we are members of christ's risen body

"The members of Christ's Risen Body are not simply each individual person who follows Christ's call, but also the various churches that make up the Church Universal. As each person has his or her own way of being in the world, so, too, does each church.... God calls each of us, each person, and each congregation, by name. Each of us, all of us together, is a part of the Resurrection Body, and we all need one another so that, together, we can be Christ to the world. When I remember that, I do not need to know what will happen to my body, or to my ego, after I die. As a member of this community, I am part of something much bigger than this congregation is alone. As one who follows Christ's call on my life, I do not have to wait until I die to be part of the Resurrection, because I already participate in the spiritual body of the Word of God made flesh. As those who live out God's calling in this church, let us remain aware that this fragile, earthen vessel is only one small part of the Risen Body of the one those first Christians knew as Jesus, the one we know as Christ."
from a sermon for Seekers Church, February 18, 2001, by Deborah Sokolove

the land mourns

In Hosea 4:1-3 the prophet declares: “There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing.”


"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish caught, will we realise that we cannot eat money."
North American Cree Indian

kim phuc

cady and i went to my sister's church sunday morning, and the guest speaker was kim phuc. for over half an hour she spoke quietly yet passionately about her life. i cried at times. hers is a most harrowing story: physical pain from the burns which she still endures today; emotional pain from a family that at first loved her, but after she became a christian turned their backs on her; political pain from being used by the vietnamese government to speak about war; and spiritual pain of being isolated from a christian community for many years while in communist vietnam and later in cuba.

this story has a happy ending: she fell in love and married, and while on her honeymoon, defected to canada where she lives in ajax; she has reconciled with her family and they all live in canada now; she has met with and forgiven the american who ordered the napalm attck on her village; she is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and travels the world as a peace activist; and she has two boys, Stephen and Thomas.

inheritance

could we apply this proverb to stewardship of the earth?

"Good people leave an inheritance for their children's children"

Proverbs 13:22a

beauty, truth. truth, beauty

god is amazing.

i had the privilege of an hour's conversation last night with someone who believes that

• being,
• purpose,
• beauty,
• justice, and
• unity

are real and essential to human growth, and, as a statistician, is researching them, and, as a music therapist, observes these in action everyday.

during my lunch break, i ran into him, and he's re-considering beauty in the light of love and redemption. mathematically, mind you!

don't be overwhelmed

some days i feel i'm not doing enough, that i'm not committed wholly/holy to serving god in all that i do. like my namesake, simon peter who simply dropped his nets and followed jesus, i am at times impetuous. i wanna do it all, and do it now. i know the icecaps are melting, i know people are suffering, i know i could do more if i weren't writing software much of my day. jesus counsels:

"This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing."

The Message, Matthew 10:42

in context of the whole chapter, Matthew 10

personal update

the world is always changing, but there's a feeling we're on the cusp of even greater change, eh?

and, like many of my friends (i am discovering), i feel personally on the cusp of great personal change. the two changes - global and personal -- are tied together, and cultural consciousness is raising, ahead of the floodwaters.

how do i be the change i want to see in the world?

or better: what am i, truly, in the service of god and god's creation?

that's my challenge.

very important: New Strategies to Confront Climate Change by Andrew Heintzman

this 4-page essay gives 4 realistic and achievable strategies for solving the climate crisis.

it's the most encouraging news i've read in a long time.

New Strategies to Confront Climate Change by Andrew Heintzman (Note: this is a PDF)

New Sustainable Seafood Campaign Launched

Some of Canada’s top chefs and leading marine scientists joined the David Suzuki Foundation, Living Oceans Society, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Committee, Sierra Club of Canada (BC Chapter) and Ecology Action Network in Halifax to launch a new sustainable seafood campaign, called SeaChoice, a comprehensive, made-in-Canada program that ranks the sustainability of various types of seafood. Most importantly, SeaChoice provides the science-based information and aims to better inform Canadian consumers, fishermen, chefs and businesses so they can make informed sustainable seafood choices and help keep oceans healthy.

From www.seachoice.org:

"The movement towards sustainable seafood is about solutions for our oceans. Choosing sustainable seafood is a simple and effective action that you can take every time you eat at a restaurant or buy seafood. Whether you are an individual shopping for your family, a chef buying for your restaurant, or a supplier sourcing from fishing communities, your choices count. Voting with your wallet sends a strong signal to government and industry leaders, telling them that you support responsible stewardship of our natural marine resources.

"We understand that choosing sustainable seafood can be challenging, that’s why SeaChoice has created easy-to-use products that help you identify the best seafood choices and find information about the fisheries that you support with your purchasing. This is the first time that information has been compiled for Canadians about our domestic fisheries and the seafood we import. Please take a look at Canada’s Seafood Guide and our searchable seafood database at right.

"The ultimate solutions will require all of us--governments, industry, retailers and individuals--to take responsibility for changing our approach to seafood and fishing. We hope you will choose to be part of the solution."

So, what's for dinner tonight?

qana

Patti Smith has recorded a new song: "Qana":
[band version] [solo version]

There's no one
in the village
not a human
nor a stone
there's no one
in the village
children are gone
and a mother rocks
herself to sleep
let it come down
let her weep

the dead lay in strange shapes

Some stay buried
others crawl free
baby didn't make it
screaming debris
and a mother rocks
herself to sleep
let it come down
let her weep

the dead lay in strange shapes

Limp little dolls
caked in mud
small, small hands
found in the road
their talking about
war aims
what a phrase
bombs that fall
American made
the new Middle East
the Rice woman squeaks

the dead lay in strange shapes

little bodies
little bodies
tied head and feet
wrapped in plastic
laid out in the street
the new Middle East
the Rice woman squeaks

the dead lay in strange shapes

Water to wine
wine to blood
ahh Qana
the miracle
is love

patti smith

QANA

The Israeli practice of collective punishment is a war crime under the Geneva Convention. Why are they allowed to do this? Because they have our permission?

We send over four billion dollars in aid and weapons to Israel every year. We are paying for this devastation. The slaughter of children. The country in ruins.We are paying for this. George Bush willfully rejected a truce and now we have the Qana massacre on our head. Thirty seven of the dead were children.

Qana is considered by some as the location of the first miracle of Christ. Turning water into wine. There is no wine flowing in Qana today. Only blood. Only blood.

patti smith

voluntary simplicity

"Voluntary simplicity is easier to promote when it is clear that it offers abundant opportunities for growth. Life-based pursuits, or the '3 L's' -- Learning, Love and Laughter -- as they are referred to for our sound bite world, offer boundless frontiers. The development of skills, scholarship, art, music, sport, dance, friendship, spiritual aspiration, parenting and service were the essence of human culture before the commercial era pressed acquisition to its current place of prominence. The saturation of landfill space, problems with pollution and painful experiences with finite natural resources bid us re-consider the emphasis we place on the pursuit of our human birthright.

from "Life-Based Purpose: A Key to Sustainability" by Howard Jerome

frugal living

"Everyone has the right to decide how they want to live and spend their money according to their own values, but those who want to practice the art of gentle living will consider others in addition to one's own happiness. Some may find that they prefer to have more time for pursuing transpersonal values or social reform rather than working long hours for more pay or indulging in personal pleasures. By living frugally one may have everything one needs without high costs so that one has time, energy, and other resources for higher ideals. The limited resources of the world have to be shared, and some believe that by living simply they can help others to simply live. Giving to charity to help the less fortunate is one way to do this, but one can also give of one's time, talents, and energy to work for the betterment of all humanity. Jesus presented this challenge when he advised a rich man to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow him. If the very poor are assisted in intelligent ways, the improvements made in their lives from the sharing of the resources can be quite efficient. Even the smallest contribution helps when it is given to those most in need.

