Char's Blog
November 2005 Archives
It's old news now but I just have to say how much I appreciated the significant work of the Passion team to contextualize their Toronto event. Not every American gig does their homework (not naming personal friends here).
Greatest inspiration and encouragement:
learning that 85 years ago, on the very same site, the seeds of this event were sown
recorded in the minutes of Canada's Centennial Celebration were the words from Isaiah 60
1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.4 "Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm.5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
In the midst of a nation, that now seems to have lost it's way,
JEHOVAH continues to fulfill his word and do his work!
Cudos to the Passion Team for lifting our eyes to the Almighty in this place!
preamble: in our home we discourage the use of the words "stupid" and "shut up". our six year old, josiah, is the self-appointed "bad" word policeman.
conversation:
me to darryl: you're on edge a bit tonight.
darryl: yeah, don't push it or i might have a melt down and it won't be pretty.
josiah: better make sure you watch your bad words dad!
conclusion: children are a gift from the lord - laughter does the heart good - thank you lord for your good gifts.
Captured in High Park. More TO colour info here.
Thanks to our most recent family addition, Buddy, I have spent significant time taking long walks through various parks in recent weeks. In addition to improving my physical well-being (aka much needed weight loss) these times together in the outdoors have provided ample opportunity for thought, reflection and meditation.
As I ambled along the pathway earlier this week I had a moment where I realized that I had not (in my teen years) expected to work outside my home as much as I actually have done. I would not, in those days, have been able to describe what I would do, I simply expected to live a stay-at-home lifestyle. This notion likely was a direct result of my mother being a stay-at-home mom through my growing up years.
The penny drops, "Life is much more of a daily grind than you ever dreamt possible". Where I once worked in the expectation that what I did was, or would be, significant and important, I now recognize that my life, my efforts and labour, is but a bit of dust. (For those old enough to remember I would warn you not to think "Dust in the Wind" but unfortunately it is probably too late - how do you rid your mind of a song that you don't want to hear?)
A newly fallen red maple leaf catches my eye and I stop to pick it up from the pathway. It is so bright, so full of blazing glory, it brings such awe of the Creator to the beholder. I walk on, holding the leaf and slowly I piece together an image of life. The entire existance of this leaf has consisted of taking in carbon dioxide and other toxins from the environment around it and releasing life-giving oxygen. Over and over each day the leaf works to bring life to the place where it lives. The work is small, repetitive; it largely goes unnoticed and the solidary leaf makes but a miniscule difference to the world around it. Then, as the winter approaches, cold snatches from the leaf the very substance it requires to do it's work. Ability to function, to work, to live is seeping away. It is then, in the throws of its dying moments, that glorious colour bursts upon it's surface.
Small, repetitive, daily living that, at best, will breathe life-giving love into toxic places, that is the work that the Creator designed. The location is inconsequential really. The blaze of glory is reserved for the Creator alone and, to the world around us, is often seen best when our living and doing is no more.
Am I content with the Master's design?