I am listening to Jars of Clay’s Dead Man and for some reason thinking about To Kill A Mockingbird. I love the book by Harper Lee. The innocence of Scout and her deep sense of justice that somehow matured virtually uncorrupted in her father is something I yearn for at time both in myself and others.

 

Scout has a child’s desire to connect with the dispossessed and the wrongly cast out. She effortlessly draws Boo Radley from his shell through her willingness to befriend. The movie is a worthy reflection of the book.

 

The child leads. The child feels loss and love and nevers allows herself to be buried but constantly rallys through hope. A brilliant picture of "right" humanity as it confronts and responds to "wrong" humanity.

 

It’s a good book. If you haven’t read it – read it.

 

Hey there – in my role as board member for the Pembina Valley Pregnancy Care Centre I am attending the Canadian Association of Pregnancy Support Services (CAPSS) annual conference. I am sitting in the main conference room listening to our first speaker.

 

The conference is at Gray Rock Resort near Mont Tremblant and so far it is very good. The sessions are very promising and look to benefit me in both roles as board member and pastor.

 

I will keep you posted as I can…gotta go for now.

 

TTYL – Pete

 

 

Did I mention that I am one of about 12 guys here at this conference amongst about 150 women? Needless to say the men have sought each other out for support and to form an effective defensive circle. It has been a good conference so far. I have attended two seminars about fundraising which have been very good and practical. I have attended one seminar on board relations which was also very good.

 

The resort is nice and the weather is good. I had a chance to meet Matt Day who is our worship leader for the week. He has a good sense of humour and is a great musician.

 

I never realized that women can have a devious sense of humour. Here is the example – I got up to get desert while have dinner the other night. While I was up one of the women from the Toronto PCC snuk over and placed an incredibly realistic pile of fake rubber poo on my chair. When I returned I didn’t notice it and for an hour I sat on this trying to figure out why the women were practically roaring with laughter all around me. It was incredibly funny though. It reminds of the verse "…like a lamb led to the slaughter." I am looking forward to pay back. I will keep you posted.

 

Our presenter this evening will be Janet Epp Buckingham who used to be the legal advisor for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. I have admired her brilliance from afar for quite a while so I am really looking forward to hearing her speak.

 

That’s it for now – more later.

 

 

Well – I am back home now and happy to see family and friends. Mont Tremblant was a great time and I made many new friends there. A great group of faith-filled people seeking to provide much needed services. Had some phenomenal speakers and sessions on the final two days including sessions on Catholics and Evangelicals working together, abstinence programing info etc.

 

Much of the info will cross ministries for me and will apply well in the church ministry beyond the Pregnancy Care Centre.

 

Game 5 – Ottawa 3; buffalo 2

 

Ottawa wins the series 4-1. How exciting is this? The first chance at the Stanley Cup in their modern history. Sweet. I am excited! Below are some pics thamy sister took of the streets of Ottawa after the Sens’ win.

 

 

 

I’m reading Joseph Ratzinger’s new book Jesus of Nazareth and have just finished the forward and am into the introduction. The book is not a slow read in the sense of a poorly written book…rather it is a slow read in the sense of how deliberately theological it is. The forward discusses Ratzinger’s exegetical methodology for the book’s research – he uses a combination of the historical-critical method and canonical criticism. He talks about the strengths and weaknesses of the historical-critical method and about how, ultimately, scripture can only be fully understood when approached from a position of faith.

 

The book is his response to the last thirty years worth of historical pictures of Christ that have been incomplete and in many ways heretical reflections of the people who have constructed them. Ratzinger’s stated goal is:

 

 

This is not the work of some pop-religion author spilling out a vast, unorganized grouping of thoughts on a particular subject but the work of a keen theological mind that has diligently researched, focused, prayed over and agonized about the subject matter.

 

I can guarantee you I will not agree with all of his persepctives but so far, so good. I will keep you posted.

 

In a dream

In a dream

God is in a dream

 

In His sleep

In His sleep

God is creating in His sleep

 

He’s a boy

He’s a boy

God becomes a boy

 

He’s a girl

He’s a girl

God becomes a girl

 

He’s a slave

He’s a slave

God becomes a slave

 

He’s black

He’s black

God becomes black

 

He’s everyone

He’s everyone

God becomes everyone

 

He makes us new

He makes us new

God eternally makes us new

 

He makes us old

He makes us old

God eternally makes us old

 

He’s waking up

He’s waking up

God is waking up now

 

He looks around

He looks around

God casts His eyes forever

 

He sees His work

He sees His work

God enters into His work

 

He sings His life

He sings His life

God weaves His life in song

 

Dance to God

He calls you near

figment of His imagination

phantom child born of His night

Move to Him

 

Go to sleep

Go to sleep

Dream of Him

He will awaken you

No more dreams anymore

 

 

 

More than 10 years ago I made the somewhat frivolous purchase of the Braun Espresso Master E400T…brought it home and all was good with the world. Espresso’s and Cappuccino’s flowed like milk and honey. There was much rejoicing!

