emo

trip trip tripping on the things you said, on the colours you bled, on the stories you read to tell me those things you wished you'd said. well i'll tell you now, i'll tell you how to love me, if you really want to, if you really thought you had it in you. cos sometimes i just don't know, and sometimes it just don't show, but you say you do, and you'd say "i do." if only you'd admit the truth, you'd seen it through. but that was then and this is now, and you don't need me anyhow. Technorati Tags: Creative, Emo

Oxygen

Almost done. Almost out. The past three weeks of f/t school and working at the office, while they've been good, have also been pretty taxing. I haven't had the time I've needed to think, breathe, pray, the way I wanted to. I know that by Friday it'll all be over, but that's still a ways away. Having spent a great deal of the fall around the house, thinking, praying, breathing, this winter seems a bit more difficult. To think that a year ago I allowed myself to work f/t on top of school! I'm finally understanding my limits - or at least the limits that allow me to be a reasonble human being. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting all snappy, and I know it's because I'm tired, and really just need space. But you know what? I just got an invite to head to the country this week-end, and I'm gonna take up on it. Some open air. Some open country air. Wide open spaces. Time to think, to pray and to breathe. It'll be nice to experience oxygen again.

Church of Fools Pt. II

Lawyers for an Italian parish priest have been ordered to appear in court after the Roman Catholic cleric was accused of unlawfully asserting that Jesus Christ existed. Technorati Tags: Christianity, Church

Church of Fools

I haven't visited this church in a long time, but felt compelled to go back today. Some of it had to do with reading articles on Church 2.0 and just random fleeting and scattered thoughts about the emerging/emergent church/movement. I actually really like the architecture of that place, and would like to have attended one of their Sunday services while they were still operational. Technology is a weird thing, and I wonder how it's possible to really do community without the face-to-face. I certainly don't want to say that it can't happen, but something about the environment seems almost too mediated (and perhaps too transient?) for it to foster community, to help shape worship and to stimulate and develop a prophetic imagination that has real impacts upon the (e)world we find ourselves in. Thankful for school, for good beer and good conversation. Thankful for a loving community and chances to step out of my comfort zone. Thankful for prayer and for silence. Thankful for today.

In Memoriam

In memory of Ralph Eibner I waited for you today. I waited for you and you did not come, and I wondered why. I wondered how you could be so hurtful, so insensitive, so ignorant. I wondered where this relationship was going, what I could gain from something such as this. And then the words. He will not come today. He will not come to see you ever again. I walked, dazed, across the street, caught the bus home. All the while highschoolers loudly discussed the latest fashion, trend, gossip and rumour. "He slept with her," and, "She with him." "She said this," and, "he that." And in the midst of this, I knew. I had been hurtful. I had been insensitive. I was ignorant. All I feel is hollow. Empty. Alone. We were going to talk today. We were going to discuss. We were going to discuss the ins and outs of the past few weeks, the troubles and struggles and discoveries. We were going to talk about my journey. You, as always, would point out things I'd not seen before. You, as always, would listen, ponder, meditate on these things and guide me in new directions never imagined. You, as always would pass on wisdom, a word, a feeling that would keep me thinking and reeling for days. But you did not come today. And you will not come ever again. At home, I watch Lost in Translation. We are all lost. We are all in translation. And yet you - you are no longer. You are no longer lost. You are no longer in translation. No longer do you linger in this state. You are as you are. You are as nothing, and yet, as everything. You are more than what you've been. Perfected. The image of God has been realised in you, my friend. You are as you were created to be. You are. You were. You are a friend, a brother, a mentor to me. And in your passing, I pray God's glory to shine upon you. I pray God's glory to move upon the earth, in the hearts of those who ever had opportunity to encounter your spirit - if even for a moment. Into God's hands we commit your spirit. Into God's hands alone. And in him. And in him, you are free. And I pray your pain be healed, your sorrow overturned, your life renewed, restored, and redeemed. And as you go, friend, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; may the Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you rest. Amen. Technorati Tags: Anglican, Christianity, Church, Obituary

