Beautiful One

Reconciling our Inheritance: What I learned from Noah and his ark

2008-06-03T22:38:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday evening I went to hear Severn Cullis-Suzuki (David Suzuki’s daughter) speak at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and what she talked about has been on my mind this week. It was pretty challenging, it really got me thinking and so I want to share some of that with you.
Her talk was entitled “Reconciling our Inheritance: Finding opportunity in the challenges of the 21st Century.” For those of you who are familiar with Severn Cullis-Suzuki, you will know that like her dad, she is also a passionate environmentalist. Cullis-Suzuki did a great job of getting the audience to think about what it means to us when we hear the words “the environment.” And what she was trying to do was broaden our understanding of environmentalism and our understanding of our relationship as humans with the environment. This is an idea that I’m going to expand upon a little later in the sermon.
Cullis-Suzuki presented some of her recent research from her Masters degree in ethnoecology; this is the study of the environmental knowledge of indigenous or local peoples. Her research involved comparing what she calls traditional ecological knowledge with the western scientific study of ecology. And so she studied the traditional practice of harvesting seagrasses by the native peoples on Vancouver Island to determine whether or not this was a sustainable practice. When she first mentioned seagrass harvesting I have to say I was not quite sure what to expect. But what Cullis-Suzuki went on to present was really quite intriguing. Her research showed that this traditional practice of harvesting seagrasses and the methods used, actually had what we would call ‘scientific basis’ to them.
In other words, the traditional knowledge of these First Nations peoples meshed with our contemporary scientific knowledge of what this ecosystem, these seagrass beds, could sustain in terms of harvesting. And in fact, the methods used by these peoples actually resulted in these seagrass beds becoming more productive. The philosophy that guided the actions of these First Nations communities was what Cullis-Suzuki referred to as ‘Keep it Living.’
There lots of conclusions that could have been drawn from her presentation, but two things struck me after hearing her speak. The first is that this philosophy of ‘Keep it Living’ is an important one for us to take from First Nations Peoples. I also think that this is a very Christian philosophy – keep it living. I mean, Jesus was all about giving people life through healings and liberating teachings. The second thought I had was, “how do we as Christians reconcile our inheritance, that is, our traditional knowledge, with what we know about the world today because of science.” What follows in the sermon are just a few of my thoughts about how we might ‘reconcile this inheritance.’

When I saw the scripture readings for today, particularly the story of Noah’s Ark, shortly after hearing this lecture my brain was firing away. I was wondering, what does Noah’s ark teach us about our relationship with creation? What does Noah’s Ark teach us about facing the challenges of today’s environmental and ecological problems?
So let’s start with the Bible. When you’re telling a story it’s very important to set the stage. You need to give your audience some understanding of what the circumstances are behind what is about to unfold. So here are the circumstances or reasons presented for Noah’s story: The earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth.
The word corrupt appears three times in these two sentences from Genesis. I think that this is a pretty good indication to us that things in Noah’s time were indeed corrupt. And I think that corruption is an important concept for us to think about. What does it mean to say that the earth was corrupt? First of all, it certainly doesn’t seem to be a good thing. When I looked up corrupt in the dictionary some of the other words used to describe it included: debased in character; depraved; perverted; wicked; evil. All very negative words.
Yet, I find that for me, the most helpful way to think about corruption is not necessarily with these negative words but rather to think about a system. For example if you think about a system, something that has different pieces or parts working in relation to one another, such as creation. In a system all things have an intended purpose and role to play. And so, when a part of the system is either not performing duties as it was originally intended to, or it is performing them in an improper way, to the detriment of the system's original purpose; the system is corrupted. So, for me it is most helpful to say that in Noah’s time creation was corrupt because it had evolved in such a way that it was no longer functioning as God had intended it to.
God created the universe and all things in it with a divine intention of harmony, peace and love. We have visions and images of this divine intention throughout the Bible. The image of the lion laying down with the lamb. The image of peaceful co-existence in the Garden of Eden. The image of a place where God wipes every tear from our eyes. But in Noah’s time, this was not the reality. In Noah’s time, relationships between humans had become broken. We’re not given the details about what was actually going on but we are told that there was a lot of violence. Relationships between humans and the rest of God’s created order had also become broken. So much had God’s creation fallen out of order that God decided it was time something be done about it.
With a huge flood, the world as Noah knew it was destroyed. The created order was upheaved and tossed about. Nothing was left as it had been.

It’s pretty hard to be alive today and have no sense of the corruption of our own time. In many ways the state of our world is no different than the world that Noah knew. This is no Garden of Eden. Looking around ourselves we see broken relationships. There is a disconnect between us, how we live on this earth, and the rest of creation. We can see that the relationship between ourselves and the rest of the created order is not as God intended it to be.
As I mentioned before, one of the things Severn Cullis-Suzuki did in her talk was to ask the audience what kinds of things people might think of when they hear the word ‘the environment.’ Some of the answers she received included, “climate change,” “the rainforests,” “it’s not my concern,” “endangered species,” and so on.
As she pointed out, the one thing all of these answers have in common is that they envision ‘the environment’ as something external to humans. In other words, there is ‘us’ and then there is ‘the environment,’ somewhere out there. But is that really true?
In Saskatchewan we have a history of agriculture and of being connected to the land for our sustenance and survival. This connectedness was an essential piece of what enabled our ancestors to live and thrive in this land. The original peoples of this land, the First Nations people, also recognised the integral connectedness of humans with the land they inhabit. The indigenous worldview does not see humans as separate or apart from the natural world we inhabit.
The best way I can think of to explain this worldview is to tell you about the totem pole that I saw raised at the Vancouver School of Theology when I was visiting Vancouver last year. This totem pole, which was a gift to the school, is carved out of beautiful cedar wood and has images of dozens of different animals. It is called ‘All my relations,’ which to me illustrates that sense of deep relationship and connectedness to the natural world. My relations are everything that exists around me.
But this connectedness and interdependence is hard to comprehend once we are no longer close to nature or the natural world. Around the world there is a trend of people moving to cities. As a result, our connections and closeness with the natural world is being lost. I think about where I go to school in downtown Toronto and although there are many things I love about Toronto, it’s easy to forget how my life connects to the natural world when I’m in the middle of that concrete jungle. ‘The environment’ is not something external to us. Our wellbeing and health depends upon the wellbeing and health of our surroundings, of ‘the environment.’
When I think of this trend, the growth of cities, I find the word corruption to be helpful one. Corruption in the sense I defined before.
Cities are not a bad thing, they are not wicked or evil or perverse. Yet the reality about cities is that they don’t allow us to very readily see our connectedness and interdependence with the rest of creation. In cities we are cut off from our natural surroundings. We either forget, or never even knew, about how much we depend upon and are connected to the rest of creation – plants, animals, water, air, natural resources. We do not know ‘all of our relations.’ The harmony and peaceful co-existence God intended for creation is not a reality in our world.

I think it’s interesting that in the bible story God gave Noah some very detailed instructions on how to build the ark. God said to Noah, “Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.” God said, “This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks.”
This may seem like a small or unimportant thing for us. I mean, who really cares about these kinds of details unless you want to try and build your own ark. I don’t know. Maybe you do. But I think these details are important for another reason. What is significant about the fact that God gave Noah these instructions is that it shows God’s intentional action in Noah’s life. God showed Noah what had to be done in order to survive the destructive flood that was coming. God gave Noah the knowledge he needed in order to survive
Not only did God tell Noah how to build the ark, God also gave Noah the knowledge to know what needed to be taken into the ark before the flood came.
God instructed Noah that, “of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.” God said, “Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up.”
God’s purpose for creation in Noah’s time was that it continue to strive towards the goal for which God intended. God wanted human relationships to be mutual and loving. God wanted creation to exist peacefully and in harmony. God wanted creation to continue as it had been created. And so God also established a covenant with Noah. God promised Noah that there would never again be such destruction.

That promise can be hard to hear when we look around us and see the devastation that hurricanes and earthquakes are causing in Burma and in China. When we hear a story like Noah’s ark we have to ask ourselves whether we believe God actually does cause natural disasters like these. Personally, I hold strong to the covenant God made with Noah, the promise to never again cause such destruction. God doesn’t cause hurricanes, or earthquakes, or tornadoes or tsunamis. In fact, science is teaching us it is very likely that human impact on the earth can and does effect the frequency and severity of these natural events. It is us, not God, who have a negative impact on the natural world. God has made this covenant with us. We need to ask ourselves, are we holding up our end of the deal?
God cares deeply for the wellbeing of creation. How do we as God’s intelligent and creative beings share in this deep caring? Just as God told Noah how to build the ark and how to fill it up, I believe that the human capacity for knowledge, intelligence and wisdom is a gift from God. Our science continually reveals the mystery of God’s creation, but it also teaches us how we can make a positive difference in the world. Our scientific knowledge is a gift and we have been entrusted with this gift for the glory of God, and for the glory of God’s creation. God has created this marvellously complex, mysterious and wonderful universe, and God has graciously given us some capacity to understand small pieces of this world. So as science progresses and we gain greater understanding of how human life impacts the rest of creation, what is our responsibility?
I would say that part of this responsibility is to open ourselves to the reality that humans are just one piece in this web of life. We like to think that we are the most important part, because as humans we tend to think of ourselves first, but we need to remember that we could not survive without the rest of creation – without plants, animals, air, water and other natural resources. We need to remember that God didn’t save just Noah and his family – God saved the plants and the animals too.
Thinking about ‘the environment’ can be overwhelming but like with anything, we need to start with the small things. Something like buying from the farmer’s market here in town can help us to reconnect with our natural world, with ‘the environment.’ Meet the people who grow the food you eat. Find out where your food came from and how it got to the market. Or if you are able, grow some food in your yard or in a community garden. The act of planting, tending and harvesting is just one way of regaining some connectedness with our natural world in a practical way.
That’s just one example and I’m sure you can think of others. If you could only take away one thing from this sermon, I would like you to think about what actions in your life help you to connect with your environment, with nature. Just like Noah and his ark, what things can you do to keep God’s creation living?

is comfort what we really want?

2007-08-28T14:30:00.001-04:00

This weekend I finished reading Pierre Berton's, "The Comfortable Pew." Written in 1965 and commissioned by the Anglican Church of Canada, this book is: 'a critical look at the Church in the New Age' (that age being the mid-1960's). The scary thing is, most of his critiques of the church are just as applicable today, so I strongly recommend reading it if you're at all concerned about the current state of the Church and where we Christians are headed. I thought I'd just share a few quotes:

"In short, the maintenance of the religious establishment has become an end in itself and not a means, something more important than Christian principle, Christian action, or even real Christian brotherhood." (p.82) is it possible that if we focused on mission outside the walls of 'the church' as opposed to institutional survival that we would in fact succeed in surviving?

and

"When Christianity becomes part of the religious and social establishment, when it weaves itself into the national creed, it becomes an inflexible religion, suffering truly from a kind of 'rightness' that renders it disdainful of new conditions, mores, habits, or attitudes. It looks back upon the past rather than forward into the future, until it becomes itself fossilized, using symbols and language no longer appropriate for its place and time." (p. 101)i think that the church has in fact been making some strides in regards to this matter, but of course there is still plenty of room for improvement.

In a nutshell, Berton argues that the Church is out of touch with the world and by ignoring the reality of its context, it is ensuring that it remains irrelevant. Since when was Christianity about upholding the status quo? The mainline churches in Canada are undeniably declining in their membership and their cultural, social and political influence. How can we change our old ways to address this new reality in a way that is in tune with the spirit? Read this book...

The Church of Christ, in Every Age

2007-05-27T13:40:00.000-04:00

It's Pentecost today - a remembrance and celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the church that was to come. I went to church this morning after missing last week...it was my first time back at Advent Lutheran since early April and felt like a true homecoming. I feel so fortunate to have found such a warm and open congregation with whom to worship. The theme of today's sermon was "God is love" - a very basic message but one that we often seem to lose sight of. As Christians we are called above all else to love each other, whether friends, acquaintances or strangers and regardless of class, creed, background, etc. What does it mean to be "church" today or rather, how is the Spirit calling the Church to be/show God's love on this earth? An important and necessary question to ask ourselves on this day of Pentecost. God has sent her Spirit to be among us, to guide us and lead us in love. The church has a responsibility to model this radical love to all the world, particularly when it comes to honouring, embracing and standing in solidarity with our gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, transsexual and queer neighbours.

