A Resolution for Every New Year

Sooner or later we admit that we cannot do it all, that whatever our contribution, the story is much larger and longer than our own, and we are all in the gift of older stories that we are only now joining. Whatever our success, we are all looked after by other eyes, and we are only preparing ourselves for an invitation to something larger.
- David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity

One of my Facebook friends posted this in mid-December 2012. I think it is a tremendously powerful and truthful statement. It is enhanced in meaning when I add these other powerful and truthful words:

“To walk alone is possible, but the good walker knows that the trip is life and it requires companions.” - Dom Helder Camara

“It's a gift to joyfully recognize and accept our own smallness and ordinariness. Then you are free with nothing to live up to, nothing to prove, and nothing to protect.” - Richard Rohr

“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each [one's] life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Oh, that we would each and all of us claim and live these truths as we journey through the coming year – yea, as we journey through the rest of our lives! This will be my perennial New Year's resolution.

Put some muscle on your prayers!

“We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.” - Richard Rohr

“The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake.” - Meister Eckhart

A tragedy occurred yesterday and I am overwhelmed by two things: a compulsion to say something and an inability to put my thoughts on paper.

Twenty children and eight adults were killed yesterday (December 13, 2012) in a shooting spree at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Barely 24 hours later, there is still no answer to “Why?” By way of a feeble response, many have already said, “Things have got to change!”

In a curious piece of statistical information on Facebook yesterday, it was noted that over 10,000 handgun killings have occurred in the United States in 2012. Far and away exceedingly more than in any other jurisdiction listed in the data. Both of these pieces of information are an extremely sad commentary on the societal illness of Canada's nearest neighbour.

It is long past time for things to change. The protection, education, and upbringing of our children IS far more important than anyone's “right” to bear arms. The primary right is for children to have healthy, meaningful lives. We all must stop just talking about this and be tremendously intentional about living this truth. NOW!!

How we do this, I am not sure but we must NOT let any timidity or uncertainty keep us from trying, from taking steps, from moving forward, from risking mistakes on the road to productive action. This is NOT something about which we can satisfy ourselves in just praying or lighting a virtual candle on Facebook.  Neither is action enough!

Put some muscles on those prayers. Hug a kid. Call another person out for any kind of bullying. Say those words that too often sit silently on your lips when you know someone has acted or spoken inappropriately, falsely – especially to or toward a child. Don't be silent. Speak up! Don't stand still. Stand up!

Un "Unanticipated" Blessing of Social Media

“Everywhere I go – Sri Lanka...Jordan...Washington, D.C. – I find people with a similar story. When thousands of people discover that their story is also someone else's story, they have the chance to write a new story together.”                                             - Eboo Patel

One of the upsides of Facebook may be this very truth as enunciated by Eboo Patel. You come to see yourself and others in each other's journey/story. It is amazing how many times my response to something I see posted on Facebook is, “Wow! Me too!” It is a small world.

Now, before you say it, let me admit that what I read on Facebook is posted by those whom I have chosen to designate as my “friends.” Therefore, we are bound to have things in common. Yet, wherever these various “friends” are on my friend continuum – lifelong friend through significant aquaintance to one of many I know through the United Church of Canada, I am still impressed by the points at which our stories significantly intersect.

But then there is this one thing that impresses me even more: These various “friends” share posts about others they know and many they do not know – all unknown to me – but there is still unexpected intersections in “our” stories. I am moved by the stories of strangers at a very deep place in my being. We are curiously connected!

Maybe this is an unanticipated “blessing” of social media; it will teach us how we are all truly sisters and brothers. It may help us to understand that despite the various physical, cultural, linguistic, and social differences that span our world, my heart and your heart and her heart and his heart all beat the same, feel the same, touch the same, bleed the same, make us uniquely one. No matter where we live on this planet, at the very core of our being, we are one. Thanks be!

P.S. If you have not heard of Eboo Patel before, Google him. Amazing person!

Irreversible Change for the Church

“Once social change begins it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.”

                                                                     - Cesar Chavez

So what are the similar sentiments when it comes to structural or philosophical change? What needs to occur in order for structural and philosophical change to be irreversible – in and for the church?

