmas stuff that gets pushed at us this time of year is musical dreck of the lowest order, there are a few recordings that can transcend the commercial hype and bring true enjoyment and emotion. The self-produced album Polyhymnia by Canada's own John Sheard is one of these few gems. Because it is a bit hard to find I've included a link to help you. John may be Canada's most accomplished pianist, albeit not that well known. We discovered him through Stuart McLean as John has been the musical director for the live shows we've seen Stuart in, and also collaborates with Stuart on his weekly radio program on CBC (one of the few redeeming programs on our erstwhile Canadian radio network). Polyhymnia is a collection of 16 hymns and carols, brilliantly arranged and played by John. The recording quality is also uniformly superb. If this CD can't get you in the Christmas mood then check yourself in the mirror for physical resemblances to the Grinch.
I could offer 5 more albums, and then 5 more and 5 more after that for your consideration, but these must suffice (I have other things to do). Try one or two out, I urge you. Music is a great gift from God and a wonderful gift to enjoy at this time of year or whenever.
Shalom
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Last Post (Probably) for 2008 - Advent & Christmastide
The Holiday season is washing over everyone I know with tsunami-like vengeance, and in the midst of the most unsettled days of my brief life since the days of Cuban Missile Crisis, it is hard to get one's bearings, let alone maintain them.
Recent events in our extended family have intersected our plans and created new ones. I won't have enough time to even post at my usually infrequent "whenever I get around to it" rate. Thankfully, according to my Sat Counter widget, I am remaining fairly true to my mission and tagline (writing for an audience of one, reaching even fewer) so I am confident that I am not disappointing a large number of my fellow pilgrims. Still, I know there are a few of you out there so this message is for you.
This season is supposedly tied in some comically and warped human way to one of the greatest events in human history and the "greatest story ever told". Sadly, but not surprisingly, we have warped and marred the meaning of this event almost beyond recognition. Almost.
We are in the season of Advent right now as recognized by followers of Christ since around the 5th or 6th century, perhaps as a balance to the growing observance of Christmas - which was a converted pagan festival - that also began around those times. Regardless of either celebration's genesis, we have what we have today, but we also have choice too.
I hope you will choose to slow down and take time to cultivate holy anticipation this Advent season - anticipation being a lost and even scorned practice in our culture of instant gratification. I even saw an ad recently for a product that purports to help make the sex act happen faster, for those who don't have time to savor the moment, I guess. Things really are getting weird out there. Anyway, I will pray that you can wait in anticipation for what God is and will be doing. And then, may you enter Christmastide (all 12 days of it) with joy, vigor and wonder. Again, having a 12-day feast to celebrate requires a bit of pacing and self-control as opposed to a one-day, all-out, over-indulgent, food-and-football-fueled Bacchanalia. Besides, what good is a celebration that you have to recover from? You'd have to recover from hitting yourself in the head with a hammer, and that would be cheaper than the usual Christmas blowout we usually get sucked into.
Now before you think we're not going to give and receive presents this year, or eat, or celebrate - let me say that I suspect that our events will look much like they do every year, but we are working to change the spirit and intention of these proceedings an ways that we pray will flow out into new appreciations and possibilities in our lives. Here's one example:
Being nearly 50 means that there really isn't anything much out there I need anymore (except increasingly excellent health care coverage). So two years ago my family bought some gifts for me from World Vision. And they did again last year. I don't know if they will again this year, but we have already agreed to use half of the "love gift" we get from the church I serve to buy what we can from World Vision. We have been gifted for years. Time to give back. Gift-giving is a GOOD part of this season if we work to keep God's perspective in view.
We will be spending some time with distant family and for reasons one might not think are worthy of celebrating, but we are committed to celebrating with them while we are together. Often at this time of year circumstances conflict with peoples Dickensian fantasies of what should be happening, but we are praying we will be able to truly "give thanks in all circumstances". God doesn't stop being gracious and abounding in love just because human sin and its consequences intersect our plans.
We are going to celebrate Christmastide. I'm not just certain how, but we will and we will include as many others as we can. Why not stretch the season, even in little ways? As many have observed, "it's a shame we act like this only one day a year".
