brotherly love

So long since I have posted and lots has happened since I was gone. Over the coming months I will bring you up-to-date. But first let me update you on the previous post “politeness: an excuse for inaction.”

Several people in the church, particularly our adult ministries pastor, befriended James who was the homeless man in that post. James was always smiling but had real difficulty sitting through services and he often got up and wandered around somewhat nervously. Never-the-less people genuinely loved James and I also enjoyed talking with him even though he never really had too much to say. After several months James made a confession of faith and was baptized.

Some months later on a mid-winter Sunday I said “hello” to James and asked, as I always did, “how are you doing?” Instead of replying with the expected “fine” he said, “not that well—I have lung cancer—they told me Friday.”

Lung cancer has a terrible prognosis; it was not long before James was gone. Many people from James' extended family attended his funeral and they praised James’ good points and spoke candidly about his struggles—clearly they loved James. One of the family members looked at me and asked, “who are you?” “I am from Philpott Church” I said. “James loved that church” she replied. “We loved him too,” I responded.

Some homeless people don't have families like James who love him, so where can they go to get help and to be loved like a brother? Hopefully you and your church! Look out for James because he or someone like him will come to your church soon.

politness: an excuse for inaction?

Last week I noticed that a person who was homeless sitting near me in Church needed a shower and a change of clothes. Some may say that it is impolite for me to mention such things and better to ignore it, but I disagree because politeness can prevent us from addressing people’s real needs.

I am sure the lack of freshness was not this guy’s fault, after all how does a homeless person go about getting a change of clothing and a shower? If politeness means I ignore his condition then I may also be ignoring what God expects me to do. A friend sitting next to me said she was remembering how Jesus washed his disciple’s feet—how can I do any less?

you asked - and I am back!

A few people have asked me to come back to blogging, some have even begged!

Okay so I am back!

I was going to move this blog to a wordpress site and I had taken all the posts offline ready to go, but then Blogger added some new features and so I am back here again and I am repopulating all the old posts as well as indexing them too (a nice new feature). This may take some time but when it is done I will go back to adding new posts once again.

Enjoy!

narnia - not a perfect world

The movie “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” is about to be released and there is some debate about whether the Narnian books are racist and sexist.

Are they racist and sexist? YES - we shouldn't expect them to be otherwise; as much as I admire the author, C. S. Lewis, he was a conservative male from an elite and privileged class, he worked in a male dominated university in an age where racism and sexism were unapologetically embedded in society. Watch the movie “chariots of fire” and you get a glimpse of the racism in academia at that time, particularly toward people from the middle-east. This particular form of racism plays is evident on the stereotypes Lewis uses in “The Horse and his Boy,” and sexism is evident in all the books!

I don’t think that Lewis deliberately set out to spread racist or sexist ideas, instead I think his writing inadvertently produced the societal values that predominated at that time. It would be nice to think that because he was a Christian that perhaps he would be immune to adopting these values--perhaps his faith helped him manage to avoid some of the more racist and sexist view of his time--but clearly not all. But before we judge him too harshly lets remember that even though we have learnt to be more careful with our language and stereotyped today, we have still not managed to eradicate racism or sexism.

So should parts of the Narnia books should be re-drafted to get rid of the racist and sexist language and ideas? I think so--I think if Lewis had today's insight day about the ways racism and sexism operate he would welcome this change. Fortunately the producers of the movie think the same way and have made minor changes to better represent his work for today's audience.

While I am waiting for the movie's release I think I will re-read the books and I will enjoy them even though some of the isms will make me cringe! But still — way to go C S Lewis — you remain one of my favorite authors flaws and all! And let us remember, although the Narnia stories are not perfect, the story they represent is!

da vici decoded

After today’s Sunday service art scholar Bryan Wylie began a three part series on “Da Vici & Advent.” The sculpture above is not a Da Vici, it is a Michelangelo, but Bryan said we can’t understand Da Vici (who we should refer to as “Leonardo” rather than “Da Vici”) without understanding the renaissance, and we can’t understand the renaissance without understanding Michelangelo.

