Christmas adventures

Well, here we are on the cusp of Christmas. I have not posted since last Wednesday because I was out of town, visiting family - my daughter and her family. The threat of a snow storm meant I had to return 12 hours before intended, but not too soon to experience the joys and excitements of living in the country. Prior excitements at the farm included a new born calf that refused to suckle, slaughtering a cow, and building a chicken coop. All of them rather tame in comparison to this trip's entertainment.

My son and law and grandson, eager to get home after a harrowing drive through a snow storm, mistook the culvert's open area between two snow banks for his driveway, and, before his son could warn him drove his car part way into the only open water in kilometers. Both exited the vehicle in a prompt manner while the nose of the car sunk into the swamp water, car bottom resting on the culvert. car rear hiked up indecently at a 45 degree angle.

It is amazing how the creative juices flow when the threat of humiliation looms. When the tow truck refused to come due to weather conditions, my son-in-law realized that, unless he took matters into his own hands, the car would likely freeze into the swamp and be there 'till spring. Not only would they lose the use of the car, but, more significantly, he would be the laughing stock of the county. So, armed with a tipsy neighbour and said neighbour's truck he attacked the problem, only to have the neighbour's truck end up in a ditch (not the swamp). Undaunted, he hauled out a sort of winch thingame, called a "come along" (??? a dubious name at best), which, he used to drag the truck out of the ditch using only human muscle power.

Miraculously, they pulled the car out of the swamp using the truck and the "come along", then pushed the car down the road, entering via the correct driveway, and finally coming to rest in the workshop where it is currently being thawed and dried out.

Hesitant to risk such mistakes myself, being hideously unequiped (no "come along" in the trunk), I decided once the storm abated and before the next one descended, to high tail it back to the relative safety and placidity of the city so I could relate this tale to my faithful readers, all 1.734 of them.

Paper - Use and Reuse

Paper has invaded my thinking today. From starting the fire with newspaper to reading a blog on which books ended up in the discount bin (Everything Must Go) there was some kernel of meaning in it all. The transitory nature of material things? Multiple uses of newspaper?

"Not worth the paper it's printed on!" How many times have I read that comment? Now that we are facing a global environmental crisis, we might need to take that paradigm a little more to heart. Trees may well become a rarer commodity than wise or clever sayings and we will be admonished to save our valuable paper for only the noblest, best written, most important ideas, information and stories. All other words to be disseminated by the internet.

Until this takes place, we will still be innundated with paper - newspaper and its inserts - what to do with it once it has been read? Nothing is older than yesterday's news, or sales, for that matter. Once read, can we afford to just toss it out? Of course it is being recycled in increasing amounts by many communities, for the rest of us, here are some other uses for it:

• Gardening: newspaper makes great mulch. My neighbour who sports a magnificent garden uses it to kill grass, reclaiming lawn space for more engaging plant life than grass. Several layers (10?) of newsprint placed over your lawn will effectively kill the grass beneath.
• Composting: If you vermicompost, as I do, the worms need a constant supply of bedding materials, that they also digest. Shredded newspaper (black inks, preferably vegetable, are better for them, the coloured inks have more poisonous chemicals) is well tolerated by the voracious red wigglers that eat my garbage.
• Starting fires: I have discovered an effective fire starter using bunched up newspaper and paper bags. Ever since I started insisting that all my packaging be paper, rather than plastic, I have accumulated LOTS of paper bags. I use them (after removing the glued strip) to drain bacon on, to spread butter in pans for cooking and for wrapping packages to send through the mail. To start a fire, I put several bunched up pieces of newspaper into the bag and then put kindling on top of one or two bags. The bag keeps the paper close enough together to generate a focused heat and ignites the kindling quite nicely.

I know, I know, I probably shouldn't be burning wood. Although it is a sustainable resource, if logged appropriately. I do buy my wood from a "green" logger. Still there is the environmental cost with the carbon dioxide that gets thrown into the atmosphere when I burn it. My carbon footprint is not zero, but I am trying to do what I can to reduce unneeded waste. Not perfect yet, by any means, but working at improving.

Ms Fixit

Well, I finally have dealt with the dripping faucet and the burnt electrical plug on the vacuum cleaner.

I no longer have to shrivel up with guilt every time I go to the bathroom and hear potable water drip, drip, dripping away, forever lost to the thirsty of the world. I belong to several environmental organizations, including Wellington Water Watchers. Although I did do a lot of water watching while pondering the hows, whys and wherefores of my dripping faucet, that's not quite what they had in mind. While my water was pointlessly vacating the aquafer beneath us, Nestle was (and still is) avidly bottling up this same water to sell back to us a few kilometers down the road. While I do not agree with this practice, at least they weren't just wasting it!

Actually, it's not quite true that I "fixed" the faucet. I did try, but was unable to figure out how to replace the washer, basically because I couldn't get to the washer. So, instead I did what I should've done in the first place - turned off the valve underneath the sink. No hot water in the bathroom sink, but I don't mind brushing my teeth in cold water. Really, it couldn't have been easier.

Fixing the vacuum cleaner plug was more time consuming, but pretty straight forward. I bought a new plug at the hardware store, cut off the burnt ends of the wire, sliced away the insulating plastic cover exposing the copper wire(s). Then I had to carefully twist one wire around one screw and the other around the other screw, making sure there was no contact between them. And, you know what? It worked. I finishd vacuuming the living room. Although I could think of more exciting ways to reward myself for the exchange.

This was hardly an inspired blog - sorry to all one of you out there that may or may not be reading this.

The Way of Failure

For most of my life I have run away from any and all awareness of personal failure. At times this has included burning bridges, that is, turning my back on the people and projects that were the context for my failures.

As I have aged, this has become more difficult to do. Many of my failures have been as a parent and even I am not prepared to leave relationships with my grown children to avoid facing up to the ways I have injured them.

Seeing the hardships my failures have caused my children is exquisitely painful and the tempation is there continually to shrink away from the spotlight of truth. Holidays seem to be a good time for stirring up these issues.

