tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31956702553238264392024-03-04T23:14:26.785-06:00Wandering the Land of Svetpondering faith and life togetherUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-91846892674039102482012-08-31T13:23:00.001-05:002012-08-31T13:30:21.222-05:00small smile I hang up the phone with a smile on my face. It’s strange because I’ve just been talking with a woman in my church whose husband has just passed away. He had suffered a severe stroke some weeks back, had fought hard, but had eventually succumbed to the damage. I had been up to the hospital to see him. He was in pain. Nonresponsive. In those moments there’s really only one thing you can do. I lowered myself into the chair at his bedside and began to pray. Perhaps, more often than not, that is the only thing we are really supposed to do after all. Surrender the pain, the confusion, the anger: asking the Lord to “come and see” the sorrow, like Mary when she meets Jesus after Lazarus has died. We find in Mary the invitation each of us has to ask Jesus into our sadness, our grief, our sorrow. And he comes, himself weeping. My Saviour isn’t afraid to cry. We can enter into the grieving together.<br />
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Death has a way of infiltrating our senses. The colour of the wall looks muted. Familiar sounds dull. We find ourselves doing menial tasks without much thought—keeping busy, I suppose—or we’re crumpled, deflated, emptied of all that feels good and right. I remember hearing the news that my Grandpa Cain had died. I think it was the first day of school, 1999. Dad told me. I was standing in the kitchen by the dishwasher, myself suddenly awash with a strange mixture of relief and sadness: relieved that the pain and sickness were finally over; sad that it had ever happened at all. Lord, come and see.<br />
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So what caused the smile this morning? It was the remembrance that beyond the death and pain, there is indeed a light that shines out the clearer. A light that does not nullify or ignore the potency of such a sting, yet bathes us afresh in memory and witness anew. The light is hope. Hope that rushes to the tomb and finds only folded grave-clothes. Hope that carries still the scars of sorrow, yet is healed and made whole. Hope that calls friends to a shore-breakfast of the morning’s catch. Hope not as abstract principle: Hope who is a Person. That Person who is no longer dead, but living again. The same Person who promises that same hope for us: that death be forever broken of its power, that life be restored and renewed again in the morning of New Creation. This is the Hope of Resurrection—made real and alive in Christ himself. And this is why I smile, for in that simple phone call—a small gesture, attempted by a pastor to bring comfort, to simply <em>be </em>and <em>be still </em>in the presence of those in mourning—I could hear Hope already awakened and alive in her heart. And it was beginning even then to spill over and fill me with hope. The pain isn't over, certainly. But it is no longer <i>all that is.</i><br />
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“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tower high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, <em>The Return of the King</em></blockquote>
Amen. Come and see us, Lord Jesus, come and see.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-40403849837837560322012-07-05T21:52:00.001-05:002012-07-05T21:59:55.924-05:00the company we keep<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2012/07/company-we-keep.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>Hello!  It’s been some time since posting.  The last month has been full: two weddings with a trip both west and east, moving to full-time pastoring at the Church, saying good-bye to my work and employers at PRT, celebrating our 3rd anniversary, camping with Sarah and her brother, Josh, and enjoying this beautiful summer.</p> <p>This week I wanted to provide some sermon resources for what I shared on July 1st.  I’m not sure if these will be regular addition or not, but if they can be beneficial to anyone who couldn’t make it out to church or is simply interested in diving more deeply into the text and ideas of last Sunday.</p> <p><a title="Sermon Resources for July 1st" href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxYNFnKqARkbcUlUM1F1bGFYaFU/edit" target="_blank">Click here to access the sermon notes, summary and reflection questions for our message from July 1st.</a></p> <p>The Peace of Christ, <br />Nikolas</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-HDDdYMiW6Pg/T_ZUR6-pYpI/AAAAAAAAAc0/crtCjGkfSvY/s1600-h/100_8712%25255B16%25255D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Summer Laundry" border="0" alt="Summer Laundry" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yVNB1aaJqGYi9JdAuwNJleOPH1gXd1NP-CmsXcDQxmnMKDiXKREgI68gOdJg5B4QTPb3YlNOF4TjIuCpmoPilcTgZIzxu2lPGAmDw0helskuJYXepqTEUyoHHl1f12iLhpvqcsWvmPA/?imgmax=800" width="464" height="618" /></a></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-49594757225228610752012-05-24T15:51:00.001-05:002012-05-24T16:09:29.162-05:00where the eating and the remembering are one<br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">This past
Mother’s Day, Sarah and I were having coffee with Mom and Dad and my Auntie
Laurel and Uncle Don, and somewhere along the way they got talking about what
life was like during their childhoods.
“There were no supermarkets,” s<span class="apple-converted-space">aid
</span>Uncle Don. Their memories grew
more and more elaborate as they recalled early-morning milk deliveries, fresh
baked bread from the bakery, old propane tanks along the house, tabs at the
corner store, woodstoves and glass pop bottles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">Remembering is a
key part of what it means to be human. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We
could almost say that our memories are essential to who we know ourselves to
be. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We reminisce over the
little moments, and we pay homage to the big events like where we’ve lived, who
we’ve known—who we’ve<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>loved. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>When we take the time to savour
these memories, we find ourselves being drawn to see our lives as a story and
as a journey. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We learn how
we came to be living<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>here<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>now. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>Good remembering can teach us<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>who we are.</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">Now there’s a
difference between a simple reminder and these sort of active, full-bodied acts
of remembering. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Being
reminded is, I would like to think, a thing that happens<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>us—something outside tweaks our
brains to recollect a fact or appointment. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Dance Lessons @ 6:45”, <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Pick up the kids @ 3:00”, “Get lettuce
on the way home.” <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>That sort
of thing. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Reminding might
lead to remembering, but it is not in and of itself of the same<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>quality.</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">Remembering
involves action. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We retell
the stories. We re-enact the moments. We draw others into the
memory. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">“Remember
when the van broke down with the wedding dress inside?” We allow the
meaning of an event or a person to saturate our minds, our hearts, and our
imaginations. <span class="apple-converted-space"> It gets inside us. </span>We become
changed.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">If remembering is
so essential to human life, it is therefore essential to the Christian
life. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The people of God are
called to be a remembering people. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We
are a people who are being changed and made anew through the love of Him whose
life has invaded our lives: Jesus Christ. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“The Word became flesh and blood and
moved into the neighbourhood.” <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(John
1:14<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The Message</i>). <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>When we immerse ourselves in the story
of Scripture we find that God is often teaching us that we must learn how to
remember well if we are to stay in stride with all that is going on in this
Father-created, Christ-redeemed, Spirit-blessed world. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Take these stones, build this altar,
make a memorial, eat this meal. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>This
kind of remembering involves real people: hands and shoulders which carry altar
stones, feet to walk across riverbeds, voices raised in adoration, eyes lifted,
words spoken, legacy passed on. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Biblically
speaking, remembering is an embodied thing. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>There’s more going on here than just
the firing off of electrons in our brains. Our whole selves are present
in active remembrance.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">The Church is to
be a remembering people. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>She
is a community of memory and of hope. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The
Bible draws our attention both to our pasts in gratitude, and to the future
glory in anticipation and expectation. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We
live out our remembering in the present: in the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>already<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>not yet<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>of the Christ's Kingdom. All
of this is bound together, sharpened, clarified, and exalted when we gather