I wanted to share the lyrics of one of the hymns we sang this morning. This is a familiar one but the words had never struck me the way they did this morning. A very 'social gospel' themed hymn, I think we should sing this every Sunday to remind us of what it means to be a church in any age:

The church of Christ in every age,
beset by change but Spirit-led,
must claim and test its heritage
and keep on rising from the dead.

Across the world, across the street,
the victims of injustice cry
for shelter and for bread to eat,
and never live until they die.

Then let the servant church arise,
a caring church that longs to be
a partner in Christ's sacrifice,
and clothed in Christ's humanity.

For he alone, whose blood was shed,
can cure the fever in our blood,
and teach us how to share our bread
and feed the starving multitude.

We have no mission but to serve
in full obedience to our Lord:
to care for all, without reserve,
and spread his liberating word.

Words: Fred Pratt Green
Words © 1971 by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
For permission to reproduce this hymn, contact:
In US & Canada: Hope Publishing Company, www.hopepublishing.com
Rest of the World: Stainer & Bell Ltd., www.stainer.co.uk

Summer School

2007-05-26T11:29:00.000-04:00

This summer I am taking my first summer course ever: Canadian Political Theologies. I have been surprised (or maybe not) by how hard it has been to motivate myself for this course. I don't have to take any summer courses but this one sounded really interesting and is only a summer offering so I went for it. And it's not like I have anything more productive to do with my time. But it seems to come down to the reality that summer and school should just not go together. I need my four month break from studies...my head is not in the right space to do school in the 'off-season.' My motivation difficulties aside, this course is actually pretty interesting. We've been learning about the Social Gospel movement, Christian Socialism, Roman Catholic social teachings, etc. and the influence they have had on the Canadian political scene. As much as Canada has become a secular society, these movements have left an indelible mark on our political and social system - go CCF-NDP! I guess the question we are asking throughout this course is: what political role should/can the church play in our current context? Probably not a question many Lutherans might ask themselves...we don't have much of a history of political activism in Canada.

In other news, I have found a placement for my contextual education course next year. I will be spending my 8 hours a week at Toronto Urban Native Ministry, which I am very excited about. I don't know many more details at this point but I met with the man who will be my supervisor earlier this week and I think it will be a great placement. Hoping to learn lots about Aboriginal culture and Christianity, and also to discern ways in which I might play a role in the healing of the relationship between First Nations people and the rest of Canadians.

Back in the T.dot

2007-05-14T23:19:00.000-04:00

I have arrived safely back in Toronto, for all those of you who may have been concerned. And for those of who you didn't even know I had been away. I just spent two wonderful weeks in western Canada - 4 days in Vancouver and 11 in Regina. It was a relatively quick trip and I was most certainly not ready to leave Regina but I guess it had to be done. I took a walk this evening to explore my new surroundings a little more...there's a lovely bike trail that begins at the end of my block and I ventured as far as the Canadian National Exhibition and Ontario Place. It was actually a very beautiful night in Toronto. I have to admit that the sky was looking pretty nice...which is a big compliment coming from a prairie girl. Although it was no Saskatchewan sky.

Kind of fun...my flight this morning was delayed. Initially I was meant to fly to Calgary and then on to Toronto but when I showed up at the airport they offered to book me on a direct flight leaving at 11:20am. It meant a little more sitting around the airport (I was originally supposed to leave at 9:50) but I still ended up arriving in Toronto earlier than I would have otherwise. To make the deal even sweeter, I was given $7 of complimentary snacks on my flight because they had changed my flight - how great is that!

Well I'm still on Saskatchewan time but it's 11:30 here and I have commitments tomorrow so I guess I should try and sleep.

My Orange Room

2007-04-27T22:03:00.000-04:00

I finally made the move out of residence this past weekend to a beautiful townhouse just off the waterfront. Here are a few pics of my wonderful orange room.

settling in and winding down

2007-04-22T22:52:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. But how often do I say that...it's always too long between posts. But now that school is finished I have no more excuses. It's been a busy 8 months but it's nice to have these end points when you can look back and see how far you've come. All the new experiences I have had, the new things I have learned, the new friends I have made. I can read Greek now! (more or less). And things to look forward to as well. I've just moved into a really great place right on the harbourfront, I'll be starting a new job in a few weeks and next week I'll be in Vancouver for the CTSA meeting to begin planning for next year's theological students' conference. It's been a good transition and I'm looking forward to what's ahead. Life is good!

radical inclusivity

2007-03-26T10:11:00.000-04:00

Just last night I began to filter through the notes I had taken at the conference in Montreal earlier this month on theology and sustainability. I had big plans to write numerous posts to share all my new knowledge but somehow (well I guess I know how) life gets in the way. I only have 3 weeks of class left in this semester! A little scary but I have faith I'll make it through ;) Those of us who were at the conference will be sharing our experiences at school this week so I figured this would be a good time to start blogging my experiences as well...bit by bit.

The keynote speaker for this conference was a woman from New Zealand named Jenny Plane Te Paa. She was an incredible speaker - intelligent, passionate, realistic yet hopeful. She spoke about the need to build sustainable relationships with each other before or as we work for sustainability with(in) creation. While we cannot deny our past of colonialism, imperialism, exploitation and oppression, if we are to make a future for ourselves on this planet we must recognise that we are all in this together - we must practice radical inclusivity. We must also be in right relationship with God before we can be in right relationship with each other and the world. While the idea of practicing radical inclusivity is somewhat abstract Jenny grounded it somewhat by explaining that we need to look for common projects. In other words, what are those issues that affect us across cultural and socio-economic borders? Significantly, these are often environmental issues (and of course others). If we come together to work on a common project we create connections (and hopefully relationships) with others whom we might never have had any contact otherwise. What common projects can we work towards in Canada to build sustainability?

pool humour

2007-02-25T22:02:00.000-05:00

it may just be lifeguard humour but i think this video is hilarious...the really funny bit is near the end so don't stop watching too early.

Modern Day Monastic

2007-02-21T16:46:00.000-05:00

I have given up tv for Lent (especially downloads) and already I'm finding other outlets for my procrastination. But since I don't consider updating my blog procrastination I am going to make a concerted effort at posting a little more often. Currently I am 'procrastinating' from doing my readings for History of Christianity. Next week we will be looking at monasticism in the 4th century so that's what I've been reading about this afternoon...until I started surfing the net. But back to the monasticism, I am just floored at the parallels I see with our society. Or maybe I'm surprised at how much I can relate to these early monastics - those who were seeking solitude from the world.

The earliest monastics were hermits who simply wanted to escape the stresses and distractions of society. By isolating themselves they could dedicate more time to studying scripture and furthering their own spiritual growth. However, if they were 'successful' they would of course gain followers and their knowledge and spiritual discipline would gain them renown, sometimes throughout the empire. Soon they would find themselves being called back to the 'real world' to positions of leadership in the church (even against their wishes at times). Eventually monasticism became a communal enterprise and apparently many people became converts to Christianity because they were attracted by the ideals of simplistic living and service.

I find myself caught in this web between wanting to move to the country, far far away from the 'hustle and bustle' of the city life; to escape what sometimes feels like madness to be closer to nature and to God. But then I feel this call to ministry and service - something that of course cannot be done in isolation. Somehow it was very comforting to realise that my desire to cut myself off from the craziness of this world isn't a new thing. Although our globalised world is wholly different from the 4th century Roman Empire there were perhaps more similarities than we are sometime aware. And I know that no matter how often I try to escape the world I will be drawn back into it...and that's probably a good thing.

A Beautiful Thing

2007-02-13T19:28:00.000-05:00

I came across this story today and thought it was one of the most beautiful things. An eternal embrace. I think I'd like to be buried like this...instead of locked up in some box.
Here's the blurb from CBC:

ROME (AP) - Italy's recently discovered prehistoric couple will continue their 5,000-year-old embrace undisturbed through Valentine's Day and beyond.

The two skeletons unearthed last week will be scooped out of the earth together to undergo tests before going on display in the northern Italian city of Mantua, archaeologists said Tuesday.

This file photo provided by the Archaeological Society SAP in Mantua, northern Italy, on Wednesday, Feb, 7, 2007 shows a pair of human skeletons found Monday Feb. 6 at a construction site outside Mantua. (AP Photo/Archaeological Society SAP, ho)This file photo provided by the Archaeological Society SAP in Mantua, northern Italy, on Wednesday, Feb, 7, 2007 shows a pair of human skeletons found Monday Feb. 6 at a construction site outside Mantua. (AP Photo/Archaeological Society SAP, ho)

The pair, buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago in the late Neolithic period, are believed to be a man and a woman who died young, because their teeth were found intact. Archaeologists have hailed the find, saying that double burials from that period are rare and none have been found in such a touching pose.

The burial was unearthed on the outskirts of Mantua during construction work. The site is located just 40 kilometres south of Verona, the city where Shakespeare set the story of "Romeo and Juliet" and the discovery fuelled musings in the media about prehistoric love.

Archaeologists also said there was little doubt the couple's pose was born of a deep love, but warned it would be almost impossible to determine the exact nature of their relationship and how they died.

Mantua's archaeological office said in a statement Tuesday that, in some cases of the period, the wife would be sacrificed when her husband died and buried with him. However, the statement said that "at the current stage of research" there was no evidence that this was what happened to the Mantua pair.

After undergoing lab tests, the couple are to be displayed at Mantua's Archaeological Museum, the statement said.

The discovery was made in a region rich in Neolithic treasures, including some 30 burial sites, all single, as well as the remains of prosperous villages filled with artifacts made of flint, pottery and animal horns.

Montreal Here I Come!

2007-02-10T10:58:00.000-05:00

Well it has been rather a long time since I've posted on here. What can I say? I'm just getting lazy...and honestly, I've basically just been doing a whole lot of school work. But just this morning I woke up to find that I had received a wonderful email. A blog-worthy email you might say ;)

From March 3-9 the Canadian Theological Students Association is hosting their annual conference in Montreal on the theme of Theology and Sustainability. My school, Emmanuel College, pays for two student representatives to attend and I am one of the lucky chosen! So yes, I will miss a whole week of class but I can't wait. To spend an entire week exploring issues of sustainability in a theological context with other students from across Canada representing all different denominations...it's going to be pretty neat. And a whole week in Montreal! All around a very cool opportunity.

Apart from this exciting news, since being back in Toronto I've been really busy with school. Again this weekend I have three assignments to write. But only one more week of class before reading week. And then some time to relax ;) Or more likely, get ahead on some of my work for March because God knows, there is a lot of it.

i hope i am theologian...at least a little bit

2006-12-13T18:17:00.000-05:00

Speaking of theology. I'm in the midst of writing my very last paper of the semester: a 12-15 page paper for Systematic Theology. I'm trying really hard to get it done tonight because tomorrow I have an exam and Friday I fly to Regina. Time is short. The thing I find frustrating with a theology paper more than any other is that I never feel as though I've said everything that needs to be said or qualified every statement that needs to be qualified. I'm writing about the idea of a suffering God (hence the appropriateness of my theologian quiz results) and there is so much to say - I could write a dissertation. I know I'm not going to say everything that should be said, particularly because I'm running short on time. Maybe that's the real problem. I'm kicking myself for leaving this paper so late that I won't have time to do a bang up job as I'd like to. Frustrating. But at least I'm leaving town right after handing it in. That way I can literally leave it behind me and not think about it until January, when I'll have more chances to write substandard essays on really interesting topics. On that note, I think it's time to eat some food to energize myself for at least a few more hours of essay writing.

am i theologian?