So, I found myself this morning, cowering under the weight of all this - a weight, as I have said before, I often want to run away from. Of late I have adopted the practice each morning of asking Jesus to be "yoked" with Him. I imagine Jesus and I being harnessed together, and this morning I realized that the weight of my failure was something that Jesus was willing to help me bear. Of course, if I chose not to bear it by not acknowledging it, then Jesus would not help me carry it.

I felt God informing me that my failures were not excluded from the "things" in "God works all things together for good" and that owning them before God demonstrated my love and trust of God and thereby freed Him up to work even my failures out for good in the lives of those I have injured. This seemed too good to be true! Much of the gospel is - it isn't called the "good news" for nothing.

Further, I wondered if, from God's perspective, our failures are really any different than our successes. Although we feel much better about our successes in life, it is often our failures that being us closer to God, more dependent on God's grace and mercy. Is this maybe what Paul meant when he said, "when I am weak, then I am strong"?

So, while I do not welcome failure, I am called not to fear it. This should make me able to risk hoping for the future. As well, when I do fail, as is inevitable, I must walk through my failures, in fact, there is no other way around them.

The dog, the car and the Logos

Today I woke up before the crack of dawn in a state of anxiety. Besides the usual Christmas crazies yesterday brought a new set of complexities (aka troubles) into my life. The dog and the car.

My elderly mutt, Hobbes, is a long suffering fellow and had been clicking around the house on the canine equivalent of stiletto heels. Yesterday, as a pre-Christmas gift to the old fella, I took him in to the vet to have his toenails clipped. "Oh, and by the way," says I to the vet, "what is that swelling just under his eye?"

No, thankfully, it was not cancer, just a broken tooth and infected bone, requiring dental surgery, "Let me give you a quote on that," says he. Which is how I discover that Hobbes' mouth will cost more than all the Christmas presents and the turkey with the trimmings combined. "OK," says I, "can I get back to you on that?"

Try as I might, I cannot think of an alternative to immediate oral surgery for Hobbes, so, I will call the vet today to book it and worry about the cost later (me and the auto industry, eh? I'd ask the government for a bail-out, but...there really is no Santa Claus - for individuals at least)

Later on, after a busy day of entertaining and decorating, I decided to attend a Christmas drop-in hosted by some friends - that ought to cheer me up! Lo and behold my car protested loudly when I tried to leave later that night - screeching like a banshee it appeared that the parking brake on the right hand side would not release. The car mechanic is not open on Saturdays, so I will have to wait until Monday to find out how much it will cost to repair. Our host drove me home.

Finally, cozy in my bed, I tried to complete my nightly routine of writing up the day in my journal - oops, my glasses, yep, you guessed it - left on the dashboard of the car...hmm - thankfully, I have a few out-dated spares kicking around the house - one of those rare times I can pat myself on the back for being a pack rat.

So, no wonder I'm feeling a little pressed this morning - although, as I review my list of woes, I realize that I am truly blessed that they are so relatively benign - no foreclosures, no earthquakes, no dislocations due to war, no famine.

Still, wussy North American that I am, they do drag me down. As is my habit, I pray in the morning, "casting my cares upon the Lord" so God gets an earful of my angst. Generally I read the Psalms while breakfasting, and found this in Psalm 138: 7-8 "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me; Thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies, And thy right hand will save me. Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, endureth for ever; Forsake not the works of thine own hands." I put down my spoon and suddenly notice the poinsetta on my kitchen table - the colours of the leaves and petals are so richly nuanced!

I believe that this is one of God's daily miracles - that those words were specifically meant for me. Somehow in the eternal now the Logos of God, in love, aimed those words at me, to be read on this morning, to speak to these circumstances. And I am encouraged. If God cares for me and my foolish little woes, how much more must He care for those with greater woes. I pray that God will meet those who are suffering in the midst of their greater woes with love and hope.

Green Christmas Caroling

As Christmas approaches and the dread spirit begins to haunt my steps, I look around for ways to bless my family, enjoy my friends and honour the humble, meek and lowly Jesus without damaging the environment or my diminishing income.

"Those who bless the poor will themselves find blessing" (Good King Winceslas): Organizations like World Vision and Heifer International offer ways to purchase gifts for third world families such as a flock of chickens or an agricultural package including tools and seed. Donations to local food banks or the Salvation Army will help support those who have less in your area.

"Let earth receive her king" (Joy to the World): Bless the earth by buying a living Christmas tree that you could plant after a couple of years. Or an artificial tree. I'm trying something new this year - I bought an upside down cone about three feet high which I plan to decorate with cedar and pine boughs that I will harvest from the trees in my yard.

The spirit of the season and how to avoid it

No political commentary today, no, not even any environmental concerns. No, today I want to talk about the "spirit of the season". And by that, I do not mean Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the angel Gabriel or Santa Claus. What I mean is that oppressive sense of panic descending on or around the first of December, crushing the very "warm coziness" it dangles in front of us to lure us into its vortex of buy, buy, buy and busy, busy, busy. Then, if we can't afford to buy, buy, buy or have no one to be busy, busy, busy with or when the actual day does not deliver on the promised "magic" of warmth / family / intimacy we are heaped with such a sense of loss that many despair. Social agencies and emergency hot lines beef up their services over Christmas and New Years to try to avert the human tragedies brought on by this same spirit - self-destructive behaviours that trip over into suicide.



Isn't this always the way? The dark trying to co-opt the light, trying to blight the generosity and genuine good will shown by so many during this time of year. Trying to draw attention away from the dirty stable where Jesus' was born - redolent with animal smells and the worship of shepherds. Instead, we get stuck in Herod's palace with the cloying sweetness of expensive perfumes and an inordinate drive to "get what is mine". What else could have been driving those hordes of people in the USA who broke through the doors of a Walmart and trampled an employee to death. Yes, the ads put out by WalMart pumped people up with expectations of yet more Christmas goodies for an even cheaper price. But why did that advertising work?

Well, I am trying to lay low myself. Malls do it for me - that is, once I am in one, all reserve and self-control go out the window. Oh, wait, I forgot, there aren't any windows in a mall - just like there aren't any clocks or any logical layout of the stores...I figure they are designed that way intentionally - it is to the vendors' advantage that you lose your way and your sense of time and any awareness that a reality outside of the mall exists.