"We each make decisions every day about what resources we use and how. Those who voluntarily simplify their lifestyles by reducing their use of polluting methods of transportation or the purchasing of extra material things they do not need are consciously producing less waste, which eventually needs to be cleaned up. Many people are finding that they can work at home, or one may live closer to one's place of employment and avoid spending time, money, and energy in long commutes. As the fossil fuel supplies diminish, the costs of transportation will increase. Urban areas are becoming more crowded and polluted. Those who walk and bicycle are saving these energies and the environment. Using public transportation or car-pooling helps. By spending time with one's family and friends at home and by associating with neighbors and local groups, people help ease the traffic and pollution problems while having more time for their activities. In today's global society we can communicate instantaneously with people anywhere in the world by the Internet and satellite at low cost in money and energy.

"By choosing to live with others in community, housing can be shared more so that it is not so expensive. The opposite extreme is the very rich who own several homes and travel around. I wonder if any of those places really feels like a home, and how inconvenient it must be not having everything you need and want in the same place! Such luxuries are obviously inefficient and wasteful of many resources. Recycling of resources is very important in order to conserve energy and materials. If those with extra clothes donate more of them to the second-hand stores, those with less income will have even better choices in the thrift stores. If people purchase appliances and other products for their durability and efficiency and have them repaired instead of buying new ones, then even what needs to be recycled will be reduced. Some are "returning to the land" to grow their own food and form communities that are more self-sufficient. Fresh fruit and vegetables are the healthiest food and do not require wasteful packaging. We can buy fresh produce that comes from local growers and so reduce transportation costs. Even the scraps can be composted to fertilize a garden. Try to avoid discarding disposable containers by using canvas or cloth bags for shopping and by washing dishes. First, re-use what you can; second, re-cycle materials; and third, reduce needless consumption so that you throw away as little as possible. Remember we are all on this Earth, and there is ultimately no "away" for throwing things.

"We can also keep our minds clear of much useless information by avoiding commercials and advertising that are intended to manipulate people into buying things. One can tune in on non-commercial media such as Pacifica radio, C-SPAN television, public radio or television, local access stations, or other non-commercial cable stations. Remote controls make it easier to mute the sound of any advertisement, or one can change channels. The world wide web can be used to find much information without having to buy newspapers and magazines that are loaded with ads and waste paper. Avoid websites that throw ads at you and find those that are user-friendly. Most books can be purchased used, and especially classics and other popular books are easily available in inexpensive editions. Public libraries provide outstanding books and other resources for free. Today people have easier access to the finest literature and educational materials than at any time in history. Especially because of the Internet, knowledge is spreading quickly and becoming more accessible every day. Soon one will be able to find just about any book or film or music or art on-line. Our opportunities for learning, communicating, creating, and participating in social reforms are greater than ever if we can learn how to manage our time by living more simply with the physical things.

Sanderson Beck

is god green?

god is amazing.

i missed seeing elizaberth may, leader of the national green party, speak in orillia tonight. but she was on tvo's The Agenda and you can watch this video clip of "Elizabeth May | Climate Change Conundrum" . may's environmentalism is scripture-based (she once considered becoming an anglican priest).

however, i did watch "Is God Green?" on Moyers on America on pbs. amazingly, the evangelical christian right in america, which helped put reagan and george w. bush in the oval office, is now finding a biblical basis for environmentalism and is beginning to vociferously oppose corporations harming the environment and politicians weakening environmental protection, while making concerted efforts to recycle and reduce and re-use in their communities, and plant more trees!.

you can/should/must watch the whole show online: "Is God Green?"

p.s.
it's kind of cool to watch a church service in boise idaho with a praise team and congregation and setting that looks kind of like my sister's church in niagara, ontario, singing songs sung there, and here at our church here in midland, ontario.

for the record, i'm one of those tree-hugging lefties that has come to christ, just as the evangelicals in this documentary are those bible-thumping christians that have come to care for god's creation. our politics still differ in many ways, but we have common ground in jesus, and god's word, and love for the creator and the creator's creation, and the purpose of that creation, which is to be a community to worship god in all our voices: human, lark, pine needle, fire, thunder, falling petal, the whole merry dance of neutrinos and gracefullness of gravity.

more amazingly, it was a secular friend who said to me, 'i don't know why. i never look at the pbs guide, but tonight i did, and i saw this show listed and thought you might like to watch it.' we watched it together.

thin spaces and a great lake of beer for the king of kings

another sunday at st. george's, my mother's church. thanksgiving sunday with a celtic communion. the sermon was given by rt. revd. bishop asbil (retired), former rector of st. george's and now bishop-in-residence. i went to high school with his sons, one of whom is now a priest.

bishop asbil spoke of the celtic christian sensibility. i remarked two aspects of the christian celt:

1. thin spaces where this world and the next are not so far apart
2. a commission to heal this planet

i found three prayers by famous celtic saints:

I arise today,
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of the sun, radiance of the moon.
Splendor of fire, speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind, depth of sea,
Stability of earth and firmness of rock.
I arise today,
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me.
From the snares of devils, from temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and near, alone and in a multitude
St. Patrick


My Druid is Christ, the son of God,
Christ, Son of Mary, the Great Abbot,
The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
St. Columba


I would like to have the men of Heaven in my own house:
With vats of good cheer laid out for them.
I would like to have the three Marys, their fame is so great.
I would like people from every corner of Heaven.
I would like them to be cheerful in their drinking,
I would like to have Jesus too here amongst them.
I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings,
I would like to be watching Heaven's family, drinking it through all eternity.
attributed to St. Brigid

source: http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/christ.html

St. Francis of Assisi: Fratello sole, sorella luna

tomorrow marks the anniversary of the death of this most beloved saint, and wednesday is his feast day.

he is the patron saint of of animals, merchants, Italy, Catholic action, and the environment. how's that for a mixed bag?

his poem, "the canticle of the creatures," was the first poem written in italian

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
All praise is Yours, all glory, honor and blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong;
no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

We praise You, Lord, for all Your creatures,
especially for Brother Sun,
who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor,
of You Most High, he bears your likeness.

We praise You, Lord, for Sister Moon and the stars,
in the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

We praise You, Lord, for Brothers Wind and Air,
fair and stormy, all weather's moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.

We praise You, Lord, for Sister Water,
so useful, humble, precious and pure.

We praise You, Lord, for Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night.
He is beautiful, playful, robust, and strong.

We praise You, Lord, for Sister Earth,
who sustains us
with her fruits, colored flowers, and herbs.

We praise You, Lord, for those who pardon,
for love of You bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace,
by You Most High, they will be crowned.

We praise You, Lord, for Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in their sins!
Blessed are those that She finds doing Your Will.
No second death can do them harm.

We praise and bless You, Lord, and give You thanks,
and serve You in all humility.

