prayer haiku

This haiku (my first ever attempt) came to me in the bath today as I reflected upon a recent coneversation about prayer I had with an acquaintance.

My interest for the haiku came into being after watching VeggieTales 'Sumo of the Opera' (I kid you not - check it out). I probably need to persevere (the theme of the previously mentioned DVD).

Just sitting there waiting...

I already spent a long time this morning with this machine, as church was cancelled. Now, as the snow just keeps on coming, it is waiting to be reunited with me later on

Rabbie Burns

It's a strange thing to admit, but I've probably been to more Burns Suppers since I emigrated to Canada twelve years ago, than I ever did when I lived and grew up in Scotland.

We had the local Legion parade to our church for Remembrance Day last November. During coffee time after the service I got an invitation to their Burns Supper for this year. After listening to me preach they decided that my 'accent' was one they could 'use' for their supper. They said that they had someone in mind for the immortal memory, but that they'd put me on the shortlist just in case. Panic set in, but I couldn't say no.

Fortunately, the person they had in mind, Doctor Matheson, agreed to do the 'memory', even though he had never been to a Burns Supper in his life! He did an excellent job last night, but said he could've done with borrowing my accent. I ended up doing the 'Selkirk Grace', which is only four lines and is pretty much committed to my memory anyway.


The haggis was better than some I've tasted over here, but was nowhere near the quality of Wattie Lobban's.

Four Things

Steve tagged me, so here's my lists:

Four jobs I've had:
1. Postman
2. Court Chaplain
3. Truck helper
4. What I'm doing now (not had many jobs, I guess)

Four movies I can watch over & over:
1. Once Upon A Time In The West (the best Western ever!)
2. The Mission
3. O Brother Where Art Thou
4. Braveheart

Four places I've lived:
1. Orkney
2. Findochty
3. Ontario (Elliot Lake, Kirkland Lake, Toronto)
4. North Battleford

Four TV shows I love:
1. Corner Gas
2. Seinfeld
3. The Hour (with George Stroumboulopoulos - must be one of the longest names on Canadian TV!)
4. M.A.S.H.

Four places I've vacationed:
1. Köln, Germany (met Pamela there)
2. Golspie (honeymoon)
3. Chicago (favourite US city)
4. Prince George

Four of my favourite dishes:
1. Steak (medium-rare on the bbq)
2. Lemon Meringue Pie
3. Chicken Curry
4. Haggis

Four sites I visit daily:
1. The Orcadian (get the news from home)
2. U2.com
3. BBC Sport
4. CBC News

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. Somewhere it's not snowing
2. Orkney
3. Ibrox
4. Actually, Elliot Lake is just fine (had enough of the snow-clearing for this year, though)

Four bloggers I'm tagging:
1. Matthew Bennett
2. Chris Hinton
3. Joel Ivany
4. Connie Knighton

Community

Been reading through The Search To Belong by Joseph R. Myers. It's been a good read so far. I came across this gem of a quote earlier. I wish I had read it before last night's board meeting, as we had quite a discussion on what it means to belong to the church these days.

The quote is a quote from Larry Crabb from the foreword to Randy Frazee's The Connecting Church: Beyond Small Groups to Authentic Community. Here it is:

The future of the church depends on whether it develops true community. We can get by for a while on size, skilled communication, and programs to meet every need, but unless we sense that we belong to each other, with masks off, the vibrant church of today will become the powerless church of tomorrow. Stale, irrelevant, a place of pretense where sufferers suffer alone, where pressure generates conformity rather than the Spirit creating life - that's where the church is headed unless it focuses on community.

So, who is it going to be?

The shortlist is released.

The speeches are tomorrow.

The Army world waits.

Is it going to make a difference...

Foolish?

Some people say that I threw my brain away
That I'm illogical and don't have much to say
Some people say that it's foolish to believe
In what we cannot see, so we're deceived

All that I can do is listen to you
All that you can be is out there, you'll see

Every single time that I
Explain to you my reasons why
You turn away; you close your eyes
And then you cut me down to size

Some people say that I threw my vote away
The moment I decided to live life this way
Some people say that it's foolish to believe
In what we cannot see, so we're deceived
I'm not here to make you all agree
But have you truly studied this historically?

Every single time that I
Explain to you my reasons why
You turn away; you close your eyes
And then you cut me down to size

Every single time that I
Explain to you my reasons why
You turn away; you close your mind
Your heart's just not prepared to find
Some meaning, some meaning

Just wait, and listen to that voice
It calls so quietly, for you to make a choice
What will it be? What will it be?