Lest I sound like Scrooge - I do love Christmas and all the trappings. Its just that I find it so easy to get focused on the trappings and forget the content. Some ways around that are to focus on the poor, on making your own gifts, on spending time (instead of money) with those you love and on look for ways to be kind and civil to others as you trudge through the pitfalls and blessings of this season.

Towards Sustainable Future, circa 1972

Tired of doom and gloom? Well, who isn't. Want an outline of what can be done? Of course you do. Thirty-six years ago A Blueprint for Survival was published 1972 in "The Ecologist", then later in book form by Penguin. Written by Edward Goldsmith, editor of "The Ecologist" and Robert Allen, it paints a predicament, not unlike the one we face now, and, more importantly, proposes a strategy to deal with it. I loved it when I first read it, so I did what I always do with great books - insist that my friends read them, hence, my library suffers - Thank God for the internet! For I have now rediscovered this marvelous little text, conveniently archived!

To give you a flavour of the book itself, and perhaps tempt you to read it for yourselves here is the first paragraph from the introduction:

The principal defect of the industrial way of life with its ethos of expansion is that it is not sustainable. Its termination within the lifetime of someone born today is inevitable-unless it continues to be sustained for a while longer by an entrenched minority at the cost of imposing great suffering on the rest of mankind. We can be certain, however, that sooner or later it will end (only the precise time and circumstances are in doubt), and that it will do so in one of two ways: either against our will, in a succession of famines, epidemics, social crises and wars; or because we want it to-because we wish to create a society which will not impose hardship and cruelty upon our children-in a succession of thoughtful, humane and measured changes. We believe that a growing number of people are aware of this choice, and are more interested in our proposals for creating a sustainable society than in yet another recitation of the reasons why this should be done. We will therefore consider these reasons only briefly, reserving a fuller analysis for the four appendices which follow the Blueprint proper.

This book, written over thirty years ago, raised an alarm that has largely been ignored. Within its first pages is a likely reason why - the demand for environmental resources grows exponentially but, by the time it is actually noticed, it may be too late to change. They quote a Professor Forrestor who says,

"Exponential growth is treacherous and misleading. A system variable can continue through many doubling intervals without seeming to reach significant size. But then in one or two more doubling periods, still following the same law of exponential growth, it suddenly seems to become overwhelming."

Let's hope that it isn't too late for us to turn the tide, and perhaps this little book will provide some answers as to how it can be done.

Canada's dead, Conspiracy theories and Debt

Well, three more Canadian soldiers were killed yesterday in Afghanistan, bringing the toll up to 100. My heart goes out to their families, friends and colleagues. I think about my own sons, both of military age, and cannot fathom the depth of sorrow I would face at loosing either of them.

Occasionally I tune into the CBC on a Thursday at 11:30 and catch "Afghanada", the excellent radio drama about our troops in Afghanistan and the kind of challenges they face. It is very well done, well scripted, well acted. I think we owe it to our troops in the field to listen to this program as a way of keeping them in our minds and prayers.

Perhaps it was the combination of thinking about the war, Margaret Atwood's "Payback" and my sons that led me this morning to investigate one of my sons' interest in conspiracy theories. The trail led me to an article in the Pakistan Daily which reported on a group of American scientists and ex-military who are challenging the standard take on the 9/11 bombings - they have a website and call themselves the Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice. It is hard to know what to believe in this day and age, but I do think this group, with its analytical approach, poses some distressing / compelling / intriguing questions.

I know that many with sons and daughters overseas fighting and peacekeeping for Canada may dismiss such musings as disrespectful to the sacrifice their loved ones are making, and down right ungrateful to boot. Nothing of the sort is intended. With no disrespect due to those who have already died, shouldn't we think about what we are asking our soldiers to risk their lives for? The courage, and self-sacrifice of those who have already died is a debt that we who live on will never be able to repay. Do we want to increase that debt by sending others to die too, if it can be avoided?

Considering the high cost, both personal and as a nation, that we Canadians are paying to be involved in the "war on terror" launched in response to the global horror of the 9/11 bombings, it would be a good thing to sort out, once and for all, the facts behind them and who is responsible.

Proroguing the fall out...

I took the time to read my local newspaper last night. No, it wasn't the Globe and Mail or the New York Times, just a lowly, local rag. There was good news and bad news. The good news is that finally, Canadians are passionate about Canadian politics - this truly is new considering we had the lowest voter turn out ever in our last elections! The letters to the editor took up two whole pages and dealt exclusively with the political situation.

The bad news is that once you get Canadians passionate about anything (and, believe me, our passion threshold is pretty high - it takes a lot to override the calm, civilized, diffident, hey, let's be frank, boring, demeanour, we are noted for, eh?), whether it is hockey, NFL football, a great bargain, or, in this case, politics, rationality seems to flit conveniently out the window. Perhaps we are so unused to passion that we aren't that good at tempering it with reason.

Actually, let me amend that slightly, and I am trying my hardest to be fair about this, but those who wrote in to the newspaper opposed to the coalition and pro Stephen Harper, were vitriolic in their prose, failing to back it up with much - it seemed like they had swallowed Stephen Harper's rhetoric, hook, line and sinker, and were churning it back out with a lot of emotion but not much thought. Most distressing was one writer who obliquely threatened armed revolt if the coalition went through!

On the other sides, and there were at least two, some semblance of basing your statements on facts did come into play. There was middle ground, covered by the professor of political science who explained that, within our constitution, a coalition government was not illegal, nor was it undemocratic as those participating were duly elected and represented more than half of the electors. On the side of the coalition, the tone was much more of a, "come and let us reason together". Equally adamant about their stance, but without the divisive bitterness and much more conciliatory.

Almost as distressing as the angry tone of the letters, was the obvious ignorance about our parliamentary system of government. Many pro-Harperites seemed to believe that a coalition government was "undemocratic" because Stephen Harper had been elected Prime Minister in the recent elections! This is flat out incorrect - wrong, wrong, wrong. They are seeing Canadian politics through an American Presidential election filter. The way it works, my friends, is that we the people elect those we want to represent us. The party with the most MPs gets to "form a government", but in order to rule, it must negotiate with those other MPs, of a different political stripe, who also have the right to be there, make decisions, and rule. It's all about sharing power - especially when the Prime Minister's party did NOT win a majority of the seats in parliament, as is the case with the Conservatives.

