Well – today was definitely a day of rest. Had a great walk with family and hung out mostly. Very relaxing. We’ve got the route planned out for the way back that takes us over the Mackinac Bridge – the third longest suspension bridge in the world. That should be interesting. It looka like we’ll aim to spend the evening in Marquette and then head back from there.
Month: March 2009
There & Back Again: A Traveller’s Tale
We loaded the van with three laptops, two Cobra radios, an electric guitar and amp, two cell phones, three iPods, two Gameboys, the complete Lord of the Rings extended edition movie series and the complete Star Wars saga, volume 9 of the Bone graphic novel series, 6 one-litre jugs of chocolate milk and six 1 litre bottles of pepsi, and five guys were ready for a road trip.
Steven, Matt, Caleb, Hanjin and myself loaded into our van at 4 pm Morden Standard Time on Friday and began driving. We drove into North Dakota, then into Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. We crossed into Canada again at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and drove through Sudbury, North Bay and past Canadian Forces Base Petawawa (go troops!) through Pembroke and into Quebec where we picked up a van and spent a couple of hours with Grammy and Grampy. We got to their place on the shore of the Ottawa River on Aloumette Island in Quebec about 27 hours after we started.
We had a great dinner of mashed potatoes, veggies and pork roast and then we bid adieu and began driving back across Ontario at about 7 pm. We drove through mostly Moose and Deer-infested territories with the aim of arriving at my sister Angel’s house in Barrie (about an hour north of Toronto). Along the way we braved the treacherous curves of Algonquin Park at night and at dangerous speeds. Thankfully nothing leapt in front of us for a while.
We were pulled over by the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) in Barrys Bay because there are no plates on the van we picked up. A little explanation and viewing of our registration taped to the window was enough to get sent along our way.
We finally rolled into Barrie about midnight and navigated to my sister and brother-in-law’s house. Sadly along the way one skunk wandered under the wheels of the van I was driving (Steven and Hanjin were in the other one). The skunk did not make it but left it’s mark on our van. Hopefully the 25 hour drive back will wear the smell down a bit.
So we arrived and were greeted by a mix of family – my mum, my sisters Angel and Susan (wish you were here April), my brother Kevin, my nephew Hunter with mom Teresa, my brothers-in-law Kieth and Phil, as well as nieces Jocelyn and Mackenzie and nephews Jeremy and Jared. So now we get a days rest (appropriately Sunday) and hit the road again on Monday for the trip back. Another update upon return (or sooner if we find internet along the way).
I am
sometimes i forget
that there is past
and there is future
that once I was
and I will be
all I know is that
I am
Life
There was a walking one
in the silence
a quiet wandering one
slipping in and out
seen and unseen
this tentative inquisitor
wants to know
who I am
can’t say
I just don’t know
still it hangs about
a shadow on the edge of all things
like the clean black edge of the record
before the music starts
empty and full of promise
whoever it is
I welcome them
like the buzz of absolute silence
filling the void
like a hand in the dark
that brings no light
but the pulsing warmth of something better –
life.
House on Sand
I appreciate the following quote from an article I just read in The National Post in an article on the strong likelihood of Canadian courts approving polygamous marriages:
"We sit by and watch the barbarian. In the long stretches of peace we are not afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence, his comic inversion of our old certitudes and our fixed creed. We laugh. But as we laugh we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond; and on those faces there is no smile."
The article is here: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1286229
Apology Accepted
Fox News commentator Greg Gutfeld issues an apology:
“The March 17th episode of Red Eye included a segment discussing Canada’s plan for a ‘synchronized break,’ which was in no way an attempt to make light of troop efforts. However, I realize that my words may have been misunderstood,” Gutfeld said in the statement. “It was not my intent to disrespect the brave men, women and families of the Canadian military, and for that I apologize. Red Eye is a satirical take on the news, in which all topics are addressed in a lighthearted, humorous and ridiculous manner.”
Fox News – The Least Impartial News that Exists
I am absolutely fuming over stupid and disgraceful remarks by a Fox News panel’s remarks about the Canadian military and it’s role in Afghanastan. We have stretched ourselves pretty thin and have made serious commitments to Afghanastan which have cost 116 Canadian soldiers their lives.
Check out the following CTV News story: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090323/military_comments_090323/20090323?hub=TopStories
Of the fatalities among coalition troops in Afghanistan Canada is third behind only the US and Britain while another 20 other cuntries are significantly farther behind but whose sacrifice is just as important.
Less then 2.5% of American forces deployed in Afghanistan have died as a result of hostile action while nearly twice that percentage of Canadian troops (over 4%) have been killed as a result of hostile action.
