Joy is a funny thing, isn't it? It's a blessed thing as well, and praise God that joyfulness is always to be our lot, irrespective of circumstances. Despite quite a few setbacks already this week, I can still say that I still rejoice in the Lord, that though people disappoint and betray, He is always constant and always good.
I like how joy is this constant little nut, buried deep within your soul, digging its roots deep and wide throughout the fertile soul-soil. So that, even though storms should buffet, joy clings tenaciously onwards, swaying not to the winds of circumstance. And when the sun shines down brightly, joy allows the soul to come into full bloom and blow its blossom petals to the breeze.
Joy is funny how it works that way. I think Bono once said (OK, I hear the groans now, "my gosh, enough with U2 already!"), when asked by an interviewer if he was happy, he answered along the lines of, "Happiness is circumstantial, so no, I'm not happy all the time. But am I joyful? Yes. Joy is constant." Amen.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Boy, I really, really, really, really love U2
OK, as my status update says, I went to Church to rejoice with my four favorite Irishmen last night! It was church, it was a spiritual experience, and I praised God in my heart to hear 60,000 people praising God and supplicating with the Holy Spirit with their mouths (though their hearts still did not know what they were doing). Listening, and singing along with, to some (not all) of the stadium, as Bono sang Amazing Grace and snippets of gospel songs were amazing. I've already written briefly about this (see the posting July 2, 2008), so I won't write any more, but the story arc of chaos, repentance and confession, clinging to the Holy Spirit, and then being empowered to go into the world, was clearly there for all to see in the concert....
Thoughts on the West Coast
I think if I had ever held any illusions about moving out west, this last little jaunt out there quashed those ideas. Or, at the very least, about moving to the greater Vancouver area. I can't fairly rule out rural BC, Vancouver Island, etc, not having been there.
Without a doubt, Vancouver has a lot going in its favour: awesome weather, beautiful scenery, a generally healthier population than out east, managing to succeed in its Olympic bid (OK, I don't think that's a big seller, but some people would), bountiful sushi establishments, etc.
It started with the small, nagging feeling that though their bus route system seems to serve the city quite well (slowly), and the Skytrain is amazing in its driverless cars, rapid, public transit overall leaves much to be desired. I clued into this when trying to figure out how to navigate how to get to my friend's house from the house I was staying at, and the transit finder said it was "impossible" for me to do the trip UNDER 3 HOURS. This was the equivalent of trying to get from Greektown to Lakeshore Village. Incredible. Yes, they've built an impressive link from the airport to the downtown core (only by getting kicked into gear by the IOC), but in terms of shuttling people around efficiently in a city considerably smaller than Toronto, they've still got quite a lot of work set out for them.
A further dart to the heart was meeting with various environmentalists and food security types that squashed any stereotypes I held about green Vancouverites; apparently they don't exist quite as proliferatively or as ubiquitously as I had previously thought. But I think the kicker was trying to do some work around poverty and justice while I was over there. The city itself seems to be designed more similarly to an American city than a Canadian one (this was confirmed by several Vancouverites I spoke to). That is to say, that the poor live in their own enclaves, away and aside from where 'everyone else' lives. I suppose if the city is composed mainly of single dwelling homes, yes, that does already construct the city to housing formats that cannot include everyone. Not everyone can afford to buy or rent single dwelling homes; if this is almost exclusively the housing style available, it cuts many people out of the market. I also passed by a very controversial subsidized housing project several times while there, closed down by the government for 'unspecified reasons', the low income people living there were kicked out of the city, and many people in the community had protested its closing, saying it was a conspiracy. Normally, I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but I couldn't help but notice that one of the Olympic venues was right across the street....
Visiting people, people I love, in their opulent homes, in almost gated neighbourhoods, listening to them talk about how "safe" the neighbourhood was, how "nice" their neighbours are, how they don't have to worry about their children being friends with the neighbours, how all their neighbours were "just like them", how those "bad" people from North Surrey wouldn't be able to reach their neighbourhood because they'd need a car... hearing talk like this broke my heart. I was happy for their financial success, and the utter gorgeousness of all their homes, but wondered about how the 'otherness' was being built up, the fear driving them into enclaves where they'd never have to see a homeless person, let alone a coloured person, and where the heart of Jesus was beating... all told me how where they lived were "good" neighbourhoods for their children to be raised, but I heard very little of how, in being served with 'safety' and 'good schools' and the 'right neighbours' by the communities they were living in, they were going to serve the High King... Sigh. Sure, we're not perfect here in the Centre of the Universe, either, but it certainly was, from an socio-economic/justice point of view, a fairly disappointing trip (it was really fun otherwise!)...
Without a doubt, Vancouver has a lot going in its favour: awesome weather, beautiful scenery, a generally healthier population than out east, managing to succeed in its Olympic bid (OK, I don't think that's a big seller, but some people would), bountiful sushi establishments, etc.