Most disturbing of all, was the divisiveness that came across in the pro-Harper letters, they reflected what I had heard in Stephen Harper's speeches. There was no room for negotiation, no admission of any failure on Harper's part to engage the opposition parties. It went so quickly to an us/them mentality that is frightening. It does not bode well for the hard times ahead where we will need everyone on board if we are to survive with our civilization, not to mention our civility, in tact.

And let us not take these things lightly. Before the horrors of Naziism, Germany was considered a highly civilized society, but the hard times of the depression and the punitive measures imposed after World War I created a breeding ground for vile thoughts later birthed as even more vile deeds. An atmosphere of us / them, of blame and of finger pointing and fear prevailed.

When the leader of our country vilifies one part of the country he is supposed to be leading, this can increase divisiveness. When SH points at the Bloc and says outright that they are unCanadian, that the coalition is setting the stage for Canada's destruction, that it will pull all the money from the West and pour it into Quebec, he is setting the stage for the kind of divisiveness, and suspicion that precedes outright hatred. Is he purposefully playing into the Quebec and / or Western separatists' / sovreignists' hands? What more evidence is needed by the majority of Quebecers who voted for the Bloc that the rest of Canada does not want to hear them, that they have no voice in Canada?

Now that Harper has been given his "get out of jail free" card, let's hope he puts the time to good use and tries to undo some of the damage he has done to Canadian unity.

Prorogue - Professional Rogue or???

A new word for me - no, it is not a professional scamp or scoundrel. Originated in 14th century it is a word you will never find being used in American politics. It refers to the request to discontinue a session of parliament. In Canada, this request can be made by the prime minister to the Governor General, Queen Elizabeth II's representative in Canada. Her name is Michaelle Jean and today, Stephen Harper, our beleaguered Prime Minister will ask her to "prorogue" parliament for him.

It is a little like the "get out of jail free" card in Monopoly. Stephen Harper has led his party and his country into a corner and now he wants to buy time to figure a way out of it. Truthfully, I feel very angry at the man. He won a minority government two years ago, one of his campaign promises at the time was to limit the frequency of elections to no less than every four years. Within two years he has called another election himself.

Why would Stephen Harper go back on his promise like that? Well, I think he has an agenda and he wants free rein to implement it. I fear that he wants to change the face of Canada. And he doesn't want any pesky opposition parties to stop him. So, he took a chance on an election, hoping the timing of it, shortly after a poll showing Canadians thought him the best leader among the parties, would catapult him into a majority government. It did not. So, after spending $30 million of Canadian tax payers' money, he still does not get the message that Canadians do not want to give him a majority.

Now he is tossing around all sorts of vile accusations that will only hurt Canada, the Conservative party and ultimately him, that is if people see through it. S.H. claims that Canada's relative stability in this time of economic recession, is because of his government's good policies. Yet his government had only been in office for eighteen months, so the good policies are probably more a result of the many years of prior Liberal government.

He claims it is "undemocratic" for the opposition parties to form a coalition government, because the people did not vote for Stephan Dion. No, and they did not vote for Stephen Harper either - they voted for a party. This is not the USA, although I suspect Harper's agenda is to move Canada closer to an American form of government - perhaps in his own mind he's already there.

Clearly, Canadians gave Harper a mandate to govern with the other parties - that's what a minority government is supposed to do. This is not Harper's strong suit. Instead of trying to work with them, he vilifies them. He has said that by making agreements with the Bloc Quebecois, Dion and Layton (the NDP party leader) are threatening the security of the country! How must Quebec voters feel to hear their prime minister essentially accuse their duly elected representatives of being threats to Canada? If this is his attitude towards the representatives of Quebec in parliament, how can he work with them at all? He has no confidence in them, and quite rightly, they have no reason to have confidence in him.

Harper has gotten himself into this mess, first by calling an election so soon after he formed a government. Then, by not taking seriously the message given him by the Canadian people that we want him to work with the other parties that we also elected. We did not give him a mandate to govern with a majority. Now he wants to have the parliament, he went to such great lengths to change, prorogued until he can figure out another way to slip his agenda through.

I was willing to give him a chance to lead Canada, although I did not vote for him, I did think he had the potential to lead. However, he does not have what a truly great democratic leader needs, the ability to listen and to negotiate. I fear that Harper's inner attitude, exposed by the current turn of events, is that of dictator - my way or the highway - and his manoeuverings make me nervous. I feel he is using all in his power to stay in power, so that he can impose his vision of Canada on us unhindered by the pesky demands of his fellow legislators who, let's face it, represent more of the country than his party does.

I am beginning to fear that Harper is a dangerous opportunist, guilty of the very accusations he hurls at those daring to oppose him with this coalition government. I do hope that G.G. Jean will refuse to grant him his request. Perhaps it is a professional scoundrel we are dealing with here in PM Harper.

Crazy Idea #5 - Housing in Hard Times

I woke up this morning with another Crazy Idea. It had to do with my house. As small as it is, the mortgage may prove too much for me and I have been worrying about whether or not to sell it.

Rousing out of sleep, my paradigm shifted to an older one I once held. My mother grew up during the Great Depression. She garnered this piece of wisdom from those hard times: "if you are in financial trouble, don't go to the rich, the poor will always help you, because they know what it feels like." Later, when I became a Christian, I heard echoes of her statement in Jesus' own words "It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to get through the eye of the needle."

The point? "By your love for each other the world will know you are mine" John quotes Jesus as saying. In his letter, James elaborates by asserting that love goes beyond praying for people at church, it requires sharing material wealth where needed - a nuts and bolts involvement in each others' lives that our life styles make almost impossible. Our North American cultural obsession with material independence creates walls between people made up of a lack of time and energy. These walls, though not ill intended, are as difficult to penetrate as any castle fortification.

Well, the economy that allows us the luxury of material independence is wavering; those walls may be crumbling. Is that such a bad thing? Take my house for example. What if, instead of selling it and moving into a condo so that I can maintain my own material independence, I open it up and invite others, without homes, to live with me?