2006-12-12T19:03:00.000-05:00

Leah had this posted on Rhett's site (www.rockstarpoet.ca) and I figured I had better also take the quiz. This thing is surprisingly accurate...at least I liked the description they gave me. I'll take it ;)

You scored as Jürgen Moltmann. The problem of evil is central to your thought, and only a crucified God can show that God is not indifferent to human suffering. Christian discipleship means identifying with suffering but also anticipating the new creation of all things that God will bring about.

Jürgen Moltmann

67%

Karl Barth

60%

Martin Luther

47%

Paul Tillich

40%

John Calvin

40%

Anselm

13%

Augustine

13%

Charles Finney

13%

Friedrich Schleiermacher

13%

Jonathan Edwards

Which theologian are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

The Little Towns of Bethlehem by John Terpstra

2006-12-08T12:42:00.000-05:00

For unto us
in Aklavik
is born a child, in
Attiwapiskat
Gaspe
Cornerbrook, Newfoundland.
And a son is given, in
Westaskiwin
Bella Coola
Flin Flon.
And the future of the whole earth
is placed upon the shoulders of the daughter of
Tuktoyaktuk
Tignish
Swan Lake.
And the place of their birth is called
Vermilion
Temiskaming
Nain
Picture Butte.

An angel of the Lord appears in the night sky
over Rankin Inlet, over
Iqaluit, saying
This shall be the sign: you will find the babe
wrapped in cast-off flannel, lying
on a bed of straw, in
Esther, Alberta
in a winter feeding stall
an open boxcar, outside
Kindersley, Saskatchewan.

And sure, several hours north
from Hogg's Hollow, just this side
Englehart
you see a one, sleeping in its mother's arms
on the soft shoulder, where their car broke down.
And the dark highway shines
imperishable life
while helping them
beneath these northern lights
and driving on, through
Cochrane
Kapuskasing
Hearst
past Nipigon, and on
to the little town of Emo
Rainy River Region,
and least among the little dots
that lie scattered as stars
and litter the map
of Northwest Ontario,
where they're expecting you,
as in so many other
of these least likely dots
this expectation
also is; in
Miniota
Pickle Lake
Ohswekan
Glace Bay.

For unto us.
For into all
this night
is born a child, this night
bearing each,
and the places of their birth,
and nativity is given
every name.

awoo

2006-12-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

sit back, close your eyes and drift away to...

http://radio3.cbc.ca/play/band/THE-HIDDEN-CAMERAS/Awoo/

thoughts after midnight

2006-12-07T00:23:00.000-05:00

tonight we had our final church and ministry course for the semester (it's a practical theology course where we look at different issues that arise from the context of ministry). one of our classmates, cindy, spoke about her experiences as a transsexual woman. and i've been sitting in front of the computer for a while now wanting to write some thoughts but still working things through in my head. it was a really neat experience. i've gotten to know cindy a bit over the semester but this was the first time i've heard her reflections on her own experience. and it was also helpful because she explained so much basic stuff like what is transsexual (transsexual is a person who chooses to live their life as the opposite sex. interestingly, transgendered is slightly different and is in fact an umbrella term meaning anyone who dresses as the opposite sex for whatever reason - transvestite, cross-dresser, drag queen, etc. so transsexual is a more specific category within transgendered).

the first thing that struck me from cindy's talk is how although she does not feel excluded or unwelcome by the church it is difficult for her to find things that speak specifically to her as a transsexual. she commented on the way we usually lump together lgbtq (lesbian/gay/bi/trans/queer) but that these are all very different. in fact, trans people are often excluded by the gay/lesbian community because in reality, their situation is very different. the thought had never even crossed my mind. cindy pointed to a couple of passages in the new testament that speak about the eunuch and used this as a symbol for the transsexual. matthew 19:12 made so much more sense in this light: For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can."

the most incredible part of cindy's story is that she was not a christian when she first came out of the closet. she started going to church because she wanted community. and she found community at the church (a united church congregation). as she says, "i came for the community and i stayed for the christ." in light of all the awful things that happen in the name of religion my heart burned within in me when she said this. and it wasn't that everyone in her congregation are raging liberals...they've just decided to make inclusivity a part of their mission.

what makes it all the more wonderful and exciting is that cindy is now starting theological studies in the mdiv program. it's such an incredible thing that the united church openly affirms the wholeness and worth of all people in this way. and if we believe that we are saved not by what we do but by god's grace alone...well...you see where i'm going with this. i guess there's a long way to go and a need for thoughtful and prayerful dialogue and reflection.

i leave you with a story from acts of the apostles:

26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. She had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in her chariot, she was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard her reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 She replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And she invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that she was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." 34 The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to her the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" 38 She commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized her. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on her way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Who's the Squirrel with the Bling?

2006-11-22T22:19:00.000-05:00

You must check out wondercafe.ca if you have not yet done so. It's the United Church's new hip website for those seeking "open-minded discussion and exploration of spiritual topics, moral issues and life's big questions." And while you're there be sure to take a look at EZ Squirrel as well as the Ad Campaign (lower left sidebar). I promise you smiles. And I'd love to hear what people think of this approach to 'spreading the news.' It's been met with mixed reactions round here.

Let's try this again...

2006-11-03T14:23:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted. I went to the CN Tower last week and tried uploading some pictures but was having some technical difficulties. So here's trying again. And I guess if you're reading this that means I've been successful! Just some of the different views from the top of the tower. Note the one looking down as I'm standing on the glass floor. I've also drawn a yellow arrow to show where I live. That view is looking north from the Tower. Anyways, still making out just fine here in Toronto. I can't believer there are only 5 weeks left in the semester. Still lots to do before then!

reading week

2006-10-24T20:44:00.000-04:00

So I definitely can't complain about getting a reading week in the middle of the fall semester. That's pretty sweet. But I really could do without this take home midterm for Systematic Theology. In theory it shouldn't be difficult (two 4-5 page essays) but in reality it's driving me crazy. I mean, I've picked my questions, re-read my notes, the pertinent parts of the text books and even some extra readings. But for some reason it just won't come together for me. I have partial outlines for each topic but can't seem to wrap them up. I actually think I'm just starting to psych myself out - I got a 79 on my first paper for New Testament and I was not happy with that at all. And I've heard that my Theology is prof is one of the hardest markers at TST. But I've decided that tomorrow I start writing. Cause I have so much other stuff to get done before class starts again next week that I can't afford to lose any more time. Let me know if anyone feels like reading some short essays before they need to be handed in on Thursday ;)

So reading week is going well. I have in fact been doing things other than reading. Tonight I went to a volunteer orientation for Out of the Cold - a homeless meal and overnight program. I've really been missing that connection and it will be good to have something to do besides school. That and my yoga class ;) I also went for lunch today with one of the girls in my program. So I'm not hitting the books too hard, but hard enough of course. Speaking of which, time to get back to work. Maybe a little Greek this time.

One more sleep until party time...

2006-10-18T21:14:00.002-04:00

Or reading week, whatever you want to call it. And yes, can you believe we get a reading week in the fall semester. These crazy Ontario universities. But I'm not complaining. I can really use the time to catch up on the massive amounts of reading I have. Somehow I just keep accumulating more and more each week. I should never have let myself fall behind at Thanksgiving ;) It's all been downhill from there. Speaking of Thanksgiving, I made it out to my aunt and uncle's place outside Waterloo for the most gorgeous weekend ever, and some really amazing food. I can't begin to articulate just how wonderful it is to have some family near by when I'm so far from home. So nice to see some familiar faces. Plus they live down the road from a bunch of Mennonite farms. My aunt and cousin took me for a little tour of the area and we saw people ploughing the fields with their team of horses, driving in their buggies, and the yellow road warning signs with an image of a horse & buggy on them! It's a really beautiful area. And driving through the Niagara escarpment was breathtaking.

On Sunday I went to a black baptist church with a couple of other Emmanuel students. What an experience. The music was pumping and the floorboards were shaking. It was great. The only downside was that the service didn't start until 11 and went for two hours, and I hadn't eaten anything beforehand. I was just a little hungry by the time we wound up the final hymn. Kind of interesting, the pastor is in my Greek course. He preached a very nice sermon on the topic of "Joy Cometh in the Morning." He had us turning to our neighbours and telling each other this and then the congregation repeating it back to him over and over. Definitely hit the message home.

Anyways, only one more day to go and I have freedom. Can't quite believe it's already the halfway point in the semester. But my thoughts are already on Christmas vacation...hopefully I can stay motivated for school until then.

Toronto Islands

2006-10-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

On Sunday afternoon I had the wonderful opportunity to escape the big city and check out the Toronto Islands. Just a short ferry ride from downtown Toronto. My friend Carolyn (a fellow Emmanuel student) took me for an afternoon tour. We managed to escape the rain. The skies opened up the minute we got to the islands but fortunately we found shelter until the rain let up. And the rest of the afternoon was gorgeous. I've included a few pics for your enjoyment.

The Toronto skyline from Centre Island.

In front of Lake Ontario. We thought we could see the other side. Or maybe our eyes were just playing tricks on us

These signs are posted as you leave the "clothing optional" beach. As it was a chilly day there weren't any sunbathers to be found. We too opted for clothing this time ;)

Sun streaming over lake Ontario. Of course the picture never does justice.

Whoever is not against us is for us

2006-09-27T22:06:00.000-04:00

Each week in my Church and Ministry course we look at the weekly gospel lesson from the lectionary. This week it was a passage from Mark (9:39-50). The disciples have just told Jesus that they saw someone casting out demons in his name and they tried to stop the man because he was not following Jesus. Jesus, however, tells them not to stop the man..."whoever is not against us is for us." This short story is followed by admonitions against committing wrongdoings.

Tonight we had a guest speaker - an ordained priest in the Anglican Church who is also Cree and a residential school survivor. Although he spent most of the class speaking of aboriginal history in general he also shared some of his own stories with us. He offered us a complex view of the role the residential school had played in his own life. Initially he only had positive things to say about this experience - he received a good education, he learned to play football and hockey. Later on in the class someone asked him about his own discernment process, how he had come to be an Anglican priest, and how he reconciled this with his identity as an aboriginal person. In this moment he shared with us that he had indeed suffered severe physical abuse while he was at the residential school but that he now sees these experiences as a blessing in his life. These experiences have allowed him to identify with those to whom he ministers. It was so impressive for me to see how he had been able to take such negative experiences and find goodness in them. Obviously not an easy task and many people struggle to make meaning of traumatic experiences in their own lives and to move beyond them - of course never forgetting (and nor should they be forgotten). In terms of discernment, he emphasised how it important it is to first know yourself. It's hard to imagine becoming a leader in a church that has caused you so much pain. But knowing who he is as a native person and who he is as a Christian allowed him to work through this process and to redeem his experiences. Invaluable insights.

Returning to Jesus' words: "whoever is not against us is for us." I wish this message was proclaimed more loudly these days. I think we're much more accustomed to hearing "either you're for us or you're against us." Wouldn't the world be such a better place if we adhered to the first statement. What would Canada look like today if our ancestors hadn't mistreated the aboriginal people as history has played out? We certainly can't say the reserves were created to protect us from these 'dangerous indians who were out to get us'; it simply is not true. What if we realised and truly believed that we're all in this together. Just because we have different cultures and traditions does not mean that we're in opposition. Our goals may not be 100% identical yet I would argue that most of us crave for similar ends. We want to live in peace, we want to be loved, we want the freedom to express ourselves and our beliefs without fear of judgement or reprisal. If only we were more blind to our differences and more able to recognise our similarities.

In this course our weekly assignment is to reflect upon what we have experienced in class. These are just my initial thoughts - rough indeed. It truly pains me that aboriginal rights don't seem to be a mainstream issue in Canada. We seem blind to the injustices that exist in our own backyard. Why are aboriginal rights not a more prominent social justice issue?