Troops deployed to Afghanistan as of Dec. 2008 are as follows:
US – 19,950
UK – 8,745
Germany – 3,600
Canada – 2,830
Fox News has made a habit out of displaying the worst characteristics of tabloid journalism while accusing the rest of the media of being liberal. Frankly, in comparison to any liberal traits in other media outlets Fox is off the charts in its own bias. So what has Fox News’ response been to requests by Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay for an apology? Continued lampooning by the commentator’s on their blogs.
As for me – I think I’ll be avoiding Fox programming for awhile. In the meantime perhaps you shoudl send a few thousand e-mails to the commentator, Greg Gutfield, who is responsible for the insult – redeye@foxnews.com
She’s Angry, my Muse
These days my muse
flies by
like a jet buzzing the con tower
of some old aircraft carrier
and I keep sending her away
a cloud of creative anger
she wants to land
I can tell
she wants to unburden herself
of so many secrets and silent sights
not yet
stay away
I must write these things
on my own poor strength
it isn’t time –
but soon
you will be welcome
and your company
and your words
will be seen
for what they are
like Kingdom Come
and the old undone
stay flying wing’ed muse
my shadow of light
who has always been
will always be
Lectio Divina – Psalm 14
Tonight I went through lectio divina with the junior youth since it had been a while and we have a lot of new juniors. The practice of lectio divina is an ancient Christian discipline that combines the reading of scripture, prayer, and mediatation. The goal is to gain a deeper insight while seeking God through His word. We went through Psalm 14 which reads as follows:
1 Fools say in their hearts,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.
2 The LORD looks down from heaven
on the human race
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
4 Do all these evildoers know nothing?
They devour my people as though eating bread;
they never call on the LORD.
5 But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for God is present in the company of the righteous.
6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the LORD is their refuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!
The insight that the youth offer when we go through this exercise is always a wonder to me. This evening was no different. I appreciated all of the feedback particularly when one youth was reminded of his recent watching of the movie Watchmen. He said he imagined God as a superhero looking down on a city and seeing only corruption…finally in exasperation he sets aside his superhero status and joins the people in the city. This is of course what God has done as He took on human flesh in Christ and became humanity as part of His covenant plan to redeem all of creation. As the Gospel of John 1:9-11 says:
"The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him."
And further to the verses from John, Paul’s letter to the Philippians verses 5-8 says:
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a human being,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
I love that even from a single Psalm we can detect God’s plan and how it has unfolded and continues to unfold. I appreciate their insight.
The Graveyard Book
We are often quite selective in what we will and won’t read and in the process forget to ask ourselves what logic we are using in the first place to decide. Many go no further than a book title or the use of a particular word. Take for instance the Harry Potter series. Probably one of the best series written for children and youth in decades with primary themes of love, forgiveness, family, friendship etc. but due to the use of witch, wizard and magic as metaphorical vehicles to move the story and themes along a large segment of the population refuses to even consider reading them (to their own detriment I think).
Others feel it is their responsibility to tell people not to read certain things. Self-appointed censors of culture deeming it appropriate to judge the "average" person too impressionable to handle the horrors awaiting them between the covers of certain books. If you watch Pastor Mark Driscoll’s passionate rant against popular Christian book The Shack you will notice he goes so far as to tell his congregants "don’t read it". Basically saying "I’ve read it, I don’t like it, you can’t handle it". The level of arrogance and patronising is astounding.
We have forgotten that some of the greatest literary imaginations of our age were fed on the Brothers Grimm and other fairy tales that are filled with the stuff of life which includes death and tragedy. Our own Scriptures are loaded with stories of passion, violence, floods, famines, talking mules, ghosts, witches, demons,curses, the possessed, death, resurrection, healing and the end of the world – all of which we know to be God’s truth. Growing up I read the short stories and books of Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen Donaldson, David Eddings, Robert Heinlein, Anne Rice and Piers Anthony. I was glued to t.v. shows like The Twilight Zone, Star Trek and The Outer Limits. When I was 12 I got a short wave radio that let me listen to American broadcasts of old horror and sci-fi radio plays at night. Everything was fuel for the imagination which (as Touchstone magazine once wrote) prepared me to accept the miraculous and wonderously impossible character of God and see the truth in the staggering things He has done, is doing and will do.
All of this as a huge preface to the fact that I am very excited about a new book by Neil Gaiman (likely a writer of modern fiction classics for both adults and children). The book, The Graveyard Book is the winner of the prestigious John Newbery Medal for children’s literature and tells the story of a young boy raised by ghosts in the graveyard after the death of his parents. Gaiman has been heavily influenced by fairy tales and might be considered a modern fairtale writer. His books have inspired movies such as Coraline. We have two children’s books by him – The Day I Traded My Dad for Two Goldfish, and The Wolves in the Walls.
If you get the book before I do let me know what you think of it.
Harnessing Chaos 