 

Than – we moved to Florida and Espresso Master was packed into storage for probably 8 months or so. When EM was unpacked and primed for use in the good ol’ US of A nothing happened. It made noice, shook a bit, and — nothing.

 

I tried to take it apart but didn’t have the special screwdriver so EM went back into the box where it has stayed for more than 10 years…until today.

 

Over the years we have sold off our espresso and cappuccino cups as small losses in the war against EM failure. Little bits of ground given to the enemy as it were. But I could not part with EM despite many attempts to throw it away. I felt that if I could get inside of it I could do something. See something.

 

Finally this afternoon I decided to take it out one last time and doggedly tried a half dozen different screwdriver bits till I found one that fit the alien triangle headed screws that were in it. I took it apart. I turned it on. I listened. I looked. Nothing. But – I noticed the clear tube from the mini-pump to the heater would push a little water once and a while…a millimetre here, a millimetre there. Than I realized what the problem was. After more than 8 months in storage the pump had dried out. It needed to be primed. I basically had to hold in the espresso button until water had pumped through the whole system (about 5 minutes of holding) and voila – water poured forth!

 

Of course I do not have an espresso grind of coffee but the ol’ Braun Espresso Master E400T is back on the counter next to the coffee machine and I am already planning my next espresso.

 

 

I live in the water

I float on the sea

clouds in glass images

move through and past me

 

I hold to the rock

I hold to the earth

comforted by strength

to death from first birth

 

but there comes the dark

and the waves sometimes rise

I lose sight of my rock

under tumult and black skies

 

thoughts drown face down

heart beats staccato fear

my mind reflects storm

like an unfaithful mirror

 

then in the midst

of the tempest I grope

I remember my rock, my earth

my foundation, my hope

 

there’s light past the empty

there’s life in the gloom

I can stand on the water

I can face down this doom

 

till there in the mist

in the rain and shades’ odd

my Christ, my earth,

my rock – my God!

 

 

Today we took the boys and a friend’s son to see Spider-man 3. It was definitely a good movie for the genre. The effects were awesome and it had some powerful messages about revenge, forgiveness and the choice to do good (and yes – we can choose to do good). For those of you that follow(ed) the Spider-man comics you will see this movie as taking some humour cues from the old days. There was always something a little corn-ball about Spider-man and that’s because Peter Parker is a little corn-ball. This is ok but it may not be as popular with those who are not familiar with the comic origins of Spidey.

 

Venom was particularly well done (three cheers for technology). Very nasty character. Sandman was nicely humanized as well. All in all a great successor to the first two. Stay tuned for the next three.

 

I also stoppped by the new(ish) bookstore at the mall in Winkler. This is a good bookstore. You can tell a good bookstore simply by walking in. There is a sense about it. Something personal and hard to describe. You can tell that the owners are book lovers first, business people second. I picked up two ministry-related books today:

 

The Myth of a Christian Nation by Gregory Boyd. I am interested in the premise of this book written by the evangelical pastor of Woodland Hills Church in the US. The book’s premise is that "the path through politics is not the road to God". The fear that Boyd expresses is that "Christians who align themselves too closely with political causes or declare that they want to bring America "back to God" are actually doing harm – both to the body of Christ and society in general".

 

There is a significant number of evangelical Canadian Christians who like to emulate this American fusion of culture, nationhood and Christ as well…this is why I think this book will be a good relevant read. After he preached the sermon series that was the basis for this book Boyd’s church lost 1,000 attendees (out of 5,000) who disagreed with his perspective – it is risky to voice these thoughts it seems.

 

The other book I picked up was Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons by Frederick Buechner (pronounced Beekner). Buechner is a phenomenal writer/pastor and I look forward to reading this one as well.

 

39 steps

and still climbing

this is the iron path

you can’t walk past

boy walks near and must

 

go

   up

       and

            count them

 

1, 2, 3, 4…

 

hand on the rail

feeling paint chips

fly into the wind

how many are there

 

5, 6, 7, 8…

 

Look ahead

trees in the tunnel walls

footsteps behind

memory echoes

with wonder

 

9, 10, 11, 12…

 

Where

but over the tracks

no trains

just a terraced hill

 

13, 14, 15, 16…

 

faint gossamar shades

in pink and smiles

come near – sometimes

this is a new way

to forget

these are new rocks to sail

toward

 

17, 18, 19, 20…

 

still further

up while down further

move ahead

Socrates awaits to teach

I wish he were straw

 

21, 22, 23, 24…

 

now comes the black-eyed heart

she’ll climb too

one step away

                    but

wrapped and wrapt

 

25, 26, 27, 28…

 

and there’s the boy

who started

small one – echo of myself

ride to the top

then carry my bones

 

29, 30, 31, 32…

 

ahead the dove

swings low

bread and wine

along the way

blood and water

extend this walk eternal

 

and a new coal child

spirit of my love

raging joy

 

33, 34, 35, 36…

 

little girl laughs

joins the chorus

dancing to the top

pentacle spectacle

we clowns of rage

we furious tricksters

moving together

 

37, 38, 39…