I Hart House

2006-09-19T20:25:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I should be doing homework right now but I'll get to it soon enough. I just wanted to write about my new favourite discovery at the U of T: Hart House. It's this gorgeous old building (and huge) that is now a student's services centre. They have a theatre, athletics facilities, a beautiful courtyard, and lots of other clubs and activities. The very best part is that it is 5 minutes from my dorm. This morning I had my first yoga class (10 beautiful more weeks of yoga left!). What a great way to start the day and real quality instruction. And after my Greek class this afternoon I tried out the pool. A 4 lane 25-yard pool just as I like ;) But it beats the Regina Y hands down because of its incredible vaulted ceiling. So much nicer to look at than water stained ceiling tiles (don't worry Y, I still like you too). Anyways, I have no excuse now not to lose those 10 lbs I put on while south of the border. I'll just need to pace myself with this cafeteria food (dessert with lunch & supper! - good thing I only eat 6 meals a week there). Well that was a nice break. Back to my reading...starting with more of Who Wrote the Bible?, which I totally recommend reading (it's very non-academic and well written).

my room

2006-09-16T21:52:00.000-04:00

The beginning of the end....

2006-09-15T09:23:00.000-04:00

Well not really, although I think I will indeed be working my butt off this semester. I've now been to all my classes and have my 4 day weekend! Which will actually be spent doing all the reading and assignments due next week because yes, there really is that much to get done. But it really shouldn't feel like work because I'm in love with the subject matter. At least that is my hope.

My first course is Intro to New Testament Greek which I have twice a week. So my most recent task has been trying to memorise the Greek alphabet using some homemade flash cards. I think I'm starting to catch on which is good because we're already expected to be able to "read" - that is sound out - greek words and passages. Our textbook is highly motivating though. After only 4 chapters we've already learned 26 words which means we can already read 11.65% of the New Testament. This is because there are actually only 5,437 total different words in the New Testament, and the word and (kai) occurs 9, 153 times and accounts for 6.7% of the total word count. So I guess I still have a ways to go before I can actually read and understand but it's encouraging none the less.

Wednesday was a longer day. I had Intro to the Old Testament in the morning. The profressor for this course formerly taught at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary (until her position was cut because of financial reasons - so now Waterloo doesn't even have an Old Testamant professor - which is kind of ridiculous and especially unfortunate). But it's nice to know I'm not the only Lutheran on campus. We have several former Lutherans but none that have stuck with it ;) I think this course will be a fair bit of review for myself but also learning some crucial things. Like the order of the OT books, historical timelines, etc. Plus exploring all the crazy stories which is half the fun.

Wednesday evening I have a Church and Ministry course. I'm still not entirely sure what will be covered in this course as we don't have any books or a syllabus. We are spending the first two weeks of class introducing ourselves. This means sharing as much or as little as you would like. Our first class was pretty intense. Hearing someone's story is such a powerful experience. And being able to recognise our shared experiences and our differences is so cool. Unfortunately it's a larger class (as are all of my classes - between 30 and 40 people) and so is not quite as conducive to sharing but it seems to be working. Next week the other half will be sharing their stories (myself included). One common theme that seems to be shared is the amazing courage people have to take this leap of faith and come to seminary. It doesn't seem to have been an easy decision for anyone I've met yet but we're all glad to be here. This class will also be a really good balance as the rest of my timetable is heavy on the academics.

My days become longer as the week progresses. Thursday I have 3 classes! We'll that's also because Greek is twice a week (Tues & Thurs) as opposed to once a week like the rest of my classes. Thursday mornings begin with Systematic Theology. I have yet to totally understand what the Systematic part is. On our syllabus the professor titled the course Intro to (Systematic) Theology. He hasn't yet explained why the parentheses but next week our class topic is "what is theology?" so perhaps that question will be answered then. This should be a fun class where we get to delve into those questions of who is god, why is there suffering, what does all this mean for our own life and action. We'll see what kind of answers I come up with at the end of the semester.

In the afternoon I have Greek once again. Yes, the alphabet is coming along. And I've also learned how to pronounce the diphthongs. Thursday night I have Intro to the New Testament at St. Michael's college (it's one of the Catholic colleges at the Toronto School of Theology). The professor seems really great - somewhat of a free spirit and very excited about the New Testament. It seems that this course won't be so much an intro to the books of the New Testament as an intro to the different methods of studying the New Testament. I think this will also be some review for me since I've taken a similar course in my undergrad, from an equally amazing but completely different professor, so I'm looking forward to getting some new insight and different perspectives. Provided I'm still awake by the time this class comes around ;) Thursday is a very long day.

And now my weekend begins. Today my plans include picking up some spider plants from a woman I met on craigslist, going to the bank so I can pay my U of T bill, and heading to the library to use their printer. Tonight is Foot Liberation Night at Emmanuel College. There will be an hour long Salsa class followed by a dance in the chapel. The great thing about this program is that it includes people of all ages and all life circumstances. This event is a family event and will have things for the kids to do. They will also have a cash bar for the rest of us ;) I think I will fit in here just fine, even if I am Lutheran.

Tomorrow it begins

2006-09-11T20:25:00.001-04:00

Well I've been in Toronto for one week now and I'm still surviving. I've eaten at the residence cafeteria 3 times now and it's actually really great. They have some pretty impressive vegetarian fare which makes me very happy - Thai curry, lentils, mixed bean casseroles ;) yummy. I don't think I need to worry about going hungry this year. I guess I've been keeping pretty busy since I last posted. I've done a lot of neighbourhood exploring. There is just so much here - anything you are looking for you can find here. And there are all these wonderful quiet residential areas just off the main streets. You turn the corner and all of a sudden all the noise disappears. It's a thing of beauty. My friends Michael and Mandy took me to their favourite sushi restaurant on Sunday night. Now I haven't had much sushi but I have to say that this sushi was very good. I would definitely go back. And apparently if you order for pickup you get 20% off your order, which I will have to take advantage of. What else did I do this weekend? A visit to Honest Ed's which is most certainly an experience. They blow Wal-mart out of the water, plus it's not Wal-mart. It's probably the gaudiest store you'll ever set foot in (flashing lights and giant signs everywhere) but it's Honest Ed's. You just go there for the experience (and some really good deals). Saturday night we also did a bit of star searching seeing as the Film Fest is on. We didn't have a whole lot of luck. Our biggest brush with fame was seeing the writer(?) who won the Academy Award for Crash. We were holding out for Heath Ledger but it just didn't happen for us. Today's big excitement is that I finally have a phone!!! Very excited about that. Let me know if you'd like the number and I'll pass it on. I like getting phone calls.

Anyways, I have my first class tomorrow. Greek in the afternoon. The rest follow on Wednesday and Thursday. I have to say I'm really looking forward to starting class. Exploring has been fun but I'm yearning for a little more structure in my life. What can I say? I like order ;) But not too much of course. So, I hope to have another post later on this week for all of you who are interested in my classes and so forth...

Toronto may be a big city...

2006-09-07T22:34:00.000-04:00

But as I was getting my student card this morning I ran into one of the 3 people I knew were in Toronto. John, one of the former chaplains at Campion College in Regina, is also in town beginning an MDiv at Regis College (also part of the Toronto School of Theology). I had been told he was in Toronto but knew nothing more than that. So what are the chances we would both be getting student cards at the same time. Strange how those things unfold. So far Toronto has been pretty awesome. But my next big challenge is to find a job. Keeping my fingers crossed that it won't be too difficult a task. It's kind of unfortunate that my phone won't be hooked up until Monday. That definitely adds an element of difficulty to the whole process. But we'll see what I can get done in the meantime. I just realised that I have a Thursday night course this semester which will interfere in my weekly Grey's Anatomy. We'll also have to see if there's any way to remedy this tragedy. I guess I'll have to befriend some unsuspecting generous stranger who owns a vcr. But I likely will survive even without my weekly fix of Grey's Anatomy. I might be grumpy but I'll survive.

I still have 4 days before classes start so hopefully I can keep myself busy until then. The Weakerthans and Metric are playing for free tomorrow evening as part of first year orientation. I also need to find some furniture to fill up my spacious suite. It's definitely a little larger than I was expecting. Part of my mission this weekend will be to find some decent thrift shops. Until then...

Me & the Boys

2006-09-03T23:29:00.000-04:00

Our Final Retreat

2006-06-18T12:14:00.000-04:00

Rainy Days and Fridays...

2006-06-09T15:49:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here on a Friday afternoon staring out at the pouring rain, thinking about how I rode my bike to work this morning and if this keeps up, well, I may have to rethink how I'll be getting home. I just finished up house/dogsitting for a few days. How wonderful it was to have air conditioning (ours in on the fritz and apparently someone is coming to check it sometime). But it's good to be home again too. I went to hot yoga last night with the roomies. Why hot you ask? For many reasons, foremost being the room is heated to body temperature so you sweat a whole lot. It feels amazing. My roommate Lauren managed to get each of us a one-month pass to the studio so I'll be yoga-ing it up this month and see how flexible I can get. The rain is tapering a little...maybe in an hour it'll be okay to bike. I'll be so wet anyways. But rain is beautiful...and it makes me happy...looking forward to a weekend of wedding showers and speaking to youth about homelessness.

Since when is armed robbery just across the line from "having a good time"

2006-05-26T09:13:00.000-04:00

I was watching So You Think You Can Dance last night following which the headlines for the 10 o'clock news came on. Top story was about an armed robbery at a Smoothie King (which looked suspiciously like the one across the street from my work). Sure enough I was right. So apparently the story goes that on March 30th, 5 local highschool seniors hatched some plan to rob this store and in fact did so, with a gun. (News report can be read at: http://www.nbc4.com/news/9275046/detail.html

These comments from DCist.com illustrate how ridiculously this crime is being treated by those in the community:
"Whitman Students Charged In Robbery: "There's a fine line, sometimes, between going out and having a good time and committing armed robberies." Those words of wisdom come courtesy of Maryland State's Attorney Doug Gansler. He was referring to the five Walt Whitman High students who were charged yesterday with the armed robbery of a Smoothie King. NBC4 brings us the details of the alleged robbery: the kids netted $463 and celebrated at Pizzeria Uno's. Other key quotes from the story include their principal being "disappointed" that the students made "idiotic decisions", and the aforementioned Gansler lamenting that the crime was committed by young men from "good families" with "bright futures". Hmm... What's that noise? Could it be the sound of affluent white kids getting probation?"

My sentiments exactly. If the same crime had been perpetrated by 5 black kids do you think there would even be any discussion about how to proceed with prosecution? Simply ludicrous.

feministing

2006-05-24T11:20:00.000-04:00

I recently disovered this website. This is after I just finished reading the book Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy. I've been thinking about feminism a lot the past week or so. What does it mean? How is it relevant? There's no doubt in my mind that it is still relevant today...but it is different than in past generations. Because, like anything it evolves along with society and culture. In her book, Levy talks about the "raunch culture" that many women have embraced and claim as liberating for women. In other words "girls say they're tired of acting "hot" just to get a man, and scoff at the notion, relentlessly pushed in magazines, movies, music and on MTV, that acting raunchy -- stripping or imitating porn stars in their dress or behavior -- is a feminist act that empowers women." (see http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05285/586648.stm). I think this raises a lot of questions...and probably a few eyebrows, and ultimately is very problematic. I personally wonder how this could be liberating for women. Being in control of one's own sexuality is crucial. But how does/should one live this out? To say that acting raunchy is an act of empowerment for women just doesn't sit right with me. I get the impression that those who espouse raunch culture as liberating for women do so at the exclusion of other expressions of sexuality and empowerment for women, which is not cool. When I think of feminism I think of the freedom to be what you wish, what is fulfilling for you personally (this should go for both men & women). If a woman chooses to stay at home and raise a family that is her choice. If a woman wants to dedicate her life to a career that is her choice. The key word here is CHOICE. True liberation comes when one can make a decision about how to live his or her own life without societal or cultural constraints. While this definition raises a whole slew of others questions I think it is a necessary starting point...and the thinking continues...

