prodigal

Today I went to a one day study on Islam: the basics. It was sympathetically and intelligently presented by a man who is still a Christian. At the end of the day I needed to ask him why he was still Christian, when I'd found his presentation so engaging. Islam is so logical, a faith that really gives practical and detailed instructions on how to confront evils like poverty and inequality. He shared four points with me that are significant to him in Christianity, but the one that struck me the most was that in his experience, the way God is understood in Islam is ultimately rational, and his understanding of God (and specifically the love of God) is that it is irrational, "loving us to death" even when we are utterly unloveable.

Now the above is just me paraphrasing from one person, so please, go ask someone Muslim how they understand the love of God, because I can't actually speak for that. But I'm just mentioning what he said because it touched me surprisingly to be reminded of God's prodigal love for me and the whole world.

As I was leaving the centre I saw a bunch of bread left over from another group who'd been there that day, and I had a cranky moment, remembering how much more food they'd been provided with than we had. At that moment the man who was cleaning up popped his head out of the kitchen and asked "would you like some bread?" And he asked, "how much can you carry?" I was giddy from the smell of bread and the generosity of strangers all the way home on the bus.

houseboat

I wound my way out of the metro station til I found the canal, which just meandered through all these skyscrapers. It was kind of drizzly and grey, so all these long and low houseboats seemed nestled together against the elements.

I only realized as I was walking beside the water that I'd forgot to ask my friend for the name of his boat, plus I'd forgotten to bring anyone's cell number. But luckily I had seen a picture of it the day before for about five seconds, and so it only took me 15 minutes of combing the canal (in the rain) to find it.

I've heard small spaces described as being like a ship's cabin, with everything in its place. But I have to say, the reality was in a league of its own. The ceiling might have been 6' but I think it was a bit lower, and the width likewise. Yet everything necessary to enjoy life was tucked away in there.

I'm sorry for waxing sickly-sweet poetic, but there was something absolutely magical about such an entirely different world. Looking out the porthole above the sink, seeing the water, clouds and skyscrapers, grey on grey on grey, but with the constantly shifting twinkle of the wonderful light pollution of the city, glimpses like that make me glad to be alive.

It was pouring by the time a few of us left, and we ran in the wrong direction twice before finally getting to the station. And that was great too, sitting soaking together on the train.

airplanes

So, peace school, that thing I started back in August, they're big into "values-based" as opposed to "rules-based" living. Which is great, in the sense of trying to escape from legalism. But frankly, I think it actually asks a lot more of a person if you really try to apply it.
Right now I'm struggling because my value of trying to reduce my ecological footprint tells me I need to reduce or eliminate air travel in my life. That said, I'm taking some big trips in the near future which I can't (and don't want) to get out of. So then I have to ask myself when I do have the choice (ie when I want to take cheap flights to exciting destinations for fun), should I be flying?
At the moment, I'd be inclined to say "no." This is not the answer I want to hear though, because I'll see so much less of this intriguing continent if I opt to not fly for the next three years.
hm hm hm...
I'm just thinking aloud here. Has anyone else been asking themselves these questions?

crash

I saw two films yesterday. One was a screening for some teaching tools that will be available in the UK in March, the other was Crash. It's possible that if I hadn't already been rocked by the first I wouldn't have been so decimated by the second.

Actually, I should back up a step. The night before last I was at an interfaith meeting hosted by some Quakers, and one of the speakers, a man maybe in his late sixties, sounded like my brother. That is, the world can't keep going on like it is, and we'll probably destroy ourselves in the next 10 to 15 years. I find I get really angry with nihilistic elderly people. Just because they won't be around by the time they've forcasted our destruction doesn't give them any right to throw up their hands in despair. It was their generation that helped bring us to where we are now, so dang it, if they can see the problem, they should be working their asses off in the time remaining and not giving up hope! In any case, his pessimism brought me down.

Now yesterday, it was really exciting to see that there are people (www.peacemakers.tv) trying to work in the medium that will reach the widest number of people with the messages that people aren't hearing. It is discouraging that still, the people who need to hear these things the most probably won't. (Any thoughts on how to get stuff like this out to a wider audience?)

In regards to Crash, it was fantastic that there was a semi-mainstream movie hitting hard on the realities of racism and class. It was phenomenally depressing to think that the movie contained as much truth as fiction. I can't remember the last time I was so wracked with anger. There were times I couldn't stop crying. (Nothing like a movie to make you empathize with suffering. The irony kills me.) On the other side then, there were those sketchy moments of comic relief. You have to ask yourself about the world we live in when that kind of comedy is a relief!

Dudes, probably everyone's already seen this movie (I'm so behind when it comes to pop culture), but if you haven't, do see it. But with someone else. So you can talk about it. And in any case, try and listen for the tapes that start playing in your mind when you see someone "different" from you, and then shut the dang things off. (Anyone who has any advice about how to facilitate that, let me know!)