Please understand, I do NOT want the church gone totally. I think there are many benefits that accrue and can accrue to us and to society generally due to the presence of the church – the organization, the people, not the buildings. I think many of those benefits are not being as adequately realized as they could be today because our focus is too much on tradition and buildings and what has been rather than on what could be – what God intends.

In many specific locales, loss of numbers resulting in loss of dollars has resulted in dramatic change for specific churches. New mission has been discovered. New zeal has been unleashed. But this is not yet the broad stroke of the church's presence in our world today. Many, too many, still cling tenaciously to what has been, what they know instead of opening up to the possibility of something different, new, better.

What I find overwhelmingly frustrating is that many people in these “standing still” situations openly acknowledge that the church must change or perish. They are even prepared to allow as how they too (their church) must change or perish. But they confess that they are not ready. Let somebody else do it. We are comfortable here. This is “home” for us and we can not see nor are we prepared to see any other.

I can acknowledge that there is truth in this dilemma on both sides of change. I am prepared to allow that this is not easy. What I am not prepared to do is let selfish individuals keep the church from opening up to others who are looking. Not sure what to do yet other than to keep beating this drum. God has a new purpose for God's church. We need to step aside from our clinging to what we think is important and let God's new purpose unfold in God's way. What an exciting thing to witness and embrace!...as is the accomplishment of pride and freedom and learning for people who embrace it in new ways as a result of societal change.

Becoming My Self

“What is saving my life right now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.”       

                                       - Barbara Brown Taylor in An Altar in The World

More and more human beings are come to appreciate, I think, what Barbara Brown Taylor is advocating here. The main objective of our lives on this earth is to be ourselves, to become ourselves. Of course, that journey takes a lifetime and we begin in a position of not knowing – not knowing who we are, who we are meant to be, where we are going, what we want to do with our lives, who we will share our lives with, and how do you do all of this anyway? Becoming ourselves not knowing all this stuff, makes the work hard and complicated and we are mostly inclined to give up.

Mind you, we are in some ways encouraged to give up. Why can't you be like the other girls or guys? Why can't you be like your older sister/brother? Whoa, you certainly didn't get any of that from my side of the family? Or (in disgust), you are so like your father. And, sometimes (in encouragement), you do that so well; you remind me of your mother when she was your age.

And then there is the whole school process which continues to be largely based on regurgitation. Very little encouragement to think for yourself. Offer your own insights; suggest your own answers; make your own mistakes; be your own imaginative, creative self. Is it any wonder that parents look at their tiny tots after a few days or weeks or months of school and bemoan the “older, wizened persons” they have become! Glad that they are learning but despairing over the naivete, simplicity, naturalness of life they seem to have to give up.

Then we get to be adults and wonder where the spontaneity and creativity have gone. Realize that we don't want to be nor do we have to be like everybody else. Come to appreciate that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

This growing up and becoming ourselves – and allowing all others to do the same - is not easy. But it is, I truly believe, what our earthly sojourn is supposed to be about.

Never Found God In Church?

“Tell the truth, have you ever found God in Church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for [God] to show. Any God I ever felt in Church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They came to Church to share God, not find God.” - Alice Walker, author of The Colour Purple

St. Augustine wrote something to the effect that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God. Augustine might have affirmed Alice Walker's sentiments in the previous quotation.

King David of old was the first to be pointedly told that God does not need man- kind to build a house for God to live in. God does not reside in buildings; God lives in the hearts of people – kind, generous, compassionate, loving, living, caring people. If God ever is in church it is because the worshippers present have brought in the Holy Presence which dwells in their compassionate lives.

Could it be that if we took more seriously the fact that God does not reside in any of our buildings that it might be more readily possible for us to let our buildings go when we need to do so? I think the change that God is endeavouring to accomplish in the church is being held up by our attachments not just to the physical buildings but to the mistaken belief that somehow or other the building is the church because it is “God's home.” NOT!!

Another very unfortunate corollary of this way of thinking is that we do not readily recognize God in one another. It is easy to do so for those who think and act like us but others who may have different ways of thinking, new ideas to promote are not as warmly regarded. This is not the way of Christ! This is not the way it is supposed to be in God's family!