To you few who read these ramblings from time to time, I send our heartfelt greetings of love, peace and joy in the name of Christ Jesus. Whether or not our beliefs agree, we cannot deny that we stand on the same earth and walk under the same sky and share the same ultimate human fate. You are our brothers and sisters and we pray for you, even if we don't know you well.
May the Lord Bless you and Keep you.
May He make His Face shine upon you.
May He lift up His Countenance upon you
and give you His Everlasting Peace.
Shalom
Recent events in our extended family have intersected our plans and created new ones. I won't have enough time to even post at my usually infrequent "whenever I get around to it" rate. Thankfully, according to my Sat Counter widget, I am remaining fairly true to my mission and tagline (writing for an audience of one, reaching even fewer) so I am confident that I am not disappointing a large number of my fellow pilgrims. Still, I know there are a few of you out there so this message is for you.
This season is supposedly tied in some comically and warped human way to one of the greatest events in human history and the "greatest story ever told". Sadly, but not surprisingly, we have warped and marred the meaning of this event almost beyond recognition. Almost.
We are in the season of Advent right now as recognized by followers of Christ since around the 5th or 6th century, perhaps as a balance to the growing observance of Christmas - which was a converted pagan festival - that also began around those times. Regardless of either celebration's genesis, we have what we have today, but we also have choice too.
I hope you will choose to slow down and take time to cultivate holy anticipation this Advent season - anticipation being a lost and even scorned practice in our culture of instant gratification. I even saw an ad recently for a product that purports to help make the sex act happen faster, for those who don't have time to savor the moment, I guess. Things really are getting weird out there. Anyway, I will pray that you can wait in anticipation for what God is and will be doing. And then, may you enter Christmastide (all 12 days of it) with joy, vigor and wonder. Again, having a 12-day feast to celebrate requires a bit of pacing and self-control as opposed to a one-day, all-out, over-indulgent, food-and-football-fueled Bacchanalia. Besides, what good is a celebration that you have to recover from? You'd have to recover from hitting yourself in the head with a hammer, and that would be cheaper than the usual Christmas blowout we usually get sucked into.
Now before you think we're not going to give and receive presents this year, or eat, or celebrate - let me say that I suspect that our events will look much like they do every year, but we are working to change the spirit and intention of these proceedings an ways that we pray will flow out into new appreciations and possibilities in our lives. Here's one example:
Being nearly 50 means that there really isn't anything much out there I need anymore (except increasingly excellent health care coverage). So two years ago my family bought some gifts for me from World Vision. And they did again last year. I don't know if they will again this year, but we have already agreed to use half of the "love gift" we get from the church I serve to buy what we can from World Vision. We have been gifted for years. Time to give back. Gift-giving is a GOOD part of this season if we work to keep God's perspective in view.
We will be spending some time with distant family and for reasons one might not think are worthy of celebrating, but we are committed to celebrating with them while we are together. Often at this time of year circumstances conflict with peoples Dickensian fantasies of what should be happening, but we are praying we will be able to truly "give thanks in all circumstances". God doesn't stop being gracious and abounding in love just because human sin and its consequences intersect our plans.
We are going to celebrate Christmastide. I'm not just certain how, but we will and we will include as many others as we can. Why not stretch the season, even in little ways? As many have observed, "it's a shame we act like this only one day a year".
To you few who read these ramblings from time to time, I send our heartfelt greetings of love, peace and joy in the name of Christ Jesus. Whether or not our beliefs agree, we cannot deny that we stand on the same earth and walk under the same sky and share the same ultimate human fate. You are our brothers and sisters and we pray for you, even if we don't know you well.
May the Lord Bless you and Keep you.
May He make His Face shine upon you.
May He lift up His Countenance upon you
and give you His Everlasting Peace.
Shalom
Friday, November 14, 2008
Two Out of Three Ain't Bad - But it Still is Disappointing
OK.
It's taken me a long time to come to terms with my disappointment in the sound at the Dylan concert at the Brandt Center in Regina on November 1st.
Here is my opinion on the subject. The band was tight and musically capable. Dylan was obviously in control of the set - the band was LOCKED onto him in a way that I haven't seen since watching Tom Coster, Michael Shrieve, Jose Arreas, and the rest of Carlos Santana's band follow his lead for over two hours of non-stop music in 1974. Magic!
