Remembering Terry

It was late in August the summer of 2003. My family and I were making our way to Vancouver Island for my internship before Ordination. We were driving along in Northern Ontario on an overcast cool day. It was more like fall than late summer. We came across the spot – a statue stood on the hill. The shape of a familiar person for those of us who remember his run. That awkward stance he'd take with each step as he tilted one hip and threw his artificial leg forward followed by something akin to a hop and a jump. It was a statue of Terry Fox – one of the greatest Canadians who has ever lived. His statue forever overlooks the spot where his Marathon of Hope came to an end just outside Thunderbay. 143 days and 5,373 Kilometres later Terry could run no more. Yet the hope he inspired in people; the sheer determination of a young person to change the world; the desire to find a cure for cancer – that part of Terry's marathon lives on. After a week full or remembering senseless violence, talk of troop reductions, and Canada's failure to live up to its commitment – perhaps it's a good thing that we begin this week with Terry's legacy. We begin this week with hope – the hope that our actions, our words, the purpose we ascribe to our hands can and will make a difference – just as someone else believed almost 2000 years ago along the Jordan river and the Galilee.

To learn more about the annual Terry Fox Run, please visit http://www.terryfoxrun.org/english/terry%20fox%20run/default.asp?s=1

A Sad day to be Canadian – The Declaration of Indigenous People

As a country we sent some of our top policy makers, people who eat and sleep politics on the world stage, to create a declaration of Indigenous People's rights. For years we've headed the push for the creation of such a document. For years we've pushed the idea that indigenous peoples around the world need to be treated with the same degree of respect and protection as us non-indigenous people. We've challenged other countries to get on board and move towards just and right relations with indigenous peoples. And what happens with the culmination of that effort is about to become a reality? Why we vote no of course. 1 of 5 countries to do so. Why? Because the price we'd have to pay in land claims negotiations is too high; because indigenous people in Canada might actually get what they deserve; because white people might have to leave some of their multi-million dollar properties on the West coast; and because indigenous people might actually get land that's really worth something, rather than our leftovers – the land we can't imagine a use for…at least not yet. Its disgraceful. Perhaps we should change our national anthem to "true patriot love as long as your skins not red." I've seen the state of some reserves with my own eyes. Don't fool yourself by opting into the white collar myth that "Indians" are sitting on their duffs on reserves being paid to do nothing by the federal government mouching off our hard paid tax dollars. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could be farther from the truth. When I was serving a congregation on Vancouver Island I had the opportunity to visit a village on one of the local reserves that didn't have any running water! Imagine, it's the year 2003 and in Lyn or Athens or Addison or Mallorytown there was no running water – no treated municipal water supply – no wells could be drilled because of contaminated land – yet that is the only place you are told you can live! Do not dismiss the United Nations findings that many indigenous people who live on reserves in Canada do so in conditions worse than those found in 2/3rds world countries. Worse! In Canada! When our Indian Affairs minister Chuck Strahl voted no it was a sad day to be a Canadian and it didn't have to be so.

Remembering Dawson College

This week people gathered at Dawson College and remembered the one who'd died and those who'd been injured by a troubled gunman one year ago. Violence is part of our world. Our reaction to it varies only in relation to the perceived validation of the violence and its close proximity to our own lives. Why is it that we're angered, frustrated, and saddened when someone picks up a weapon and commits a violent crime here in Canada and kills "innocent" people, yet when we politically sanction violence on a grand scale few of us have any qualms with those actions? I'm not anti military, far from it. I once and sometimes still do, flirt with the idea of entering our armed forces. What I'm challenging is societies sense of the validity of certain types of violence. Scripture tells us "blessed are the peacemakers," "don't walk one mile, walk two," and "if you have two shirts give the extra one and the one you're wearing." All three teachings a rooted in a radical otherness that is rooted in a love which calls us beyond our insipid individualism and into a interconnected web of relationships. A web where we realise just how connected our actions are and how what I say and do affects others. Violence is not to be condoned. Any violent actions that seeks to subjugate another individual to the will of another is unsupportable. I find it increasingly difficult to articulate an argument for justifiable violence. Can violence ever be justifiable? That's the question that the Dawson College memorial brings to mind. What if the shooter hadn't committed suicide? Would we, nice Canadians that we are, have called for his life? Would a debate of a death penalty surfaced? Would we claim that because of the pain and anguish he'd caused that his death would be justifiable? Would we have demanded our pound of flesh? Or, would we hear the words of the gospel – treat others as you would like them to treat you – make peace – seek to understand the individuality of others? I paused on September 13^th and prayed for the families who morn, the people who were injured, the community that was damaged, and those who have found ways of moving on. They need our support. They need our prayers. As for violence, I continue to struggle with its place in our society and our world. I continue to struggle with our legitimating of it when its suits our cultural norms and I continue to pray.