Such a radical move requires a level of faith, hope and love, I do not currently have. I fear losing my independence, my freedom, and yes, even my property. On the other hand, look at what I might gain - a more intimate relationship with others, a sense of community and belonging, shared responsibilities, and support for myself in times of need, not to mention the increased dependency on Jesus for His moment by moment grace.

Bottom line, do I want this? No, but, I am willing to be made willing. And Jesus has changed my heart before. What about you?

A Parlaimentary Dictatorship? Maybe, but...

This year I got into a huge argument with my American, college aged, niece, who, completing her first year at an ivy league university in the US, informed me in no uncertain terms that, according to her political science prof, Canada was a "parliamentary dictatorship". I begged to differ, although I did see her point re: Canada not having the same system of checks and balances that are embedded in the American Constitution.

However, what is happening now in Ottawa, demonstrates how Canada's system works to maintain some control on the party in power. Just in case the one or two of you who are reading this are not Canadians, the current parliament is headed by the Conservative party led by Stephen Harper. In our recent fall election, the Conservatives won more seats than any other party, though not more than half - the Liberals, New Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecois hold the other seats.

Since every piece of legislation must be passed by a majority vote, this means that the Conservatives have to "play ball" with the other political parties. The Harper government already had a minority gov't going into the recent fall elections, but S.H. wanted a majority. By refusing to present legislation palatable to any of the other political parties he forced them to vote against the legislation - their vote of "non-confidence" automatically dissolved the gov't, prompting the fall elections.

By failing to give them their coveted majority, Canadians were telling the Conservatives that they want S.H to work with the other parties. But, no, the Conservatives decided to push parliament again - essentially using the electorate as a bargaining chip - elections are costly and will effect the economy badly due to the uncertainty of their outcome. The Conservative tactics are, either play the game we choose or we will toss the ball to the people again, and again until you do it our way. The threat is: "you don't want to be blamed for causing the gov't to fall, do you?" This cynical political move was meant to cow the opposition parties into complying with the Conservative agenda.

This time around, the other parties have called the Conservative bluff. Since the Liberals and NDP together have enough seats to form a gov't, they have made an agreement to do so, should the legislation before the parliament not be passed next Monday, which is very likely. This is called a "confidence vote" and if it does not pass, parliament will be dissolved. Once dissolved, one of two things could happen - the Governor-General could call an election OR she could ask the Liberal / NDP coalition to form a gov't.

The Conservatives are planning to spend lots of tax payer money on a massive ad campaign which is expected to accuse their opponents of ruthlessly plotting to steal power from the democratically elected Conservatives. Of course, they will gloss over the fact that the Liberal and NDP MPs were also democratically elected. They will also gloss over their own inability / unwillingness to "play well" with the other parties.

Unfortunately, there are right wingers in Western Canada who will see a Liberal / NDP minority gov't as a loss of voice for their region and will feel hard done by. They will likely, as a talk host did this AM, blame the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois rather than their own Conservative party who really have opened the door to this "coup" by pushing their agenda rather than trying to work with the other parties.

The sad thing is that it would be better for Canadians to have a solid gov't working together to support our economy in these uncertain times. A fact that Stephen Harper cynically used to grab a political advantage, hoping that by holding the Canadian electorate to ransom, he could force the other political parties to pass his legislation as is. Stephen Harper has proven that he is not fit to lead Canada. He was given the opportunity to provide true leadership by putting aside partisan politics and working with the other parties to guide Canada through this crisis. Instead, he took the opportunist's approach and tried to press the situation to his political advantage.

I hope that that S.H.'s efforts to have parliament shut down before the vote can take place next Monday fails and that the Liberals and NDP with support from the Bloc will have the chance to lead our country through these dark times. Much rests on the Governer General's head so we will see what stuff she is made of in the week to come.

If you've made it to the end of this bit of writing, then you are probably interested enough in Canadian politics to read about it first hand from the CBC .

A cat named Jaguar

Our cat is named Jaguar - I wanted to name her Smudge, but one of the disadvantageous of having a creative and stubborn family is that everyone had their own idea as to what her name should be and they were all dismissive of mine. So the names went into a battered black fedora and mine lost out.

Sixteen years with a name like Jaguar has taken its toll on the cat who developed into a bossy, high-handed (high-pawed just doesn't have the same connotations) huntress. A spayed tortoise-shell cat, unmellowed by motherhood, she is still a formidable mouser after all these years. I am sorry to have to tell you that she also kills birds, at least she eats what she catches, leaving the remnants where someone is sure to step on them. All that activity has helped her keep her kittenish figure - in fact the vet thought she was only six at her yearly check up.

If she were only marginally larger she would hunt down and devour our poor dog, who, due to his lack of seniority, has been in her thrall since puppyhood. Hobbes is a big, furry beast who barks ferociously at all who stand in our foyer, but little Jag can still terrorize him just by sitting nonchalantly in a doorway he wants to pass through, say to get a bite to eat. I have happened upon this scene numerous times. Hobbes frozen in fear watching the cat with the whites of his eyes showing, while Jag sits pretending that her sole purpose in taking up the doorway is to thoroughly wash herself. As soon as I arrive Hobbes' gaze shifts to me piteously pleading for deliverance from his formidable dominatrix.

Jag is her nickname, and this too has had a less than desirable impact on her character. Like the sleek, expensive car she is imperious and assumes we humans are there to cater to her every whim. This includes being fed at the crack of dawn, a fact she unhesitatingly reminds us of as soon as she hears that shift in breathing that means we are close to waking. Most mornings I am greeted by her increasingly querulous yowling.

Another drawback to being named after a finely tuned racing car, is that, though very affectionate, she can only tolerate being petted for limited amounts of time before her refined nervous system goes into overdrive and she lashes out by biting the hand that pets.

Despite these flaws, which have gotten worse as she ages - a fact I take note of as I approach old age myself, she is unstinting generous with herself when I most need solace. I am positive that had we named her Smudge, she would've developed into a kindly queen mother-ish sort instead of the fierce despot she has become.