Dylan was calling the shots on November 1st. That was very obvious - and you could NOT understand MOST of what he was singing.
The only logical conclusions to be made are that he, and his sound crew, were unable to make his vocals clearer or that he, and his sound crew, were unwilling to make his vocals clearer. I could clearly hear Dylan's keyboards and harmonica. I could clearly discern each solo played by the band's guitarists. I could hear the bass line and the drum fills. If all of that was possible then hearing vocals should have been no problem. I could not hear Dylan clearly for much of the show.
If the reason for the poor sound was the first explanation suggested above then Dylan can stop touring - now! It's over. We don't need any more demonstrations that the "authentic voice of a generation" has literally lost his voice. If the reason was the second explanation it may be an artistic choice. I may not know art, but I know what I like - and I did not like what I heard at the Brandt Center.
Dylan may be an artist who has risen so far above his medium that he doesn't have to pay attention to what he's doing - but in the end if art is inaccessible, I believe it loses its transformative power. I will not stop being a Dylan fan, but I believe the artist always has a responsibility to his audience to present his art in the best and most accessible way he or she can. If Dylan is only playing for an audience of one then he doesn't need my $80 or my ears - which were actually hurt by the poor sound.
Anyway, I was there. I bought the t-shirt, and the pins. I'll buy more CDs over time to fill in my collection. I'll check out any new releases to hear if they can speak to me. I'll continue to hope that Dylan creates art that I and others can appreciate, but I won't try to experience his art live again. I'll have to remain content with video and audio recordings, and forget "live".
So be it.
As Meat Loaf would observe - "Two out of three ain't bad."
But it is sad.
It's taken me a long time to come to terms with my disappointment in the sound at the Dylan concert at the Brandt Center in Regina on November 1st.
Here is my opinion on the subject. The band was tight and musically capable. Dylan was obviously in control of the set - the band was LOCKED onto him in a way that I haven't seen since watching Tom Coster, Michael Shrieve, Jose Arreas, and the rest of Carlos Santana's band follow his lead for over two hours of non-stop music in 1974. Magic!
Dylan was calling the shots on November 1st. That was very obvious - and you could NOT understand MOST of what he was singing.
The only logical conclusions to be made are that he, and his sound crew, were unable to make his vocals clearer or that he, and his sound crew, were unwilling to make his vocals clearer. I could clearly hear Dylan's keyboards and harmonica. I could clearly discern each solo played by the band's guitarists. I could hear the bass line and the drum fills. If all of that was possible then hearing vocals should have been no problem. I could not hear Dylan clearly for much of the show.
If the reason for the poor sound was the first explanation suggested above then Dylan can stop touring - now! It's over. We don't need any more demonstrations that the "authentic voice of a generation" has literally lost his voice. If the reason was the second explanation it may be an artistic choice. I may not know art, but I know what I like - and I did not like what I heard at the Brandt Center.
Dylan may be an artist who has risen so far above his medium that he doesn't have to pay attention to what he's doing - but in the end if art is inaccessible, I believe it loses its transformative power. I will not stop being a Dylan fan, but I believe the artist always has a responsibility to his audience to present his art in the best and most accessible way he or she can. If Dylan is only playing for an audience of one then he doesn't need my $80 or my ears - which were actually hurt by the poor sound.
Anyway, I was there. I bought the t-shirt, and the pins. I'll buy more CDs over time to fill in my collection. I'll check out any new releases to hear if they can speak to me. I'll continue to hope that Dylan creates art that I and others can appreciate, but I won't try to experience his art live again. I'll have to remain content with video and audio recordings, and forget "live".
So be it.
As Meat Loaf would observe - "Two out of three ain't bad."
But it is sad.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
I'll Remember
I'm not usually big on political happenings - my faith is in Someone else rather than political leaders - but I will remember November 4, 2008. Even as September 11, 2001 was a day when we all felt a horrible shift in our world, last night's results in the US Presidential election had the same pervasive impact, but this time in a positive way.
It may be fair to say that our world needs to grow beyond such seeming preoccupation with the USA, but it remains true that there still is no other nation in the world that has the same boundless potential to influence for good, or ill if it comes to that.
As I mentioned before, I have no faith in humanity, but I do have hope that when we are influenced by higher ideals, principals and morals we can rise to the occasion and do honor to God. And we can be better to each other.