together the worshipping, praying, witnessing community to the most poignant
act of remembrance: the sharing of a meal.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">Alexander
Schmemann, one of our best writer-poet-pastors on the subject, gets us pointed
in the right direction: In Genesis we find that man is created
hungry. God provides for him trees and fruit, a garden, of which to
eat. God gives the world to man to become his food. In eating, man
takes the world into himself and it becomes sustenance to the flesh and blood
of man. The world is transformed into life.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">In the Bible the
food that man eats, the world of which he must partake in order to live is
given to him by God, and it is given as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>communion
with God. . . .<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>All that
exists is God’s fit to man, and it all exists to make God known to man, to make
manes life communion with God. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>It
is divine love made food, made life for man. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>God<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>blesses<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>everything He creates, and in biblical
language, that means that He makes all creation the sign and means of His
presence and wisdom, love and revelation: <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“O taste and see that the Lord is
good.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3195670255323826439" name="_ftnref1"></a><a href="file:///H:/Pastor%20Nik/Pastoral%20Care/Remembering.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sup><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sup><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span></span></sup></span></sup></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> So we come to the table, a place of family and sharing
together. </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;">We come to
eat. </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;">We take food into
ourselves and it nourishes us and is transformed into life. </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;">Only here, we find that Christ has
offered himself as food for us. </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;">He
becomes the Life which will nourish and sustain and transform us: </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;">“Take and eat. </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;">This is my body. </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;">This is my blood. </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;">Do this in remembrance of me.” </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;"> As Stanley Grenz so right puts it: "We not only
announce the truth we also mysteriously participate in this grand
event."<a href="file:///H:/Pastor%20Nik/Pastoral%20Care/Remembering.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sup><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sup><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[2]</span></span></sup></span></sup></span></a>
We retell the "old, old story", we respond to his gift of
himself to be our food--our nourishment, our sustenance--<i>our life. </i>H</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">e invites us to the table, to join with
the family for the meal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"> And so we come: eating, remembering, and living.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> “Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper
and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the
Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of
his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><br />
<span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> This is my body, broken for
you.</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> Do this to remember me.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> After supper, he did the same thing with the
cup:</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> This cup is my blood, my new
covenant with you.</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> Each time you drink this cup,
remember me.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial; text-indent: 36pt;"> What you must solemnly realize is that every
time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your
words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal
again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed
contempt.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: Arial;">1 Corinthians 11:23-26<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The Message</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="file:///H:/Pastor%20Nik/Pastoral%20Care/Remembering.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sup><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sup><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></sup></span></sup></span></a><span lang="EN-CA">Alexander Schmemann, <i>For the Life of the World </i>(Crestwood,
NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1963), 25.</span></div>
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<a href="file:///H:/Pastor%20Nik/Pastoral%20Care/Remembering.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sup><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sup><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></sup></span></sup></span></a><sup>
</sup><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span lang="EN-CA">Stanley</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-CA"> Grenz, <i>Theology for the Community of God </i>(Grand Rapids: Broadman &
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-54161314505288470332012-04-30T20:36:00.001-05:002012-04-30T20:40:34.072-05:00becoming pastoral<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float: none; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 4px 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This week I wrote an article for Eston College’s “Life Express!” news and blog website. I’m glad I did. I’ve found that through writing I’m able to better process and reflect on what’s going on in my life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Click the picture below to read: <a href="http://life-express.weebly.com/1/post/2012/04/becoming-pastoral-an-update-from-nik-and-sarah-amodeo.html" target="_blank" title=""Becoming Pastoral"">“Becoming Pastoral”</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://life-express.weebly.com/1/post/2012/04/becoming-pastoral-an-update-from-nik-and-sarah-amodeo.html" target="_blank" title=""Becoming Pastoral" by Nikolas Amodeo on Eston College 'Life Express!'"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="449" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-A1GX27VvGuo/T58-JtD6T6I/AAAAAAAAAa4/4l4XN3UU2e0/image4.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="528" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Last week I also had the opportunity to sit down with a few people and hear their stories. It’s an honour to be invited to walk alongside you, and I don’t take the role lightly! It’s also been very encouraging to see how many of you are growing and able to articulate how you see God at work in your faith and your life. As a pastor, that’s a great comfort… it shows me that you’re learning to be attentive to the <em>ways </em>God moves—recognizing the nuance and beauty with which He weaves our life stories together. It’s my prayer for all of us that we continue to learn how to pay attention. Often this means slowing down. In this day and age we’ve become experts at filling our time, at staying busy, at always being connected. Sometimes we can even adopt a strange sort of guilt when it comes to taking time for ourselves, for rest. That’s not quite right! It’s also the reason I don’t carry a cell phone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But part of maturing in our faith means cutting through that busyness (even busyness for God or for ministry) and finding rest and learning to listen to God’s voice in stillness. My hope is, at some point, to teach on spiritual disciplines: one of which is solitude. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So let’s be faithful to the good work, that God calls us to…but let’s not become so consumed that we are incapable of also taking the time for stillness and rest.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." </span></div>
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<strong> - Matthew 11:28-30</strong> <em>The Message (MSG)</em></div>
</strong></span></h5>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-41271545531117588012012-04-19T16:56:00.000-05:002012-04-19T18:18:46.937-05:00Easter Life<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though the holiday itself has passed my mind has been filled this week with Easter. We're in a season of newness (at least we're supposed to be--it is spring after all!); this has really struck home for Sarah and I as we entered into this week: a new job, a new office, a new world of thoughts and questions and possibility. I'm typing this out to you from the Pastor's Office, wondering at how I came to be sitting <i>here</i>: thankful for the opportunity and gift it is, and also, to be honest, somewhat anxious at all the responsibility and expectation that comes along for the ride. Transitions are like that: even the good ones, the best sought ones, bring both excitement and nervousness, joy and apprehension. Such is change. Such is newness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And such is Easter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been preparing my first real message as a pastor for Sunday morning: focusing again on the significance of Easter Life, and integrating some of my hopes and dreams for us as a Church. John 20 is also about transition, and it brings these two places of startling contrast together: the fear and despair of Mary and disciples is embraced and dissolved in the encounter with the Risen Lord. They had believed this was transition without tomorrow: hope lost, death victorious. Yet not so. The Saturday Dark gives way to Sunday Glory. Newness, life, renewal spring forth--<i>spring </i>forth with and in and through Jesus and his Resurrection. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This changes how we approach life, rewrites the rules on how we interpret pain and suffering. Christ invites us live as whole, renewed, redeemed people. <i>His </i>people. We don't always. We still suffer and sway between fear and joy--but we're not without hope. Easter Life means finding that hope in the midst of grief; life in the midst of death: knowing Christ and the power of his Resurrection (Phil 3:10).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This song has captured this for me today as I write and pray for you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be blessed, my friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nikolas</span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-47656151633498011572012-04-06T17:27:00.004-05:002012-04-06T17:31:02.548-05:00letting God go firstMy first blog post as a pastor--feels very strange to write that!<br />