It's all about me

Well, today I woke up with a wicked headache - I get them occasionally and, being a frustrated doctor, naturopath, homeopath or herbalist (depending on the year), I always self diagnose. If I am feeling optimistic, the headache, as painful as it is and as regular the onslaught, I determine it must be a migraine. When more melancholic, I figure its probably a brain tumour that will get me in the end. When being analytical, I am positive it is an aneurism, seeing that both my maternal grandfather and uncle were plagued by them.

I've had them off and on since 1989. I remember vividly the first one I had - it woke me up out of a dead sleep with intense pain. I was terrified - pale, alternately throwing up and having diarhea, I would've gone to ER if I hadn't been in such pain that I couldn't bear the thought of going anywhere. I suspect that onset was due to hormones, since I was perimenopausal at the time.

Since then, I have developed a strategy to outwit the headache, thanks in large part to my friend Anne, who, a sufferer of migraines herself, gave me the first truly meaningful explanation of them. The short version - people predisposed to migraines have blood vessels that, after stress induced constriction, do not return to their full, normal diameter. Long periods of stress result in the blood vessels becoming so narrow that the brain feels shortchanged in the blood department and sends an SOS to the arterial blood vessels who in response open wide, all of a sudden. However, no one told the veins, responsible for draining blood from the head, and besides they have to wend their way through the tensed up muscles of the neck. So the whoosh of blood to the head without an equal egress, ends up being a migraine.

Armed with this explanation, I now have a strategy - when I wake up with a whopper I:

1. down either aspirin or ibuprofen (acetominophen does not work as it is not an anti-inflammatory) and hope I don't throw it up again (it doesn't always take away the headache, but it usually will dull it),
   
2. drag myself to the couch, prop myself into a sitting position (gravity helps the veins empty the head),
3. place a heat pack on my neck to losen and relax the neck muscles,
   
4. put a cold compress on the painful site (always my left temple), and
   
5. do my best to not resist the pain. Resisting pain only intensifies it.

Sometimes this strategy will get me back to normal within a few hours. Sometimes it doesn't. Today, it worked alright. I'm up at the computer, but the headache is still there, subdued by the aspirin, but still annoyed.

The Challenge of Commitment

The gauntlet has been thrown down - if writing is my passion, the thing I have been uniquely created to do, then do it I must. I have several reasons for believing that it is - the year long wrestling with questions of "mission" and "passion", the nudge by God to "just write", the open doors of opportunity to do so, including the most current one - support from Employment Insurance to develop a freelance writing business.

Why then do all sorts of fears plague me? Until now, I had written for my own pleasure, occasionally sharing my writing with others. The shift to a place of priority is taking its toll - revealing the insecurities and doubts under girding a life not fully lived.

My beautiful spiritual adviser keeps reminding me to receive all the gifts God has for me, to give an equal welcome to the difficult and painful ones as to the easy and pleasant.

My skilled counselor encourages me to acknowledge and receive my own emotions, allowing them to inform me of my inner realities, bringing them to the light.

My wonderful friends think I'm crazy to be so angst-ridden by the blessing of this opportunity to follow my dreams.

So, grinding through the grist of my own mill, I will...fear of commitment assails me and I want to insert all sorts of qualifiers here, but, no...gulp...writesomethingforthisblogeveryday. There, it's done.

Apologies re: Crazy Idea and Revelations series defaulting

Well, there have been about 90 hits on this BLOG, and no comments ??? So I'm not sure who to address this apology to - myself, perhaps, since I'm sure I make up at least half of the hits... Anyway, I've neglected my BLOG these last few months for other writing projects and have fallen down on my commitment to share my stunningly brilliant (tic) thoughts with you all, who ever you are. And, I must confess to having far fewer crazy ideas than I thought. So, I apologize for false advertising on both counts.

More "dirt" on Earthworms

In an article posted by the Weed Science Society of America, “Underground Gardening” by Earthworms, night crawlers are credited with purposefully collecting and planting that nemesis of allergy sufferes, giant ragweed, throughout the American midwest. Below you will see an earthworm "planting" a ragweed seed by dragging it into its burrow (photo - thanks to Denyse O'Leary):

Although I actively promote using earthworms to compost organic waste indoors as a way to keep it out of the garbage stream and reduce the accumulation of the plastic bags that collect the waste, I do not advocate releasing them into the wild, especially in Canada, where they have been blamed for some degradation of northern forests.

Crazy Idea #4 - Subsidized Local Problem Solvers

What if the government paid citizens to take an hour a week to meet in neighbourhood groups to identify and solve local problems? Things like creating and maintaining parks, dealing with garbage and recycling, setting up urban farming, getting youth involved in community activities, addressing the use of drugs and teen pregnancy, measures to reduce the high school drop out rate, working on subsidized housing, unemployment, transitioning to more sustainable energy sources...to name but a few community projects.

What is Revealed in The Revelation to John? - Part III

EPHESUS / WOMEN

The Revelation to John Chapter 2: 1-7

Ephesus was a wealthy city and, during the time of the early church, was also the seat of worship of the goddess Diana. Her temple was destroyed by Goths in 262 CE and it is suspected that columns from her temple were incorporated into the church of St. Sophia. The role of women, specifically Mary, Jesus' mother, is inextricably linked with this city and the events that happened in it during both the time of John's revelation and later church history. Jesus' admonition to the Ephesian church foreshadows these things.

An important church council was held in Ephesus in 431 CE. The major issue under discussion at this council was how to interpret Jesus' deity. The contenders were Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, and Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria. Cyril was, by all reports a harsh man and likely a misogynist. He is suspected of instigating the murder of Hypatia by a band of monks - she was a prominent Alexandrian woman and respected pagan philosopher. While Cyril had the political backing of Pope Celestine, Nestorius was supported by Emperor Theodosius II.

The debate regarding Jesus' nature impacted the role of His mother, Mary. Nestorius was concerned that if Jesus was co-equal with God the Father then Mary, by extension would also have to share the divine nature of deity. Cyril was adamant about Jesus' God-nature. One wonders if, in the spiritual realm, this debate was more about Mary than it was about Jesus. Was Mary being positioned to be the spiritual stand-in for the goddess Diana? That this council took place in Ephesus, the former seat of the worship of Diana, aka, Artemis, is very suggestive. Other parallels exist with Mary, e.g., Artemis was a virgin, and both Diana and Artemis presided over birth.