If only I were Jew-theran

2006-05-17T11:30:00.000-04:00

Once again it's been awhile since I've posted on here. I guess I should just stop apoligizing because it will be a recurring theme. I had a great weekend. On Friday I attended my first Shabbat service (http://tikkunleilshabbat.blogspot.com/). I've always been intrigued by Judaism but this was my first non-academic experience with Judaism. It was incredible! I went along with my good friend Ilana who is in Avodah (the Jewish volunteer corps). The service was so beautiful. It was very informal, just a gathering of 20-30 20-something's in a room sitting in a circle. Different people took turns leading and the majority of the service was sung (all in Hebrew!) accompanied by guitar. It was so inspiring and powerful to hear different people explain their own feelings towards certain parts of the liturgy. They also spent a lot of time explaining the different pieces of the service because many of them come from different backgrounds. It was just very cool - did I say that yet? And afterwards we all partook (is that even a word?) in a vegetarian potluck. To finish off the evening, Ilana and I and her friend Josh went out dancing. Makes me wonder why we don't have church on Friday or Saturday nights ;)

I also had a busy weekend with speaking engagements. I haven't had to speak in public in over a year and I got to do it twice in one weekend. I had a blast. On Saturday night I spoke about homelessness at a youth event at a local church (http://www.wilsonlaneyouth.org). I was very impressed that the kids listened seeing as they were really there to hear some local bands play. Good music...brought back good memories of high school (glad they're memories though). And on Sunday morning it was my turn to share about my work placement at the church that sponsors my program. I made sure to do a mini sermon ;) And I think it went over alright. If you're interested...

One of the aspects I enjoy most about my work at Bethesda Cares is the time spent in our drop-in center. The clients we see are predominantly male, the majority of whom are either alcohol or substance addicted and/or mentally ill. This has been my first experience working directly with this population and while initially I found myself outside of my comfort zone it has truly been an amazing learning experience. My comfort zone has increased by leaps and bounds.
In our office, it is always amazing to me what I witness each day. It is a community in its own right. Our clients are homeless; most live on the streets or in emergency shelters. For many of them, our office is a safe place for them to be and for many of them our office is their home – something which I need to remind myself of on an ongoing basis. As in any community, there are good days and there are less good days. Many days are filled with good conversation - sports, music, current events – the knowledge base that fills our office never ceases to amaze me. We also have days where there are disagreements and heated discussions. When you have an office full of people, many of whom are mentally ill, suffering from the effects of their addictions or simply just tired from spending night after night on the street, there are bound to be conflicts. And while we must have some rules in order to keep the community functioning, there is a tremendous amount of forgiveness. Many of these individuals have burned all of their bridges with family and friends and truly have nowhere else to turn. As such, we try to be a constant in their otherwise chaotic lives and give our clients as many second chances as they need, of course within reason. We always ensure that there is a basic level of respect held for both clients and staff. I think one of the biggest lessons I have learned over these past few months is the invaluable importance of human connections - and developing connections with a population that I otherwise would have very little contact with. These homeless individuals are no different from anyone else – they have their problems like the rest of us – the only difference is that society places them on the margins because of their differences.
I am always struck by how frequently the poor are mentioned in the Bible. Jesus continually reminds us to remember the poor. He says “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.” I like to reverse this phrase so it reads “You will not always have me, but you will always have the poor.” For me, this is a calling for us to be with the poor. Not something that is done easily in our society – we have busy lives and lots of commitments. For this reason I have been so grateful for this year where I can spend time “being with the poor.” Not in an act of charity but an act of mutuality – or so I hope. I have learned so much from my clients – about their lives, about relating to other humans, about connecting with other humans, and about my own strengths and weaknesses. It is my hope that I am able to offer something in return, even if it has only been a listening ear.

May Days

2006-05-02T12:15:00.000-04:00

I knew this year was going to pass quickly, but when it actually happens it's still a bit of a surprise. Only 3 months and a bit to go before my time in DC ends. I celebrated my 24th birthday last Friday! The celebrations were pretty low key but just what I needed. I had lunch at my favourite spot in Bethesda - McCormick & Schmick's for their Friday blue plate special: Fish Tacos. In the evening the roomies and I ordered in sushi and tuned into Austin Powers for a Friday night movie. I'm not quite sure how it happens. For the last three birthday's we've celebrated in our house there have been big plans to go out and party. And then the day arrives and we decide to be bums and stay in. We're such awful party animals.

I spent the weekend dog/house-sitting for a couple at the church. Magnus, the dog, made sure I got my exercise in giving him plenty of walks. And I got my fill of cable tv for a while - I've become a complete Food Network convert - so long TLC. On Saturday I headed down to Cleveland Park and treated myself to a pedicure & manicure (well, thanks to mum). And took a stroll through the National Zoo. It's just so beautiful here already - I'm going to miss DC spring so much.

And work continues on as usual. Our clientele has transitioned however from being predominantly addicts and alcoholics to the mentally ill. Which makes for some interesting occurences at work. Yesterday we had a client try to throw a chair at another. This morning however was quiet, fortunately. This afternoon I have a meeting with the pastor from one of our supporting congregations. As a special project I'm setting up these meetings to touch base with our supporting congregations and to look for ways in which we can collaborate. It's nice to have something a little different to keep me busy - a big change from working with our clients.

I'm so lazy...

2006-04-17T16:30:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been back in DC for over a week now and I've been doing some cool things. But I just can't seem to get it together to post anything on this blog. Sorry for those of you who actually do read this and notice when I don't post anything. Anyways...

Last Monday was a big day here in DC. I made it down to the immigration rights rally at the Capitol - I even got to leave work early to bike down there. A few observations...there was a sea of American flags (first rally I've been to here where it was so predominant)...the crowd was by and large hispanic (you might have seen the odd caucasian or african american). It was very cool, Si se puede! And lots of Spanish. I don't know if anyone has been following the immigration debate down here but there could be some pretty big implications if certain bills pass into law.

Easter was nice here. Lots of church. I attended a Christian seder meal on Maundy Thursday. The first part of the service was based on a traditional Jewish Seder, followed by a full meal and then a Eucharist liturgy. I also made it to my first Easter Vigil on Saturday at the Franciscan Monastery. Also my first Catholic service ever, can you believe! It was nice though. With passing the light and the different readings. But the most amazing part had to have been the setting - the monastery is beautiful. They have wonderful gardens full of tulips (yes, everything is green and blooming here!) and a beautiful sanctuary. And Sunday morning I had my wonderful Lutheran Easter service complete with Christ the Lord is Risen Today, breakfast and brass quintet. A very different Easter but good all the same.

My Date with the President

2006-03-13T21:19:00.000-05:00

Would you believe it?!? I got to see Bush give a speech last Thursday. Wasn't that my lucky day ;) Joan (the social worker from BCares) and I got to go to a conference put on by the White House for Faith-Based Community Initiatives. This faith-based thing is pretty big here and I'm not quite sure what I think about it. I've been observing this weird reverse separation of church and state phenomenon. The Bush administration is handing off what I would think to be one of their duties as government, the delivery of social services, to the churches. Meanwhile, they are incorporating all this religious language into their speeches and such. I went to a similar conference put on by the State of Maryland at the end of February where the incorporation of religion (specifically Christianity) into politics was especially blatant. I think it's kind of scary. Please let me know if anything like this starts going down in Canada! It bothers me that churches are being burdened with providing social services. I realise that the church has a long history of doing this but to make it a duty of the churches and then to have them compete for grant money so that they can continue to get "great results" just seems wrong. Anyways, the speech was pretty awful. Bush quoted some statistics about how teen pregnancy is declining, abortions are declining (could that be because they are being outlawed?!?), etc. But he made no mention of homeless, poverty or dropout rates which are all abysmal and are probably the three biggest social problems currently. He also made some really bad joke about how he knows what it's like to live in temporary housing. But he did have some good news. His government is working on some initiatives. For example, they are want to give tax breaks to those individuals and corporations who donate food to the hungry. Can you just hear the applause? We did meet some cool people though. Like Ahmed who works for the Muslim Political Affairs Council on Capitol Hill. He was pretty worked up about the lack of diversity among those attending. He wanted to know if we could spot any other Muslims. How do we know what Muslims look like? Even he didn't look particularly "Muslim." But I really appreciated having him at our table. I don't think I would have been so aware of the very strong Christian focus of this faith-based conference. You could pick out the odd Jew but otherwise it was white Christian. I guess that reflects something...but I don't know if I want to explore that thought further.

Anyways, here's a link to a short article by the Associated Press about the conference.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031006D.shtml

How Time Flies!

2006-02-26T19:54:00.000-05:00

I can't believe February is nearly over! This month has just flown by. And it seems that this year is quickly passing too. Hard to believe that I've been in DC for almost 6 months now. Starting in March we will be having next year's prospective volunteers coming for their interviews. It kind of feels like the beginning of the end...well, maybe that's a little extreme. But I really like DC and there's still so much going on here. Last week I went to see the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Corcoran with my housemate Katelyn. It was so neat to see some of those famous works of art in living colour. And I was also impressed with some of his other work. He really did have a diverse range of work. Very cool. I also got to do a little baby sitting this past weekend at the Lutheran church we've been attending. The parent's group met after church and my housemate Lauren and I got to be the lucky sitters. Little kids are so wonderful, and we really lucked out as there were no poopy diapers or crying eyes. Tons of energy though. Hmm, what else. I've been busy keeping up on the olympics here. I must say that the NBC coverage isn't quite the same but they did air the women's hockey gold medal game, so I can't complain too much. This past Monday was President's Day, aka no work day. So I took a nice little bike ride down through Rock Creek Park. DC is really an incredibly beautiful city. There is so much green space. I went on a ~20 mile bike through the city but for most of the time you would never have known you were in the city at all. Lots of beautiful bike trails here.

So weird story. We were sitting around tonight watching tv when the doorbell rang. Our neighbour from across the street, whom we have never met, was at the door with a bucket full of oysters. I think he was maybe offering to give us some but either he was drunk or very socially inept because it was really difficult to figure out what he was intending. He was telling us about the oysters, how he got them, if we knew how to open them, then saying "stupid idea" multiple times. Very awkward and strange. So he just took his oysters home. Weird.

Well it's Sunday night and that means Grey's Anatomy will soon be on and I must be off. Until next time...

Church Cancelled!!

2006-02-12T08:37:00.000-05:00

Unbelievable but true. Who's ever heard of cancelling church? Welcome to DC. We got dumped on last night, for the first time since December. And it's so beautiful. Everything is white. Now if only I had my cross-country skis here I'd be 100% content. I had a nice week here. Thursday night Katelyn and I went with a couple from the church to see Rosa Passos (a Brazilian singer) perform. This couple had been in the Peace Corps and spent quite a few years living in Brazil and actually knew this woman's sister from the time they spent there. She was really wonderful. Unfortunately she spoke very little English. Unfortunate because I'm sure she was very funny and interesting. She actually spoke very little during the performance but she really didn't need to. Such a beautiful voice, just her and her guitar. Going back, on Wednesday we watched "What the Bleep do we Know" for community night. I'm not quite sure how to describe it other than interesting. It explored the relations between quantum physics and spirituality. A little too new agey for my liking but it sparked some good thoughts (ie. what is reality, how much control do we have over our external world, addiction to our emotions, etc.). Definitely a movie one needs to see more than once to get everything that's being said.

Looking forward, my agency is moving this Friday back to our previous location. Fortunately it's not too far, only a few blocks away, but this whole packing and moving thing is a little crazy. I'll be glad when it's over. And I'll finally have my own space and my own computer! Which will be very good.