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If this is your first time reading this blog then let me welcome you! This is a place where I hope to ponder faith and life—exploring the creating, saving, and blessing movement of God which encompasses and permeates all of our being and doing as we walk out our lives in this world. It’s a place for reflection and interaction. And it’s my hope now more than ever that as a pastor we can explore together what it means to be participating in this life together.<br />
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I want to return and look at Joshua 3, the passage that I shared back in March: <br />
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<span style="color: #646b86;">Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #646b86;">Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a half mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #646b86;">Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="color: #646b86;">In the morning Joshua said to the priests, “Lift up the Ark of the Covenant and lead the people across the river.”</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="color: #646b86;">And so they started out and went ahead of the people. (Joshua 3:1-6, NLT)</span></blockquote>
Notice how God calls for the priests bearing the Ark, the place of God’s presence and power, to move first into the new territory. They’ve never been here before. This is all new to them! They’ll have to trust in the One who has brought them this far. This moving ahead into the unknown is framed by trust, by waiting, by watching.<br />
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Now clearly this is a new chapter in the story of Israel, but this is also so true of our own journeys through life. How often we find ourselves on the brink of the unknown. This can range from major life transitions to our day by day decisions. For all our planning and preparation we can never really know what’s coming, can we? Our reactions to that unknown can range from worry and stress to carefree abandon—often to our detriment.<br />
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So what do we do with all this unknown? Joshua gets us pointed in the right direction. Are we learning to cultivate an awareness of God’s leading? This might seem like something only some wise sage might be able to do: some expert or professional. Yet this is simply not the case. There is no primary prerequisite for the listening life—it’s not reserved for the spiritually elite, or the highly educated, or the religiously dogmatic—because this attitude is not something we <em>conjure up for ourselves </em>based on good behaviour. Israel keeps us from thinking that we’re not good enough—they miss the mark time and time again! Just like us. Ordinary people, ordinary sinners. In the Joshua passage I recall my own weaknesses, and somehow find myself still loved and accepted and restored by a God who loves. The requirement for this listening life is relationship with the one who is speaking. It’s a willing resolve to stop, to wait, to attend to the Other.<br />
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There is another reminder here for us: the Lord <em>will lead you into that unexplored territory. </em>This is a part of the story he is writing with your life. You are not abandoned or forsaken, he will lead <em>through </em>it. Take hope in that. That he is weaving your life as a testimony to his name.<br />
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Are you learning to listen for his voice, to see him in your day to day life? There is no step-by-step guide to this; it’s not a list of moral characteristics that we can cross off as we master them. Our spiritual growth happens as we <i>live into our relationships: both God and with one another. </i>Learning how to trust another, like learning how to love another, can’t be taught overnight. It’s learned over time in the living.<br />
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Be blessed this Easter, my friends.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-44910781398614819282012-03-12T16:55:00.002-05:002012-03-12T16:57:29.937-05:00artist spotlight: boyce avenueSong covers often seem to go two ways: really good, or really bad. With the advent of youtube, one can find almost endless covers of popular songs. A lot of them really aren't that good. (Drum covers especially suffer from this!)<br />
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Once in awhile though, you find an artist whose actually doing it really well. I had first heard Boyce Avenue’s cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You” some months ago, but rediscovered it Saturday morning as we were getting ready to head to Winnipeg for Josh’s baptism. He also does an Adele cover—which is something many seem to be doing lately with her skyrocketed popularity (<em>American Idol </em>being a good example of how to <em>not </em>sing Adele songs). For me it’s the acoustic simplicity that I appreciate in the "Fix You" cover especially.<br />
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Happy listening. More to come.<br />
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Coldplay - Fix You:
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/T9ETxBHYBAU" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Adele - Set Fire to the Rain:
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N9o64xyjGWA" width="640"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-3363889076253792752012-03-09T17:24:00.001-06:002012-03-09T17:24:04.799-06:00what I learned from Johnny Reid<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-i-learned-from-johnny-reid.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>I’ve found that if I ever need to be prompted to write or respond or reflect on some topic or issue I really only need to turn on the radio for an hour or so.  Perhaps somewhat old-hat—yet I found myself tuning in quite often last summer as I’d walk our greenhouses to check on the crops.  A bit of music can help the day go by.</p> <p>This isn’t a song, but an interview I heard yesterday on “Q” on CBC Radio.  I do like this show; I find the host, Jian Ghomeshi, very easy to listen to and the range of personalities and ideas from authors, actors, musicians, philosophers and more make for an interesting variety.  Yesterday however, I was really encouraged by this simple, heart-felt interview with Canadian “country/soul crooner” Johnny Reid.</p> <p>I was particularly struck by how Reid talks about the impact his wife and children have on how he goes about living day to day.  As Jian says in the interview, Reid brings this “perspective”, this “outlook”: and I think in the context of this blog, can help us to ponder the intersection of faith and life quite well.</p> <p>I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.  Have a great weekend!</p> <p>Johnny Reid on Q with Jian Ghomeshi: </p> <p><object width="512" height="126" ><param name="movie" value="http://www.cbc.ca/video/swf/UberPlayer.swf?state=shareaudio&clipId=2207641085&width=512&height=126" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.cbc.ca/video/swf/UberPlayer.swf?state=shareaudio&clipId=2207641085&width=512&height=126" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="512" height="126" /></object></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-33178173536816272342012-03-05T19:20:00.000-06:002012-03-05T19:21:19.930-06:00Essay: “On Myth & Life”, Paper 1 for Tolkien & Lewis ClassAs promised, I’ve been able to upload one of my recent essays to the blog—a little later than I’d hoped, but better than never!<br />
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<strong>Click </strong><a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxYNFnKqARkbY2ZscndHemhUdHlSdHMwWml0RHVEdw" target="_blank"><strong>here to read “On Myth & Life”</strong></a><strong>.</strong> <br />
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The following is my first essay for “Lewis & Tolkien: The Making of Myth”, my spring class I’m currently taking with the <a href="http://www.mythgard.org/" target="_blank">Mythgard Institute</a>. Our assignment was to note what we believed to be the most important or significant point of comparison or contrast between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis" target="_blank">C.S. Lewis’</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien’s</a> literary theories: that is, how they understood the nature of fantasy literature.<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-HfX5ByBbmmg/T1Vja9-nk7I/AAAAAAAAAYg/ZSgtgreJaS8/s1600-h/100_5166%252520%2525282%252529%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img align="right" alt="100_5166 (2)" border="0" height="240" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tOb1ArqUoYo/T1Vjbvxy0dI/AAAAAAAAAYk/bnfds4nyYrM/100_5166%252520%2525282%252529_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="100_5166 (2)" width="180" /></a><br />
This is a bit of a workout for a three page paper. The idea was not so much to come to a definitive conclusion, but to <em>wrestle </em>with the issues, paying close, careful attention to the text and walking alongside the reader to discover together that which you desired to teach through the essay. The emphasis here is on an <em>inductive</em> reading of the texts.<br />
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I chose to focus on the ways myths or fairy-stories orient us to perceive truth, reality, or life in new ways. In a sense, it’s my bachelor thesis condensed to three pages! The introduction starts off a bit slow, and I purposefully rerouted some of the best statements from each of the paragraphs to serve better in the conclusion.<br />