Last night the USA shed a bit more of its dark past and took a further step into the light of the ideals its founders brilliantly entrenched into its founding document. Last night the hopes and dreams of so many who have worked and prayed and sacrificed to see a better day for themselves and their children took one step closer to being realized. Last night the differences on the outside of people everywhere became less important, and the ideals and hopes they share became more important.
Last night, I believe, real justice became just a bit more possible for our dear neighbours to the south.
Godspeed USA.
It may be fair to say that our world needs to grow beyond such seeming preoccupation with the USA, but it remains true that there still is no other nation in the world that has the same boundless potential to influence for good, or ill if it comes to that.
As I mentioned before, I have no faith in humanity, but I do have hope that when we are influenced by higher ideals, principals and morals we can rise to the occasion and do honor to God. And we can be better to each other.
Last night the USA shed a bit more of its dark past and took a further step into the light of the ideals its founders brilliantly entrenched into its founding document. Last night the hopes and dreams of so many who have worked and prayed and sacrificed to see a better day for themselves and their children took one step closer to being realized. Last night the differences on the outside of people everywhere became less important, and the ideals and hopes they share became more important.
Last night, I believe, real justice became just a bit more possible for our dear neighbours to the south.
Godspeed USA.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Great "Climate Change" Debate
I have been skeptical for some time about the position the most strident proponents of "global warming" have taken, mostly due to the inordinate amount of effort they have expended to limit debate on the subject. When the rhetoric took on the tone of religious debate about three years ago, I was fairly convinced that we were being sold a bill of goods. When my wife began working for a major western Canadian university she told me that professors indicated to her that they had to write their research proposals with an intentional eye on keeping their lines of research within the sphere proscribed by the "green" science cabal - or at least avoid asking questions that might ruffle feathers - or else they ran the risk of not receiving the funding they need. When the lines of scientific research are constrained by what amounts to social and political policy - however well-intentioned it may be - then it has lost it's academic independence and, I would argue, much of its usefulness to humanity.
One of the writers who has consistently poked holes in the "global warming/climate change" conclusions and proposals is Patrick Bedard, a staff writer for Car and Driver (Yes, yes I can hear the cat-calls and hissing saying "Vested interest!" - SHHH CHILDREN! Listen and LEARN!). Mr Bedard is an engineer, and his mantra isn't "cars at any cost" it's more "does this add up?". If you take the time to survey a few of his articles you'll quickly come to see that he does his homework and he doesn't fudge the figures. Now his perspective is going mainstream thanks to a recent article by Lorne Gunter.
Of course, if one has been paying attention to stories on the fringes of the media and the subtle shifts in the rhetoric of the "green" movement, these revelations should come as no surprise. A recent report suggested that the climate change movement was heading for a "tough decade" because global temperatures were trending down, not up - a fact Gunter's article supports. And the label "global warming" has been shifted over recent months to "climate change" - a suitably non-specific moniker that can be interpreted in any fashion to fit the facts. It seems that political expediency, power and money have co-opted the science community, the media and our political leaders. And we probably shouldn't be surprised.
I am a Christian, and as such I am deeply concerned that we take seriously how we use God's creation. I believe we are charged with stewardship of this planet, and all places we may touch - but if we are to be able to do this we need truth in the information we use to help us make our decisions. We need scientists, academics and researchers who are politically, socially and economically independent so they can pursue the lines of investigation they want to without fear of reprisal or censure. And helping maintain and protect this independence must be the first and the constant goal we should pursue in science.
Sadly, most people want the "academic eggheads" to provide us with solutions that we can understand with eighth-grade education and that can be explained in 30 seconds by some "talking head" on the six-o-clock news. And we want solutions that will not require much from us. We are the common denominator in this power struggle and it is by and to our low expectations and selfish lifestyles that the arguments and policies of our leaders are shaped and directed. We are getting what we demand - just like angry, hungry babies. We should be getting what we need.
So my exhortation to the one or two of you who read this blog is this - do some more reading on this. Don't let me or others make up your mind for you. Question those who are sanctimoniously using their authority to dictate what questions may be asked and what answers may be accepted. And talk amongst yourselves. Then talk to your local politicians, write letters to the editors of newspapers, email the news directors of broadcast news, comment on the electronic news sites and share the info. Because - and here I agree wholeheartedly with the leaders of the "green" movement - we ALL need to get involved.