The Kids are Back in School!

One week down and no major incidents yet…YES! Its September and people all across the country have gone back to school. From 4 year olds taking their first foray into an education system that will shape them in ways their parents never imagined, to adults who are returning to education after time working. No matter how you look at it, September is all about firsts, even though it's the ninth month of the year! Yet, amidst the quieter homes and the busy classrooms there are other emotions too. I can remember the first days of both my children. For one it was a casual glance back followed by a bold leap in to the breach. For the other it was more like the first swim in spring when you dip your toe in to see if the water is warm enough yet to make the plunge. It seems to me that these two reactions, as well as a multitude in between, form a continuum of expression that continues through our lives. There are for each of us moments when we just jump in…sometimes feet first…other times, if we're really excited…head long. There are also times when we're more tentative about engaging in new experiences and so we take more of a stand back, wait and see attitude. Both are equally valid approaches for encountering new experiences and, depending on our life's journey, how comfortable and how often we opt for each one, or something in between, will be different for each person.

Maybe though, September isn't so much about firsts as it is about change - changes that open whole new vistas of possibilities, even if those possibilities frighten us and cause us to wonder what God has in store for us this time. Yet no matter how scary September and changes are two things you can count on are that: 1) October will come and what was new and terrifying won't be quite so bad anymore and 2) that God through Christ and by the Spirit walks that journey with us – no matter how scary or horrible or off putting or doubt filled we are – God is right there with us.

So as September moves right along, as it always does, say a prayer for all those experiencing changes this fall and don't forget to pray for all those parents/spouses/families who experience the same range of emotions as the ones going to school.

Mind, Body & Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:19 (Contemporary English Version)

"You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own."

Like most people I know, the last thing I think about when I'm prioritizing my day with all its activities is my body. Sometimes I plan for regular meals, although the only one that has been regular in a long time is dinner – it's the one meal a day where, as a family, we're committed to one another being present at table. It's a great meal, don't get me wrong. We get a chance to check in with one another and see how the day went for everyone. We also take a moment to name our best part of the day. Its mandatory in our house – no matter how difficult and challenging a day has been, and trust me there have been many – you have to name your favourite part. Yet when it comes to the other meals I've often seen them as optional. I know that they aren't, yet in ministry its so easy to fly out of the house on your way to the first appointment or that next meeting and assert that you don't have time to eat. Of course there's always the never ending flow of sweets and muffins and coffee or tea to consume during the day, yet those are only empty calories and certainly don't feed the body, yet alone the soul. Why is it that in ministry its so easy to put ourselves last? We're often the last ones who go to the doctor – even though we've advised/counselled others. We're the last ones to eat right – even though we know better. We're the last ones to really take time off – even though we know we should. And we're certainly the last ones to plan exercise into our days – even though we know its important. Why is it that in order for us to serve God through Christ we assume some form of suffering servant persona and continually put ourselves and our families last?

Paul claimed that our bodies were a holy temple. If that's true then what are we really saying about our relationship with God and Christ? What if we treated our physical temples, our places of worship, like we do our bodies and we filled them up with all kinds of greasy, oily, empty junk? Would we agree that this approach to worship and God was correct? I don't think so! I can hear congregations across Canada now screaming about how the church needs to be cleaned up, aired out, and brought up to snuff – yesterday! Yet we don't treat our bodies that way. I'm not trying to claim that we need to take body worship as seriously as God worship, far from it, as more harm comes from this than good. What I'm claiming is that we need to take better care of our bodies and remember that they are, in Paul's words, filled with the Spirit. We are of God and we need to start acting like it.

That's what I've started to do since September started. I make sure I have my prayer time. I make sure to engage myself in a variety of mental activities that use all my skills and I've returned to a workout routine at my local YMCA. Its not much – 35 minutes 3 days a week – and I watch what I eat. Its that simple and already I can feel the difference. Maybe your biological temple will as well and who knows, perhaps even the Spirit in you will be more alive as well.