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So happy reading! And as always you are more than welcome to leave any questions or comments you might have.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-20205137065779645882012-03-02T16:36:00.001-06:002012-03-02T16:36:28.302-06:00testing, testing<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2012/03/testing-testing.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>I’m trying out a new design and layout for the blog… feel like it needs a change.  So bear with me as I work out some details.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-18818926850734344682012-03-02T16:23:00.000-06:002012-03-05T16:50:01.452-06:00Have you heard Brushes, yet?<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2012/03/have-you-heard-brushes-yet.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p><a href="http://brushes.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="clip_image001" border="0" alt="clip_image001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLsCDEuhTNCEeXIAZV-RYxWIf5ZCdD4fNWldn4Msn2ial_pT8qpRgV5ybjPGZJ6FJC7XE5aqmLkaVNzI31l0Bvw-0Y_AuQ5PsEJuR4VgWwcyWFn5ERBdG9vVMnmOuEWdPUB4zjwim8uA/?imgmax=800" width="556" height="43" /></a></p> <p>Well you should!  If you haven’t noticed I’m a bit of a crazy person for pretty much anything my friend, Koko, does when it comes to music.  He’s just released another EP, adding brand new songs and redoing some from his previous <em><a href="http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/03/artist-spotlight-koko-relleve-rough.html">Rough Cuts EP</a>.</em></p> <p>The new style really demonstrates Koko’s continual growth and detail as an artist.  If you have a chance, check out his new music under the moniker, <a href="http://brushes.bandcamp.com/">Brushes</a>.  Oh, and did I mention you can download five songs for absolutely nothing.  Yep, they’re free.</p> <p> <br />Click to listen; follow the link for more!</p> <p> <br /><iframe style="position: relative; text-align: left; width: 400px; display: block; height: 100px" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=1980924716/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/transparent=true/" frameborder="0" width="400" allowtransparency="allowtransparency">&amplt;p&ampgt;&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://brushes.bandcamp.com/track/how-our-fights-go"&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;How Our Fights Go by Brushes&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amplt;/p&ampgt;</iframe></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-36950742216158720882012-03-01T16:29:00.001-06:002012-03-01T16:29:29.113-06:00afresh again<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2012/03/afresh-again.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>So here’s the plan.  I need more of a schedule for blogging.  If I don’t set aside a time it will, like many things, never really get done.  So I’m thinking Saturdays…my current day off (for now) will be a good day to set aside the time to think and write.</p> <p>I’m thinking of posting my Mythgard papers if anyone is interested in reading them.</p> <p>Also, I saw this at work today!  <a href="http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=Four_planets_visible_simultaneously_in_March_29_02_2012?ref=ccbox_homepage_topstories">Star-gazing!</a></p> <p>Will post more soon.</p> <p>n.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-80232774101947566002012-02-13T20:21:00.001-06:002012-02-13T20:21:51.301-06:00finding quotes<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2012/02/finding-quotes.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>I really like finding good quotes.  I think I started ‘collecting’ them, in a sense, while I was in college.  It was the first time in my life where I did a lot of nonfiction reading.  As a naturally fiction-loving reader, this was a bit of a stretch at first; after time, however, I’ve come to love some of my text books as much as my favourite stories.  They remind me of people who I learned with, or of ideas that I can remember wrestling with at a certain point in time.  Most of my favourite nonfiction authors are highly quotable: Eugene-Pete and N.T. Wright among them.</p> <p>Quotes help to crystallize those moments: focussing our attention on some thought or attitude or comment that moved us or startled us or made us laugh out loud.  Good quotes.</p> <p>I discovered while reading <em>The Hobbit </em>for my Mythgard class that the Tolkien quote at the top of my blog is actually something Thorin says near the end of the story.  "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world" (Tolkien, <em>The Hobbit</em>).  Since it’s been a while since I’ve actually gotten to the <em>end </em>of the Hobbit (I’ve restarted it twice, I think?  Since first reading it…) I had no idea this was Thorin’s line!  It actually sounded like something Tolkien would say in his day-to-day life (probably was!).</p> <p>In parting, here’s another great Tolkien excerpt.  This one from <em>The Lord of the Rings: </em></p> <p align="center">“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. <br />But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now <br />mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.” <br />― <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/656983.J_R_R_Tolkien">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>, <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3462456">The Lord of the Rings</a></i></p> <p>Anyone with a favourite quote out there?  Let’s hear it!</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-48239643553158794112012-02-11T08:59:00.001-06:002012-02-11T08:59:37.226-06:00year one<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2012/02/year-one.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>Time truly does fly.</p> <p>It’s been nearly a year since I began to make blogging a regular practice.  Some months were pretty active, some were clearly not (I haven’t posted anything since December!).  Yet it’s been a really interesting opportunity, and I’m hoping to do more of it this year.</p> <p>2012 has brought new experiences.  I recently concluded a series on “Reading the Bible Well” for our fellowship’s adult Sunday school class.  It was difficult to get back into the routine of study, preparation and delivery on a weekly basis.  I’m so thankful for the time I had after finishing my undergrad to return to the college and teach for a year—I know I was calmer, and clearer for it.  Many people have expressed their appreciation for the classes.  Thank <em>you </em>for that!  If it made even a small difference in your life, then I can rest easy!  I look forward to doing more someday.  (Also, if anyone is interested in notes, let me know—I’m thinking of posting them on the blog at some point).</p> <p><a href="http://www.mythgard.org"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" align="right" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rccTxPCp5Wo/TzaCVE-v4qI/AAAAAAAAAXM/iZ4-4kOu77E/image%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="244" height="64" /></a></p> <p>I’ve also started an online class for a Masters of Literature program through the <a href="mythgard.org" target="_blank">Mythgard Institute</a>, an online centre for Tolkien Studies.  The class is focussed on J.R.R. Tolkien <em>and </em>C.S. Lewis—exploring their friendship, literary theories and novels in tandem.  I’ve already learned so much!  Yet with three weekly sessions, our evenings seem shorter (though <em>fuller, </em>if that makes sense)!  We just finished reading <em>The Hobbit, </em>and are moving on to <em>The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  </em>Some favourite that I haven’t picked up in awhile.</p> <p>Thanks for dropping by!  Talk to you soon,</p> <p>Nik</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-17130605937618355902011-12-29T14:27:00.001-06:002011-12-29T14:38:54.012-06:00Christmastime in the city<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmastime-in-city.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>Christmas has come and gone once again, though as we plan a trip to Winnipeg this weekend to see Sarah’s family it feels as though we’re heading into an extended edition of the holidays.  Sarah has had to return to work for a couple of days this week, but with Tyler, Nicole and Olivia still down it still feels like we’re on Christmas vacation.</p> <p>This year was a bit of a return to tradition for the Cain side of the family.  Christmas Eve at Auntie Laurel and Uncle Don’s and Christmas Day at Mom and Dad’s.  Good times and good food!  Nicole, Tyler and Olivia arrived soon after and we had a larger family gathering complete with <a href="http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/08/artist-spotlight-don-adams-shine.html" target="_blank">Uncle Don songs</a>, more gift-giving, <em>more food </em>and even dancing!  Yep, that’s right.