(Text is in the Public Domain. Source: http://prayerfoundation.org/canticle_of_brother_sun.htm)

two bios:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi


two reviews of one my favourite movies, Brother Sun, Sister Moon:
http://www.popmatters.com/film/reviews/b/brother-sun-sister-moon.shtml
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069824/

back to the garden - carbon and humus

permaculture is about discovering nature/god's patterns and implementing them in our agriculture, and indeed our culture as a whole. if life has a number, it's the number six: carbon.

carbon exists in many forms. of course, it is concentrated in fossil fuels, the burning of which puts carbon into the air as greenhouse gases.

but carbon is also found in living things. the burning of forests and the erosion of living soil, or humus, also puts carbon into the air.

david holmgren, in Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability, writes that a "valuable storage of carbon is created when we simply allow plant material to rot back into the soil. Organic matter, especially carbon-rich bulky plant materials, is the fuel for soil micro-organisms, which in turn are the key to the cycling and availability of plant nutrients." p. 36.

"Changing the management of farmland to use organic and permaculture strategies and techniques can rebuild this storage of carbon... It is arguably the greatest single contribution we can make to ensure the future survival of humanity." p. 37.

"Alan Yeoman ... has arguewd that loss of humus from agricultural soils is as large a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions as motor cars, and that achievable increases in humus across the world's farming soils could reabsorb the whole of the damaging imbalance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere." p. 39

to be continued...

sustainable differences

in an open journal post, i mentioned that even within the local community there are divergent views which cause paralysis. take 'sustainability' fer instance. in my girlfriend's group, some members believe that we cannot sustain our culture at the current energy levels and we must prepare for a low-energy future. others in the group believe we'll find a technological solution that will enable us to continue our high-energy lifestyle with some degree of sustainable adaptation .

high-energy or low, even the notion of sustainability is uncertain. david holmgren writes, in Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability (p. xxx):

The lack of any reasonable definition of sustainability has left it open to inevitable appropriation by the corporate spin doctors. But even the most genuine and useful sustainability concepts including permaculture contain an ambiguity about sustainability as a state or a process. Once we accept the reality and magnitude of energy descent, we begin to ask what "sustainability", "sustainable systems" or "sustainable system design" might mean. Even the idea of permanence at the heart of permaculture is problematic to say the least.

...In articulating Permaculture as the Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, I am suggesting that we need to get over our naive and simplistic notions of sustainability as a likely reality for ourselves or even our grandchildren and instead accept that our task is use our familiarity with continuous change to adapt to energy descent.

[emphasis is in the original]

"We are a throw-away society and that is a measure of our poor stewardship of our wealth."

Ain't that the truth.

The greater truth is that we each possess an infinite capacity to change and the ability to choose change for the better.

Day 5's post has a lot of great ideas.
Day 5: Abandon disposables
from Thirty Days Towards Sustainability

"Bruce Cockburn: Telling the Truth About the Human Condition"

E Magazine interview:

"Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn's 29th album, Life Short Call Now (Rounder) is being released this month and it continues to showcase his unique position as a sometimes-angry analyst of the world scene...

"Cockburn, a devout Christian, is a regular reader of E Magazine and a passionate advocate for environmental causes. His songs take on such challenging topics as the International Monetary Fund's lending practice and the damage caused by land mines. This interview with him took place in New York City, near the beginning of a U.S. tour that continues through September 17."


read more from Bruce Cockburn: Telling the Truth About the Human Condition. ... the last paragraph is perhaps the best part.

30 Days Towards Sustainability

A new series highlighting practical actions people can do to move towards a more sustainable lifestyle.

last night of beta

the final topic was about generosity, specifically monetary generosity. i enjoyed the nicky gumble talk vey much, and the discussion afterwards, too. our small group was even smaller tonight: six, including the two leaders. the discussion was as much about acquisitiveness as it was about generosity, and it ranged from personal experiences to global concerns, to which last night's film, an inconvenient truth, was influential.

what next? many ideas were cast about, but nothing firm because, as k pointed out, september schedules have to settle into place before we can decide; also, its a diverse group and the members will probably seek individual paths.

sustainable lifestyles symposium - day 6

it ended as it began: me, susan, jay, and alta working in the kitchen in the afternoon; this time cleaning and packing up. occasionally i'd run out to the parking area to say goodbye to someone. in the morning we gathered a final time to wrap-up, which at times was very emotional.

so much hope for transformation: in our personal lives, in our communities, in our planet.

i have pages of notes to sift through. in the coming weeks and months i hope to have the time and energy to post and share and to gather your thoughts and feelings.

sustainable lifestyles symposium - day 5

i worked in the kitchen a lot today. alta and kathleen are wonderful. talked with kathleen about her years living in hell's kitchen in nyc, how she was forced from the textile industry by changes in nafta, took up theology at st. mike's, is now a big sister and alta's dear friend and looking for... for something. i rode jay's tadopole, where upon i lost my blackberry which led to a curious string of happenings (it was found, btw). in the evening we went to share's solar power talk. then we celebrated: music, drumming, dance, dress-up!

sustainable lifestyles symposium - day 4

several of us discussed food policy and govenance with tony mcquail. then 8 of us drove to whole village, a sustainable, intentional ommunity and farm near caledonia where brenda gave us an orientation. on the drive down and back, i got to talk with different people: janie and i grew up in the niagara region and share a desire to bring food awareness to urbanites; tony and fran each talked with me about their farm lives; and jay answered all our questions about bikes and trikes. and gord and tony's discussion on vegetarian and meat diets was enlightening. and i found out, much to my surprise, that ian is not a teacher, but a former businessman turned quaker chaplain. the evening we watched and discussed The Power of Community: How Cuba survived peak oil.
pat, tony and fran, and ian had all been to cuba.

while washing dishes with tony, i asked him about being a quaker. i've been lucky enough to spend a whole day with this deeply thoughful, integrated, spiritual, peaceful, considerate human being.

sustainable lifestyles symposium - day 3

i stayed home today to work with family matters. i missed out on some cool stuff, but i had a great time with wes. i got out there for supper (the food is amazing, btw -- alta is an amazing person and cook). i washed dishes with bruce gillis and found out a lot about site 41 and living in nunavut. the evening's speakers were fran and tony mcquail, well-known ecological farmers near goderich. afterwards, i got the banjo out and an impromptu singalong happened with john, ravi, pat, alta, sue, and myself.

sustainable lifestyles symposium - day 2

jillian hovey of the Sustainable Living Network gave three worKshops on permaculture and after supper a slideshow of homes made from natural materials and using natural means of cycling energy, water, and waste. she also brought hundreds of books for sale from www.sustainablelivingbooks.com
of which i bought two: Permaculture: Principles and Pathways beyond Sustainability by david holmgren and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by jared diamond.

jay showed a group of us her tadpole trike on which she rides year-round (i don't know if this is the exact model or manufacturer, but it's pretty close).

sustainable lifestyles symposium - day 1

sunday, breezy and sunny at camp neekaunis on georgian bay.

arrived at 2 pm, registered for the sustainable lifestyles symposium, and pretty soon at work in the kitchen making vegan tortiere an roast vegetables for 2 dozen or so. already making heart-friends and sharing life-stories.

met at 5 with everyone for an intro to each other and the symposium. after supper, a teleconference with lois barber of the world future council and pru moore of 2020 vision.

met people with lots of experience and skills in facilitating and/or healing.

bought two books from sustainable living books

homework tonight: strategic planning workbook for my personal future for a low energy, low carbon world. wish i had more time to write in depth.

eco-catastrophe and the new creation

as a teenager when i first became aware of the politics of food, i made a sign with crayons on yellow construction paper and tacked it to my bedroom wall: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT.

through a series of fortunate coincidences, or perhaps because i am dancing ever closer with the True Music, i came across this quote by John Robbins:

"Maybe we aren't on a one-way road to oblivion. Maybe we're standing at a crossroad, facing what may be the most important choice human beings have ever faced, a choice between two directions. In one direction is what we will have if we do nothing to alter our present course. By doing nothing, we are choosing a world of pollution and extinctions, of widening chasms and deepening despair, a world where humanity moves ever farther from achieving its highest aspirations and ever nearer to living its darkest fears.