In churches I served fellow Christians argued – really argued – over carpet colour, whether or not to get new choir gowns, burning a Christ candle, getting the new hymnbook, passing the peace, who should organize a community potluck supper. And I mean they argued, they stopped talking to one another, in some situations people left. How could anyone think that God might reside in a building that housed these people? How could anyone even be persuaded that God – that is, God's Spirit – could even reside in those individuals who were party to such disagreements? Somewhere in the first letter of John (in the Christian scriptures) we find something that goes like this: “God is love. If you do not love your brother or sister you cannot love God.” Don't just think about this; do it!

Dialogue: The Change Encounter

“I'm not in the business of converting anybody. Dialogue is not about bringing people around to your side of things. It's about offering them something, and if they don't like it, fine. Dialogue is about being prepared to be changed by the encounter.” - Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong, she of A History of God (published in 1993) and a Charter for Compassion, says something very important in that last sentence above. It is something that I think few people appreciate and even fewer believe. The validity of my contention was upheld in a short chat stream I read recently on Facebook.

Several of my ministry colleagues were bemoaning their experience of younger colleagues who seem to be getting increasingly conservative in their religious thinking and practice. What struck me quite unexpectedly was that the conclusion of many conversations between these folks comes when the seemingly more conservative participants assert that others in the dialogue, who do not agree with 'them', just aren't Christian. Not so!!

It seems to me that in many of these conversations there is at least one party who has come to the dialogue with no expectation of learning anything, of being changed. The sole expectation seems to be to teach the other, to convert them. Perhaps, on some occasions, both parties to the dialogue come with that perspective. The world all around us – all around them and you and me – that world is shouting that openness to learning and change is mandatory – for all of us. To not be open to the possibility is to totally miss the boat! Let me share this very practical, personal example:

Here I am, currently, in Florida at the very exact same place I was last winter for three months. This year, the stay is planned for four months. Same community, same weather, same visitors, same neighbours, nothing has changed. Not so!! The neighbours – who also happen to be the landlord – are in the process of moving to a different home in this community. She is about 75, he is in his early 80s and for the past two months they have been refurbishing a 3-bedroom home into which they are starting to move. They have done a great deal of the work themselves. We do not know who will be living in the other side of our duplex after these folks move out.

The duplex, the community may indeed be similar but it is not the same. And I am certainly not the same. I come to this sojourn in Florida a whole year older, still in the process of recuperating from significant surgery, therefore several pounds lighter, and with a notably different agenda than I had last year. I still plan to do a lot of reading, walking, and bicycling but I also plan to be very intentional about getting better acquainted with this community, meeting people, attending theatre, art, social functions. I am and will be different.

So, any dialogue I participate in over the coming four months will be impacted by a different me and a different situation. I have changed. My world in changing. I had better be open to change in the other – and they in me. I believe I am. I wasn't always as open as I am now. There is hope – for all of us! I believe the best I can do, and would urge others similarly, is to come to dialogue in that hope. And when the conversation is over – however it may conclude, move on!

Passing Time On the Road

So what are the various things that adult persons do to while away the time of a long drive to Florida – seven days, about 35 hours of driving?

I suppose you could play “I Spy...” just like we did when we were kids. Not much fun for only two people and a dog that can't participate. Actually, the dog mostly slept when the car was moving. He is very good that way!

One of the things I did as we moseyed along was keep track of the tolls we paid on the generally very good highways of the USA. We paid a total of $30.10. We could have paid less but we prefer to travel on the toll roads. Fully one-fifth of that sum was paid our last – and shortest – day of travelling. Tolls on the road across Florida from Cocoa Beach to Englewood totalled $6. Good road though!...and busy!!

The other thing I did this trip was to keep track of the different provincial and state license plates we passed as we drove along. In total, we saw plates from five different provinces and thirty-eight different states – while actually travelling. It passed some time!

What passed time as well was our discussion of the variety of license plates in each state. It must be very confusing for policing purposes. Florida must have 15 or more different license plates – one for every cause or creature you might think to associate with Florida. I don't think there was a state that we saw a plate for that we did not see at least one or two more of a different design and/or colour. Who knew manufacturing license plates was such an artistic and, it would seem, profitable business?

Of course, there were the discussions about where to eat, when to make pit stops, does the tom-tom really know what it's doing, etc., etc. Another time – and I have thought of this previously, I want to try to make a note of two different sets of place names. First, I am intrigued by the unique place names we have seen as we drive along. Second, I have noted that there are a number of European place names that occur along the route. Then, of course, there are the names of places that are similar to communities in the Maritimes. This could help pass away a few hours.

