Sissy And CSIS

Do you want to hear a secret? Come closer...no, closer...TIM HORTON"S COFFEE-FLAVOURED BEVERAGE IS AWFUL!!!

Okay, now that I've risked being put on the black list of CSIS (the US has bomb and assassination alerts, but we know who runs this country...uh oh, now I'm on both lists) I will explain. Why do people drink this crap?! And further more why can't I stop craving it? It's horrible. Is a 1 in 9 chance to win another free cup of crap worth it? (not to mention the infuriation of the oh-so-easy rolling...the contest should be called bite-and-chew-and-try-to-roll-only-to-
find-that-you-can-barely-see-the-stupid-print-that-you-know-only-says-
"please-lose-again"-and-you-have-to-jump-on-it-and-carry-a-pair-of-pliers-
with-you-everywhere-so-that-you-can-finally-uncover-the-dissapointment-
of-yet-another-thing-in-your-life-at-which-you-suck to win...but I digress). And don't even get me started on Starbucks or Second Cup.

Does anyone remember when Tim Horton's was a doughnut shop? When espresso was Italian, not Seattlean? Are our lives better now that we have mass-produced and marketed goods which sacrifice quality and tradition for bottom lines? When did Tim Horton's "coffee" become the drink of the masses and Starbuck's and Second Cup became the high end of coffee? Maybe I could use more sleep after all.

There appear to be some rather large men dressed in black approaching me with intentional expressions. Hey, what the...let go of...no...they're taking me...Castle Auuuuuuugh...

Nature, Naturally

Why do I live in the city again? Oh right, so I can live the high life.

I really need to get out of this mind-numbing, soul-stealing jungle. I know this is another repeat post from last year, but every winter I feel the crunch, especially when I don't get out to the mountains enough.

Every single thing in a city is man-made. Even the "nature" is artificially established by us. Everything in a city is designed to keep out or control nature to the point where we are completely cut off and "safe" from it. Rain is a nuisence. Snow is definitely a nuisence. Cold and hot and animals and wind and dirt are conveniently replaced with a perfect 22 degress (except at Dabar), crowded streets, and smog. Yay!

I think I need to take a couple of trips this summer to the mountains with nothing but a tarp, sleeping bag, and food.

Meatless In Seattle

Three weeks into Lent and the only meat which has passed my lips was my birthday supper from mom and dad (crab and lobster to be exact, not a bad way to cheat on a fast!). It's been really eye-opening to avoid meat especially at restaurants, where only two or three things on the menu are sans meat. It gives me an appreciation for vegetarians who must deal with this all the time and also for the fact that we eat SO MUCH MEAT in our society. I know that I will not be able to go without eating meat for the rest of my life (I loves me some steak!!!), but I will definitely be cutting back on the quantity. If I can go 40 days without meat and do just fine that says something about our diets.

To avoid too much feather-ruffling:
Ali, don't worry, we can still go for steak.
Amanda, don't get too excited, I'm not a Vegan quite yet.

Centric

Cafe Dabar has a new shiny Mac (translated: useless flashy bells and whistles to cover up the inferiority and cost of the machine...but I digress). Anywho, it does have a very nice webcam, which takes lovely pictures, providing hours of entertainment...for some. For instance some of us take one interesting picture and go, "Hmm, that's neat..."

While others...

Hey, I need to have some way of keeping up with Ali's Siva pictures!

I Am So Right, R-I-H-T

I love God's sense of humor. The most mild winter ever and then, just when spring is officially around the corner and I get a new longboard for my Bday, it snows! But I must say that I missed the stuff. What's the point of living in Edmonton if you don't get those few days a year where everything shuts down and it forces people to realize that life is not about commutes and errands, but rather the interruptions. Ah, don't you love it when your previous points are proven by the Almighty Himself!?

Kiss Me I'm Irish...ish

So I guess it would be a tragedy if the Scottish-Irish-Canadian Elf didn't make a post on St. Patrick's Day, being my birthday and all. And since I hate to dissappoint my fans...

I ran into one of my buddies from back in the day. We've known each other since kindergarten, but lost touch about 4 years ago. I found out he quit school and started a silk-screening business on Whyte Ave so I was going to drop in, but I ended up seeing him at the Oodle Noodle Box. It's amazing that someone who was such a big part of your life at one point can be gone for 4 years and you don't really notice that much. But it was good to see him and I think wee'll hook up again.

