not quite on his feet...

Well, Phil's not quite on his feet, but he's home from the hospital. And that has me pretty happy. We wish you a solid recovery, big bro!

Dumb Old Nail

My brother Philip lives in Colorado, with a lovely wife and three fantastic daughters. He works as a sound designer (running the big sound booth and setting up the speakers etc) at various gigs and festivals in the greater Denver area. He also works as an electrician.

On Tuesday this week, he stepped on a framing nail. The nail went through his work boot, his socks, and into the ball / toe joint of his big toe. At first he kept working, but then the pain kicked in and he made his way to the doctor, where the wound needed to be 'irrigated'. OUCH!

Yesterday he was admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics, since the regular antibiotics weren't reducing the infection. I'm sure he's going stir crazy in there, since my brother isn't one to ordinarily laze about for days on end. It's too bad the new Harry Potter book isn't out to keep him amused. Sigh. Or better yet, the very last book of the Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan) series!

I had a significant but small cut on the top of my foot this summer, from tripping over a suitcase in the night. For a week I couldn't wear sandals or shoes without wincing. Boy, did I ever notice my feet! Ordinarily, I pass through life without much of a thought for my toes or the ball of my feet, but these days I'm grateful for their overall wellness. I realize how much I'm enabled to do because I have un-impaled feet.... a privilege my brother doesn't have right now.

So, those of you who have two good feet right now, get on the balls of your feet, stand on your very tippy-toes and do a little dance of joy that you have those two feet. And while you're expressing your joy, say a little prayer of healing for my brother Phil so he can soon be back on his two feet.

A Wintery Weekend

Ah, winter has arrived in northern Indiana. I am so happy about that!

Saturday night we were invited to go skating with some friends in South Bend at an outdoor rink in Howard Park. I haven't been skating for two years, since I left Toronto. It was fun. The snow really started to come down while we were skating. Big fluffy flakes. At one point, they emptied the rink and put on the zamboni to clear the ice. The zamboni went down the middle of the rink and once around the ice, and had to leave because it was already full. Once again, down around and through - and the zamboni was full. After a little while of this it was impossible to even locate the first ring around the ice - so much new snow had fallen. Thankfully, they let us back on the ice and we skated through about 4-5 inches of the fluffy stuff. We had a great time, and it was a beautiful night out.

Sunday after church, Kendall and I went for a tromp in the woods at Ox Bow Conservation Area (between Elkhart and Goshen). Here are some of our photos.

Simple Pleasures

We're in a bit of a pause time right now. After the rush of interterm coursework. After the people-time of Pastors week, when 200 pastors descended on our campus (including our cousin Tim). We spent a lot of time with people - worshipping together, workshops, and then setting aside time for tea, dinner, lunch, etc. with friends and family. Kendall knows more people than I do in such an event, but it's a rich time of friendship building for me as well.

But after everyone leaves, the snow and the dust settle, and we discover that we're really tired. It's time to simplify and sleep in. And take in simple pleasures. Drink hot chocolate while the snow gently falls outside.

Today, I cut Kendall's hair. It's one of our simple pleasures. We use an electric cutter - I call it the 'zhoom zhoom thing'. We set it to #2, and I go around the head in various patterns, trim around his bald spot, his neck and around his ears. Hair falls to the floor in interesting patterns. Time seems to slow down during this intimate household ritual. The whole event takes less than five minutes, but somehow it's special time. A simple pleasure.

Next week the second semester begins in earnest. I'm sure I'll fall behind within the first week of class, and the pressure will be on. I have two major papers due within the first few weeks of the semester. Kendall has one as well. So... for now, I'll savour the simple pleasures. And look forward to those simple pleasures in the midst of those mid-semester-craziness moments in the weeks and months to come.

Re-thinking heresy

To preface this post a bit - I'm currently taking a course in the Early Church. This blog is an excerpt from my journal, following some readings and a course discussion on Augustine's interactions with two major Christian communities of his day, with whom he disagreed:

I don’t think I had really appreciated until now how much the Donatists and the Pelagians are like Mennonites. But they are! Oh now, an inner voice inside me shudders; That’s it, I’ve really done it! I’ve joined the heretics. My Opa has warned me about those Mennonites since I started hanging around them in 1997. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I should turn myself in to the local authorities and make myself right with God again.

Seriously. I have always had a hearty fear of being labeled as a ‘heretic’ when I express views which diverge from the majority of the church. But I haven’t actually given much thought as to what exactly I fear. I sense that my fear is more about the label within the Christian community than about my status with God. And it’s not even a wide-reaching status these days; a heretic merely has to change churches and she’s found a new church home... Heresy is commonplace these days; in former times we killed or we died to prevent and protect it. (of course, heretics don’t label their own belief heresy!)