I know, I disappoint you. You were sure that we were spending the time engaged in significant philosophical conversations focused on resolving the problems of the world. Com'on; it is supposed to be vacation time!

Picking Up the Thread Again

Hi All:

I am planning to pick up this blog again once we get to Florida.  We leave on November 25th and plan to arrive in Englewood on December 1st.  We will be in Florida until the end of March.

Bob J.

Another Reflection on Change

“We have real difficulty here because everyone thinks of changing the world, but where, oh where, are those who think of changing themselves?” - Richard Foster

Now that is a very interesting query. It brings a few things to mind.

People do change! They just don't think about it. We change the style of clothes we wear. We change our habits of communication. We change the meaning of some of the words we use. We change jobs. We change spouses. We change residences. We age, therefore, we change. But we don't think about intentional change very much at all. And when we do think about it, I would suggest that we do so because we are forced to, mostly, not because we want to.

Another thought I have is that we do not think so much of changing the world as we think of the need of “others” to change. There is a sense in which we believe that if everyone was like us – thought like us, acted like us – the world would indeed change and be much better. But then if you reconsider my premise in the former paragraph, having everyone be like us would be quite disastrous.

Then there is the whole matter that though we might give some consideration to changing the world, we often do so without contemplating how the world has already changed and is changing – whether we give it a thought or not. Some of the thinking about changing the world is NOT forward thinking. Such thinkers would have us go back in time. And some thinking about changing the world is, for me, too radically forward. In both of these instances, the thinkers are clearly not giving any consideration to the wisdom of self-change.

And, finally, there are those who do understand that changing the world means changing themselves. And they are tremendously frightened! If you know what you know for having lived with it and through it for the past 40 or 50 or 60 years, how will you live in a changed world about which you know so very little, if anything at all? We are not frightened by change. We experience too much of it in our lives day by day to be scared of it. We are frightened by that which we do not know: what will be the result of the change and will we be able to live in it, with it, through it.

Are we having fun yet?

Can one ever have enough fun? Now there's a question.

Just a few minutes ago, Jack took his house toy over to Rob. This was an obvious invitation to play. Rob's response: “Didn't you have enough fun last night?” Which caused me to wonder: Can you ever have enough fun?

Once we get to be adults, it is, of course, not mature to have fun for the sake of fun. But oh how we envy our children and grandchildren who do just that. Who play for hours at nothing but having fun. Fun stacking grandma's pots and pans. Fun skipping rope. Fun playing dress up. Fun making snow angels. Fun rolling in mud. Fun, fun, fun.

As we get older, our fun must be more mature. Playing a gentlemanly game of bridge. (“Gentlepersonly” didn't seem to go well there.) Playing a serious – with legal dictionaries – game of Scrabble. “Of course, I'm only doing this to have some fun!...and to Win!” Having guests in for a dinner party – work, work, work. There are many ways that adults pass time having fun. And we do, we really do. But not too much!

We have to work. We have to be responsible. We have to lead by example. Isn't it odd that we can readily apply that third sentiment to the first two but would seldom think of applying it to having fun?

I'm not advocating recklessness or sheer abandonment. I don't want to see anyone get hurt or pointlessly embarrassed. However, I am aware that there is a growing cadre of those who advocate the importance and value of play. It renews and rejuvenates and refreshes in ways that are very needful but not readily provided otherwise.

Of course, many reading this already know that I am an ardent advocate for vacations. Always have been. They need not be excessive or expensive but an intentional break away from the routine, the required, the responsibilities can, I do believe, make the routine and the required and the responsibilities much more meaningful and enjoyable. I am not sure that you can ever have too much play, too much fun. What do you think?

Borrowing wisdom from others

“Being ready for seeds of change means being a fertile plain for odd ideas.   Nurture the unusual when possible and never kill ideas outright.”   A friend of mine posted this on facebook.   What a tremendously profound, practical, and meaningful sentiment.

“Being truly radical is making hope possible and despair unconvincing.”   Thanks to another facebook friend for sharing this one.

I think both of these statements give us lots to think about.   I don't need to add anything for now.   What do you think?

Who elected these goons?