But I think it's time to go and enjoy this snow. By which I mean, shovel the driveway. Boy, I sure do miss my brother ;)

Thankfulness

2006-02-01T09:36:00.000-05:00

I found out this week that I should have applied for a Social Security Number when I first arrived but somehow I didn't realise that. I got paid and that's what's important of course so I never thought much of it. Apparently I now have to file income taxes, for which I will need an SSN#. So yesterday afternoon I took a trip over to the social security office in Wheaton. What an experience! When I arrived I got my number (A84) and since it was standing room only, found a spot by the wall to hang. After waiting a few minutes they finally called the next number - A34! Needless to say, I spent a little while at the SS office yesterday afternoon. Fortunately I had a book to help pass the time. It was a neat experience though. When I first arrived I was one of two white people in the entire office. I heard at least 4 or 5 different languages being spoken. And I was really impressed with how patient both the employees and the clients were. It could have been total chaos and you could tell that people were tired of waiting, but everyone was so civil and respectful. There were a couple of families who came in and didn't speak english but others who were waiting helped translate. For one man who spoke only Spanish (which isn't uncommon here) and another family who looked like they were North African (I have no idea what language they spoke but there was a woman waiting in the office who was able to translate). It was really cool to see these people working together and helping each other out when you know they must be so tired and annoyed. After more than a 2 hour wait my number was finally called. I went up and very nicely, the woman told me that in addition to my visa and my passport, I also needed a supporting letter from my sponsoring agency (which I did not have). Not at all surprised, I'm now waiting for this letter so I can head back to Social Security to wait once again. Frustrating, but it was really humbling to walk in the shoes of my clients. They face this daily when trying to access services to meet their needs. It really is incredible what people have to go through in order to survive.

2006-01-27T08:53:00.001-05:00

Looking cool after a nice long ski

2006-01-27T08:53:00.000-05:00

Attack Dog Abby!

2006-01-27T08:50:00.000-05:00

Skiing at Duck Mountain - December 27-28, 2005

Election Fever in DC

2006-01-23T11:51:00.000-05:00

Well it's finally over. Too much excitement for me. I headed down to the Elephant & Castle last night to join every other Canadian in watching the election coverage. I also brought along some of my American friends for the cultural experience, and of course, the $2 Molson beers. It was pretty wild there. Lots and lots of people. The Conservatives had a pretty vocal cheering squad but I feel that there was pretty good representation accross the board. We had our own little NDP cheering section. And one woman even had a "Parti Vert" sign! It so happened that I met a fellow from Balgonie there so we shared a few Saskatchewan stories, Corner Gas and such. It was a really great time, and I can't say I'm all that unhappy with the outcome. It was really nice to see the NDP make some gains, and I think it was time for the Liberals to be humbled. It should be pretty interesting to watch the Canadian political scene for the next little while.

Long Weekend in January

2006-01-17T11:52:00.000-05:00

I think that having a long weekend in January is a wonderful idea. Particularly when it is in celebration of the life of such a remarkable man as Martin Luther King Jr. It was a good weekend in DC! Saturday I met my friend Ilana for lunch at a French crepe restaurant - sooo good. We had a great time catching up - she got to go home to San Diego for the holidays - must be nice. Although I really can't complain, I do like Saskatchewan winters, especially when I only get to spend a few days there. The rest of Saturday was pretty much a loss. I was really tired so I went home and had a nap. It was also really nasty outside - crazy Saskatchewan-like wind all day. Our garbage cans were blowing all over the place. I spent Saturday night watching the US figure skating nationals and drinking vanilla vodka and coke with two of my roommates.

Sunday was a much more active and productive day. Valentine, Katelyn and I headed off to services at Christ Lutheran Church in the morning. I love that church so much - and not only because of it's name! The people are so welcoming and the services are really good. In honour of Dr. King's birthday they read 3 excerpts from his writings instead of a sermon. It was very touching and powerful. Sunday afternoon was the inaugural meeting of the Pre-clergy book club at my friend's Carolina's and Sylvia's. A bunch of us - all seminary bound at some point - are planning on meeting monthly to shares thoughts on whatever it is we've decided to read for that month. It's a good group. Lutherans definitely represent, one Episcopalian, one Presbyterian, one UCC and one Reform Jew. I'm excited! This month, in honour of Martin Luther King's birthday we've decided to read "Why We Can't Wait" by King, "Jesus and the Disinherited" by Howard Thurman (an important influence in King's own life) and a short essay by King as well. A fair bit of reading but it should be good discussion. And these topics are right up my alley.

Sunday night we went back to CLC for the monthly Taize service and potluck. Did I already say that I love that church? I think we've found a really great community there which is just really exciting.

And another week begins. I'm holding out for this coming election. I've found a place in DC where they will be broadcasting the CBC election coverage!! And also having specials on Canadian beer. Probably close to the best combination ever. I'll feel very close to you all up there in Canada watching the election in shared time.

back in town

2006-01-10T12:53:00.000-05:00

Well it's been some while since I've put anything up here. I definitely caught slack for that when I went home for Christmas so I apologise to those who actually do read my blog. I appreciate you ;)

I arrived back in DC on January 3rd after 10 days in beautiful Saskatchewan. Very nice to be back home, I got in a little cross-country skiing, lots of family time and even some friend time. But it is good to be back in the US again. I have to say I'm getting used to life here...it's pretty alright ;) My return flights were fine. Short layover in Minneapolis, long ride home from the Baltimore-Washington airport. After a bus ride, two metro rides and another bus, I finally made it to my home sweet home, two and a half hours after landing. And of course, right back to work on Wednesday. It was almost as though I never left...things were pretty much the same although quieter than before Christmas. My agency will be moving locations soon so that's the next big event at work. We have yet to set the moving date however, so much is still up in the air.

My first weekend back was wonderful. Saturday was pretty packed with a staff/board retreat from 9-1 at the Bethesda Country Club (very ritzy - but hey, this is Bethesda). In the afternoon I went for a nice bike ride down to the harbour (yes, a bike ride in January - and not through snow). The weather here has been gorgeous. Yesterday it hit close to 15 degrees celcius! Not typical for January, even in DC. And Saturday night my housemates and I checked out the Wizards basketball game against the Boston Celtics. Not too much action at the start but the last quarter was pretty thrilling. It came down to the last few seconds with Washington down by one and two foul shots (both of which were made! - winning the game for Washington 103-102). Afterwards we went home and celebrated by stripping our dried out fired hazard of a Christmas tree. All in all a pretty good day. And Sunday, of course, was our day of rest. I went to church, came home, and didn't leave the house again that day. It was a beautiful thing. And again, a new week has started. Hopefully more adventures to be had. I will say I'm looking forward to my long weekend!

Beautiful Sunday

2005-11-20T23:23:00.000-05:00

Today was wonderful. Actually, this whole weekend was pretty alright. I did a lot but also managed to find time to rest/rejunvenate. It's a rare occasion when you find that right balance. Saturday morning was Help the Homeless walkathon in DC. My agency was a beneficiary of this so we were all out walking in support of. Walkathons and demonstrations and such take on a whole new meaning and scale when in a city so big. There must have been around 20,000 people for this walkathon and the weather & route were beautiful. We began in front of the Capitol building and walked around the tidal basin, past all the memorials. Not a bad way to start off a Saturday morning, walking 5K with 20,000 of your closest friends. But I guess it took it's toll on me cause I had the sweetest nap that afternoon. Our house is still freezing (it's about 13 degrees in here right now) so laying on my bed in the sun with the block heater on was a nice way to spend the afternoon. It also worked out well because my housemate Marissa and I decided to take in the new Harry Potter movie (it didn't finish until 1:15am!). But it was wonderful. I can't wait for the last book to be out!! Needless to say, I slept in a little this morning. Didn't make it to a morning service but headed over to the church for the after service forum on Energy and social justice. One of the speakers was a rabbi who is the director of the Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light ("a non-profit initiative that helps congregations, religious institutions and others in the Washington, D.C. area work for a more just, sustainable and healthier creation by reducing the threat of global warming"). They have a website to be checked out: http://www.gwipl.org/. More interesting food for faith/political thought. And because it was such a beautiful sunny day I decided to take advantage of the weather and get in a bike ride (I'm still pinching myself - to think it's November 20th and I'm still riding my bike and not freezing). I tried out a new trail which just happened to take me past the huge Mormon temple just north of here. So of course I had to stop by and check out their visitor's centre. I don't really know what I was expecting but of course I was immediately met by a very nice woman who told me all about the good news of Mormon. The centre was set up like a museum with different displays and such like of Joseph Smith discovering the golden tablets. It was pretty cool though (I know that Rhett would have loved it!). And so I ended my beautiful Sunday by attending the monthly Taize service at Christ Lutheran Church in DC with 3 of my housemates. Followed by a very tasty Tex-Mex potluck meal. Now, I look forward to a shortened work week and my second Thanksgiving of the year. It will be good.

Remembrance/Veterans Day Weekend

2005-11-13T20:54:00.000-05:00

Another weekend done and gone and a beautiful one it was. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today. And it was made even better by the fact that I got to do one of my most favourite activities - canoeing!! The first time since the beginning of July. One of the women on the volunteer corps board has this tiny 16 pound canoe and together we went out to the canal and had a little paddle & walk. Of course we can't both fit in this tiny canoe together so we took turns. This woman is wonderful though. She's in her early 80's, recently widowed and oh so active. If I can only be as active as she is when I'm her age, I'll be so happy. Anyways, I'm already having dreams of next summer...so many canoeing possibilities!

Our poor beautiful house has been having some issues lately. Fortunately the weather has been nice or else we'd be in trouble. We're having furnace/thermostat problems. That is, they aren't working. It doesn't matter how high the thermostat is set (even 90 degrees - fahrenheit of course) the house won't heat up past 60 degrees (which is like 15 degrees celcius). Not so much fun when it's like 5 or 10 degrees outside and close to freezing at night. But someone's coming to look at the furnace on Friday and I have a block heater in my room so at least I'm set - it's just the rest of the house that must suffer. Our washing machine also decided to quit this weekend. Probably cause it's too cold ;) Anyways, it's only stopped agitating during the wash cycle but will still rinse and spin. So if we want we can at least soak and rinse our clothes. Again, we're too lucky as a new washer will likely be installed within the week. But our house always keeps us on our toes.

One of the more interesting things I did this weekend was go the National Holocaust Memorial Museum on Saturday. If you're ever in Washington, I highly recommend it. Not easy subject matter but so well done. It was just a wonderful way to honour Remembrance Day weekend. The permanent exhibit of the museum is on 3 different levels and you start at the top and work your way down. The top level is about the Nazi rise to power, anti-semitism and events leading up to the beginning of the Holocaust. The middle level is about 'the Final Solution' and the lower level looks to the future while also highlighting some of the heroes of the resistance movement. It's a lot to take in but I found there were certain visuals that really made an impact. The museum has a lot of video footage of the concentration camps and newsreels of the time. Also a lot of artifacts from the camps. You can go inside one of the cattle cars and they have displays filled with some of the artifacts that were taken from the people before they were killed. It really made for some good reflection for myself. Realising how we continue to be guilty of silence even today as there is so much violence, hatred and genocide occuring around the world. Near the end of the exhibition they had one quote posted that I had heard before but it never really hit home quite the same way:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out.

- Rev. Martin Niemoller

An important thought for us to take seriously. It was a very sobering experience.

November 6th...high of 24 degrees Celcius!!

2005-11-06T23:06:00.000-05:00

Well it's kind of late on a Sunday night, particularly because I have to work tomorrow but I figure I should write now while the weekend is still fresh in my mind. And it was a good weekend so I want to share ;) Saturday night my housemate Valentine and I went and saw the memorials which were incredibly beautiful. I had never seen them in the daylight either but by night they were gorgeous - all lit up. Both the Vietnam and Korean War memorials were especially moving. The Vietnam memorial is very simple. Just two long walls that meet to form a corner filled with the names of every soldier who died during the war. The names are grouped chronologically by date of death. I think perhaps the fact that the Vietnam war is more recent and because there are many parallels to made with the current Iraq war (or so I think) make the memorial particularly powerful. Lincoln & Jefferson were also very nice by moonlight...classic DC attractions.

The highlight of my weekend though was definitely the church service I attended this morning. Valentine and I (again) were planning on attending a service at Luther Place (a Lutheran Church in downtown DC) but when we arrived there for 11 there was a sign on the door saying that the service was at 10 am this Sunday. So we headed back to one of the churches we had passed on the way from the metro stop and ended up at Foundry United Methodist Church. First off, the building was just incredible. The sanctuary had a high domed ceiling and lots of stained glass windows. And there must have been 300-400 people at the service. It was an interesting service for a few reasons. Just this past week the United Methodist Judicial committee (or something of the like) had given one of their ministers the right to bar a gay man from membership in his congregation. This was a big deal because apparently the United Methodist bishops (worldwide) have denounced this ruling. At the beginning of the service the minister spent a fair bit of time explaining the situation and asserting his disagreement and disappointment with the ruling. I've been totally impressed and blown away by the strong political stances taken by all of the DC churches I've been to when it comes to the issue of being accepting of all people regardless of sexual orientation. It makes me excited and hopeful for the Church and Christianity. Apart from this the service was also incredible. They had special music for All Saint's Sunday. A full choir, soloists and string players did Schubert's Mass in G and the music was so moving. The service was very traditional but at the same time very open, touching and personal. All in all, for a first experience at a United Methodist church it was most definitely amazing.