"Our other choice is to actively engage with the living world. On this path we work responsibly and joyfully to make our lives, and our societies, into expressions of our love for ourselves, for each other, and for the living Earth. In this direction we honor our longing to give our children, and all children, a world with clean air and water, with blue skies and abundant wildlife, with a stable climate and a healthy environment.

"If you live with fear for our future, you are not alone.

"If you live with dreams of a better world, you are not alone."

John Robbins, The Food Revolution

confession: i've never made it to the end of the bible; never read revelation; afterall, isn't that where all those rapture-crazed fundamentalists find their inspiration? i'm not interested in the rapture; not interested foresaking this world for the next; don't go in for some elitist club of predestined select; jesus came to save us all; and to foresake this beautiful jewel of god's creation seems downright sinful. but evidently, from the discussions in the small groups, the book of revelation lives up to its name; however, it is a very difficult and controversial writing, with many schools of interpretation.

nevertheless, there will be an end of days and a second coming of christ in a world made new. a popular view is that this world will be destroyed and a new one created, like noah and the flood.

but, in conversation with pastor kitson, we discussed an alternative: that this world will be transformed to the new, through a cleansing and purging, as in a crucible.

and i dimly remember a conversation with kate long ago and late into the day, that perhaps in the new world we will come to see god in each one of us and so bring about the second coming.

and perhaps, then, we are in the midst of this transformation, and each of us stands at our personal crossroad, and collectively we stand at the crossroad of creation.

the personal is political, the inward is outward, and within you without you.

so, as you and i stand at the crossroad, be careful we don't take the wrong turn and follow those on the path of destruction, for "their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ."

"If you live with fear for our future, you are not alone. If you live with dreams of a better world, you are not alone."

we are what we eat. may we eat well.

purpose

preamble
(i just noticed that the symbol in blogger for creating a new post is a green cross: .)

i've had many dialogues as of late with kate, jim, wes, sue, and with the beta group. i made some preparatory notes for a meeting with pastor kitson, and i present them here. jim and i didn't discuss everything in my notes. of course we discussed things beyond my notes; i'll try to include some of these as i remember them. i'll probably make this a series of posts.


membership at knox
after the basics 101 course, we were invited to become members of knox, and several of us did so last sunday. i have chosen not to, not yet. i've vowed to give myself a year at knox, a year until easter 2007, a year to wait and see.

wait
wait to prove myself out, because i am often rash and jump into things

see
see what my purpose truly is


my purpose
i came to god, as you may recall from my posts in march, seeking a purpose to the universe and my purpose within it. it's simple:

my purpose is to fulfill god's purpose for me.

god has a general purpose for all of us:
Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

and:
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

within these general purposes i must seek god's purpose for me. becoming a christian is only the beginning. i have so much to learn, and i'm blessed to have a wonderful community at knox midland in which to share that learning:

• learn about god
• learn about my community, church and unchurched
• learn about my family, my friends
• learn about my self

direct purpose or indirect?
so, is it my main purpose to serve god directly through worship and evangelism ( to "love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence" and "Go out and train everyone you meet") where i am explicitly a christian; or is it my main purpose to serve god indirectly through stewardship of god's creation, such as environmentalism, where i am not explicitly a christian. (by explicit i mean that it is made clear to all that everything i do serves god, like calling your business "Born Again Environmental Assessments" rather than "Georgian Bay Environmental Assessments" or making explicit scriptural references in my assessments and reports).

similarly, is it better — better for me — to work for the salvation of souls or is it better for me to work for the salvation of wetlands, if in the salvation of wetlands i am being a steward of god's creation?
God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth."


to be continued...
next: eco-catastrophe and the new creation

fallow time

my posts over the last few months have mostly been snippets of lyrics and such. i haven't posted my own thoughts and feelings since early april.

this week i'm feeling low-energy; i'm also pensive and uncertain. in my twenties, not recognizing this low for what it is, i would have tailspun into depression, but now, in my forties, i know myself better: this is an emotional and intellectual fallow period.

what i need is a little more time to myself: good sleep, fresh fruit, long walks and sunshine.

"where in the empire do you want to live?"

enigmatic question on tammy's t-shirt. any thoughts? feelings? directions? googlemap urls? encoded missives?

a matter of joy

"Fear seems to rule our lives, our politics and our world. Fear of terrorism, fear of death, fear of old age, of loneliness, of illness, of being attacked or abused. Fear is the cause of environmental problems, which cannot be solved by fear of global catastrophe. There are better reasons to care for the Earth. Environmentalism is a way of life, not a way of crisis management. Caring for the Earth community, which includes the human community, is a matter of joy, and not a matter of compulsion.

"With best wishes,

Satish Kumar

Editor and publisher

More: http://www.resurgence.org/2006/kumar237.htm

Nothing fails like success

No matter how hard you try
Life won't give a moment's rest
And now you've come to know that
Nothing fails like success

-- Harry Manx "Nothing Fails Like Success" Mantras For Madmen Dog My Cat records 2005

bwg

here's the embryo of a song based on a prayer by jim kitson

the melody and chords are in my head; i'll work them out later


BWG

O God,

I Believe
your Son died for me
and now intercedes
for me before your throne

I Welcome
your Holy Spirit
to bring to birth
and empower new life

I Glorify
Your holy name
and through all you do
and through me forevermore

Amen


it could be sung again with a slight change in pronoun:

We Believe
your Son died for us
and now intercedes
for us before your throne

We Welcome
your Holy Spirit
to bring to birth
and empower new life

We Glorify
Your holy name
and through all you do
and through us forevermore

lubbock or leave it

the dixie chicks ask a good question on this song from their new album, taking the long way:

Dust bowl, Bible belt
Got more churches than trees
Raise me, praise me, couldn't save me
Couldn't keep me on my knees
Oh, boy, rave on down loop 289
That'll be the day you see me back
In this fool's paradise

Temptation's strong
(Salvation's gone)
I'm on my way
To hell's half acre
How will I ever
How will I ever
Get to heaven now

Throwing stones from the top of your rock
Thinking no one can see
The secrets you hide behind
Your southern hospitality
On the strip the kids get lit
So they can have a real good time
Come Sunday they can just take their pick
From the crucifix skyline

Temptation's strong
(Salvation's gone)
I'm on my way
To hell's half acre
How will I ever
How will I ever
Get to heaven now
Get to heaven now

International airport
A quarter after nine
Paris Texas, Athens Georgia's
Not what I had in mind
As I'm getting out I laugh to myself
Cause this is the only place
Where as you're getting on the plane
You see Buddy Holly's face

I hear they hate me now
Just like they hated you
Maybe when I'm dead and gone
I'm gonna get a statue too

Temptation's strong
(Salvation's gone)
I'm on my way
To hell's half acre
How will I ever
How will I ever
Get to heaven now
Get to heaven now
How will I ever

Get to heaven now

maybe the poet

here's a song about the truth that inspired me twenty-odd years ago. karen and i visited the salvadoran refugee camps in honduras at that time, and i carried cockburn's lyrics with me in my notebook.