Incidentally, go Simon!
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/barrow/article_060920papal.shtml

quakers

I LOVE Quakers!

www.quaker.org.uk

If I weren't so happy being Menno I'd join in a minute. Talk about conviction without coersion.

just for interest's sake...

http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/sos/warnings-en.asp

stockwell day

gun control falls in stockwell day's portfolio, does anyone else feel less safe?

Abdul Ghaffar Khan: an islamic pacifist

http://www.progressive.org/mag_amitpalabdul

and

http://www.bachakhan.com/

"A new biography, "The Pathan Unarmed" by Mukulika Banerjee, adds fresh light...She found that Ghaffar's pacifism grew out of his concept of jihad, or holy war, because nonviolent resistance "offered the chance of martyrdom in its purest form, since putting one's life conspicuously in one's enemy's hands was itself the key act.""

media

So I'm seriously unimpressed with the paper here. I know papers sensationalize, but most of the time I'm not as aware of it, because I don't have any information except what they're feeding me. Today though, after reading in la presse about the evacuation of Dawson being calm, it struck me as odd that the paper here described the "spread of panic" and that students "fled" into the downtown area. So which paper does one believe? I'm inclined to believe la presse.

I'm also finding it ridiculously hard to focus on work today. Maybe not terribly surprising.

Dawson

Hi folks, I hope you'll all take the chance to write our PM (email pm@pm.gc.ca) and tell him what you think about the importance of gun control and registration. Dawson folk, you're in my thoughts and prayers.

xox
dm

God, even though I'm sure everyone's fine (because I would have heard something before now, right?), I want to know for sure, and I want to know now.

bits and bobs

I've been appreciating Anne Lamott ("Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith") and Leonard Cohen recently.

This last week I've had many different opportunities to practice "networking." I've swung between painful, awkward bumbling and smooth, dead-centre connecting. Either way, it's exciting.

The other day I couldn't use my camera for 24hrs while my batteries recharged. I felt incapacitated. I think my camera and I are still in our honeymoon stage, but at this point I find taking pictures connects me to God. It gives me the chance to express those minute miracles that are part of how I experience my creator. And in short, it's just a lot of fun!

Also sending out special congratulatory wishes to the two special couples who tied the knot last Saturday!

worlds collide

We have two new couples living with us for the next year. One I met in la belle province after highschool, and haven't seen for the last five years. The other, I knew the guy when I worked at camp during highschool, and again, hadn't seen him since. Nor did I ever expect to see these people again. And now we're all living here. And it's kind of lovely. And incredibly odd.

greenbelt

http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/

Okay, maybe such a thing exists in Canada, but I've never heard of it. I've never been at such a large, unashamedly Christian, unashamedly left-wing, arts festival. There were so many tents everywhere. And it's been going on for over thirty years!
I got to work in the "peace zone" with a crew of cool, more-or-less Quaker young people, as well as some of the nifty older folk I'd met on my first trip to Yorkshire. The peace activist community here feels like a tightly-knit extended family.
I spent most of my work time teaching little kids how to fold paper cranes. Not seeing myself as a teacher, or a kid-person, this was a really excellent growing edge for me.

One of my highlights was hearing Martyn Joseph live (a thank you to my prof from PACS 313 for the intro to Martyn Joseph's music). Here's a good song:

He Never Said

He never said God helps those who help themselves
He never said Blessed are the rich
He never said Do unto others before they do it unto you
He never said Its too bad buddy the winner has to take it all
He never said success is the key
You gotta be cruel to be kind
And he never said it’s a jungle out there
Where the weak must get left behind

He Said..
Answer a strangers cry for help
Love your brother as you loved yourself
You only have to seek and you will find
Forgive your enemies drop that grudge
Don’t judge others and you won’t be judged
Only knock and the door will open wide, open wide

He never said Archbishops should stick to theology
He never said put your faith in the lottery
He never said by any means necessary
He never said my country right or wrong
He never said send your money to me
Touch the screen and your gonna be healed
He never said every man's got a price
Do you want to make a deal?

Answer a strangers cry for help
Love your brother as you loved yourself
You only have to seek and you will find
Forgive your enemies drop that grudge
Don’t judge others and you won’t be judged
Only knock and the door will open wide, open wide...

my cousin, the soldier

I learned yesterday from my grandmother that my cousin (who's a dual citizen) has enlisted in the US army. When I first heard that he was thinking about it, it didn't really touch me because our lives have never crossed very much. But I'm finding that now that it's a done deal, it bothers me a lot (to put it mildly).

I feel like, as his family, we've failed. We should have helped him to find a place, or a life direction, outside the military. And I'm starting to wonder what could be done (or what is being done) in North America to counteract the pull of the military on young men who don't feel like they have any other options.

I've prayed for soldiers in a vague kind of way from time to time, but you can bet I'll be a bit more intentional now.