The debates between Cyril and Nestorius were heated and the participants were jailed for a while due to unruly behaviour. In the end, it was Cyril's take on things that won the day. Did this mean Nestorius' fears were realized? That somehow the understanding in that day and in that culture about the substantial nature of Jesus' deity implied a form of deity for Mary, who would then take unto herself a form of worship? Is this subtle shift a prophetic part of what Jesus meant when he warns the Ephesian church of having "lost its first love"?

Although the tie in with Jesus' admonition may be a bit of a stretch, it is suggestive that the gnostic sect of Nicolatians, whose works both Jesus and the church hated, held a doctrine regarding the "community of women". If we believe that physical locations are imbued with spiritual significance or heritage, then perhaps the distorted role of women in spiritual practice railed against by Jesus and the Ephesians, still had power to influence decisions taken several centuries later in the same location.

Even though the Ephesian church worked hard at being dogmatically correct, not tolerating those diverging from the truth, and had endured "without flagging", Jesus was no longer their first priority. Cyril would fit this description as someone who was known for his ruthless zeal. Losing their "first love", if not repented of, would result in the removal of God's light from their midst. In all his fierce attachment to holiness, did Cyril really succeed, not in glorifying Jesus, but in making a way for the spirit of the goddess Diana / Artemis to be worshiped within the Christian church? Could this be the meaning behind the incorporation of columns from Diana's wrecked temple in Ephesus into the church of St. Sophia? Indeed, legend has it that Mary lived out her last years in the neighbourhood of Ephesus - there is even a church built there in her honor, The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary! Very intriguing coincidences, I think. Finally, the message in all of this is that our love relationship with Jesus out trumps religious dogma when it comes to discerning truth, to seeing things in the light of Christ.

An encouraging note: While the message is for the church body, the rewards are to the individual, in other words, even if the church fails and the candlestick is removed, the "one who overcomes I will grant to eat from the tree of life in Paradise." I figure this means that Nestorius, though he lost the battle, may still be eating from the tree of life in Paradise.

Crazy Idea #3 - Alternatives to High School

What if the energy and idealism of teens who aren't engaged at school could be directed constructively? Starting at age 14 teens must demonstrate sustained effort in their studies to stay in school. Without it, they will be given other options, such as military training, technical apprenticeships, tree planting, child care, work in a food bank, community service or ??. There would be no option to just hang around. Free public high school education would be available for all youth until age 30, with the stipulation that they maintain sustained effort in their studies.

What is Revealed in The Revelation to John? - Part II

The Revelation to John Chapter 1

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION:

I do not take anything for granted in this book and am sure that the positioning of things carries meaning. The first thing we learn is that John is located on Patmos, an island to the west of Asia Minor. It is the Lord's Day, presumably a Sunday, and he is praying. He has been facing west, looking towards Rome, the centre of the empire and worldly power, most probably the same power that has exiled him. This is deduced from the fact that when he turns to look behind him, to see who is speaking, he faces towards the churches, arrayed in the east, in Asia Minor.

Jesus himself stands behind John, and when he turns the first things he sees are the "churches", the seven candlesticks - an immediate reminder that God's light and authority in the earth are brought through the church, not through the Roman empire. Standing in the middle of them is their source of light and authority - "one like a son of man" - with a two edged sword (the Word) coming out of his mouth, stars in His left hand and His face shining with the full force of the sun, a glory so unbearable that John collapses, overwhelmed, terrified, scared almost to death.

Touching John with His right hand, Jesus revives him, saying, "Banish fear", then identifies Himself and indicates that John is to write "what he has seen, the things which are, and those which will be hereafter." Jesus wants to give John, and through John, us, the God point of view, the divine insight into current events. Cutting away all the blur of flesh, worldly systems, lies and confusion He will show John what is really going on under the surface show. But to do so, John has had to respond to the voice "like a trumpet" and turn his back on Rome, the seat of worldly power.

Are we any different today? If we want to learn what God's point of view is, don't we, like John, have to turn our backs on the world system, on the Rome of our day? We need to listen to Jesus' voice instead of swallowing the worldly version which is all too ready to give its own interpretation to our lives. I'm sure you have heard its voice before, whispering its tenets of faith: "You aren't good enough", "You failed", or, the other side of the same coin, "You're the best, better than anyone else", "This is all there is, so enjoy it, take advantage of it", "There is no king but Caesar (or Bush)", "You deserve it", "They owe it to you", ...ad nauseum.

While we occupy this created, material realm, ruled now by the power of the prince of the air through the current world system, we will always be having to choose to turn away from it, to actively reclaim the vision Jesus has for us of His kingdom and of the true spritual nature of our current situations. It is our choice to either listen and turn, or ignore that voice calling from somewhere behind us.

What is Revealed by The Revelation to John? Part I

INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE:



I recorded these thoughts in July, 2006. They are a personal study of Revelations born in response to the mad deception of war-mongers who justified their tenacious hold on power and resources with end-time prophecy. I wanted to find out and share what I was sure the book as a whole could tell me about these matters.
Predictably, I failed in my quest for two reasons. Firstly, life intervened and I only got through Chapter 3. More significantly, the internal beauty, pattern and wonder of the book itself superceded my intentions towards it...odd how that happens. From rant to reverance. I ended up finding myself awed and intrigued by the intricate weaving of symbol and theme - how they expanded the meaning in the messages to the church. I hope you will find it so as well.

I will try to post a Part each day or two.


A final note: I have provided links to the relevant Bible passages followed by my comments about them. This is not a scholarly treatise so I have not credited the books or web-sites I researched; most of the information is easily available through on-line sources, encyclopedias and dictionaries. Without further ado...


The Revelation to John Chapter 1


SEVEN:


Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, SArdis, Philadelphia, Laodicea - seven churches, seven Spirits before the throne, seven candlesticks, seven stars, and seven angels. Before the vision the seven Spirits are in the heavenlies, and the seven churches are on the earth - a clear division. In John's vision, Jesus brings the Father's will in heaven to earth - holding the seven stars, or angels, or messengers, He stands in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, the churches which are meant to deliver God's light to the earth.