I am debating whether or not to go in search of green beer tonight. It is my birthday and green beer only comes once a year, but it is also Friday and the bars will be stupidly packed with the distinct change of hooliganism. Maybe just some ping pong at Craig's...at least the table is green!

...I sure hope Amanda isn't reading this.

...cancel everything, I'm going to invent a new sport called sky knitting. I think sky knitting will be the coolest thing ever!

...no, I'll by and ultralight plane and travel the world. I think travelling the world in an ultralight is the coolest thing ever!

...or perhaps I'll join a lawn bowling league. I think lawn bowling is the coolest thing ever!

Next

I have decided to take up bird-watching. I think bird-watching might be the coolest thing ever!

Sweet Glorious Nothing

Today I did nothing...and it was fabulous. It's been so long since I've had a day where I had nothing planned, nowhere to be, nothing to get done. I just hung out with my puppy, watched T3, and played on the computer. I've felt very busy of late, even in my off time. There are just so many people and so many things happening to be a part of at The House that I needed to just do nothing by myself. I think days like this one keep me from burning out. As long as I can find a day once in a while where I can do only what I want to do I am able to keep moving.

Life is Elsewhere

I'm going to take a page out of my wife's book, stealing someone else's idea and making it my own.

Darryl Friesen, a friend of The House, was in Edmonton for Missions Fest and needed a place to crash, so naturally we let him stay at The House. We took him to Clairview EFree on Sunday and Erika and I had a great chat with him on the way there and back. He is one of the most amazing people to talk to, so full of stories and wisdom from traveling the world and seeing all kinds of people. But one thing he said stuck out more than anything else...Life is in the interupptions. Darryl told the story of a friend of his who was dying from the abuse he had put his body through. Darryl went to visit him and found his friend convulsing on the floor. Ready to call the ambulance, he asked if there was anything he could do. The friend said simply, "Give me a hug." Darryl was baffled at such a simple request in a time of such need, but obliged. After 6 hours of holding the wrecked man he watched the sun rise and new his life was changed.

Life is not in the mundane activities of our work. It's not found in a day or month where everything is planned down to the second. Life is in the interruptions where we are ripped out of our self-absorbed selves and face the bigger picture.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Okay, so maybe it wasn't quite that bad. We had our joint service with Clairview E-Free yesterday, and by joint I mean we planned and executed the whole thing and they provided the space. I t was a really great experience, but very taxing. I think what impressed my the most was Don's (the pastor), and by extention the whole church's, level of trust in us to take over their service and bring a bit of Houseness to their gathering. I have never seen a more truly open group of people. As Don put it to me later they, as a group, have the abilibty to discern the hearts of people and if the hearts are in the right place everything else is just details. Powerful!

The service went off quite well considering the short amount of time to set up and the few people we had to do so. Everything was great, but what really got me was the worship time. We enlisted the help of our unofficial music guru, the Great Paul. Our first set consisted of only 2 songs: Oh Lead Me and Great is They Faithfulness. Paul tuned his guitar to my new didgeridoo and we rocked it out. About halfway though Oh Lead Me I became completely lost. I don't know how long we played and, to be honest, I have no idea how it sounded. All I know is that God was there and at the end my throat was dry and my eyes weren't. I can't explain it, I can't describe it.

Our second set was more lively and designed as a continued celebration from the communion table. We handed out various shakers and drums to people and asked everyone to join in however they felt lead. I was nervous about handing out noisemakers to a congregation I have heard described as "not a musical bunch", but it was great. Everyone was standing, singing, clapping, just plain old worshipping.

Then the rest of Sunday was a maeltsrom of stillness as The House crashed from exhaustion.

Are You Alive Today?

What is the purpose of this current day in the scheme of your life? Was today productive, a waste, non-existant? Is looking for tomorrow the purpose of getting through today?

I realize I am no the first to go down this line of questioning (not even the first in my blog circle), but I can't help thinking that the way we look at our time is so backwards. we scratch and claw to get through each day towards...what?...a car?...a house?...retiremtent?...the weekend?...then what? That's not a purpose. Living your life to reach a certain point in time/status is not a reason to live. We tend to look at our time like a resource and, while I agree that we should make the most of the time we are given, it's not something to be horded. Each and every day is a complete gift with an equal possibility for joy, sadness, love, regret, hope...

I know there are times in life when I must do things I don't want to and days which never seem to end, but I want to stop living each day as though I'm merely surviving it and live like I was meant to...like God meant for me to. Perhaps you could think of it as Life to the Fullest! I like the sound of that!