Up to this point there has been no real debate on this subject - it's high time we had one.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
On Going Green
I was ranting a while ago about things recyclable (or not) here in Flatland. Well on my last visit to our recycling station I discovered that glass was seemingly back on the recycle menu. I'll keep you posted, but if it is true I'll take partial credit - as if! I'm just glad to see that my glass can be sent somewhere useful again.
In this month's issue of Car and Driver there is a 10 page advertising section from Saturn - GM's 'brand with a difference'. In fine print on the first page is a disclaimer that states that the new Aura XE and XR-4 sedans get 33mpg (hwy) - 34 for the hybrid.
WOW!
Is it just me or is owning a hybrid vehicle just a new form of conspicuous consumption wrapped in ecological hypocrisy? ONE WHOLE MPG MORE! PINCH ME!
The whole 'holier than thou' stuff from the eco-nazis has been wearing thin on me already, but now it has manifested itself in creating products that are definitely just a whitewash to help cover someone's conscience and meet some arbitrary goal.
We are gonna break our collective arm patting ourselves on the back over how we are 'going green' while nothing really changes - and I blame the big names in the so-called "Green" movement for this. It is their stridency, their demonization of their favourite targets, their amped-up rhetoric that has led us to this sorry juncture. Now, in order to placate the dragon, we will swallow any trendy thing if it will get the collective conscience off our backs. What was needed was cooperation, innovation and encouragement. What we got was politics, posturing and pontification.
It's not Saturn's fault. This is what the mob is crying for.
Oh, and if you're interested - the Emperor has no clothes too!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Uncertainty in Uncertain Times
This post at Internetmonk.com caused me to comment - something I don't often do.
A lot of people think I "have it all together" because I'm a pastor. The truth is that my journey has raised more questions than answers. So why do I persevere? Because of the one thing I am not uncertain about - God's love for us all through Jesus Christ. I guess that's faith. It may not seem intellectual, but it is where I am - questions, doubts, insecurities and uncertainties notwithstanding. That is what He has done for me. And it's enough.
"It's the end of the world as we know it,
And I feel fine."
Lyrics from "It's the End of the World" by R.E.M.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
A Disappointing Result
One of the many radio talk show questions I heard posed last week was "What outcome do you want to see in the federal election?" Typical answers expressed the desire to see a majority or minority government formed with the party of the respondent's choice holding the balance of power.
I had another reaction. I wanted to see more than 70% of my fellow citizens cast votes - the outcome of that being entirely beside the point. Please note: I said 70%. I wasn't looking for a miracle - just a decent turnout. And of course there are those who had legitimate reasons for failing to cast a ballot - but I suspect that I'll not offend anyone in a coma with what I'm about to say - nor are my comments directed at them.
It's difficult to express my disappointment in all of you who could have but did not vote. But I'll try.
If you could have but didn't vote, don't offer an excuse - there isn't one worth giving voice to. You think you live in a world where your reality is reality everywhere. The truth is there is no one more isolated, selfish and ungrateful than you. People all over the world will be tortured and die today because they wanted the freedom to express a political opinion. Yesterday you stayed warm, comfortable and safe in your ignorant refusal to exercise your obligation to the rest of us. Canada is still a democracy, flawed and difficult, but still a place where free speech and free political expression are possible - and you take that for granted. Shame! Shame! Don't even start with your insipid excuses and rationalizations about how the system is "skewed" or "doesn't work". If you were capable of anything resembling adult, logical thought you would understand that those are the most compelling reasons to exercise your right and fulfill your duty to be involved.
If you could have but didn't vote, don't complain - about anything! You have no right. You didn't participate. It didn't matter enough to you to be involved so you have no moral right to be disappointed.
If you could have but didn't vote, don't comment. Leave that up to the adults. Children - especially spoiled ones - should be seen and not heard. And in your case not being seen might also be an improvement. Those of us who take our civil duty seriously don't have time for your infantile gibberish. Just be quiet, try to do your job without messing up and make plans to redeem yourself at the next election - be it municipal, provincial or federal.