Bloc Party

So what exactly is with the BQ lawn-sign on Clinton at Dupont? Is anyone around here actually running for them? Maybe it's just an interesting way to alienate one's neighbours. I'm not sure. I'd actually like to ask the homeowner how he got the sign (mail-order, home-made, what?). Thankful for conversation with old friends. For coffee, bacon, eggs and homefries. For endings and new beginnings. For accomodating profs and for bold new directions. For glistening streets covered in snow and for crisp, cool air. Technorati Tags: Bloc Quebecois, Canada, Election, Toronto

An Election Soundtrack

With the campaign still being waged, everyday Canadians held in the balance, it's kinda refreshing to see a different take on the entire thing. Thanks to Tyrone over at CTV for his consistent effort to frame the campaign in song. Here are this week's soundtrack picks: Liberals - "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - U2 Conservatives - "Behind Blue Eyes" - The Who NDP - "Don't Step On The Grass, Sam" - Steppenwolf Bloc -"You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon Green - "Rebellion (Lies)" - The Arcade Fire Technorati Tags: Canada, Election, Soundtrack

Bono Icon

Josh Lyon has posted a great new icon provided him by a friend. It's a pretty cool response to the iconography project Josh did for his dad earlier this year. Technorati Tags: Bono, Iconography, U2

Renovations

I'm toying with the style sheet in order to implement a three-column floating layout (mostly I'm jealous of the typepad folks with more room). Thanks to Thur Broeders for posting a usable stylesheet configuration. Hopefully I'll be able to clean up the mess at the bottom of the page and update with graphics, etc. in the coming days. Technorati Tags: Blogger, Templates

Snack

place chip with salsa in mouth. lick fingers. scent of garlic and basil waft effortlessly. mercifully upward. taste buds and blossoms. today's pasta sauce has made this snack beautifully, intoxicatingly good. this moment courtesy of aurora tomatoes. only 99cents at global cheese in kensington. Technorati Tags: Cheese, Food, Kensington

Sleepless

Church last night was good. It was small, not many people there on New Years day. David was totally right - some looked in pretty rough shape after staying up for celebrations the night before. I went down early to help with setup. Set up the board, then soundchecked Julia before Gary arrived to take over. I actually wouldn't mind getting behind the board again some Sunday - it's been a while since I've done any live mixing. It's been awhile since I've done anything with music. Kinda miss it. Wore a sweater-vest today. Dug it out of storage at the parents' place over Christmas. It's hard to believe they're coming back - and yet, you watch, it'll be this spring's big thing. Been thinking a lot lately about what church-based short term missions trips should look like. I've been doing some reading, some writing, and will hopefully be engaging a variety of different people in conversation about it in the coming weeks and months. A lot of this comes out of my own experiences in Kolkata this summer with Freedomize - both as a member and as a leader of teams working with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. These trips (like all similar trips) had their share of strengths and weaknesses. What was most moving, however, was the strong desire to expose a bunch of Western kids to the realities of the two-thirds world, and a leadership that saw this as an opportunity to see lives changed by face-to-face encountres with global poverty. I can't speak for the others who spent this summer in India, but I do know that my life has been changed. To start, it's got me writing this entry. Beyond that, tho, is an ever-growing document that could potentially be a framework for local church based missions trips that aren't a waste of time. For me, right now, it's not so much the actual overseas element that has me most concerned. Working within a pre-existing structure like the MoC volunteer system is an incredible way to a) be of service without railroading the established mission's daily work; b) expose a team to a reality outside of their own; and c) establish a truly generous community ethic amongst team members. To me these elements justify a trip - so long as what is learned in that cross-cultural context is not merely left behind, but rather continues to inform the participant's future choices in the homeland. Considering the broad range of short-term trips out there, it seems to me that many fail to: 1) Properly equip the team (spiritually, emotionally) prior to departure; 2) Adequately debrief and reintegrate team members into the home culture; and 3) Provide opportunity and direction to apply learned skills in the home culture. These three are vital in ensuring that cross-cultural trips such as one taken to Kolkata are more than consumer experiences. It seems to me there needs to be a consciously delineated framework in which these trips take place such that planning, prayer and attention are given equally to all three of training, cross-cultural experience and debriefing. All members need to be aware that their "mission" does not start when their plane touches down on foreign soil, and end when it leaves the same, but rather begins much earlier, and continues for the rest of their Christian lives. Mission is so much more. Maybe better-defining "mission" in a 21st Century context is the best place to start this conversation...