Fear-mongering seems to be the way of our current government. We need to build more prisons but the government's own studies show that the crime rate is DOWN. We need to take steps NOW to avoid the same economic disaster befalling us that has been suffered in Europe but the government's own financial reports clearly indicate otherwise. Now, we need to prepare for drastic changes in the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement but the government's own studies say none of this is necessary.

The January 31^st Globe and Mail reports that “Expert advice commissioned by the federal government contradicts Stephen Harper’s warnings that Canada can’t afford the looming bill for Old Age Security payments...research prepared at Ottawa’s request argues Canada’s pension system is in far better shape than the Europeans’, and there’s no need to raise the retirement age. Edward Whitehouse – who researches pension policy on behalf of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank – was asked by Ottawa to study and report on how Canada stacks up internationally when it comes to pensions. His conclusion: 'The analysis suggests that Canada does not face major challenges of financial sustainability with its public pension schemes,' and 'there is no pressing financial or fiscal need to increase pension ages in the foreseeable future.' (emphasis added)

“Kevin Milligan, a University of British Columbia economics professor who co-authored (one) of the supporting research papers prepared for Ottawa, is also of the view that there is no OAS crisis. He says the government’s use of statistics showing the cost of OAS will climb from $36.5-billion in 2010 to $108-billion in 2030 is not very meaningful because of the impact of inflation. He notes the rise is less alarming when measured as a percentage of economic growth.

“When the House of Commons finance committee studied pension issues in 2010, Mr. Whitehouse (mentioned above) appeared as a witness and discussed his research. He noted, 'Canada's pension system is looking good on the measures of adequacy. It is also looking good on measures of financial sustainability,'... 'Canada does not face the same financial sustainability problems as many other OECD member countries do, particularly in Europe and among the East Asian countries, Japan and Korea, whose populations are aging most rapidly.'

“At the end of its study, the committee’s final report did not recommend raising the age of eligibility for OAS or reducing benefits. However, a minority report by the committee’s Conservative MPs said payment rates for the OAS and the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors should be reviewed.”

Several concerns come to my mind, and not just because I am a pensioner:

1. Why is our current government in Canada not attending to the advice they have requested be provided to them “by experts”?
2. Is it not possible that we – the people of Canada – could save a lot of money if we insisted the current government ceased and desisted in undertaking any more studies on which they might make policy decisions?
3. Who elected these goons anyway?

What is the real issue behind Stephen Harper's persistent fear mongering of the Canadian people?  It can't just be stupidity, can it?

Newt Gingrich? You gotta be kidding!

I just do not understand the good citizens of the state of South Carolina. How could they give Newt Gingrich such overwhelming support against the other Republicans vying to become President of the United States?

There are, I know, many things that could be debated in those opening two statements. For now, I will continue to believe that there are good citizens in South Carolina; some of them may even be Republicans. I will even allow as how I would support Newt before I would give my vote to Ron Paul. But really...

How is it, that the “party of family values” can give such significant support to a man who is twice divorced, proposed an open marriage to his second wife so he could justify playing around with his mistress, and even proposed to said second wife before he was even officially divorced from the first? That kind of hanky-panky is not what comes to my mind when I think of Republican Party family values.

Then you set that alongside the likes of apparently squeaky clean (marriage-wise, at least) Mitt Romney, who I would never vote for for different reasons, and the Hollywood glamour of Rick Santorum (my opinion) and you still gotta' wonder how Newt walked off with such a convincing win.

Oh, well, on the positive side, the Republicans will be battling this nomination all the way to the convention floor giving Barak Obama lots of opportunity to campaign without an obvious opponent. Obama is not perfect; never said or suggested he was. But the field of Republicans duking it out over the next few months is increasingly pathetic.  And the travelling circus hauls in to Florida next.  Lucky us. 

Come on, America; wake up!

A Salute to MLK Jr.

“We must learn to love together as (brothers and sisters) or perish together as fools.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

The citizens of the United States of America paused this past Monday to once again remember one of its true heroes – Martin Luther King Jr. When I came upon this quotation from King, I quickly noted two things in my mind. First, we still struggle to realize this dream. Second, he calls us to “love” together not just live together.