</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; width: 531px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:66721397-FF69-4ca6-AEC4-17E6B3208830:27a3d65d-2fca-41e2-bed0-4fc3da0353c0" class="wlWriterSmartContent"><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style='outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:531px;border-collapse:collapse;'><tbody><tr><td style='margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:none;border-style:none;width:auto'><a style="outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:0px;" target="_blank" href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=play&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!352&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos"><img style="outline:none;border-style:none;padding:0px;margin:0px;border:0px;background:none;background-image:none;vertical-align:bottom;" alt="View album" title="View album" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-X7JYReB8aGk/TvzP3XJ2t-I/AAAAAAAAAW8/Aje9SiM3W1w/Some%252520Christmas%252520Photos%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" /></a><div style='width:531px;text-align:center;overflow:visible;padding:0px;margin:0px;'> <div style='width:531px;overflow:visible;'><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=browse&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!352&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos" target="_blank"><span style="line-height:1.26em;padding:0px;width:531px;font-size:26pt;font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" defaultText="Enter album name here">Some Christmas Photos</span></a></div> <div style="text-align:center;padding:9px 0px 0px 0px;margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:8pt;"> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style="text-align:center;width:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;padding:0px;outline:none;border-style:none;border-collapse:collapse;"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top;outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:6px 12px 6px 0px;"><a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=play&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!352&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos" border="0" target="_blank" style="font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:8pt;outline:none;border-style:none;text-decoration: none;padding:0px;margin:0px;">VIEW SLIDE SHOW</a></td> <td style="vertical-align:top;outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:6px 0px 6px 0px;"><a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=downloadphotos&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!352&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos" border="0" target="_blank" style="font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:8pt;outline:none;border-style:none;text-decoration: none;padding:0px;margin:0px;">DOWNLOAD ALL</a></td> </tr> </table> </div> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <p>Two and a half years since its completion, I was finally able to print off a finished copy of my <a href="http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2009/04/pre-thee-away.html" target="_blank">undergrad thesis</a> for Mom and Dad.  I thought it’d make a good surprise gift at the end of the morning.  Though the manuscript was officially ‘done’, I’d gone through it again last October and then again in January when I experienced I really frustrating set-back.  I’d accidently created two different copies without realizing it, and had on some days been editing one version and on another day editing the second.  Sometimes in March, I think it was, I bit the bullet and read through <em>both </em>copies again to try and decide which sections of which version was the final.  Thankfully, I had noticed my mistake early enough and I ended up merging the two without much difficulty.  Still, you can imagine the headache.</p> <p>Afterwards I was able to finally pull in my title page and table of contents and save the whole thing as a .pdf.  It’s such a good feeling to get it totally done and have a copy printed off.  I wanted mom and Dad to have the first one (I have an older one that I printed when still at the college), as they played such a huge part in me even being able to go to school.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-omK9R5MHhaE/TvzNIRtZO_I/AAAAAAAAAWc/-jRFZ9mVjRw/s1600-h/100_8574%25255B20%25255D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 5px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="100_8574" border="0" alt="100_8574" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gym7eISScYg/TvzNI4UoOzI/AAAAAAAAAWk/_odDO1WmYMY/100_8574_thumb%25255B21%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="432" height="396" /></a></p> <p align="left">If you’ve been following my blog you’ve probably heard me mention my favourite authors from time to time.  When it comes to the Christian life, <a href="http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/09/mystery.html" target="_blank">Eugene Peterson</a> is my favourite.  He’s down-to-earth and grandfatherly, and his writing is rich, meaningful, and pastoral and imaginative.  For Eugene, it’s all about how everything is <em>liveable, </em>nothing in our Christian faith is meant to be abstract, general, propositional or removed from day to day life.  It’s all personal.  All relational.  All participatory.  Last Christmas I received <em>Practice Resurrection, </em>which I’ve blogged about before. This year I was blessed with three more books of his five-piece series on spiritual theology. Each book is a “conversation” on a different topic related to <em>living.  </em>So now I’m reading <em><a href="https://www.regentbookstore.com/0802829481" target="_blank">Eat this Book</a>, </em>a conversation about spiritual reading.  I think I’ll be able to use it with my <a href="http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/12/houston-weve-found-topic.html" target="_blank">Sunday school lessons</a> in January.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-5hJQs2TbWqs/TvzNK1I9KAI/AAAAAAAAAWs/W3u7-FLbmgs/s1600-h/100_8619%25255B16%25255D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 5px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="100_8619" border="0" alt="100_8619" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrKPEyRzypglMS9PCHxcDMOazfzlQVtjl-1L4JSeTKosm71lsl_1KDIBM4mLQ06srB4l-19N5gKOmDqw7orZMP-2jBOel1NYdjumzwtctxAI1WQWRnQl2cXu1zN17pOsGwZhpX6RQ37w/?imgmax=800" width="435" height="346" /></a></p> <p>It was great to see Olivia again, and to visit with Tyler and Nicole—who we introduced to the thrilling epic farming board game, Agricola.  As we purchased sheep, built clay huts and harvested our grain, Olivia would lean over to me, her Dad’s iPhone in hand with her favourite kids game, and show me how to colour Christmas trees and listen to Tinkerbell stories.  She was pretty interested in all the little wooden pieces for the game, so we let her set up a farm of her own—though all she really wanted to do was collect more wood and assign everyone coloured bowls: “Blue for Dad and orange for Nikolas and green for Sarah and yellow for Mom!”  </p> <p>We’ve made New Year’s Eve plans with the three of them once we’re all back in Winnipeg—and hopefully we’ll be able to see Mike and Steph, too!</p> <p>Until next time, happy reading, and hoping you’ve all had a very Merry Christmas!</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-66720354903146983182011-12-23T10:32:00.001-06:002011-12-23T10:32:47.797-06:00houston, we’ve found a topic!<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/12/houston-weve-found-topic.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div>Feeling a little bit better this morning--I've had a sore throat for the last couple of days (typical for Christmastime, I suppose!)  Earl Grey seems to be helping!  Of course, being able to rest at home now that I've <i>finished work for the year </i>doesn't hurt either! <br /> <br />For the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying to decide on a topic to teach for our church’s adult Sunday school.  Keith Eichel asked if I’d be interested in taking some of the sessions, so I was given the month of January, and plenty of room in terms of topics and style.  For a long time I was pretty sure I was going to do something on Christian spiritual disciplines.  I started working on it back in October or November and had had a few pages written up.  But plans change.  <a href="http://books.google.ca/books/about/Celebration_of_discipline.html?id=FR4z93ezwqwC" target="_blank">Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline</a><em> </em>describes twelve practices through which we connect with God and one another in the Christian life: <strong>meditation, prayer, fasting</strong> and <strong>study</strong> are the Inward Disciplines.  <strong>Simplicity, solitude, submission</strong> and <strong>service</strong> make up the outward disciplines.  <strong>Confession, worship, guidance</strong> and <strong>celebration</strong> are corporate disciplines—practices which we participate in together as the body of Christ.  With only four sessions to speak, I couldn’t possibly do them all justice.  I thought of pairing some together, or simply picking four, but it simply wasn’t working.  It's an excellent book, and would make a really good small group study.  Maybe some other time. <br /> <br /><a style="margin-bottom: 1em; float: right; margin-left: 1em; clear: right" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrYd8HbffAuRslWqtVsU56E7_hTrzFTKZzLV7Acg8hNI0NBK90UyvtBywQ-_WYy5ir6JJYEOKr3ZDfkUCOY8ED08JYbbS7gdxDhksC3H4FONJb-eDnaolYOtQtUHsO-a1TvuH3vPJ0oM/s1600/100_8469.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrYd8HbffAuRslWqtVsU56E7_hTrzFTKZzLV7Acg8hNI0NBK90UyvtBywQ-_WYy5ir6JJYEOKr3ZDfkUCOY8ED08JYbbS7gdxDhksC3H4FONJb-eDnaolYOtQtUHsO-a1TvuH3vPJ0oM/s320/100_8469.JPG" width="219" height="292" /></a>Thankfully, there was something else in store. <br /> <div style="text-align: right"></div> <p> <br />I was working on study as a discipline, and then reading in the broader sense.  How do we nurture our minds?  Do we know how to do this?  How do we <em>read well?  </em>How important is that to cultivating a wholistic and healthy faith?  That sent me into Fee & Stuart’s book, <em><a href="http://books.google.ca/books?id=b054-T4A2osC&dq=how+to+read+the+bible+for+all+its+worth&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Sav0Tpz6NNTH0AH2-53DAg&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA" target="_blank">How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth</a>, </em>a text from my freshmen class, Biblical Foundations I.  Within a few pages of reading I knew I needed to focus here: on how to read the <em>Bible well.</em> <br /> <br />So I’ve been working a lot on that, and really enjoying it.  I wrote the first session and I’m just in the middle of editing the second.  The third and fourth are still to be determined.  But it’s a good start, and I’m thankful to have settled on something.  For me that’s usually the hardest part.</p> <p>Merry Christmas, dear reader!</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-38469024396976511102011-12-21T06:49:00.001-06:002011-12-21T07:31:29.103-06:00hobbit trailer!!<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/12/hobbit-trailer.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:a4a0ec93-eac2-42bb-8e60-e2bb8b5da826" class="wlWriterSmartContent"><div id="e584ccd8-8499-45b3-9d08-85a4d453b353" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_24ITtMZatQ" target="_new"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-uJlgl9_ED-M/TvHVyNQ1c-I/AAAAAAAAAV4/lA_aMz4Vb4Q/videoe6ee41ed17c6%25255B79%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('e584ccd8-8499-45b3-9d08-85a4d453b353'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"532\" height=\"299\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/_24ITtMZatQ?