Maybe the poet is gay
But he'll be heard anyway

Maybe the poet is drugged
But he won't stay under the rug

Maybe the voice of the Spirit
In which case you'd better hear it

Maybe he's a woman
Who can touch you where you're human

Male female slave or free
Peaceful or disorderly
Maybe you and he will not agree
But you need him to show you new ways to see

Don't let the system fool you
All it wants to do is rule you
Pay attention to the poet
You need him and you know it

Put him up against the wall
Shoot him up with pentothal

Shoot him up with lead
You won't call back what's been said

Put him in the ground
But one day you'll look around

There'll be a face you don't know
Voicing thoughts you've heard before

Male female slave or free
Peaceful or disorderly
Maybe you and he will not agree
But you need him to show you new ways to see

-- bruce cockburn, stealing fire (1984)

happy birthday, bob

I know God is my shield
And he won't lead me astray
Still I don't know what I'm gonna do
I was allright 'til I fell in love with you

from "Til I fell in love with you"
from Time Out Of Mind (1997)
Bob Dylan

crooked shack

all this talk of LIGHT and not despairing of this world reminds me of a song i wrote long ago, not far from here, just across the water. i wrote it while working as a counsellor at a ymca camp, and i was living in a cabin called waterfront II, whose foundation was so unsettled that there was not a right-angle or perpendicular wall or level floor to be found. you'd drop a marble and quickly it would roll out of sight.

it has a hard, driving percussive guitar rhythm behind it.


crooked shack

june 30, 1982, waterfront II, camp wa-sa-ah-bun

try to sleep straight in a crooked bed
alla your blood rushes to your head
try to live right in a crooked world
gotta fly your banner let it unfurl

try to sit straight in a crooked chair
where's the comfort gone you don't know where
try to do the best but the world don't care
gotta shine your light in that darksome lair

[bridge]
god knows i can't do this alone
can't do this thing on my own
gotta find a friend
to make it to the end

i live my life in a crooked shack
got crooked windows front and back
but out in the distance i see a level land
there lies a home for woman and man


© 1982 peter ladage

some things never change

"Why on earth would you suggest the people be given a holiday? Back to work! Look, I've got all these people bumming around, and now you want to reward them with time off?"

the da vinci code part 2: "How do we know what is really true?" - sermon and discussion notes

before the da vinci code discussion, jim discussed with the kids the merits of tying up your shoes, so that as messengers of the good news, we don't trip over our beautiful feet.

after the children went off to sunday school, jim recapped last week's first part on the da vinci code. he concluded that if the major premise of the da vinci code is not the truth, what is the truth? what are the authentic stories? why do we believe what we do believe?

recalling the words of god in isaiah, jim posits that the world is most likely to acknowledge the truth in the fruit it bears.

jim asked us what word or words do we think most people would associate with the word "bible?" people suggested:

• thumper
• old book
• christian
• rules
• fear
• stories for children
• church
• i have a bible. where is it?

jim polled the congregation: are these associations more positive or more negative?

• negative
  

"the bible doesn't have a great rep," jim agreed.

how, then, would people be convinced of its authenticity? we offered these suggestions:

• the person who discusses the bible should be educated and knowedgeable so that what they say is not mere opinion
• how they lived [i'm not sure if 'they' refers to the people of the bible, or to the witnessing christians of today]
• the death and resurrection of jesus christ
• the old testament's claim that the world was created in seven days is not believable these days; it's a question of integrity
• evidence of historical documents
• geographical and archeological evidence
• the bible is still the bestseller of all time
• relating one's personal experience of the bible's impact
• fulfillment of old testament prophecies

jim said all these suggestions work together. it is a question of integrity; of walking the walk and talking the talk. he recalled isaiah: "my word will not return to me empty, but will achieve the purpose for which I sent it": if it's true, it will have an effect.

quoting second timothy, jim said the bible is "god-breathed"; and quoting someone in the da vinci code, "the bible is not faxed from heaven."

the bible is the most compelling story there is. it has magnitude. it has integrity. although it is a set of books written over a thousand years, it tells a single story from beginning to end. his story. history. to illustrate this jim presented the following phrases contained within an hourglass, with the The One at the narrows. [my note: these are the players]:

C r e a t i o n
Adam & Eve
I s r a e l
Remnant
The One
Disciples
The Church
Humankind
New Creation

[my note: this is the plot that relates 1:1 with the players above]:

Relationship
Temptation
Providence
Prophecy
Kingdom
Present
Sent (The
Mission)
Body of
Christianity
V a l u e d
W h o l e

it's the integral story of god seeking us, authenticating us, transforming us into truly his image forever. the scripture addresses us as the living word. we don't have the authority to establish that it's true. rather, scripture authenticates us.

jim referred to the three parables of lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son in luke 15
he said "the lost son," or "prodigal son," could also be called "the searching father." god is searching for us.

the god code:
the real question of authenticity: are we who we need to be.
more so than cope with change, can we effect change, transformation, remaking?

more so than analyzing it, our role is to be part of the story, a story still being told.

the (im)mortal john arpin

i took my daughter tonight to see the renowned john arpin play for his home crowd at the brooklea, in a setting more intimate than a concert hall.

not only was it a special night for me and cady, but it was a special night for mr. arpin. many in the audience were people he grew up with; his brother leo was there, too. but there were many who weren't there, who had died, including "my best male friend," bud watson. john arpin (who will be 70 this year) regretted having been away so much, to miss out on friendships, and he vowed to change that.

he had composed a special piece for tonight, which he played first.

followed by a joplin rag, "easy pieces," then a phenomenal performance of "st. louis blues" by w.c. handy, and closing with a medley of richard rogers songs, which brought us to our feet.

at our table was fran, a petite, shy, elderly woman who had been his elementary school teacher.
during the intermission john arpin was surrounded by friends -- photos and hugs galore. fran hesitantly made her way over to him; i could tell this was very important to her, making this connection from over 50 years ago.

in the second set he talked at some length about his friend eubie blake, and then played a piece by eubie. and he closed with an extemporised medley of songs, that began with a joplinesque ragtime version of "here, there, and everywhere" by the beatles, (just to prove he could play something written after 1935).

john arpin closed by saying he felt a "sort of teetertotter emotion" of sadness and yet a peculiar joy. he heartfelt suggestion that we should make this a regular thing, an annual event, was of course enthusiastically received. nevertheless, for me, and i'm sure for all of us, tonight was a once in a lifetime moment.

testament

at last night's arrogant worms concert in toronto, as part of the intro to their song "jesus' brother bob," one of the worms turned to the other and greeted him:
"hey, judas!"
"hi!"
"i hear you have a new book out..."

before going down to t.o., i nipped into cottage books to see if my son was there, and while i was there i thought perhaps i'd pick up some reading material for the ride down. without going too far i spied a nino ricci book i had never heard of: testament, published in 2002. set in roman times, the first person narrator, who so far hasn't been named, hooks up with a holy man from galilee, yeshua and his growing band of disciples. my suspicion of the narrator's identity is pretty nearly confirmed on page 45, when he joins the band and becomes the treasurer. i've discovered my own gospel of judas.

eyes on the prize

from bruce springsteen's new album, a tribute to pete seeger: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions:

Paul and Silas, bound in jail
Had no money for to go their bail
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

Paul and Silas thought they was lost
Dungeon shook and the chains come off
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

Freedom's name is mighty sweet
And soon we're gonna meet
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

I got my hand on the freedom plow
Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

Hold on!
Hold on!
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

The only chain that a man can stand
Is the chain of a hand on hand
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

I'm gonna board that big Greyhound
Carry me love from town to town
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

Hold on!
Hold on!
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

The only thing that I did was wrong
Stayed in the wilderness too long
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

The only thing we did was right
Was the day we decided to fight
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

Hold on!
Hold on!
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on!