You see, we do live together on this planet, in our various countries, in our many communities, on our zillions of streets and lanes and avenues. We really don't have a choice. We live together in many ways of accommodation and resignation. A variety of circumstances come into play in determining where we live: job opportunities, school for the children, closeness of a variety of services and shopping possibilities, other family, other friends, etc. Each of us and all of us have some aspect of our living arrangements determined by these and other factors.

We may choose to get along with our neighbours. We may live well and happily side by side, friends with one another or totally unaware of each other. We can choose those things. We can also choose to love together in this great big world – or not.

“Follow your heart and you'll be fine,” commented one of my Facebook friends today. I think the sentiment is spot on. If we all follow our heart, history will never record that we perished together as fools.

Driving - A Necessary Evil?

I am sure that every time a new baby is born in the USA, the car manufacturers must rejoice...another eventual driver, another customer. On our drive to Florida, Rob and I both commented – several times – that there was such an amazingly large number of vehicles on the road. At one point, I even asked, “Who is working?” because there were so many cars on the 4-lane highways that I did not think it was possible that anybody was doing anything else but driving. At another point in our trip, I commented that I was sure we had spent the last couple of days driving in traffic where we were never in a slew of vehicles of less than one thousand strong. Where were they all going?

Of course, because we were travelling between Christmas and New Year's Day, some of the traffic was holiday travel. Some of it was shopping mania. Another time I will write about America's fixation on the shopping mall. But as we drove along it seemed we were always in rush-hour traffic. The volume was staggering. And it didn't diminish when the weather got nasty. It is definitely NOT fun to be driving in stop-and-go traffic on a major thoroughfare in a downpour of rain! Why do people do it if they don't have to?

Even here in sunny Florida, in small-town Englewood, the traffic seems way out of proportion to the size of the community. It never seems to stop. It does diminish a bit on Saturday and Sunday. We are not that far from a main, 4-lane highway and the cars and trucks and tractor trailers just persist. And the motorcycles! No problem knowing that there are a few Harleys in Englewood.

What is it about driving? I know some people really like it. Why?

Calling ALL Heroes

“Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say: This is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better.”

                  - Studs Terkel (American author, historian, actor, broadcaster)

I had heard the name Studs Terkel but had no idea who he was. So, I went to Wikipedia to find out a little bit. I still don't really know that much but I do fully agree with the sentiment of the quotation above.

Wayne Gretsky and Sidney Crosby are not heroes; they are sports icons. Brent Hawkes and Troy Perry are not heroes; they are leaders in the gay church movement. Pierre Trudeau and Robert Stanfield are not heroes; they are political figures.

Wikipedia tells me that the term hero/heroine “refers to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and a will for self-sacrifice...for some greater good for all humanity.” Sidney Crosby might be considered a hero for his stand on doing something to diminish or eliminate risk of head injuries/concussion in hockey. Brent Hawkes might be considered a hero in the gay community for his political stands on inclusion, especially for equal marriage rights in Canada. Robert Stanfield might be considered a hero for never betraying his “roots” in order to achieve higher political office. But according to the Wikipedia definition, most heroes would be women and men who are much, much less in the public eye.

Like the individuals who fought Toronto City Hall this past year to keep libraries open. Like Chief Theresa Spence and the people of Attawapiskat in their struggles with the government of Canada to establish and maintain 'reasonable' housing and living conditions for their community. (I am aware that Chief Spence may potentially be part of the problem but I believe she is trying to stand up for/ with her people as a mouse against a great elephant.) Or like many moms and dads who are called repeatedly to come up against the political bureaucracy and demand that the health and education of their children will receive priority attention. Folks like these are true heroes. Books will never be written about them. They will never receive rewards or any kind of public recognition. Thank goodness, despite this, they will persist.

"Ah, isn't he handsome!"

“Jack” is our four-year-old (February 19^th) golden retriever who has made the trip to Florida with us this year. Previous years, he has remained at the kennel where he was born. That has not been a burden for Jack or the breeder. However, this year we decided to bring him along. He travels very well!

Jack was my retirement gift to Rob. That means Rob has now been retired just over four years – though he continues to work on a part-time basis (even when we are out of the country) on projects for NB Power's Point LePreau Nuclear Generating Station. So, here are a couple of recent pictures - of Jack.

The first picture above was taken on January 3^rd. The second picture, taken on January 5^th, has Jack resting his head on the rungs of a chair at the kitchen table while I am doing some computing. He does not like to be too far away.

