Thursday, March 29, 2007

Travelers

In the journey of life there are all types of travelers. There are those who wander aimlessly, with little knowledge or desire to look for a path to follow. There are others who travel purely for the pleasure of seeing the sights. Still others seek fame and fortune, or perhaps a chance to have a trail named after them in their memory for some great deed. And there are those who walk with determination but with longing to live within the journey as it comes to their feet; helping others along the way. Are you wayfarer, tourist, hero or pilgrim?

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Position vs. Person

I find it remarkable how great at classifying people we are. And a great majority of our classifying often comes as a result of observing what it is people do. But how is it that we somehow justify our perseptions and observations of a persons character and personality because of what we know they maybe do for a living.

This seems to me to be exceptionally true in evangelical christian churches. Though it's true elsewhere as well. A 'pastor friend' of mine and I were walking into a building one day and we happened to see a few people from the church we go to in the parking lot. One of these persons was smoking. After we had entered the building my 'pastor friend' asked if I had seen what had just happened as we said hello to those people in the parking lot. I said I hadn't. He said 'The one person smoking instincivley ducked down behind the car when she saw me.' And he looked at me and we both laughed. I have seen these people smoking before and they have felt no obligation to hide it from me, but when a 'pastor' sees you, it's somehow worse. Or perhaps Pastors are the morality police? As though wearing that particular title makes them something different than what they are already ... human.

We can't seem to help to do this, can we. We think mathmeticians are dull, construction workers are crude, pastors are 'holier than thou', car sales people are conniving, lawyers are swindlers, doctors are 'all knowing', etc, etc. These are our prejudices. We even pass them onto ourselves! I know that at times when I have taken a particular role or job, I have tried to assume characteristics that I though I ought to have because of the position I carried. But often those characteristics have nothing to do with who I am. Sometimes, especially in christian circles, others try to force us into particular moral molds because of a position of authority we've been given.

Are we purely what we do? I sure hope not.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Birdie blooper

So ... today I heard a story.


Lately, a lady brought a pet blue bird in to the veterenarian for some special treatment. Apparently the bird had beak fungus! How does a bird contract beak fungus? Anyway, so the bird has a fungus and the vet's solution to the idea was to fry the fungus off. He's going to cauderize the beak ... that can't feel good. So, to prevent the bird from flipping out for getting roasted for its beak fungus he decides to anesthetize the bird ... with ether. Which apparently is an anesthetic.



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What the vet didn't calculate was the effect high temperatures have on a highly volatile and flammable gas-like substance such as ether. Ha ha. Next scene: a giant POOF and the vet promplty walks out of the room covered in blue feathers! Bye bye birdie :).

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping. It's the only word in the english language I have seen that has three letters repeated twice in a row. But that's not why I have it as a title ...


Bookkeeping. It's what we do to manage our finances and keep everything legal and within the laws and guidelines that are proscribed for us as Canadians. It is also, I have been challenged to believe, something we do psychologically/mentally to provide a basis for our own worth and value as human beings. We bookkeep. That is, we keep record of certain things in our lives, and the lives of others, to make it easier for us to provide a foundation by which we judge what is valuable ... or not. Or WHO is valuable ... or not as valuable. This thought was a challenge by my good friend Pat Wiens one Sunday evening.

So it got me thinking. Do I do my spiritual and mental bookkeeping for myself or do I let God provide for me the basis by which I value myself and others. Let me go into a little more detail on what this term 'bookkeeping' means. It means I am prone to keep a record of things I have done or not done and I log them into my person to make myself either feel better or worse. So by doing good things for others, I log them as things that make me a better person, particularly in God's eyes (since I profess to love and serve Him). And alternatively, when I do things that harm others, I log them as things that ultimately make me less of a better person. But we are challenged that we ought not to view ourselves this way at all! That God does not keep books on our rights and wrongs. But doesn't He??

So I looked up some passages ... "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will rewad everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." Eph. 6:7,8 "... great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to all the ways of men; you reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve." Jeremiah 32:19 "For the Son of Man [Jesus] is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." Matthew 16:27 "The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour." 1 Corinthians 3:8 "The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. ... " 1 Samuel 26:23a "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. ... If anyone's name was not found in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:12 - 15 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned." John 5:28,29 A good many of these quotes mention the giving of a reward according to what has been done. A reward is not something you consider getting for doing something evil or wrong or bad. It is associated for that which you do that is good and right.

It seems to me, from what I read here in the bible in many places, that there is a record and 'bookkeeping', if you will, of things done by us. It is also mentioned that our words are not forgotten, especially the careless ones: "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:36,37

And then I find this also in the bible: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered , it keeps no record of wrongs. ... " 1 Corinthians 13:4,5 And if it is true that God is the embodiment of true and pure love: " ... God is love. ... " 1 John 4:16 Then if God is love and if love truly is as Paul has described it, it would not be God's character to keep any record of wrongdoing. Therefore it would seem to me to support the description of God's character to be patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish. So then what is this record of what we have done? What is it that we have done or not done that will be judged and will either acquit us or condemn us? To answer this I will point to the words of Jesus in the book of Matthew again: "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:40

Is it maybe not so much the deeds we think that matter, but rather the heart that overflows with that which God has already put in it: overwhelming love and faith in a Creator and Friend who, by His death and resurrection, has made a way to live forever free. For our salvation is not dependant on our deeds. Nor is our complete acceptance by God dependant on what we do. Our deeds are the evidence of who we already are and who we are becoming.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Griffin visits his Great Grandparents and other relatives

Griffin in his sweater knit by Great Grandma Neufeld

Griffin & Great Grandma Neufeld (below)















Grandpa, Grandma, me & the Grifster






















Great Grandpa Neufeld and the Fin man





















Griffin's second cousin Veddar






















Uncle Dale with the little man























Cousin Tracey holding Griffin in anticipation of her own little one (due March 4th!)

























Great Grandnana Larson :)





My cousin Devin & I with our sons. Doesn't it appear that Veddar & Griffin are chatting it up.





Auntie Linda MacGregor (soon to be Grandma) chatting with the Finster.

Sorry

Sorry folks,

I had accidentally disabled the video below but have now enabled it. Simply click on it to view it. The video will open in a new window in You Tube where it will begin playing. Thank you for your patience with my blog inexperience :).

Friday, March 02, 2007

Smily

What a great smile :). The red line on his forehead is from his own fingernail! They may be small but they're sharp.

Interview with a Griffin