Ain't been in Heaven but I been told
Streets up there paved with gold

my bible and tolkein

my last post surveyed the english translations online at biblegateway.com. i did this because i'm unfamiliar with most of them, and i'm embarking on a Comprehensive Bible Reading Plan (365 Days). so far i've been reading each passage in two versions: The New International Version (NIV) and The Message.

the bible i have at home is not listed at biblegateway.com: the New Jerusalem Bible. it's a christmas gift almost 20 years ago from my mother and stepfather.

i did not know this until tonight, but the jerusalem bible translator of jonah was j.r.r. tolkein.

what a difference a word makes - Genesis 1:26-28

(note: 16 july 2006; updated with Today's New International Version).

of the two creation stories in genesis, the first strikes me as less patriarchal. nevertheless, some of the different translations online at biblegateway.com differ significantly as far as language inclusivness.

below is a table which focuses on the language used in two phrases: the gender of human beings and their stewardship of earth.

these phrases are bolded in this King James Version of Genesis 1:26:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

• click the Translation to read that translation's passage of genesis 1:26-28.
• click the Year to read that translation's version information, some of which are very illuminating.

Translation	Published or Copyright Year(s)	Gender	Stewardship
Today's New International Version	2001,2005	human beings	rule over
New International Version	1973-1994	man	rule over
New American Standard Bible	1960-1995	man	rule over
The Message	1993-2002	human beings	responsible for
Amplified Bible	1954-1987	mankind	authority over
New Living Translation	1996	people	masters over
King James Version	1611	man	dominion over
English Standard Version	2001	man	dominion over
Contemporary English Version	1995	humans	rule
New King James Version	1982	man	dominion over
21st Century King James Version	1994	man	dominion over
American Standard Version	1901	man	dominion over
Young's Literal Translation	1898	man	rule over
Darby Translation	1890	man	dominion over
New Life Version	1969	man	be head over
Holman Christian Standard Bible	1999-2003	man	rule
New International Reader's Version	1996-1998	man	rule over

the da vinci code part 1 - sermon notes

(these are my notes about jim's sermon. they are not 100% accurate nor entire. you're welcome to comment and make corrections. i've added biblical and other references.)

jim began hesitatingly, aware that he broached a controversial topic, and nervous about getting this right. he stated that this novel is a work of fiction and it contains falsehoods; nevertheless, he believes god works through controversies such as the da vinci code.

but first, jim read the whole of isaiah 54:

"Sing, O barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,"
says the LORD.

2 "Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.

3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.

4 "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

5 For your Maker is your husband—
the LORD Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.

6 The LORD will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected," says your God.

7 "For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.

8 In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,"
says the LORD your Redeemer.

9 "To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
never to rebuke you again.

10 Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,"
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

11 "O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will build you with stones of turquoise, [a]
your foundations with sapphires. [b]

12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.

13 All your sons will be taught by the LORD,
and great will be your children's peace.

14 In righteousness you will be established:
Tyranny will be far from you;
you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed;
it will not come near you.

15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
whoever attacks you will surrender to you.

16 "See, it is I who created the blacksmith
who fans the coals into flame
and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc;

17 no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
and this is their vindication from me,"
declares the LORD.

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 54:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
2. Isaiah 54:11 Or lapis lazuli

jim said that in the old testament, god exiled israel because they were unfaithful; and because they would not learn, because they would not listen, nations warred against israel until god finally got through to dense israel.

similarly, god uses controversial books to get through to dense 21st century humanity. the role of heresy is to sharpen and define our senses to truly experience god. these are more my words than a paraphrase of jim's. my notes of jim's words are: god uses heresy to make us examine the truth: what it is.

what makes a really good storytelling is that for a moment we suspend disbelief, we engage, we identify with the characters, we live their reality. but in the end, the truth is that a novel is not above distortion or invention in order to tell a good story. (this is my amplification of jim's point).

what it is is a fiction.

jim focused on three main points of fiction:

1. the priory of sion is a centuries-old secret society dedicated to the preservation of the secret true church. in reality, the priory of sion is a 20th century creation of pierre plantard, who "deposited a series of forged documents, the so-called Dossiers Secrets or "Secret Dossiers", at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), in Paris. Therefore, people who set out to research the 'Priory of Sion' would come across these fake documents at the BnF. One of those researchers was Henry Lincoln."

(henry lincoln went on to write holy blood, holy grail with michael baigent and richard leigh. dan brown based much of his novel on this book.)

2. jesus and mary magdalene were married. mary was pregnant at the time of his crucifixion, and, after his death, she bore their daughter, sarah, whose bloodline exists to this day. in reality, only 2 of the many gnostic gospels hint at the possibility of a special relationship between jesus and mary, and none of the canonical gospels nor acts nor epistles. jim pointed out that in 1 corinthians, 9:5, paul, himself a contemporary of jesus and in communion with christ, asks "Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas [Peter]?" it is telling that he refers to other apostles, but not to jesus himself. wouldn't jesus have been the best example had he himself been married?

3. the truth has been suppressed by the council of nicea in a close vote. in reality, the major concern of the council of nicea had nothing to do with jesus and mary, or mary at all. jesus' divinity was not questioned; it was whether jesus was co-eternal with god, (Trinitarianism) or "created by (and consequently inferior to) the Father at some point, before which the Son did not exist." (Arianism). the vote wasn't close. with about 300 bishops attending, "there were only two adherents of Arius who remained steadfast, Theonas of Marmarica in Libya, and Secundus of Ptolemais."

jim contrasted the above fictions in the novel with its embodiment of truths, two of which are:
- the christian church has suppressed the strength of the feminine
- the christian church has demonized sex

jim added that the new testament does not get distorted with every passing generation's re-telling; rather, each translation goes back to the original greek or hebrew documents. why don't we do this with the church, he wondered, go back and recover the roots of the original christian community?

jim wished to encourage a forum for discussion. tentatively, 5 or 6 people raised questions or made statements. i noted that:
- one person affirmed that dan brown professes to be an ardent christian
- one person said "the gospel is not to be debated, but to be proclaimed."

he tells a good story

many years ago i worked on the brock university student newspaper. in the late fall we printed a letter to the editor which generated a huge response, perhaps the largest in the paper's history.

the letterwriter wasn't a student or staff member. he had come to the campus during frosh week and decided to stay for a few months. he slept in the seminar rooms, showered at the gym, ate from the tons of food left over on abandoned plates in the cafeteria, read in the library and attended lectures and events. all gratis.

now, as winter was approaching, he was on his way to warmer climes, but before leaving he wanted to thank us for our hospitality.

the strongest reaction came from the campus police, locally known as the "Brock Five-O." all of a sudden the friendly, open campus wasn't so open, or friendly anymore. you needed passes to be in the halls after 9 pm, and all the seminar rooms were locked and other restrictions were put in place. the campus police are charged with student safety and they took the matter very seriously, of course.

we got another letter in the spring from the same writer, with very good evidence (same paper, same manual typewriter, same signature), saying it was all hoax and how much the writer had enjoyed reading and watching the debate.

back in the fall, amidst all the raging debate whether this was really possible, and whether this was a hoax, i remember the university president's comment: "he tells a good story."

massive beauty

Simulations Take Us Inside The Mind Of Einstein

"For years scientists trying to visualize the concept of gravitational waves churned by the collision of black holes have relied largely on artists' conceptions. Now, at long last, they have Einstein's conception.