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/_24ITtMZatQ?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"532\" height=\"299\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> </p> <p>I really like that the dwarves are singing their song.  Its the same song re-arranged as a theme in the second half of the trailer.</p> <p>This reminds me of the good old days of making a trip to Thunder Bay to watch the Two Towers and Return of the King on opening day—our own little there and back again adventure if ever there was one!</p> <p>Here’s the <a href="http://www.thehobbit.com/index.html" target="_blank">official site with a larger trailer and the artwork.</a></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-90927298374731374012011-12-10T09:23:00.001-06:002011-12-19T21:10:53.880-06:00simple<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/12/simple.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>As we were getting ready for bed last night we got talking about how much stuff we have.  We’re reminded of this regularly since our main storage area also has the laundry and a shower in it—so you <em>see </em>these things that you don’t really use very often.  Some of it is definitely important like our winter clothes, my drum cases, and some bins of old papers and/or toys from our childhoods.  Sometimes it feels like the wall of storage is encroaching on the rest of the room!  If we were in a bigger place we’d probably have it tucked away somewhere else.  But in the same breath, we’d also have bought more stuff to fill a larger home!  Endless cycle!</p> <p>One of the things I love about Sarah is that she’s so good at deciding what is important to keep and what she’ll never really use again.  She goes through her clothes on a regular basis and what she doesn’t think she’ll use anymore she gives away.  When I was a kid and a teenager Mom would do the same with me: sit me down and we’d go through the old cupboard.  Cleanse things out.  Make room for what we <em>actually need for today. </em></p> <p>I’m thinking of looking at spiritual disciplines as a series for Sunday school in January.  <img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 5px 8px 2px 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Horse and mountains in British Columbia." border="0" alt="Why do we make things so confusing? Look at this horse! He seems pretty happy just to have food and space to run around. Plus he's got a great view." align="right" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-B2f1SCmu3yo/Tu_8jaUqxOI/AAAAAAAAAVI/srgYakr982U/100_7846.jpg?imgmax=800" width="234" height="310" />I’ve been wanting to do something with Richard Foster’s book <em>Celebration of Discipline </em>for some time now, but I’m still not sure this is the best outlet.  The chapters in <em>Celebration </em>are already so well arranged that I think any one of them would be hard to present in a 45-minute segment.  Also Foster highlights 12 disciplines…and I have room for maybe 4-5!  So I’d have to pick some and skip others.  Part me of just wants to hand copies of the book out: “Here.  Read this through and then come back and we’ll talk about it when you’re done.”  I wonder how’d that go over?</p> <p>The Christian Discipline of simplicity is an inward reorientation which, in turn, transforms the way we go about living life.  Inward to outward, always both.  What begins inside of us will permeate our outward experiences.  Out of the heart the mouth speaks, so I’ve heard. Here’s Foster: </p> <blockquote> <p>Contemporary culture lacks the inward reality and outward lifestyle of simplicity.  We must live in the modern world, and we are affected by its fractured and fragmented state.  We are trapped in a maze of competing attachments.  One moment we make decisions on the basis of sound reason and the next moment out of fear of what others think of us. We have no unity or focus around which our lives are oriented. … </p> <p>We really must understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic.  We crave things we neither need nor enjoy. … We are made to feel ashamed to wear clothes or drive cars until they are warn out.  The mass media have convinced us that to be out of step with fashion is to be out of step with reality.  It is time we awaken to the fact that conformity to a sick society is to be sick. . . .We should take exception to the modern psychosis that defines people by how much they can produce or what they earn.” (Foster, <em>Celebration of Discipline,</em> 80-81).</p> </blockquote> <p>Foster paints it pretty bleak, and I’m not saying that everyone is sucked into this 100%.  But it’s hard not to think of real experiences when I read this.  Especially the stuff about mass media.  It’s one of the reasons why Apple drives me nuts.  They redesign their iPods so quickly that once you buy one it’s not long before you feel that they missed out, and then you feel the need to upgrade sooner than you would really need to.  It’s the same now with Amazon’s Kindle e-book readers.  I’m sure the same thing goes for cellphones, but I don’t really know.</p> <p>Simplicity.  I’d rather ignore all the rubbish of having the newest and the fastest and get my inner life straightened out first. Out of that I know I can be a better husband, a better employee, a better son, a better drummer, a better person.  The fundamental reorientation of the heart and mind, when set aright by God, can really transform our attitudes <em>and </em>the way we go about living day-to-day.  I’m far from this.  But Foster helps to point us in the right direction.  I’m glad for voices like his that can cut through the system and get us thinking again.</p> <p>If you’re still reading this than kudos to you!  <em>Way </em>longer than I intended for first thing Saturday morning!  Have a great weekend.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-11352209727641633662011-12-09T19:24:00.001-06:002011-12-09T19:24:22.625-06:00drumming i will someday learn<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/12/drumming-i-will-someday-learn.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>Youtube can be a blessing and curse.  A blessing in that you can see some pretty neat things: amazing imaginative ideas, or newly discovered music, or something ridiculous that your friends from college posted.  Sarah finds some really great stuff in her surfing travels—nearly every other day there’s something to listen to or ponder or just laugh at.  That said, youtube can be a bit of curse too: the amount of garbage on there is pretty atrocious.  It’s as though you’ve got to wade knee-deep through the sludge to find the gems.</p> <p>For me, youtube provides me with new ideas, and usually these have to do with drumming.  I can’t speak on behalf of musicians who play other instruments, but for myself I can tend to get in a rut.  A lot of this probably has to do with the fact that I’ve really played the same styles of music.  But beyond genre, there’s still a certain dynamism that can seep away as time goes on.  Like anything in life, we need to infuse fresh inspiration into the activities we love, lest they become mundane or we forget the beauty they’re capable of making.</p> <p>The curse comes into play here, as well—it’s easy to watch <em>excellent </em>drummers and become discouraged, “I’ll <em>never </em>be able to do that!” (and that might very well be true, sadly…)  But that’s why I really like watching Mike Johnston’s drum lessons.  He is without question a gifted drummer, but he’s also a teacher who is inviting, down-to-earth and humble about his skills in a way that makes one think, “Hey!  I really <em>could </em>play this!”</p> <p>I tried that tonight with this video.  It was harder than it appeared.  But it was great practice, great fun, and challenges me to take the time to play and practice more and avoid the ruts.</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; width: 499px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:7e698ef9-a3b3-4c4f-b058-28f75f569141" class="wlWriterSmartContent"><div id="7cab8d33-479e-49f9-8a3f-c9e268f7c87b" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_3AYVMpEeU&list=PLD3B24263C64A3C05&feature=mh_lolz" target="_new"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-nTgv7-BQfxc/TuK0wSnqR-I/AAAAAAAAAU4/uBX1b_jilVU/video62fe2b155fc2%25255B10%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('7cab8d33-479e-49f9-8a3f-c9e268f7c87b'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"499\" height=\"280\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/U_3AYVMpEeU?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/U_3AYVMpEeU?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"499\" height=\"280\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p>Be well this weekend.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-836740939580959022011-12-08T07:50:00.001-06:002011-12-09T07:30:14.099-06:00december comes<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/12/december-comes.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>It’s been so long lately between writing these posts, and I’m not too happy about it!</p> <p>Here’s a little update on what’s been happening with us, dear reader…</p> <p>November and December have been filled with memories of work and family (though hopefully not indefinitely in that order!)  Sarah’s family came down for her birthday weekend in November.  It’s always a lot of fun when we all get together.  On that Sunday Auntie Laurel and Uncle Don came over too and we had a birthday party for Sarah.  I was able to find her a record player that she’d had her eye on for awhile.  Now named “Ruby”, she has only a few vinyls to play, but she’s a very happy contribution to our cozy little home.  Sarah was very excited.</p> <p>Snow hasn’t flown as early as last year, considering how <em>this </em>was November 30, 2010:</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hLt8FyNV3_M/TuDAerREyXI/AAAAAAAAATk/il3txjLPeyY/s1600-h/100_66626.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkscSVteVEffsxtcku6ajq4avjYVRbW1CaXN7pHWi-IyNSSH8BhARKuy2C5EjjjjViqTdXMwXgs33kQJyLUUUgnuNwDZVKGXGPbLGOv5Ogr9V-tbSD0A7HUDrOxoWlyJz9nDlmdVRHVZ8/?imgmax=800" width="516" height="388" /></a><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-g_KGXpJ4RIA/TuDAhHumrHI/AAAAAAAAAT0/SLPQnoqZeh8/s1600-h/100_66516.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="" border="0" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ekb01SA3JOc/TuDAhpWy7bI/AAAAAAAAAT8/riww-maAXI4/100_6651_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="259" height="195" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJ6iyawJHHl5f6KJumaBb7IpjQczoAAwXbzeNylkOn0BdzN-YqKU9w5leJ6dSPF_97_OwOFgi5F-Llbti8KY3vKWmCS9k0b9pJF1G7p-4RNFuWIJv4_f8qhnvUusTxSUGKHzdnKIA7dg/s1600-h/100_66774.