This series is truly brilliant, I now know how to tell the difference between pre-renaissance and renaissance art! Bryan’s style and content appeals to the scholar in me, his humour appeals to my nature, and his message touches my heart! In other words I am being blessed!

Something else I learnt, not from Bryan’s teaching but from connecting some dots. I always looked at the way western European artists cast Biblical figures in European form as colonizing, yet now I understand that it was not the artists who were colonizers but the political context in which their art existed. It is reasonable, to some extent, for each culture to portray the images of the God and the gospel in ways that fit that cultural context - it helps people feel a connection to the events portrayed. The renaissance, however, marked the start of Europe colonizing the rest of the world and in this context the whitening of biblical characters caused some Europeans to really think that white people both looked like and represented God. Consequently it is not the art of Michelangelo, Leonardo and others that is the problem when these white European biblical figures appear but the context in which this art existed. Each of us ought to be aware of this context when we produce our own art and ideas.

goodbye george

George Best (pronounced "Georgie" Best) died today. The London Times said:

"GEORGE BEST was the greatest footballer that ever lived. Let us be perfectly clear about that, no matter what other judgments we make about a life that mixed the beautiful with the banal in dreadful and ultimately lethal ways." read more

The judgements The Times is referring to is that some people say because George was an alcoholic we should not celebrate his life. For sure George's demon was drink – a habit he was never able to kick – in the end it killed him. Yet I wonder if any of George’s critics, even though stone cold sober, will ever touch as many hearts as he did. Even when hung over George could and did outplay the best in the world! Perhaps it was this apparently superhuman talent combined with his human failures that made so many of us love him.

Rest in peace George Best – let us remember you for who you were – a very human superhero!

breaking news: george best nears death

Breaking News from London: George Best (pictured here in the number 11 shirt) who was likely the best ever football player to walk the planet, is sick in hospital with only hours to live. A sad day for soccer. More Pictures

goodbye rosa parks

Civil right leader Rosa Parks passed away today. Rosa was the Black woman who was arrested in 1955 on a bus for not moving when the driver ordered her to give her seat to a White person.

"If you don't stand up, I'm going to call the police," the driver threatened. "You may do that" she replied.

People say that "it took Rosa to sit down for Martin to stand up," and that was so! Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood up and the rest is history. But the history did not stop with the bus boycott and following events, Rosa continued to play a key role in social justice issues all her life.

Rosa we will miss you! Thank you for making us a better society even though it cost you so much! May we all learn from you to see injustice and may we be inspired by you to stand up (or sit down) for what is right.

Rosa "Lee" Louise Parks, civil rights campaigner, born February 4 1913; died October 24 2005 age 92.

Click here for audio report by Gary Younge.

showing mercy

To really show mercy in the way God intended you have to have experienced it—at least that was the message in church this week and last week too.

But when was I shown mercy? Well on the road to Jericho when the Good Samaritan stopped! That parable is not just about how we need to be like the Good Samaritan, it is also about how each of us as a Christian has been shown mercy like the man who was robbed. When Lane (our Pastor) shared this message it struck home and I was reminded of an old truth in a new way.

Yes it was me on that mountain road beaten up and with no hope. There was nothing I could do to save myself, nothing I could do to get up, to make myself well, to make myself clean. I was waiting in the dirt for death. A priest and a lawyer came by, but religion and the law did not save me—I was lost! But a stranger came along and showed mercy—his name was Jesus. Bandaging my wounds he took me to a safe place and paid the price for me to be healed.

When we as Christians help the poor and the destitute it is not because we are better than they, it is because we have been shown mercy and we want to do likewise in His name.

poverty: day of action

Monday October 17 is a Canadian National day of action to “make poverty history.” The Campaign 2000 Website has useful Canadian information and also has report cards that detail the ongoing extent and causes of children living in poverty within Canada. This campaign is not just about helping the poor through charity, but about tackling some of the causes of poverty in society. Just as the campaign 2000 WebSite gives details about structural causes of poverty in Canada and suggests some solutions, this BBC news report provides an analysis of the inequalities that cause poverty on a global scale and also suggests soltions.