"According to Einstein, when two massive black holes merge, all of space jiggles like a bowl of Jell-O as gravitational waves race out from the collision at light speed. This is a mind-boggling notion, to be sure.

"NASA scientists have reached a breakthrough in computer modeling that allows them to simulate what gravitational waves from merging black holes look like. The three-dimensional simulations are a manifestation of Einstein's equations, pure and simple. And they are the largest astrophysical calculations ever performed on a NASA supercomputer."

Read more: Simulations Take Us Inside The Mind Of Einstein

Watch the clip: NASA video clip of two black holes merging..

my most beautiful day

this is my 44th easter. it has been a beautiful day. my most beautiful day.

the gospel reading brought me to tears: the experience of mary as the first one to experience the risen christ, her passion for jesus, and his direct, personal communication with her. jesus calls her by her name, "mary," he says, and that's how she recognizes him, which seems very intimate to me. "don't hold on to me... go tell my brothers: 'i am returning to my father and your father, to my god and your god.'"

mary is the first to be charged with relating the experience of the risen christ. i find this passage even more moving today as i am still under the effect of reading the bulk of the da vinci code yesterday.

i was further moved by jim's sermon. i have never heard such a sermon before in my life. "this is not a book of rules," he said, holding up the holy bible, "it's people's experiences of god."

i wrote earlier about my dissatisfaction with logical proofs of god. today i write about my joy of the experiential proofs of god. starting with mary and the disciples: what could possibly motivate, asked jim, a scattered, fugutive, leaderless group to go out into the world (in the coming years and decades and eventually suffer torture and death for their evangelism), but the experience of the risen jesus?

i offer no proofs myself, only my own experiences, modest and minor. jim charged us to look to our own experiences, to find the living, dynamic word and ourselves be alive and be dynamic, like jesus. and because we are the church, (and the church is not some slow-moving institution made of sticks and stones) jim has charged the church to be dynamic, to be at the forefront of change, to effect change, for heaven's sake.

i can't do the sermon justice. you had to be there. i hope i got these snppets mostly right.

before the service, i sat next to a woman who hadn't been to church all year. she said she wouldn't tell me her age, but she held a copy of the pioneer camp catalog and said she had gone to pioneer camp 66 years ago. she said that while misses the old hymns, she thinks this contemporary setting is the right thing for the church.

after sue was kind enough to give me a lift home with all my musical gear, i called wes, who was dogsitting at his mother's, and arranged to have brunch with him. i packed my sack and put my banjo around my neck, walked down to tim horton's and up to see my son, playing "lord of the dance" all the way. well, practicing it, actually, but by the time i got to karen's, it was good enough to call playing.

wes met me at the door, spied the banjo, and groaned: "you've brought the devil's ax." i promised not to play it in the house.

i made brunch: scrambled eggs topped with salsa, with buttered homemade whole wheat bread on the side, and wes and i ate in the kitchen. i asked wes if he had read the da vinci code (he hasn't yet, but i gathered that he had a good idea what it's about), and i said it's the topic of the next two sermons. wes asked me if i'm a christian now, and i said yes, and he groaned again, and i thought: this conversation is going to last two minutes.

it lasted two hours. i think it's the first adult conversation i've had with my son. if anyone's reading this who doesn't know wes and how significant this is, not only is he a typical, self-absorbed, benignly rebellious teenager who knows everything and has humanity and divinity basically figured out and thinks he's an atheist, he has, due to his asperger's syndrome, a very narrow scope of interest, and if the topic doesn't have to do with dungeons and dragons or star trek, it won't hold his attention for very long. people with asperger's syndrome also tend to be all output; they do all the talking and aren't interested in what others think. or say. or feel. but this was an actual discussion, a dialogue, and not just about ideas, but also about my experience of god. wes heard me. he was engaged.

incredible.

oh, by the way. i broke my promise. i absentmindedly picked up my banjo and quietly played intermittently while wes and i discoursed. he never seemed to notice.

i went home, grabbed my bass, and headed to the farquhar's 17th annual easter egg hunt (my first), where blind mary played a small set, augmented by kelly lefaive on fiddle and her dad on spoons and shakers, and ted from down east, who was new to everybody, sitting in on guitar.

home again home again jiggedy jig. dishes done. floor swept. blog written. now to bed to finish the the da vinci code, which i'm finding extraordinarily relevant to my life.

post-script: so, i don't know if wes will come to listen to the da vinci code sermons, but i just spoke with karen, who has read the novel, and she's interested and she'll probably attend with at least our youngest daughter.

fullness

i talked with my sister tonight. she has done alpha and led it a couple of times. she also said that their communion service has a 1,000 people attending.

i have wrongfully mocked her church for its ampitheatre-like setting. peg, i beg your forgiveness. my association has been that big church = big business = worldly power and wealth = lack of intimacy with jesus and community. it's not my church, so i don't know what i'm talking about. and who am i to judge a thousand people's spirituality, or even one?

would it be wonderful if our church was full, including that balcony that sweeps above the back third of the church? katrina and i talked today of growth and change: what if our pastor leaves? how do we grow a younger generation into leadership? but we didn't talk about the challenge of growth of the number of members. maybe my sister has some insights.

lost and found

my sister said i might like these guys:

Q: DID YOU REALLY RIDE BICYCLES AROUND THE COUNTRY?

A: Yes, we did. We left from Niagara Falls, Ontario in September 1986 and returned there in August of 1987. During the trip we rode basically from New York to St. Louis to Miami to San Diego to Seattle and back to New York. It took us 340 days and we played 270 concerts at schools, churches, camps, or any place that would have us. We stayed with families 300 nights and in hotels the other 30. One thing about us: we do not camp. (It's just our nature.) We made the trip without ever missing a concert date and without any support vehicle following us or leading us. We supported ourselves through the sale of our first record (vinyl only at the time). Lots of days we just bungee-corded the records to our bikes and brought them along to the gigs to offer for sale. It was an incredible experience to say the least, and I think that's about what we have said on this subject isn't it?

i think she meant their music: lost and found

sex. and christianity.

sex. and christianity. sex and the single person and christianity. i'm a divorced heterosexual. by my definition, i'm not promiscuous. i have had sex only within the bounds of committed, monogamous, loving relationships.

but the relationships haven't lasted, and perhaps 'commitment' has been the telling point. committed to what? being committed to the other person hasn't been enough to make the relationship last.

my experience has been that each person in the relationship changes, and rightfully so: changes to become more authentic and to achieve a truer understanding of the self. but that hasn't work towards a mutual commitment; just the opposite, because it's inevitable that each person changes differently: if you roll two dice, most of the time they'll come out as two different numbers, and to be able to roll doubles consistently is, well, miraculous. or else the dice are fixed.