In class today, Alan’s [my prof] sadness over the suppression of these heresies by Augustine was evident. What if Augustine had held out in patience; what if he had followed through with processes of reconciliation. What if he had recognized that these persons were his brothers and sisters in Christ; and refused to get the state involved in the issue? The world would have looked different. What if we truly do have a chance in post-Christendom to take another stab at ecumenical diversity? What if?

But what about real heresy? Should we not get riled up when someone tries to preach that the gospel teaches us to torment gay people? Or that the Bible ‘clearly states’ what the Bible most clearly does not state (in my humble opinion) Or that the Arian race is superior to all? Or that the gospel permits racial/ethnic cleansing? Or that we should ignore the AIDS crisis because the disease is God’s punishment for sexual immorality? (I’m picking the big apples here)

I’m not a big fan of fundamentalism, or ‘orthodoxy’ in the sense of a stubborn clinging to old ways and old views of truth. But I do believe that some truths are worth clinging to, and that the gospel has a central core that is worth defending and promoting in our Christian communities.

If I deny the category of heresy, then do I deny orthodoxy as well? And if I deny orthodoxy, how can I preach with confidence?

They seem to be a co-related; you can’t have one without the other. Can you? How? The question is, I think, how to relate one to the other? How to discern, sift, process, nurture and defend? And how is power used in this process?

It's the principle of the thing

Recently, someone I respect described me as "principled". He was referring to my general commitment to the principle of Sabbath, and was encouraged to take up the practice himself. This comment sparked an inner conversation in me - I have been mulling it over for a few days now.

That comment led me to thinking about principles and the way they function in my life. Is that not a universal thing? Is this a particular strength of mine that I have not really identified in such a way?

Almost everything I do arises out of my principles. I make home-made yogourt in order to save plastic containers from the landfill (environmental stewardship) and because it probably saves us some money in the end (financial stewardship); and because we value healthy eating and yogourt is a part of that for us.

We make space in our life for social gatherings and dinners with friends and family - because hospitality and relationship are our values. Almost at every turn, when faced with a decision, no matter how small, it seems that principles come into play. I'll choose this (or that) on the basis of principle.

What we eat, where we shop, what we clean with and how often, how we spend our money, what we wear - this is faith in action. Faith embodied in various broad principles.

I imagine that most people function with governing principles, but perhaps not everyone is as intentional about choosing which principles they shall follow. I am glad that my principles provide an inspiration and a challenge to others. I know I am inspired and challenged by the principled living of others.

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on another note - I started 'strength training' in earnest today at the YMCA. Today was my first day of multiple 'reps. I am focussing for now on my upper body. Osteoporosis runs in my family (maternal side) and I know that strength training is one of the most important ways to guard against frailty in the bones. Besides, I value health (those pesky principles in play again)
Soon, I suppose, I should stop imbibing caffeine. That's another bone-killer. Sigh. I think I'll wait to give up caffeine till I'm finished with school!

Epiphany

Today is Epiphany Sunday.

Yesterday was Christmas in much of the Eastern church.... Merry Christmas to all of you who have been celebrating Christmas this week. I wish you joy.

Kendall and I are taking an intensive course this month on the history of the Early Church. It's fascinating. It's truly a cross-cultural experience, learning about the ways and practices of people who lived in a faraway place nearly 2000 years ago. But phenomenal.

One visual piece that I am struck by is some graffiti circa 200 C.E. - it's an image crudely scratched in rock of a donkey being crucified - and a man in prayer near it. And the writing underneath it writes: "Alexander worships his god". So much of the early church experienced taunting and gossip from their neighbours and communities. People didn't know what to make of this strange community that was developing in their midst.

They called the christians antisocial, because they didn't attend any of the festivals or social gatherings that the others did. They didn't attend festivals dedicated to the gods or eat the meat provided there - which was pretty much the biggest social event in town. And they didn't go to the gladiator shows, both because of the god-worship that came with it, and because they didn't want to participate in violence by watching it.

And they spread rumours about the christians. Rumours that they met secretly and practiced cannibalism, and incest, or baby-sacrifice.

It's an eye-opening experience reading what the Romans thought about the Christians. And how the Christians responded and thought in that context. Fascinating.

About Epiphany - which is where this entire tangent began - Epiphany is one of the oldest holidays of the Christian church. In its earliest form, it was a remembrance of Jesus' baptism in the river Jordan, and there many baptisms in the early church may have occurred on this day. The association with Christmas and/or the visit of the Magi came later.

I can get excited about a church holiday celebrating the baptism of Jesus - and encouraging us to remember our baptism and that we are beloved by God (as the Spirit said to Jesus as he was baptised).

Frankly, I don't get all that excited about a day set aside to remember the Magi, which is all I have known about Epiphany. By early January, I'm tired of Christmas and the infancy narratives; I'm ready to move on.

On another note, today is the 13th birthday of my Little Sister (mentee) in Toronto, Brigitte. Happy Birthday, Brigitte!