And now, it's Sunday night, work tomorrow and time for bed. Grey's Anatomy has just finished and as per usual, was really really good. So until next week...or sooner.

At Home in My Room

2005-11-02T21:49:00.000-05:00

Just a few shots of my cozy little room. It's the former porch and it's the only room in the house with wood panelling. I like it a lot :)

Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House

2005-10-29T13:06:00.000-04:00

SAMHSA Conference

2005-10-29T10:56:00.000-04:00

Well it's the weekend once again. And time for Halloween!! I have to say that I had a pretty great week. Wednesday through Friday I attended a national conference here in DC put on by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) about homelessness. Very cool, there were people there from across the US, both professionals and formerly homeless people. Friday I attended a full day session about racism that I really appreciate. We spent a lot of time sharing experiences and doing activities. I found that although the context was specific to the african-american experience in the US, it was very applicable to other contexts (eg. Saskatchewan white-native relations). I don't know if I was able to go away with many concrete tools for working to eliminate racism - it's just so complex and most often not blatantly obvious but very insidious. I guess it's just important to recognise how pervasive racism continues to be in our society and to recognise that we are all part of the problem (and thus all need to be part of the solution). Anyways, thoughts that I am still working through in my own head. I would be open to comments or thoughts. I hope that all are doing well. Halloween party tonight!! My housemates and I are dressing up as pageant contestants (Miss Conception, Miss Matched and Miss Fortune)!!

Great Falls Pics

2005-10-27T19:15:00.000-04:00

Located just north of DC, this is within biking distance from where I live. Very cool.

Great Falls Park, Maryland

Delaware

2005-10-27T19:02:00.000-04:00

These are from Bethany Beach where we spent the last weekend in September.

At Bethany Beach, Delaware. September 30-October 2

2005-10-27T18:56:00.000-04:00

9/11 Unity Walk in DC

Give Me a Dry Cold Any Day

2005-10-25T13:52:00.000-04:00

Whew, is it ever miserable out today. Rainy and very cold, but not below freezing yet. I think it's this rain though that will really do me in. It never seems to let up. But tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so I won't give up hope. Life here continues to go well. We continue to get tons of food given to us by people at the church, which is great, but means I'm eating a little too well a lot of the time. Makes me thankful for being able to ride my bike to work every day (except for today cause it's too darn cold and wet). Work went well last week. I've been doing more and more direct service work with our clients which I really enjoy. Doing client intakes and referrals and such. The one down side is that because our agency is so small and we can only provide assistance with certain things the workload really varies. Some days are insanely busy and others are just dead. But I really appreciate the opportunities I do have to work directly with the clients that come in. It's very eye opening and I'm seeing people who have become homeless for very different reasons. I don't know if this is something I want to do for the rest of my life but I'm appreciating what I am learning and being exposed to.

I had a fun weekend and not too busy. Friday night my housemate Valentine and I went to a party at the Mennonite Volunteer Corps house. Who knew that some Mennonites dance and drink ;) They even let in some guy off the street (Marvin) who really seemed to appreciate the dancing and free alcoholic beverages. Saturday I had my first taste of Ethiopian food when I went for lunch with my friend Ilana. It was very good and I would definitely recommend to those who are adventurous and looking for something new. Although I cannot vouch for the Ethiopian restaurant in Regina cause I've never been. But I look forward to going sometime soon ;) I went to Christ Lutheran Church on Sunday morning. Such a beautiful building. Completely made out of stone and built in 1892. The service was really enjoyable and the congregation is very diverse. My housemates and I went last Sunday evening when they had a Taize service followed by Moroccan food - which was amazing (both the service and the food). Most of all, the people are really wonderful and friendly and they gave us free balloons!! There's also a good group of 20-somethings there so I look forward to attending there some more. I must run but I promise that pictures will be coming shortly...which is another story that I think I'll tell right now.

Our house only has dial-up internet but the church decided it was time to upgrade to highspeed. So, they signed up for dsl through Verizon and we received the package last week. On Thursday, which was our start up date, we open the box to find everything we need but the modem. How they managed to forget that is totally beyond me. There was even a smaller box inside the larger box that was marked "modem." Anyways, we called their customer service line and apparently their records showed that the weight of the package they sent us was less than it should have been had there been a modem inside. All I can say is hurray for big corporations. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it arrives today and hopefully our high speed will be up and running in no time.

The Wonderful World of Non-Profits

2005-10-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

Whew. It's been a long day...and week. We just finished our big fundraiser tonight - A Show of Support - that included a silent auction, live auction and raffles. Sooooo much work. No wonder my supervisor is a fan of writing grants. Fundraisers are too much work...but fun. This fundraiser was a joint effort between my agency and another smallish agency in the area. So I got to meet a lot of other cool people who are also interested in issues of poverty and homelessness. This other organisation - A Wider Circle - does wellness classes with low-income people and people living in shelters. They have also done a lot of work helping settle Katrina families - 75 families in total which is incredible for a very small agency. Tonight at the fundraiser they had a couple of their Katrina people speak. The one woman actually gave birth to her daughter during the hurricane. She couldn't make it to the hospital and they couldn't get a doctor so her husband had to deliver the baby (the baby's name is Kia Miracle!). Her story was pretty unbelievable. Not being allowed to take food and supplies from stores, having to wade through deep deep water, past dead bodies. Apparently her best friend & her friend's 9 children all died. I still can't comprehend how this disaster was so horrendously handled, particularly because it happened in such a wealthy country. It's really shameful. I heard another story of a man who's mother was in a nursing home in one of the affected areas. He had contact with her for a bit and was trying to find help for her. Nothing was done. She ended up dying and pinned to her body was a note that read "we're still waiting for water." We haven't had too many Katrina families/people coming to us yet but it is likely that we will in the near future. Quite a few families were brought to/settled in the DC area. Right now the Red Cross is still providing for most of them but that assistance is limited in time. It is likely that we will soon be seeing them in our shelters and such. It will be interesting, especially since there are already so many people already in need. Anyways, the title of this post is in reference to crazy fundraising projects. Necessary to continue providing services but an insane amount of work. But, tonight was a pretty big success. I think some big money came in, which isn't surprising in this county - there's a lot of money here. A big change from the prairies ;) But, it is really late and I've been working hard all day. So I'm going to call it a day and crash.
Me and Joan (the outreach social worker) at the fundraiser.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

2005-10-12T09:36:00.000-04:00

Another fine weekend in Washington, DC (although much wetter than previous weekends). I found work last week to be more draining than usual. I've begun working more closely with the outreach social worker and helping her with client intakes/counselling and such. We have one particularly difficult fellow who is very trying. It's definitely interesting work and I admire the social worker so much. She is truly incredible. Anyways, by the weekend I was feeling very drained so spent much of the weekend trying to get some energy back. For me this meant doing some solo activities. On Saturday I went to the National Museum of National History (one of the Smithsonian museums). It is pretty huge. They had a super cool display of precious gems and minerals. I'm not much of a jewelry person but some of the stuff was pretty impressive and amazingly beautiful. It's all been donated to the Smithsonian over the years so now belongs to the American people (must be worth sooo much money). They even had the Hope Diamond on display. Very cool.
Saturday night we (my housemates and I) were invited to a dinner party at the Pielemeier's (a couple from the Volunteer Corps Board). Their daughter (who is my age) was having some friends over so it was a bunch of recent college graduates and the Pielemeier's. It was pretty fun, until the question of "who's your favourite hero in American history?" arose, followed by a 3 hour discussion. Kind of intense but interesting (at least for the first 45 mins ;)
Sunday afternoon I went apple picking with my housemate Katelyn. A first for me. Followed by a baking extravaganza on Sunday night. Applesauce, apple crisp and apple pie. Fresh apples rock! Monday was a holiday here as well (Columbus Day) so I too had a nice long weekend. Monday night my housemates and I decided to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving (minus the turkey). It was so nice. I don't think I've ever gotten so into Thanksgiving prep. It was a lot of fun. And homemade apple pie for dessert! A very good end to what turned out to be a pretty good weekend (minus the rain). Now I'm busy helping with the final preps for a big fundraiser this weekend. I anticipate it will keep me very busy for the rest of the week. Until then...

And It Rained

2005-10-07T20:01:00.000-04:00

Wow. I guess the weather finally decided to make up for all the beautiful days we have had since I arrived in Washington. Not that today wasn't beautiful (it was gorgeous). But it sure did rain (and continues to do so). I'm getting the impression that weather seems to hang in here longer than in Saskatchewan. The rain hasn't let up all day and it's been steadily heavy rain. I don't know much about weather and weather patterns but Washington doesn't get much wind, and it's close to the coast which seems to allow weather (both good and bad) to stick around for awhile. We sure did need this rain though so I'm glad. But I'm also thinking of all our clients who have no shelter. The emergency shelters don't upon for another month so I'm sure that a lot of our guys are toughing it out somewhere tonight. Right now I'm feeling pretty glad and grateful to have a roof over my head where I can stay dry. Anyways, enough weather talk. I'm looking forward to a peaceful long weekend (yes, we have Monday off too - Columbus Day - so I can at least pretend I'm in Canada celebrating Thanksgiving). My housemates and I are in fact planning a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner for Monday night!! So yeah, no big plans for the weekend as of yet (earlier in the week I had been thinking about a day bike trip but I don't think the weather is going to cooperate) but that's ok by me at the moment. Think I'll just curl up in front of the tv with my Moosehead beer and dark chocolate and watch Shaun of the Dead (gotta love zombie movies - particularly the British variety). So good night and god bless.

The Birchmere

2005-10-05T10:49:00.000-04:00

Last night I saw a really incredible musical act called the East Village Opera Company (courtesy of the Canadian Embassy). The Embassy has a mailing list to let people know about Canadian arts and culture events happening in the DC area. This week they had free tickets to see EVOC at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia so my friend Carolina and I made the trek out there (how can you pass up free tickets? - how can I pass up free tickets??). My first time in Virginia and my first time at the Birchmere (a music hall where you're seated at tables for the show). The East Village Opera Company was amazing. Classical Opera and rock music. 11 members (a drummer, a bass player, two guitarists, a keyboard player, a string quartet and 2 vocalists). If you're looking for something new and different (whether you're a fan of opera, of rock music or both) I think you'll enjoy these guys. I believe they are based out of New York but the two founding members hail from Ottawa. Anyways, lots of fun, quality music, tons of talent. So check them out... www.eastvillageoperacompany.com

THE EAST VILLAGE OPERA COMPANY "The East Village Opera Company" Decca/Universal
Friday, September 30, 2005; Page WE08 (www.washingtonpost.com)

Roll over, Mozart, and tell Verdi the news: The East Village Opera Company is in the business of bravura rock makeovers.

No tame popera act, the 11-piece ensemble specializes in rocking the classics on their self-titled CD, sometimes reconfiguring arias with Queen-like pomp 'n' roll. The group's Canadian co-founders -- multi-instrumentalist/arranger Peter Kiesewalter and vocalist Tyley Ross -- bring both affection and irreverence to the task, so even when they sound like art-rockers with too much time on their hands, it's easy to appreciate their imagination and chutzpah.