nicky gumble gives the analogy of a christian marriage as a pyramid with each person on either side of the base and god at the apex. as each person moves up the sides of the pyramid towards god, they move closer together. here, of course, 'commitment' involves commitment to jesus, and all else follows.

i don't expect christian commitment in a relationship makes it any easier; it's not a panacea for human frailties; in fact, i expect it produces greater challenges, but i also expect it comes with a promise of greater truth and love and joy. i've seen christian marriages fail; i've seen non-christian marriages succeed.

but i've made my choice to follow god, and that redefines my idea of a 'committed' relationship. on the other hand, i haven't made my choice yet whether i want a relationship with a woman again. i have a lot to sort out for myself, i have children who need my support. i have a deeper yearning that i need to understand. maybe it's time to be intentionally celibate for a while and let that sexual energy serve another purpose.

my birth day

i was born on good friday (20 april 1962). today's good friday service was very powerful. i went for a l-o-o-n-g walk this afternoon and then borrowed the da vinci code from katrina. we sat outside on the trampoline and talked mostly about our lives in context of the last alpha video. i wish the scotsman was feeling better so he could've joined us, and also so that he could have enjoyed the beautiful day. i was looking forward to canasta or euchre and schnick-schnacks and conversation; so we'll have to go for a pint when he's not feeling under the weather. when katrina invited me to knox 5 weeks ago, i thought to myself i'd see it through to easter. now that i've accepted god back into my life, i'll stay at knox until god wants me to serve some other purpose. how will i know when that is? i don't know; i'm here to learn how to listen. i finally told my mother and sister the good news, which of course made them very happy. and i'm very happy too. i want to thank you all and i want to thank jesus.

what would jesus do

i used to make fun of 'wwjd' -- i think my favourite parody was: 'wwgd' -- what would gretzky do? my sister and her husband -- peggy and jack -- wore wwjd wrist bands and other stuff. i would still make fun of something that was mass marketed to the point of cliche.

nevertheless, i've always been mindful of what jesus might do. it's scary, because i can't imagine jesus living a conventional life and doing things like driving a minivan. (well, no, actually, it's funny, cuz i can imagine jesus driving a minivan; he's got peter, andrew, james, john, matthew, and philip with him, and judas is driving the other one, with thomas, james, simon, batholomew, and thaddaeus. i think they're on their way to a grateful dead concert.)

what would jesus do? something radical -- but not rash, as jim mentioned in last week's sermon. something radical, like be fully human and fully serve god. jesus spent nearly 30 years preparing for his ministry, preparing for the event we celebrate this weekend.

but the years have passed since 'wwjd' was all the rage, and in this clip, context is everything. this clip was posted by one of my lj friends.
http://peacetakescourage.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

p.s.
if, after the animation, you go to the website, you can click "About" to find who's the rabblerouser behind all this (if you believe anything on the web; i know i do.).

every day is christmas day

i just found this song.

Rudy
by Be Good Tanyas


Rudy lives on the borderline
Between civilization and basic survival
And the summertime treats him fairly well
But the wintertime is a dirty cold rival.
It's wintertime now in Georgetown,
The streets come alive with the Christmas light
And Rudy sleeps on a warm air grate,
With a newspaper blanket on December nights.

Deck the halls,
Rudolph the red-nosed wino
Knows it's Christmas time.
Jingle Bells and Christmas shoppers
Dashing through the snow.
God rest ye merry gentlemen
Who've found it in your hearts
To flip Rudy a fin
And I'll be home for Christmas,
But this man has
No place to go.

Christmas has a meaning in it all
To people of greed and incredible waste,
They seek the deeper meaning
In the shopping mall,
In a yuletide spirit
Of impatience and hate.
Rudy is a patient man,
Who tries to see the beauty in everything.
Yes, and not a very demanding soul,
Whose only wish is
To live until the Spring.

Nobody knows the reasons why
Things turn out
Like the way they do.
And there ain't no one who can tell you
The reasons why
There's fortunate folks
Like me and you.

Rudy must have people somewhere,
Who wonder what
Became of the man.
And Rudy must wonder
The same damn thing
As the crowd passes by
And he sticks out his hand.

Deck the halls,
Rudolph the red-nosed wino
Knows it's Christmas time.
Jingle Bells and Christmas shoppers
Dashing through the snow.
God rest ye merry gentlemen
Who have found it in your hearts
To flip Rudy a fin,
And I'll be home for Christmas,
But this man has
No place to go.

Rudy died on the borderline,
Of a civilized world
On Christmas Eve.
You know the shoppers shopped,
And the temperatures dropped,
On a man whose absence
Won't be grieved.
Peace on the soul of the cop
Who found him in a booth
With his hand froze to a telephone.
You know, I think I know
Who he had on the line,
And Rudy won't spend
This Christmas alone.

Deck the halls,
Rudolph the red-nosed wino
Knows it's Christmas time.
Jingle Bells and Christmas shoppers
Dashing through the snow.
God rest ye merry gentlemen
Who have found it in your hearts
To flip Rudy a fin,
And I'll be home for Christmas,
And this year,
Rudy gets to go.
Yeah, and I'll be home for Christmas.
And this year, Rudy gets to go.

primary sources

if anyone's reading this, pardon me that i'm brief. it's very late and i know soon i'll be too tired to be coherent.

a few days ago i finished Programming The Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On The Cosmos and as soon as i finished it, i wanted to read it again.

but i have another book waiting to be read, one which promises a lot about revealing truths about jesus: The Pagan Christ: Recovering The Lost Light by Tom Harpur. i read the first chapter or so with some incredulity but nonetheless with great excitement. 20 years or so ago i read harpur's columns in the toronto star, and at least one of his books, For Christ's Sake; he comes with impressive credentials, and like me, an Anglican background. i trusted him, and was willing to suspend disbelief while i read his new (published in 2004) book (note: parts of the book were originally published as newspaper columns in the preceding year or two). i felt i had begun a great intellectual journey that night, a journey onto new spiritual truths, even that i had discovered my purpose: to explore this idea of jesus as the pagan christ.

the next day (thursday), i googled the book. it's been over a year since its publication. what has been the critical reaction to it? the first search result is a dissenting article. this article at times is vitrolic, which puts me off, but it claims two merits: it researches each of harpur's points, and at the end it engages harpur himself via email.

personally, before i can make a final decision, there is much left to be studied: i have to read harpur's book, confirm his sources, and read the book's supporters and dissenters. but the dissenting article has thrown cold water into my face. it accuses harpur, with evidence, of sloppy research, of lacking primary sources. i won't say any more until i'm done, but i'll be reading more critically. and i'll post my further thoughts.

today another document, perhaps as incredulous, came my way, "The Gospel of Judas," which purports that jesus asked judas to betray him. the difference here from harpur's book, is that there is primary source, the copy of which is 1700 years old (and the original text is known to have existed since at least 180 a.d.). at this time i'm not interested in the truth of it; i know too little to be a good judge. i'm interested to see how this is received and evaluated over time. the other difference from the harpur book is that this primary source is published, not by the daily/weekly popular press, but by an academic organization: national geographic.

as for primary sources, (a) may god give me guidance, and (b) i'm reading the new testament, again. maybe one day i'll dust off my koine greek and read it in the original. if any one in midland wants to join me, drop me an email.

fibs

from GottaBook:

One
Small,
Precise,
Poetic,
Spiraling mixture:
Math plus poetry yields the Fib.