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_qiGSzrrgzdWBwpXJDjC1OVKVvF3zyo-tNJIKmbnXoNTIJg38oXJAt4pdYpqJn08CXpRtevaoc6wi3zdmnYuW979A-ONSLGPtdK-PIautd-DKy2hzH3FUvw9-z_P_-2eNTg8El0aWaA/?imgmax=800" width="258" height="194" /></a></p> <p>No snow days for us this year, sadly.</p> <p>We’ve been trying to set aside time in the weekends together.  A little Christmas shopping here and there.  Our warm reading by the stove.  Last Saturday we decided to try something different for breakfast: crepes!  And it was a grand success.</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:66721397-FF69-4ca6-AEC4-17E6B3208830:5c1a1292-edbd-41c0-9ed3-b6e1b1723e09" class="wlWriterSmartContent"><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style='outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:525px;border-collapse:collapse;'><tbody><tr><td style='margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:none;border-style:none;width:auto'><a style="outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:0px;" target="_blank" href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=play&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!333&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos"><img style="outline:none;border-style:none;padding:0px;margin:0px;border:0px;background:none;background-image:none;vertical-align:bottom;" alt="View album" title="View album" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiXQRdngwicmMPe7guPzhcJEHO6uHi6Tdn2-1ZqM8E84uBNvtvpFT2VbQgQAfCg-QFJbu_0Bu73p0ABkDCWdHNP_DB29kCV53Bi0QLf86FUCxLwblQXA9HH30u6R0n-bIn1XX3YYJ9290/?imgmax=800" /></a><div style='width:525px;text-align:center;overflow:visible;padding:0px;margin:0px;'> <div style='width:525px;overflow:visible;'><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=browse&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!333&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos" target="_blank"><span style="line-height:1.26em;padding:0px;width:525px;font-size:26pt;font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" defaultText="Enter album name here">Crepe Time</span></a></div> <div style="text-align:center;padding:9px 0px 0px 0px;margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:8pt;"> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style="text-align:center;width:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;padding:0px;outline:none;border-style:none;border-collapse:collapse;"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top;outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:6px 12px 6px 0px;"><a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=play&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!333&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos" border="0" target="_blank" style="font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:8pt;outline:none;border-style:none;text-decoration: none;padding:0px;margin:0px;">VIEW SLIDE SHOW</a></td> <td style="vertical-align:top;outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:6px 0px 6px 0px;"><a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=downloadphotos&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!333&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos" border="0" target="_blank" style="font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:8pt;outline:none;border-style:none;text-decoration: none;padding:0px;margin:0px;">DOWNLOAD ALL</a></td> </tr> </table> </div> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <p> </p> <p>So that’s about all that’s new with us.  I’m also working on lessons for our Church’s adult Sunday school classes for January.  I’ve got four or five Sundays to prepare for…and I’m still undecided on topics (though, as usual, I have like 2 or 3 options and just need to settle on something!)  We’re staying home for Christmas this year, and thinking of heading to Winnipeg for New Year’s.  I’m just looking forward to time off!</p> <p>Thanks for reading.  Stay warm, reader.</p> <hr /> <p>One last album: some pics of us at Bear Narrows at the end of autumn.</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:66721397-FF69-4ca6-AEC4-17E6B3208830:3564f35f-14b9-4bbd-87dc-4798fcac9945" class="wlWriterSmartContent"><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style='outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:532px;border-collapse:collapse;'><tbody><tr><td style='margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:none;border-style:none;width:auto'><a style="outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:0px;" target="_blank" href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=play&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!337&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos"><img style="outline:none;border-style:none;padding:0px;margin:0px;border:0px;background:none;background-image:none;vertical-align:bottom;" alt="View album" title="View album" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-m0nV3SPxDK0/TuDAkP-tQXI/AAAAAAAAAUs/pW7zeF-2dFk/Bear%252520Narrows%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" /></a><div style='width:532px;text-align:center;overflow:visible;padding:0px;margin:0px;'> <div style='width:532px;overflow:visible;'><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=browse&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!337&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos" target="_blank"><span style="line-height:1.26em;padding:0px;width:532px;font-size:26pt;font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" defaultText="Enter album name here">Bear Narrows</span></a></div> <div style="text-align:center;padding:9px 0px 0px 0px;margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:8pt;"> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style="text-align:center;width:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;padding:0px;outline:none;border-style:none;border-collapse:collapse;"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top;outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:6px 12px 6px 0px;"><a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=play&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!337&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos" border="0" target="_blank" style="font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:8pt;outline:none;border-style:none;text-decoration: none;padding:0px;margin:0px;">VIEW SLIDE SHOW</a></td> <td style="vertical-align:top;outline:none;border-style:none;margin:0px;padding:6px 0px 6px 0px;"><a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=57307b726bce64d0&page=downloadphotos&resid=57307B726BCE64D0!337&type=5&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos" border="0" target="_blank" style="font-family:'Segoe UI', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:8pt;outline:none;border-style:none;text-decoration: none;padding:0px;margin:0px;">DOWNLOAD ALL</a></td> </tr> </table> </div> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-13790171884517533402011-11-27T11:59:00.001-06:002011-11-27T12:04:41.791-06:00at the gallows<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/11/at-gallows.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>Not long after <a href="http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/11/monseigneur-bienvenu.html" target="_blank">he gives his mansion as a hospital for the sick</a> the Bishop from Les Misérables feels himself called to attend to a criminal in his last moments before facing the death penalty. </p> <hr /> <blockquote> <p>He went instantly to the prison, descended to the cell of the “mountebank,” called him by name, took him by the hand, and spoke to him.  He passed the entire day with him, forgetful of food and sleep, praying to God for the soul of the condemned man, and praying the condemned man for his own.  He told him the best truths, which are also the most simple.  He was father, brother, friend; he was bishop only to bless [<em>not to judge or condemn</em>].  The man was on the point of dying in despair.  Death was an abyss to him.  As he stood trembling on its mournful brink, he recoiled with horror. . . . He gazed incessantly…and beheld only darkness.  The Bishop made him see light.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>On the following day, when they came to fetch the unhappy wretch, the Bishop was still there…</p> <p>He mounted the scaffold with him.  The sufferer, who had been so gloomy and cast down on the preceding day, was radiant.  He felt that his soul was reconciled, and he hoped in God.  The Bishop embraced him…</p> </blockquote> <hr /> <p>Here is love.  Simple.  Elegant.  Powerful.  Changing a life at its most desperate hour, on the  brink of death and the unknown.  Never should we condemn the work of simple folk who sit all night with those bound for death, or walk with them into their punishment, or pray with them at the uttermost end.  For such is the work of love.  </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-54260110399459820622011-11-12T09:51:00.001-06:002011-11-12T09:56:03.921-06:00Monseigneur Bienvenu<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/11/monseigneur-bienvenu.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>This past weekend I thought I’d start a new book.  I’d finished Eugene Peterson, and wanted good old fiction.  We have a variety of ‘classics’ (some better than others) on our Kindle.  I started looking through them and found Les Misérables.  Les Mis is Sarah’s favourite play, and one of her favourite stories.  I had first encountered it in the film version with Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean.  The book, of course, is much different and it starts out with a lengthy description of the Bishop Myriel, or, as the people of his mountain diocese call him, Monseigneur Bienvenu.</p> <p>I think I could take a lesson or two from the good Bishop.  What’s neat about the Kindle is that you can underline things and write comments as you go.  I took note of a few favourite passages—scenes of him giving away all his money, studying away in his room, tilling his garden haphazardly, and so on.  Two scenes in particular stand out: the first occurs early on in the Bishop’s arrival to the new town.  He’s inspecting the hospital which is adjacent to his ‘palace’, and finds that it is overcrowded with the sick.  