I love Canada. It's the indifference and apathy that makes it hard to love.
And indifference and apathy are exactly the opposite of love!
If you could have but didn't vote, you do not love this country. And it is so, so disappointing that there are so many of you.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
VOTE!
One of my first postings in the blogsphere was an exhortation to vote. The wheel turns and here we are again.
Sooooo....
Just DO it! (Sorry Nike - please don't sue me - I don't have anything anyway.)
If you don't vote - don't complain. Ours is not a perfect system, but you get to exercise your franchise and you get to do it without fear of violent coercion. Heck, you even HAVE a franchise.
If you vote try to do it intelligently. Read some stuff about the candidates and the parties. Talk to your friends - the smart and lucid ones - and finally form your own opinions.
We'll get the government we choose. So choose.
Sooooo....
Just DO it! (Sorry Nike - please don't sue me - I don't have anything anyway.)
If you don't vote - don't complain. Ours is not a perfect system, but you get to exercise your franchise and you get to do it without fear of violent coercion. Heck, you even HAVE a franchise.
If you vote try to do it intelligently. Read some stuff about the candidates and the parties. Talk to your friends - the smart and lucid ones - and finally form your own opinions.
We'll get the government we choose. So choose.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Inside the News
I know someone who was in the gymnasium at Luther College High School in Regina today when a former student entered brandishing a weapon. The news services have the details mostly right. But they don't and, I am convinced, won't tell the whole story. I won't either, but I will say this. This event is entirely the wrong one to use to further political debate having to do with firearm legislation in Canada.
There are at least three critical reasons why this is true:
1) - The weapon involved in the incident was not, nor is likely to ever be, scheduled on a list of restricted weapons. In fact, if you really think about this event, it becomes obvious that the current legislation worked well to ensure the disturbed offender didn't obtain a dangerous weapon. If the details if this individual's recent activities were known it would also become obvious that he would not be allowed to obtain a permit. The offender could have obtained a lethal weapon, but it would have meant using illegal means - and no legislation will ever prevent that from happening.
2) - No conceivable legislation could ever prevent an individual from entering any public facility like Luther College High School unless we are willing to turn all of our public places into armed camps surrounded by razor wire and filled with armed personnel. If we are going to live out of the collective fear of what might happen, then we are all going to lose much, much more than we could ever hope to gain by arming and entrenching. The best we can hope for is that those who are responsible for any school, shopping mall, recreation complex or other public place will train and empower their employees to act accordingly when dangerous incidents arise. Obviously the teachers and administration at Luther were ready.
3) - The measures, policies and actions of those in authority were appropriate and effective in the face of the threat - even if the threat had been more deadly than it turned out to be. The teachers and administrators acted in a professional and mature manner, keeping the safety and welfare of the students uppermost in their minds as they made decisions as to how to respond. The local police responded quickly and acted decisively while also seeking a resolution that would minimize potential injury to all involved. In short, this incident could not have been handled any better.
There is a lot of background to this incident that I'm not at liberty to divulge, but this is clear to me - the issues that led to this incident have little, if anything, to do with firearm legislation and much to do with personal and social issues that are more complex than a commercial news report or a blog can cover. I've read a lot of the reactive comments to be found after the news item I linked earlier in this post and the sad truth is they miss the point by a wide margin. The commentators are not to be blamed - they don't have all the information. And this is my final cautionary word to us all. We never have all the information in these situations. So we should proceed carefully in making our judgments and pronouncements.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The TULIP Died
One of the outcomes of my ordination journey was the examination of where I fall in the Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate. Strangely enough I was prompted to post this because I was channel-surfing the other night and happened across the movie Hardcore in which George C. Scott plays a very conservative mid-western businessman on a quest in California for his estranged daughter who has run away and fallen into the world of hardcore pornography and the sex trade. I actually just caught the scene where Scott is explaining the TULIP acronym to a hooker he has convinced to help him find his daughter. It's an odd scene to be sure, but it speaks to the character Scott portrays and to a large portion of Christian belief and experience in America and Canada.
I admit I have flirted with some of the petals of TULIP over the years, particularly 'total depravity' and 'irresistible grace', but my recent journey has led me to be convinced that I am a Wesleyan through and through - something my parents would have been happy to hear as they were both taught by largely Wesleyan Methodist professors, and were in every way Arminian in their position. As the Apostle Paul observes there is no substitute for a good upbringing in the faith.
