Hallowe'en

Here are the girls in their lion costumes. This is the first Hallowe'en that Sarah has shown any sign of being aware of what is happening (and little at that). She found this idea of answering the door and giving candy to the kids absolutely wonderful. And then mom took them to a few houses along the street and both girls loved that too, although they apparently wanted to go inside and visit at each house. They would have gone much farther but mom found it a tiring process. All over until next year...

Choices

Next Sunday's lectionary includes the "As for me and my house" passage from Joshua 24. A time to talk about choices.

One of the things I admire about the Deuteronomic tradition in the Jewish Scripture is the emphasis on choice (an emphasis best summarized in Deut 30 when Moses offers the people a choice between life and death). I admire this because I see that choice as a constant, not as a once and for all.

Day after day God calls us to choose between one path and another--the narrow and the wide as you will. Day after day we are faced with competing "gods". And how well do we choose?

My instinct tells me that we need to name the difficulty of this choosing. My instinct tells me that this passage is best paired with some of the "difficult" sayings of Jesus (let the dead bury their own dead comes to mind). To be a follower of The Way means being counter-cultural at times, perhaps a great deal of the time. What gods get in our way as we shout out "we choose God's way!"?

Advent Devotional Book

THe RevGalBLogPals have put out a book!!

It is a volume of daily devotionals for Advent/Christmas. Proceeds from sales are going to support the residents of the US Gulf Coast affected by hurricane damage.

You can find the book here (the price will go up in a couple of weeks):

A Light Blazes in the Darkness:Advent Devotionals from An Intentional Online Community

On Sale now for $9.99! down from retail price of $12.99.



A colleague of mine found out that Lulu offers free international shipping for orders of $25 and up. I plan to order after talking to some people on Sunday about it.

The RGBP are also starting planning and work on a devotional book for Ordinary Time. For more info on that go to the RGBP blog.

Phantasmagorical Phriday Phive (from RGBP)

1. Favorite Halloween Candy Candy Corn. THe one time of year that anything outstrips chocolate (although I can only eat so much before feeling ill).
2. Least Favorite Halloween Candy Tootsie Rolls. NEver developed a taste for these things and they are ever so prevalent.
3. Best Costume Ever THis one is a 3 way tie. In my teens I made a number of costumes myself. One was Zorro (made a sword and scabbard for it and everything). Another was modelled roughly on Gimli from LOTR. The third was an Indian costume for which I carved a musket out of styrofoam, carved arrowheads from soap scraps, and made a bow (which almost even worked). Hm, wonder whatever happened to that creativity and energy...
4. Worst Costume Ever What comes to mind is a costume I attempted to make in Grade 6. Got the idea out of a book of "simple" crafts. Couldn't see a thing or move without clubbing someone with the broomstick arms of the silly thing. I was proud of making it though.
5. A Saint you treasure Non-traditional definition: the SUnday School teacher who started teaching when I was in Grade 4, mentored me when I started teaching with her in my late teens, and is still teaching Grade 4-6 at that church. More Traditional: As surprised as I am to realize it, St. Paul. I have something of a love-hate relationship with him.

A TV Meme

Recognizing that I watch FAR FAR FAR too much of the silly box I thought I would create a meme around TV. Feel free to use/adapt as you see fit. Let me know if you take it up...