He and the hospital warden are standing together in the Bishops’ dining room when Bienvenu turns to the hospital director and asks:</p> <hr /> <blockquote> <p>     “Monsieur,” said he, “how many beds do you think this hall alone would hold?”</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>     “Monseigneur’s dining-room?” exclaimed the stupefied director</p> <p>     The Bishop cast a glance round the apartment, and seemed to be taking measures and calculations with his eyes.</p> <p>     “It would hold full twenty beds,” said he, as though speaking to himself.  Then, raising his voice:—</p> <p>     “Hold, Monsieur the director of the hospital, I will tell you something.  There is evidently a mistake here.  There are thirty-six of you, in five or six small rooms.  There are three of us here, and we have room for sixty.  There is some mistake, I tell you; you have my house, and I have yours.  Give me back my house; you are at home here.”</p> <p>     On the following day the thirty-six patients were installed in the Bishop’s palace, and the Bishop was settled in the hospital.</p> </blockquote> <hr /> <p>This is the first of several ways by which the Bishop sacrifices his own comforts, possessions, even his ‘rights’ (a popular topic in Canada today) for the sake of giving to his community—loving his neighbours.</p> <p>Sometimes I wonder if we over-think what it might mean to help someone in need.  What do we have before us?  What actually <em>is </em>extra?  There’s so much we can live without, and there is so much that others are without.  It’s not complicated.  I don’t have a palace that I can give to a hospital director, but I can give in other ways.  I just need to be open to thinking about it.  Monseigneur Bienvenu, the good old Bishop, can help us to do just that.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-36838235855185987312011-10-24T20:59:00.001-05:002011-10-24T21:00:01.650-05:00a thanks giving<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/10/thanks-giving.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>Been realizing once again how truly blessed I am.  It can be tempting to dwell on worries or frustrations—real as they might be—but their shadows shrink in the light of blessing’s reality.  </p> <p>I have a warm home.  The hum of our stove heater is now added to the familiar creaks of the house: it chugs away merrily as we get ready in the mornings and settle down for sleep again.  I am the self-proclaimed king of several pillows upon our bed.  Each night I’m able to arrange them to get the ‘just right’ for that extra comfortable sleep.  The blankets have a heavy warmth to them.  Slippers are made ready nearby for cold toes in the morning.  Morning doesn’t come too soon anymore.  We’re trying to make a habit of not staying up for all hours.  No longer is morning a rush and hurry of eating, dressing, and lunch-making: there’s room now for reading and exercise and saying ‘good-morning’.  Quiet space.  Time for waking.</p> <p>I have good work to do at the tree nursery.  I’ve learned so much this year being on the growing and culture-end of things.  The amount of detail and planning that goes into each of the crops is astounding.  To think that I’ve had a hand in the health and life of 12 million trees this year.  It’s humbling to recognize the responsibility, this everyday, hands-in-the-dirt kind of care and attention, that has been given both by myself and others around me.  How quickly our work can become simply a task.  A job to do.  “The old grind.”  I am reminded of my friend Scott Hoover who often prays before a meal: “Thank you for the <em>good work </em>you’ve given us to do.”  Good work.  I like that.</p> <p>I have family.  Last night we were over at Auntie Laurel’s to celebrate her birthday.  Coffee, cake, presents, familiar faces.  Lots of laughs.  Family.  We regularly stop into Mom and Dad’s for a visit: sharing a meal, watching a show.  Sometimes we just sit and talk for a few hours.  Mom talks about her adventures with the kids she had that day.  Dad recounts the wildlife he encountered on the road.  We’re growing together: letting each other in on what’s going on with us.  Growing.  Remembering.  Sharing.  Memory-making.    </p> <p>And I have a beautiful wife.  She inspires me on a regular basis to be all who I can be.  She affirms me when I doubt, she corrects me when I’m wrong, she walks with me.  It’s hard to imagine <em>not </em>being with her now.  We’ve made a life together, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  … “making a life”.  I like that, too.</p> <p>Life truly is good.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-s135Di6uXtA/TqYYHMjQIgI/AAAAAAAAARk/SfjsZB1qeEU/s1600-h/100_8209%25255B11%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="100_8209" border="0" alt="100_8209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjav4vT_-eHtNat686FG0WNI30N2NYBWVb4MlHFg-1rxFNpcfmlxjP_e42hDy2Lp0_2AdwPz1HtnwZyjr0Fx84J8ZIa64q58B6CrxrlSc275OqKOYZmCJG2LQsnt4vl7u1BYEQdX-As0kY/?imgmax=800" width="493" height="289" /></a></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-46748051774357758422011-09-22T16:35:00.001-05:002011-09-22T16:40:09.023-05:00visual poems<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/09/day-that-true-love-died.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>When Sarah and I were at Regent this summer we had the opportunity to eat lunch with some students taking full-time studies.  Among the students we met was a man named Theran, currently working on his MCS.  As I was perusing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/underthegreenroof" target="_blank">Regent’s YouTube channel ‘underthegreenroof’</a>, I found this video, a student video project for a class on John.  As it turns out, it was one of Theran’s class projects—a visual poem, a marriage of literary and visual media evoking metaphor.  I touched base with him and said that I wanted to share his poem on my blog.  He agreed.  So here it is, and I hope you enjoy it:</p> <iframe height="309" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/27039717?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" frameborder="0" width="549" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/27039717">Hands</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user5687621">Theran Knighton-Fitt</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> <hr /> <p>Here was his description of the project:</p> <blockquote>This was the creative project for a class on the book of John in the New Testament "John: the Life of God to the World" In the Summer Term of 2011 at Regent College in Vancouver Canada. The class was taught by Rikk E. Watts. Of the various project options I chose the one that included an academic paper and a creative project. <br /> <br />For my paper I looked at the idea of how water is used in John as a polyvalent symbol and how it interacts with other symbols - specifically wine and blood. <br /> <br />Here is the first paragraph of the paper <br /> <br />“In this paper I will show that John’s unique use of polyvalent symbolism effectively communicates Christ’s mysterious, all-encompassing invitation to partake of his life. I will argue that Johannine symbolism invites us into a higher story, a mystery that normal words cannot express. I will show specifically that the nature of John’s symbolic use of water shifts throughout his gospel in such a way that it becomes more inclusive and invitational as it progresses. I will also outline how the all-encompassing invitation in his water symbolism plays itself out: as its meaning shifts, as it interacts with other symbols, as it speaks to Jewish tradition, and, ultimately what the invitation means for us as we are included into the life of Christ. In Christ all things hold together and in John’s water motif we see God bringing together many things in Christ.” <br /> <br />As you can imagine not everything was able to be included into this visual poem that tries to express these themes. Also, being art, it takes on its own identity too and as such it is not just the video demonstration of the academic paper. However the themes all intersect and my choice to do a creative project instead of a longer paper was specifically related to the idea that I believe John's use of symbolism and imagery more effectively communicates truth than mere academic argument. So to do justice to John, one needs to think and communicate creatively…</blockquote> <hr /> <p>This is one of the reasons why I find <a href="http://www.regent-college.edu/prospectus/programs/concentrations.html" target="_blank">Regent’s programs</a> so intriguing—they allow for creative projects such as these to work alongside paper-writing to create moments of reflection on faith and life.  </p> <p>Be well, my friends.</p> <p>Nik</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://vimeo.com/channels/theranknightonfitt" target="_blank">Click the banner below to head over to watch Theran’s other visual poem: <br />“And the Whole Realm of Nature’s Mine”.</a></p> <p><a title="Theran Knighton-Fitt: visual poems" href="http://vimeo.com/channels/theranknightonfitt"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Theran Knighton-Fitt: Visual Poems" border="0" alt="Theran Knighton-Fitt: Visual Poems" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsC0U1RfPG-WV5qYtLRuONZEETzQR6IoMdgjx256KeXR3XQjLzkMHRlFKRYz5oCngUh82sfEJIkY5q0PhZpsGuZ9AhjRMLyLtKkpENNRHo7KrgXArRoMtYddkc15uA08EM-_pLrinNglg/?imgmax=800" width="524" height="133" /></a></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3195670255323826439.post-20275661443500931062011-09-19T11:38:00.001-05:002011-09-19T11:50:06.110-05:00mylo xyloto<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://thelandofsvet.blogspot.com/2011/09/mylo-xyloto_19.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p><a href="http://www.coldplay.com/site.php" target="_blank">Coldplay</a> recently posted full-length versions of new songs from their upcoming album, Mylo Xyloto.  If you’re a fan, here’s a playlist of “Paradise”, “Moving to Mars”, “Major Minus”, and “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” to whet the appetite:</p> <p><iframe height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL8A378CE98D4EED08&hl=en_US&hd=1" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>The next song will start playing automatically – <em>enjoy! </em></p> <p>What do you think of the new sound so far?  Leave a comment below!</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2