(from 'The Ever Passing Moment' - MXPX)

More Change

The meeting last night went fairly well. Speaking about change is never easy. We now have to present the plans to the whole church, which will probably be difficult, but not impossible. Lots of prayer required.

And here is some wisdom from Homer that I thought best not to share with our board as we think about change:

Time For A Change

It's been a week of change in Canada this week. Some are welcoming the new Prime Minister elect with the words, 'well, it was time for a change'. Time will tell, I guess.

Change is one of our world's constants. The world around us seems to change at an almost alarming rate, yet most churches seem to plod along doing the same old same old. Why change something that works, eh?!?!?

This evening our church board is meeting to discuss change. Things cannot stay the way they are, that's for sure. Some difficult decisions have already been discussed and made, but not fully accepted or understood. One old guy was convinced the other week that when I was preaching I said, 'It's time to change our message', when in reality I said, 'It's time to change our methods.' Maybe a better word than change is metamorphosis. We are kind of like the caterpillar in the cocoon at the moment. We don't know what kind of butterfly will emerge. When it does emerge at the centre will be what was there before - the caterpillar. Whatever our church looks like when we emerge from our cocoon, what is at our centre will be the same - God and his gospel message.

None of this will make this evening any easier, but hopefully will act as a good illustration as people fearfully move forward.

Found this interesting link at deeper. Check it out, it's relevant to the above rambling.

The End Is Nigh...

Most people are really happy that today is voting day - they just want it all to be over and done with. It hasn't been a clean fight, so the above picture is very fitting (thanks to Rick Mercer's blog). If you haven't voted yet get out and perform your civic duty. You may think your vote won't count and it certainly won't if you don't go and place it.

Jesus Saves...

Hopefully Eddie will save a few tonight as well, but previous showings against the Senators this year so far have me worried. If he doesn't get it right tonight, there's another chance on Monday to mess it up again.

Mmmmm Coffee

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Well, that sounds about right!

Getting to know you

I just recently finished reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I really enjoyed it and found Miller's style and honesty so refreshing.

In a chapter on love he wrote the following which really stuck with me:

"Nobody will listen to you unless they sense you like them."

It really struck me that often as Christians we judge or condemn people without even first getting to know them on any level. It's so easy to be self-righteous without finding out why something is the way it is or why a person has acted in a certain way.

Is it any wonder certain people want nothing to do with Christians if all they ever hear is condemnation? We need to build more bridges, instead of continually burning them.

Berwick Rangers no more...

It almost makes me wish I was in Scotland again today. Celtic, with their new 'superstar' Roy Keane making his debut fell to the 'mighty' Clyde (report here). Takes the spotlight off of McLeish for a while, anyway. Maybe they should have had the player below in for Keane instead.

Resolutions, anyone?

I know that it's a bit late to be thinking about resolutions now, but I've been away for a week and am still catching up. I never made any resolutions this year, but I think this will be mine for next year.

What was yours this year?

Top Fives of Twenty-Oh-Five

Stole this idea from Steve who got it from Pernell. Here are some of my favourite things from last year:

Best Movies (from 2005):

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2. Walk the Line
3. Wallace and Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Millions

Dishonorable mention: Bewitched.

Best Books (read in '05):

1. Red Moon Rising - Pete Greig and Dave Roberts
2. Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller
3. All of the 'Hitchhiker's' series - Douglas Adams
4. Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalogue - ed. Raewynne J. Whiteley, Beth Maynard
5. Real Sex - Lauren F. Winner

Best Albums (bought in '05, not necessarily released then):

1. Panic - MXPX
2. Reset - MuteMath
3. In Your Honor - Foo Fighters
4. Blue Skies - Three Peace Sweet
5. Genius Loves Company - Ray Charles

Best DVDs/Videos watched in '05

1. Cinema Paradiso
2. Collateral
3. Ray
4. Hotel Rwanda
5. Million Dollar Baby

Best Moments

1. Cameron (4yr. old son) as an elf in his first school Christmas concert, remembering his lines.
2. Emily's (6yr. old daughter) SK graduation.
3. A Day Out With Thomas (the Tank Engine)
4. U2 in Auburn Hills.
5. Parents coming from Scotland for Christmas and New Year.

Honorable Mentions:

• Foo Fighters and Sloan in Winnipeg.
• Taking Emily to her first Raptors game (they won!).
• P.O.D. in Toronto.