And their talent. Ross, who starred in the Canadian production of "Tommy" and appeared on Broadway in "Miss Saigon," has sufficient vocal power and range to pull off this brashly ambitious project. Another big plus is fellow singer (and recent recruit) AnnMarie Milazzo, who has several shining moments on the group's major label debut album, including her slowly escalating dramatic turn on Alfredo Catalani's "Ebben? Ne andro lontana."
The group rounds up some of the usual suspects here -- Mozart (Overture from "Le Nozze di Figaro"), Puccini ("Nessun dorma"), Verdi ("La donna e mobile") and Bizet ("Habanera") -- then reconfigures their music for string and rock rhythm sections. Kiesewalter certainly isn't shy when it comes to taking harmonic and rhythmic liberties, and he carves out plenty of room for guitarist Ben Butler to introduce his own six-string arias or add a blues-rock flourish. The results may well appeal more to progressive rock fans than to opera devotees, but chances are the company will delight a mix of both.
-- Mike Joyce

Bethany Beach

2005-10-04T16:05:00.000-04:00

A beautiful weekend in Washington, DC. My housemates and I, along with our community/spiritual advisor went out to Bethany Beach, Delaware for a retreat. Very informal, we focused on relaxing and getting to know each other better. We stayed in a beachfront townhouse owned by a member of the congregation. It was really wonderful. And we saw tons of dolphins. They swam so close to shore and there must have been 40 or 50 of them. It was unreal. It's still taking me awhile to get used to the fact that it takes so much longer to drive places here. There's just so much traffic. And I still can't quite handle this mile thing. They take so much longer to pass by than kilometres. Oh well, little things. In other news, they have the hugest Mormon temple here in Washington. You can see it when you're driving on the beltway rising above the trees. Five enormous white spires with the golden angel Moroni (?) on top. It has a very 'wizard of oz'-ish kind of feel to it. It's really something else when it's all lit up at night. Anyways, life is going good. I'm definitely keeping busy and will write again soon.

la protestadora

2005-09-27T19:54:00.000-04:00

So I realise that I already wrote one post about what I did this past weekend. But I guess my life must be so darn exciting that I still have more to say. It was a big weekend for Washington in general...what with the anti-war march, a national book fair and a green conference among other things. Like I said, I was at a training session that ran from Thursday night until Saturday at noon. At the training I met another girl my age who is part of the Jewish Volunteer Corps here in Washington and she invited me to come along with her to the anti-war rally. So needing to make some new friends, I decided to go along. I also figured there would be some pretty good action at the march. So with my new friend Ilana and 4 of her housemates we headed off to the march. We missed the rally (which had begun at 10:30) so just joined the march at some random point. I have never been surrounded by so many people. It was sooo cool (hands down beat any protest I've ever partaken in in Regina - which, by the way, is one). You may have heard that they estimate ~100,000+ people took part. Yeah, so lots of people and lots of police (even mounted police!!). People were advocating for different issues, not just against the Iraq war. At one point in the route we passed by a group of people who were demonstrating in favour of the war. It was really quite sad to visually see the deep division that exists here regarding the war and realise the complexities of the issue (whether it is the American duty to support the troops no matter what, or whether being against the war means you don't support the troops, etc.). Anyways, it was an experience. An interesting mix of people of all ages. Although predominantly white which is interesting in a city that has a significant black population. Food for thought.

Hmmm, this may be a longish post. On Saturday night my housemates and I went to a party being put on by some of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps people. Cool moment, I ran into my friend Carolina there - the one person I know in Washington. It really is a small world. Anyways, I am totally flabbergasted at the amount of Volunteer Corps there are in the US (I am here as part of the Westmoreland Volunteer Corps which is run by a congregation of the United Church of Christ - they are service organisations). This past Tuesday my housemate Marissa and I went to a potluck for all the volunteer corps in the city. There were volunteers from the Jesuit group, the Franciscan group, the Mennonite group, and some from some smaller groups like our own. Many of these service corps are national which amazes me. I would really like to see something similar develop in Canada (unless there already is and I'm unaware of it). It just seems like a really great opportunity. Back to the potluck, it was really great to get to meet some people your own age who share similar views and values and who are doing the same thing you are.

Ok. Last story. I figure I should talk about work at least a little. I just have one cool story and then I'm finished. Part of my job at Bethesda Cares is to go with the outreach social worker when she does her walks around the neighbourhood to check and see who is on the streets. Either to check up on people she is already familiar with and to also see if there is anyone new. Which I think is really cool because often people need that personal contact before seeking out help (which is true for any of us). Anyways, a new fellow appeared a couple of weeks ago and we'd seen him out a couple of times. Each time the social worker would ask him if he needed any assistance, if he was homeless, etc...and he would always say no. And there's not much you can do at that point. It has to be up to the individual to seek out help. The social worker always introduces herself anyways and lets the person know where we can be found should they decide they would like some help. Anyways, guess who shows up at work today but this man. We didn't even recognise him. He had shaved and had a hair cut and had a shower. It was just a neat moment. I still have no idea what he is up to or where he is staying but it was so nice to see him not sleeping on a park bench. Hopefully he'll be back again.

Community Organising

2005-09-26T18:21:00.000-04:00

This past weekend in Baltimore I attended a 3 day training session for work put on by the Industrial Areas Foundation (http://www.industrialareasfoundation.org) which is a broad-based organisation whose primary goal is to build power. Some very interesting and relevant ideas. A lot of time was spent defining, discussing and cleaning up the word power. The argument was made that power is necessary in order to effect change within a community. So, if we want power (and we do) then we must organise people and organise money. What I found most interesting is that the IAF does not organise people around an issue. Instead, they network people within a community who are concerned for the well-being of their community. In other words, organise first, pick issues later. It's all about picking out and developing leaders within a community. The organising process is very much based upon face-to-face meetings with people and developing personal yet public relationships. The IAF argues that people are self-interested (I won't deny it) and therefore people usually do not get involved unless their self-interests are involved (also true I would argue). That is why the IAF is about helping people see that their self-interests are shared by others and that our self-interests, although personal, are often public as well. In sum, it's about connecting concerned citizens together so that they can build power and then make change in their community. Very thought provoking and concrete ideas. I'm obviously still trying to sift through them. The IAF has affiliates across the United States (eg. WIN in Washington, DC, BUILD in Baltimore, and AIM in Montgomery County - that's me!), the UK and Canada (Edmonton!). I actually get to go to my first AIM meeting this Wednesday and I'm looking forward to seeing these ideas in practise. They definitely have longevity in their favour (the IAF was started in Chicago in the 1940s) and they've made some real differences in some communities. Anyways, it was an exciting weekend for me. It helped me see a positive and concrete way to stream my anger about social injustices into action and not merely criticism. Any thoughts or comments would be welcome.

On a similar note, a notice for all you concerned Reginans:

Committee for a Citizen Friendly ReginaDear Citizen of Regina,
Many people in Regina are concerned about the direction in which the current city government is leading us. Even more frustrating is the lack of opportunities for citizens to have a say in many significant issues including:
1. Urban and commercial sprawl;
2. No plan for creating sustainable neighborhoods including social housing, recreation, and libraries;
3. Lack of a long-term plan to deal with racism and its results, such as the disappearance of Aboriginal women;
4. No commitment to publicly financed, publicly controlled, and publicly delivered services.

Some citizens organized a meeting of city residents on May 1, 2005, to see if groups and individuals were interested in trying to revive democracy in city governance. As a result of decisions made at that gathering, a meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 19, 7:00 p.m., Holy Rosary Cathedral Hall, 2104 Garnet Street, to formally create a citizens’ organization to work for a citizens’ voice in city government. This founding meeting will discuss a statement of principles, basic operating procedures, and name, and will begin to discuss the role this new organization can play in the 2006 civic election. Please consider this your invitation to attend and have a voice at this founding meeting. Also enclosed for your further information is the organization’s draft set of principles. We encourage you to share this invitation with other concerned citizens and with any community organizations you belong to.

First Impressions

2005-09-19T14:26:00.000-04:00

September 18, 2005
Another beautiful Sunday afternoon in Washington, DC. Apparently thishas been unseasonably warm weather for September but I'm notcomplaining. I'm enjoying the summer that we didn't really get inSaskatchewan this year or the last. It still hasn't rained since I'vearrived here but fortunately the humidity is tapering off. There werea few days this past week when I don't think I've ever been moregrateful for air conditioning. This prairie girl is definitelymissing the drier Saskatchewan climate. Work continues to go well.Still learning the ropes and carving out my place but my co-workersare great as are the majority of the clients. I'm looking forward tothe coming weekend when I will be attending a retreat/training sessiondesigned to teach clergy and lay people how to be effective inadvocacy. I've been spending time this weekend seeing some of theimportant sights in and around Washington. Like last night, I wentwith two of my housemates to a local pub that had a 10 page beer list,divided by country. Pretty awesome. I did Slovakia and theNetherlands. Can't wait to go back ;) I also went hiking yesterdaywith one of the board members for the Volunteer Corps. A 20 minutedrive takes you to some incredible trails. Reminiscent of theCanadian Shield, the first trail comprised of scrambling over rock andfollowed the Potomac River upstream. The water is pretty low at themoment since it's been so dry but it was beautiful. There wereseveral kayakers playing around in some the bigger waves. Anyways, sofar I'm really enjoying my time here. Washington seems like a reallyfun city. Lots of young people, lots of smart young people. And themajority of people are very comfortable speaking up about theirdislike of the current administration. I've definitely seen a lot ofKerry/Edwards bumper stickers driving around. I hope that you are alldoing well. I look forward to hearing from you and will try my bestto send some personalised emails as well. Also, if anyone is lookingfor a fun trip, I'm more than open to having guests come and visit ;)

September 11, 2005
Well, we finally have internet access at our house!! So I decided it would be a good time for an update. I started work at my agency (Bethesda Cares - an outreach shelter for the homeless in Bethesda, MD) last Tuesday. It's a smaller agency so I've been doing quite a few different things - from admin type stuff to meetings to assisting the full-time social worker and so forth. This week I get to go for a ride along with the local bike police! I will likely be given/create a project for the year which will help give a little more structure to my position. I've been able to ride my bike to work which is great. It's a 20 minute commute and the majority of the trip is on a beautiful bike trail. The weather has also been amazing, although a little too humid for my prairies bones. I am however really looking forward to a shorter, milder winter. My roomates are really great - 4 other girls, recently graduated from uni as well. A lot of fun, I think we'll have a good year together. I've been trying to take in a few of the Washington sites. On Saturday I went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History with two of my roomies. Highlights include Bill Clinton's saxophone, Seinfeld's puffy shirt, Dorothy's red slippers and the Fonz's leather jacket. We also saw Julia Child's kitchen and an informative exhibit on America's First Ladies. Today I took part in an interfaith walk of unity for September 11th. It began at a Jewish synagogue and continued along Massachusetts Ave (also known as Embassy Row). I didn't see the Canadian Embassy but there were a lot. It was really neat seeing all the different flags and beautiful buildings. We also passed by Dick Cheney's house. It still feels strange being surrounded by all of this. Anyways, the march ended at the Ghandi memorial after a brief stop at a mosque. It was a beautiful walk and wonderful to see so many different people of all ages taking part in a demonstration of unity and peace. And a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Well it's hard to believe the weekend's over already. I guess a lot of you (or ya'll - as my roomate from North Carolina would say) are feeling the same way. But I can say that I'm looking forward to going back to work again tomorrow. There's always something new happening and if nothing else, that bike ride is incredible. Take care and hope to hear from ya'll soon.

September 4, 2005
Well I made it safely to Washington, DC on Friday after only a couple of snags. I missed my connecting flight in Toronto and ended up having to sit around the airport for a few extra hours but was otherwise uneventful. Customs was no problem, I have my visa and I'm good to go for the next year. Since arriving it's been busy getting to know the other girls in the house, getting to know the area and getting to know my responsibilities. I start work at Bethesda Cares (and outreach shelter for the homeless) on Tuesday. Today and tomorrow will be spent settling in some more and relaxing (hopefully). The house is really nice (I have my own room) and the girls are even better (one more to arrive tomorrow and then our community will be complete). This will be short, just wanted to let you know that I made it here in one piece. I would love to hear from each and everyone of you. And if you'd like to know more about what I'm actually doing in Washington, drop me a line. Take care and hope to hear from you soon.