But why seven, why not ten or thirty? As the number of completion, seven implies that while each message is specific and unique to the individual church addressed in that era and place, altogether they comprise a complete message to the church universal, transcending the time and space of the churches singularly. What then is the message for us today?

Crazy Idea #2 - Unemployed Auto Workers

What if all of those auto workers who have been laid off, including those in those industries that build auto parts, were re-trained to work on sustainable energy technologies, or building better vehicles for public transportation, or planting trees?

Crazy Idea #1 - Job Trading for Commuters

What if you could trade jobs with someone who lives where you work, and works where you live? I imagine a website / service for commuters who wanted to find a job within public transit / biking / walking distance of their homes. Sort of cross between e-Harmony and Craig's List that finds that perfect match between people, jobs and locations.

First Prize Winner of 2008 Elora Writers' Festival Poetry Award

For the record: Here it is, my first ever poem that won a prize...

If Love

Sustainable Fruit Fly Trap

Are you looking for a way to reduce the fruit flies hovering around all that great summer fruit sitting in your kitchen without having to use pesticides????

Well, after several years of trial and error research, I have a solution for you that actually works! Plus, you can make it at home with on-hand materials:

• An empty jar
• An elastic band
• Two squares of aluminum foil sized to cover the top of your jar
• A poking instrument, e.g., skewer
• One inch of an old banana with the peel

To assemble your SFFT:

1. Place the banana in the jar
2. Mold both squares of aluminum over the top of the jar so that when you remove them you have a rough cup shape.
3. Poke holes with the skewer in the bottom of each aluminum "cup", leaving 1/2 of the area without holes.
4. Use one of the "cups" to cover the jar - position so that the bottom of the "cup" is below the lip of the jar





5. Position the second "cup" upside down over the first "cup" so that the holes overlap the first "cup's" unholed area. There should be a space between the two pieces of foil, making a small antechamber to the jar.
6. Secure the two pieces of foil by wrapping an elastic band around the outside of the jar's lip.
7. Place trap near fruit

The holes will allow the scent of the banana to attract the fruitflies into the jar. If a fruit fly wanders back out of the jar, it will find itself in the small chamber at the top of the jar. While in the chamber, the fly will be drawn back into the jar by the banana scent. The only way it can escape is by choosing to walk or fly across the luscious rotting banana smells to the holes that exit to the outside world. Think about it - if you were a fruit fly, what would you do?

I usually leave the trap for 3 - 5 days - once it is satisfyingly full, I kill the fruit flies by running water through the holes in the top until it is full, then, in case some are clever enough to try to escape (and some always are), I upend the jar in a plastic container filled with water. Let the whole thing sit for a few hours, then dissassemble and flush the banana, water and tiny fly carcasses down the toilet or pour them over your compost pile outside and start again.

Conversations with S. - God, love, freedom, evil, suffering

Well, folks, the other day S. and I were sharing a muffin, sitting outside on a humid Spring day, pondering stuff. As often happens with us, the conversation drifted into the topic of God, the universe, creation...considering such questions as: Is God good? Why do we struggle so much to believe this? Is God really love? What does that love look like? Both of us have had experiences that we've had to dub supernatural, and were discussiong what they could mean. I have chosen, for reasons I like to think are "reasonable" (hence the term:-), to believe the Christian version of these experiences. My friend is not sure that any religious tradition really captures the essence of what she has experienced - but it has grounded her through the years with incontrovertable evidence of the existence of love - personal, light, accepting and unconditional. The truly challenging part came when we tried to reconcile the evil in the world with this idea of a loving omniscient presence. I offered her my take on things - namely, that love requires freedom, so, if love is the foundational spiritual truth, then it necessitates free will. A will fully free to choose to acknowledge, accept and return the divine lovers' love, or to turn away from it. My friend added that if this is the case, then God has chosen to suffer with suffering mankind rather than undo the premise upon which God's essence is founded - love and the freedom it requires. What do you think?

Were earthworms on the ark?

Here I thought I was doing a good thing, getting involved in vermiculture, recycling my organic wastes, keeping plastics out of landfill...BUT, and here's the rub, my red wigglers may be an INVASIVE SPECIES! The word at the Farmers' Martket is that earthworms along with all other topsoil were scraped off the face of North America clear on down to the southern states at the last great ice age AND that since they only travel very short distances, they were missing from the species list when the first European settlers came to Canada. Consequently, or so my informant claims, all current species in Canada are European invaders!!! Including my little Eisenia feotida - maybe. The impact of these surface, manure worms could be potentially damaging to our northern forests which depend on at least three deep layers of old leaves to help keep the moisture in the soil. Having not had the opportunity to adapt to the worms, the trees could be in peril. So - I must pursue these alarming possibilities...

http://www.wormdigest.org/content/view/462/2/
http://www.wormdigest.org/content/view/200/2/ - yes Eisenia feotida IS an invader, along with 17 other species, only two are actually native to Ontario. Introduced through commercial cultivation, E. feotida is now found in the wild and was brought in by European settlers a century or two ago. Localized for the most part around human settlements.
http://www.wormdigest.org/content/view/129/2/ E. feotida are indigenous to Australia
http://www.wormdigest.org/content/view/398/2/ A history of the great worm invasions: "The invasion in the investigated aspen forest by mineral soil dwelling earthworm species presumably is slow due to the climatic restrictions on growth, reproduction and activity of these species. However, this study indicates that earthworm invasions can have dramatic impacts on vegetation, soil microarthropods, microorganisms and soil chemistry"
What about worms in compost piles?
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialanimals/earthworms/index.html Lists damage done to forested areas by invasive worm species in Minnesota - "If you are concerned about spreading non-native worms with your compost, you can kill worms and their eggs by freezing the compost for at least 1 week."
http://www.nrri.umn.edu/worms/ Minnesota Worm Watch site
http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/ Canadian Worm Watch

Welcome

Welcome, Welcome, one and all
To this wondrous new port of call
I begin with trepidation
Worried some re: reputation
Within this Brave New World