1. Was your first TV Black&White or Colour? Ours was B&W. If memory serves we didn't get a colour TV until after I was 5. Friends of ours didn't get a colour TV until some years after that.
2. Did you have cable as a child? When (if ever) did you first get cable? Nope. Mom and Dad saw no need for cable (they still don't have it). I have only had cable when living in small communities where there was little choice. First time was my first internship in 1994.
3. What genre of TV is your favourite? Tend to prefer sitcoms by and large--I usually watch TV to escape and they are certainly escapist. Last few years I have watched more hour long dramas and "dramedy"
4. What is your favourite show of all time? Tough one. Night Court comes to mind. Law and Order (the original) is another prospect. Joan of Arcadia stands up there as well--too bad it didn't last.
5. TV Cartoons. Good and bad. Which ones stand out? Looney Tunes (or Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Hour or whatever name you know it by) as good. Rocket Robin Hood or Hercules as kind of tacky (although I watched them a lot). And of course the Flintstones stands in a separate place --what would lunch hour have been without them?
6. What was/is your favourite Educational TV? I am a product of the Sesame Street generation. That and Mr. Dress-Up.
7. Many shows have jumped from small to big screen. What is one that you are surprised hasn't made the leap? Six-Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman. Imagine doing those with computer aided effects.
8. Jeopardy or Millionaire? Jeopardy, no contest.
9. What big moments do you remember best (or only) because of TV? There are lots of those. I remember getting up at 4am to watch Charles and DIana's wedding. Or the shuttle explosion. In looking back I think we got better coverage of big events before the advent of 24 hour, must stay on repeating the same thing, news coverage.
10. Do you watch too little, just enough, or too much TV? WAAAAAAAAY too much.

Right yet Guilty

ROsa Parks has died. AS most know, even those like myself who were born long after the fact and in a different country, her refusal to give up her seat and subsequent arrest were a spark that helped light the flame of the civil rights movement in the American SOuth.

And yet, it can be asked "what did she do wrong?". On the one hand, absolutely nothing. On the other, she was in clear violation of a legally binding statute (an immoral one yes but still legally binding). THis brings to mind a thought process I go through every year around Good Friday.

For centuries Christians have insisted the Jesus of Nazareth was unjustly executed because he did nothing wrong. Many have theologized this into the perfect, unblemished sacrifice. BUt he too broke the law of his day. If he said even half of what he is reported to have said about the political and social structures of his world he was guilty of treason in that world. But still he did nothing wrong.

In the history of Canada we have a man named Louis Riel. Distressed at the treatment of his Metis people he led two armed insurrections. He was arrested, convicted of treason, and hanged. Now there is a movement to have his conviction set aside because he was doing what he had to in order to protect his people.

What all these things have in common is that they make a similar mistake. People seem to think that if you do nothing wrong then any conviction is invalid. BUt all three of these individuals broke the law in their place and time. All three were legally convicted (however legal conviction was measured in each place and time). And all three can be argued to have done nothing worthy of the punishment the recieved. THe thing is that right and wrong are not always bound by the legal system. Right and wrong, in the long term, are decided by history. As people like Gandhi and Martin Luther King knew, as did an itinerant Nazarene some 2000 years ago, sometimes to do what is right you have to chance conviction.

As we remember Rosa PArks and all like her who chose to be both guilty and right, let us hope that we have that courage. The courage to say that there is right and there is legal, and sometimes they aren't the same.

Semper Ecclesia Reformanda Est

(The Church is always reforming)

Jan has started a meme (hat tip to the RGBP) asking two questions:

What are you going to be for Halloween? I am not planning on being anything. But the girls will be a lion and an elephant.

What 95 Things Need to Change in Church in the Year of our LORD 2005? Jan listed 5. I think I will give that a go (95 would take me all week and I have to leave for a meeting in 15 minutes)

1. The church needs to redefine words like growth, success, evangelism, love, truth to match what the church wants them to mean, not what the world around us says they mean.
2. The church needs to learn that God's plan for the Kingdom is not met by following the platform of ANY political party.
3. The church needs to rediscover passion and the pure delight of living.
4. The church needs to remember that neither change nor tradition are automatically good or bad. They have their place, we just need to have the skill to discern which is needed when.
5. The church needs to BELIEVE, and not just say, that buildings are not the church. They are a tool we use to help us be the church. Furthermore, the building is a chance for stewardship and outreach--not a private clubhouse for those properly indoctrinated.