It started with the small, nagging feeling that though their bus route system seems to serve the city quite well (slowly), and the Skytrain is amazing in its driverless cars, rapid, public transit overall leaves much to be desired. I clued into this when trying to figure out how to navigate how to get to my friend's house from the house I was staying at, and the transit finder said it was "impossible" for me to do the trip UNDER 3 HOURS. This was the equivalent of trying to get from Greektown to Lakeshore Village. Incredible. Yes, they've built an impressive link from the airport to the downtown core (only by getting kicked into gear by the IOC), but in terms of shuttling people around efficiently in a city considerably smaller than Toronto, they've still got quite a lot of work set out for them.
A further dart to the heart was meeting with various environmentalists and food security types that squashed any stereotypes I held about green Vancouverites; apparently they don't exist quite as proliferatively or as ubiquitously as I had previously thought. But I think the kicker was trying to do some work around poverty and justice while I was over there. The city itself seems to be designed more similarly to an American city than a Canadian one (this was confirmed by several Vancouverites I spoke to). That is to say, that the poor live in their own enclaves, away and aside from where 'everyone else' lives. I suppose if the city is composed mainly of single dwelling homes, yes, that does already construct the city to housing formats that cannot include everyone. Not everyone can afford to buy or rent single dwelling homes; if this is almost exclusively the housing style available, it cuts many people out of the market. I also passed by a very controversial subsidized housing project several times while there, closed down by the government for 'unspecified reasons', the low income people living there were kicked out of the city, and many people in the community had protested its closing, saying it was a conspiracy. Normally, I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but I couldn't help but notice that one of the Olympic venues was right across the street....
Visiting people, people I love, in their opulent homes, in almost gated neighbourhoods, listening to them talk about how "safe" the neighbourhood was, how "nice" their neighbours are, how they don't have to worry about their children being friends with the neighbours, how all their neighbours were "just like them", how those "bad" people from North Surrey wouldn't be able to reach their neighbourhood because they'd need a car... hearing talk like this broke my heart. I was happy for their financial success, and the utter gorgeousness of all their homes, but wondered about how the 'otherness' was being built up, the fear driving them into enclaves where they'd never have to see a homeless person, let alone a coloured person, and where the heart of Jesus was beating... all told me how where they lived were "good" neighbourhoods for their children to be raised, but I heard very little of how, in being served with 'safety' and 'good schools' and the 'right neighbours' by the communities they were living in, they were going to serve the High King... Sigh. Sure, we're not perfect here in the Centre of the Universe, either, but it certainly was, from an socio-economic/justice point of view, a fairly disappointing trip (it was really fun otherwise!)...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Vancouver 0.5
Well, I just returned from being in Vancouver, and have several observations to make of the city, especially after meeting with a few community groups and some networking being done in between all the visiting of friends. Obviously, I didn't post anything while I was away, so I will, once I get an opportunity. So it's a bit of a fake traveling postcard, as I've already returned, but there's still some interesting things to say...
Friday, September 04, 2009
In a pickle!
So, I just accomplished my first set of canned pickles today! Of course, this is not my first venture into canning, but, not being a huge pickle fan, the thought of making pickles just didn't really appeal to me.
However, having received an heirloom organic watermelon in my most recent CSA box, I figured it was about time to make some watermelon rind pickles.
Watermelon rind?!? You can eat that? Why, yes you can. I figured to minimize the trauma to my worms in having to eat through the entire peel of a watermelon, I would spare them from as much of that as possible, and instead preserve the rind for the winter.
Pickle, of course, is a bit strong of a word when you're talking about watermelon rind, however. It's really more of a sweet pickle, flavoured with cinnamon and cloves, enhancing the inherent sweetness of the fruit itself.
Now, I'm not going to be opening these babies for a few months, so we'll see how that all turns out when I pop open the jar, but I'm quite looking forward to it.
Ironically, the G&M had an article about pickling today, which I didn't see until after I'd finished boiling the jars. Apparently, I'm part of the urban hipster movement that's involved in canning.... humph... I don't like the notion of being an urban hipster at all...
However, having received an heirloom organic watermelon in my most recent CSA box, I figured it was about time to make some watermelon rind pickles.
Watermelon rind?!? You can eat that? Why, yes you can. I figured to minimize the trauma to my worms in having to eat through the entire peel of a watermelon, I would spare them from as much of that as possible, and instead preserve the rind for the winter.
Pickle, of course, is a bit strong of a word when you're talking about watermelon rind, however. It's really more of a sweet pickle, flavoured with cinnamon and cloves, enhancing the inherent sweetness of the fruit itself.
Now, I'm not going to be opening these babies for a few months, so we'll see how that all turns out when I pop open the jar, but I'm quite looking forward to it.
Ironically, the G&M had an article about pickling today, which I didn't see until after I'd finished boiling the jars. Apparently, I'm part of the urban hipster movement that's involved in canning.... humph... I don't like the notion of being an urban hipster at all...
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