This is my first time ever for sharing responsibility for the care of a dog. Feeding, brushing/combing, daily walks, training – this is a lot of work, continually. The walks are very good for me. Jack and I do a morning constitutional that we both enjoy – mostly. I like the walking; I don't like it when Jack is distracted by other dogs, people (especially women), unexpected things on the route, or just about anything, especially if it has a smell. On our morning walks, I say “Jack” and “Heal!” and “Here!!” quite a lot. The volume and the tone of exasperation usually increases as the walk lengthens. But I persist; so does Jack!

He is great company. He is definitely a people dog. And he does not like being alone which, translated, means he does not like being more than five feet away from his human companions at any particular time.

On our drive to Florida, he did very well. He does not mind driving in the car. He handles staying in hotels quite well. And we quickly adapted to stopping for Jack – as well as ourselves – for pee breaks, stretches, drinks, just because. Jack especially liked the hotels because that meant he got to sleep in the same room with us. He thought he would continue to do that once we arrived at our Florida destination. Sorry, Jack! A couple of chairs currently prevents that from happening. Hopefully, we will not have to continue to do that much longer.

Jack has been in the Gulf of Mexico once already. He and Rob had a brief “dip” the other day once we found the “Dog Park and Beach”. Jack had lots of play pals, didn't seem to care for the wave action, but did get wet. We will go back soon and Rob and I will have bathing suits on. That might make a difference. I'll let you know.

A Little Preaching?

“Hope prevents us from clinging to what we have and frees us to move away from the safe place and enter unknown and fearful territory.”

                                                                      - Henri J.M. Nouwen

Over the years of my ministry, colleagues and friends have made comment or raised questions about what the church or Christian faith has to offer of any real value. In the latter years of my full-time career, my answer to that invariably focused on love and hope. These are terms that, regrettably, are too widely and too casually used. Someone 'loves' that car. She just 'loves' her new shoes. I 'hope' I win this time. They 'hope' their daughter gets into that college. As the quote from Henri Nouwen, above, would indicate, neither hope nor love should be so lightly understood or used in conversation.

For me, any hope for the future – kindled by our faith or whatever – is completely dependent on our willingness to embrace change – the unknown, perhaps even that which we at this point might even fear. I purposely used the word 'embrace' in the previous sentence because I think we have to love the coming change. By that, I mean we have to be so intimately involved in seeking and discerning and helping to create what is unfolding around us that when it is complete our hope will be rewarded by the knowledge that this is good, we need not fear, there is a way forward.

Of course, that is difficult to do when we are still more or less comfortable in and with what we know and now experience. We are not fully comfortable and, therefore, keep hoping for something different, something better. We won't know when we have arrived at the different and better unless we go through the totally uncomfortable, the seemingly hopeless, the relative unknown and fully embrace what is yet to be revealed.

We make judgements - well or otherwise

While we were in St. Petersburg, Florida on our way to our winter destination, we took the time to see the Dali Museum. Wow! I am so glad we did. What a talent – though that mere word scarcely touches the truth. How can one person do so much in such wide variety in just one lifetime? And when you see and are mesmerized by these works of art, so many of which tell numerous stories within stories, how can you possibly make any kind of satisfactory assessment?

Salvador Dali did not complete his studies in art school because he judged his teachers were not competent to assess his ability/skill/talent. At the time, his teachers probably thought he was brash/crazy/naive/overwhelmingly vain. I wonder what any of them might say if they had the opportunity to review the whole body of his work now. I think both parties could claim some truth to their judgement of the other. Surely any judgement would be purely subjective as, I believe, most judgement is. An example; I think...

I remember an English literature mid-term test I wrote my first year of university. You need to know that English lit was never my forte. When the professor returned our papers, she had given me a grade of D; failure. When she afforded an opportunity for the students to respond, I commented that I did not see how I could have possibly failed the test. She offered that I did not give the correct answers. I countered that it would be impossible to give anything but the right answers since everyone of the questions on the test began, “In your opinion, what/why/how/who...?” The professor then offered that I had not given the answers she was expecting. To which – you've got it – I responded that she did not ask me to tell her what she was expecting to read. My paper got upgraded, begrudgingly, to a C. The final exam on the course contained no such questions. I did not think she was much of a teacher. She, no doubt, concluded I was not much of a student. Both very subjective judgements.