And of course there are others (see yesterday's post for some of them)

Successful Church Thoughts

A while back I posed the question about what makes a church successful. I don't have an answer to what brings success but I do have some thoughts about the markers of a successful church:

1. They don't care if they have money in the bank. They might or might not but it doesn't guide their decisions.
2. A year where they make a profit is a bad year--bad because they didn't spend enough/give to enough causes.
3. Their focus is outward. They relate their faith to the world around them and live it out.
4. They don't count heads each week and fret about how it compared to the year before.
5. They are often truly intergenerational--with a real mix, not just token members of any one age range.
6. Growth is a spiritual term, not a numbers game.
7. The building is so heavily used it is hard to find a free time for a new event--any funeral involves bumping a group.
8. The people who go there can't help but talk about everything that is happening. And their excitement is contagious.
9. They don't all agree about everything, they don't think they have to agree about everything, but they can discuss their differences civilly because they take each other's point of view seriously (even when they will never agree).
10. They embrace change when needed, but not just for the sake of change.
11. Decisions are made only after considering "How does this help us further the Reign of God?".

Now if I could think of a church that lived up to all of those, or even most, I would be more hopeful.

The Game Meme

(Courtesy of jo(e) )

Game that makes me think of summer evenings and freshly cut grass: Hide and Seek. Mother May I. What Time is it Mister Wolf. These are some of the games we would play in the cul-de-sac across from my childhood home--all the girls and I (for periods there were few male children on that block).
Games that we never finished: We always did finish Monopoly (dad always cleaned up) but would rarely finish a card game called "Big Bertha"--we would spend over 2 days working on this one during Christmas holidays.
Game which has caused the most injuries: If played well hide and seek. We would run right into the steel light post to call "home free".
Game that my kids love that I hate: As yet my kids are too young to really be into games. I am sure that there will be some that fit the category.
Games that my kids have played that I have not: See previous question
Appalling game for children: Red Rover. As an adult leading programs I have been one of the people to call for the banning of this game. Just have seen to many neck, head, wrist, and shoulder injuries (and near misses).
Something I hated about childhood games:Looking foolish. Especially at school. I was an unathletic, awkward child.
Game that scared me: Baseball. Playing in our local league I was beaned a couple of times and from then on was never really comfortable standing at the plate.
Game that involved laundry: Super heroes. Who hasn't tied a towel around their neck and pretended to fly? Also, while not strictly a game, we spent many days taking sheets and towels and lawn furniture to make forts in the backyard.
Game that brings out my competitive streak: To be honest, almost anything. I am often surprised how competitive I can be. (I have been known to curse the computer while playing Monopoly against it -- the rolls just don't seem random or fair at times.)
Games we played at birthday parties: I don't recall a lot of these. I assume the standards like Pin-the-Tail on the donkey when I was small. But then both my sister and I had at least one party where we went bowling (5Pin). That was very special at our age.
Earliest memories of a game: I learned cribbage as soon as I could add. But that was later. I guess Go Fish is my earliest memory. That and Crokinole. Or Croquet outside.
Card game played most often up at camp: While camping in the rain one year the four kids (we were with friends) spent whole days in one of the trailers yelling our throats raw playing "PIT". For some reason our parents always went to another trailer while we played?
Game I used to play with my grandmother: This is an easy one. Cribbage. My grandmother could (and did) spend hours playing cribbage. And I have yet to meet ANYONE for whom the cards fell as luckily as they did for her. In my lifetime she got at least 2 "29" hands.

THe Friday Five

Have to do them early this morning since we are heading to "the city" for the day.

1. What was the last CD you purchased? Um, I think it was "Swimmin' Like a Bird" By UCCan musician Linnea Good which I bought over a year ago. (Although we may have bought one for the girls since then)
2. Did you like it? YES, I like all of Linnea's music.
3. Is it the kind of music you would call your favorite? One of may favourites I'd say. I also favor Celtic/Celtic rock and some Country.
4. What was the first album (CD for you youngsters) you ever owned? First one I remember being for me alone was the Star Wars Soundtrack (my sister and I had some children's albums that were "ours" but that doesn't count.
5. And what was your favorite cut from that recording? Always have liked that menacing music everytime Vader appears "dum dum da dum dum da dum dum da dum" Very dramatic.