Most Christians don't give much thought to these things - they believe what they believe and that's that. I'm not so certain that results in a persuasive witness. In a world where the fanatical religious seem to be uncontrollably following their belief systems like WWE actors - prisoners of inevitable inertia as they fly across the ring of life, unable to change their trajectory - I believe many people are looking for the Truth that frees instead of binds.
At the core of the Wesleyan perspective is the concept of God's prevenient grace. It is that grace that restores our ability to choose God and have an unforced relationship with Him. This does not mean that God leaves it entirely up to us - He does make a persuasive argument - but in the end we have a choice. I struggle with some of the ways we talk about that choice - often I think we describe it with a bit too much emphasis on what we do and so I believe Calvin did have some points worth noting. As my history/theology prof, David T. Priestley said, "Calvin wasn't a Calvinist. He was Calvinian." (emphasis mine) Others who came after him created the five points out of his, and others, writings at the Synod of Dordtrecht in 1618-19. A cautionary tale for us all I'm sure.
In the end, my faith is based on God's Word and the evidence of His grace and love to me - but it is, I hope, a reasonable and understandable faith. The Apostle Paul writes that the Gospel doesn't make sense to the world. In a world where thought, reason and personal reflection seem as archaic as buggy whips and Morse Code I guess this is one more aspect of my life that marks me as His. And I pray that my witness is persuasive.
Shalom
The image attached to this post was found here and was not used in any way that was intended to deprive the owner of their rights.
Friday, September 12, 2008
To Debate or Not To Debate
Simply put, I do not believe what we will experience in the so-called "leaders debate" will be of any use to anyone, except the TV networks and their advertising departments. If the debate is 1 hr (with commercials) that means we will see 44 minutes with 5 candidates (8.8 minutes per candidate). Even without commercials it will only allow 12 minutes per person, but we all know that what we will get will be an hour of poorly controlled mayhem. No one uses dictionaries anymore - we're just like Lewis Carroll's caterpillar, "When I use a word it means what I choose it to mean." "Debate" indeed!
At the risk of offending - I'm not quite sure who - neither M. Duceppe nor Ms. Mays has any business being in a national leaders debate. I'll not go into depth here, but I cannot vote for a candidate from either party in my riding (as far as I know at this time) so they are, in the strictest sense of this word, irrelevant.
Our political system has devolved into a media circus that can only communicate in 5 second sound bytes. Watch the debate if you want - I suggest taking two Excedrin beforehand to ward off the inevitable migraine it will produce - but remember this, the media has absolutely no interest in providing you with anything in the way of useful information. They just want you there to watch the ads and prop up their market share numbers.
As Liam Neeson said to Clint Eastwood in "The Dead Pool", "Bums on seats, luv. That's what it's all about."
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Library Additions
I've added The Shack to my reading list. I found it at Shoppers Drug Mart for 25% off so it was cheaper than buying it online. I'll discuss it here soon.
I also just received my copy of Letters From Jesus by Pastor Alan Descheneau. Alan studies the seven churches in Revelation through the specific messages or "letters" they receive from Christ. Al was one of my classmates in seminary. At the very least I should get some motivation to publish something myself. Knowing Al, I'll get much, much more from his work.
I'll be ordering the Treasury of Daily Prayer being released by Concordia Publishing House on October 23rd and the companion book Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. This may seem odd - a Baptist reading Lutheran theology and using a prayer devotional that is designed around the church year - but, in my opinion, all Protestants are (or should be) children of the Reformation. As Protestants we should know, understand and appreciate Reform Theology. Or are we something other than Protestants?
The Shack has been both lauded as a Christian allegory for the 21st Century and criticized as dangerous heresy masquerading in the guise of fiction. As always, gentle reader, I suggest we decide for ourselves.
So there appears to be some balance in my acquisition strategy, at least until I get my copy of Schlock Mercenary: The Teraport Wars. Then things seem to definitely go a bit askew.
In a related note, Susie and I need new eyeglasses. We hope to see the optometrist next week, and we're praying out coverage will help us see better - affordably. Until then it's onward and squint away!
Shalom!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