Some of what I saw in the Dali Museum impressed me tremendously. Some of it seemed just foolishness – not art. For example, a rotor-dial telephone with a lobster perched on top of it. Art? Some of the works I did not understand at all, though I was impressed by the practical skills displayed. And the whole collection together did make a positive contribution to my personal sense of well-being – which is a criteria I would use in assessing art as art.

I know enough about art to say “Wow!” when it is in me. I do not always get the “Wow!” when someone else sees it. Judgement is subjective. Pretty basic conclusion, I think, even when simply judging/assessing other people. You and I might not agree on what makes us feel/think/say “Wow!” about Jane or John Whoever. Our judgement may even be incorrect (according to ALL the facts). It is, however, what it is and depending on the particular individual – Jane or John or Salvador Dali – may have next to no impression on the other or an utterly life-changing impact. Perhaps if both parties to such assessments can remember it is all very subjective, very personal, drama or trauma would be less likely to ensue. Does this make any sense?  Comments?

Winter Reading - Much Pleasure, Some Work

So what will I be reading while I am in Florida? I usually take a large selection of novels with me on my winter trips. This year I have nine with me and we are fairly handy to a public library. I also have a couple of “professional” reads with me.

A quick glance at the novels would suggest that I am very much into murder, mayhem, and mystery. I have two Laurell K. Hamilton novels with me from the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. I've been into vampires since forever; long before it became fashionable. Hamilton's books combine all three of the M's along with rampant sensuality. I also have two Iris Johansen novels with me – the latest two in the Eve Duncan, forensic sculptor, series. My understanding is the series is to be completed with one more volume yet to come.

I will enjoy some of the latest writings from four other of my favourite authors: Scott Turow, Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler, and David Baldacci. If you are familiar with any of these authors you will see that they also have the three M's in common.

And the ninth novel is by a new author, to me. It is Oliver Bowden's Assassin's Creed: Revelations. It appears to be another take on the many stories/legends associated with the Knights Templar set in Constantinople during the time of the Ottoman Empire. I am not sure yet if it will fit fully into the three M's.

The two “professional” books have to do with some preparations I may be making to facilitate another go in St. Croix Presbytery for the training of licensed lay preachers (or Licensed Lay Worship Leaders as they are known in The United Church of Canada) beginning almost as soon as we get home in April. The Presbytery has requested that we proceed with the training if there is sufficient interest. I have made it known I need at least six students. I think I have five indications of serious interest. The two books I have with me: Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian and John Dominic Crossan's The Greatest Prayer. I have read about a third of Borg's book (before we even left St. Stephen) and find it quite fascinating. I've brought Crossan along because I know I will find it challenging – not the content so much as the writing style and academic prowess of the author.

So that is some of what I will be reading this winter. I will keep you posted about what I think of the various novels and any developments that arise from the Borg and Crossan reading. What are you reading this winter?

Cluttered lives

Clutter – inside and outside. What is it about things and people? This may be a recurring theme over the next few days. We are in a very nice side-by-side duplex on a fairly quiet street just off the road that leads to everything and anything you could imagine. The inside is very nicely appointed – in a way – but it is almost overwhelmed by stuff. Stuff that, as far as I am concerned, serves no useful purpose – not even to enhance the aesthetics of the surroundings. I have already moved several items into hiding to make more space. I am not sure there is enough “hiding space” to accommodate all the things I would move out of sight.

Then there is the outside. Again, some very nice gardens in the backyard and the front yard and the side yard. There is space. Jack approves! But there could be more space if there were not so many bushes and trees and plants and vines and flowers. All very pretty. A lot of them in bloom; which I do appreciate. And maybe they would all be okay if there was less outdoor furniture. There is the two of us and Jack in this unit and there is seating capacity for sixteen indoors and ten more outdoors. There are four different configurations of furniture – 2 in and 2 out – that allow for eating, having drinks, or whatever. On top of that, there are four wooden lawn chairs and a chaise outdoors. That uses up a lot of space that would be appreciated – by me at least – as just space.

And, in the midst of all the furniture and flowers outside there is stuff – some might call them artworks. I would be hard pressed! Maybe I am ranting about nothing of significance. Maybe it doesn't really matter. What do you think? Too much clutter in our lives?