My camera is not brilliant, but we sort of captured that “super moon”.
Tag Archives: life
Friday Photo
I took iphone photos everywhere in St John’s. Sometimes I had my actual camera along and took photos. Sometimes I took photos with both and now I have a crazy doubling up of some things – though it is interesting to use those duplicates as a point of comparison between digital camera and iphone camera.
At any rate, I just got around to putting my photos from Newfoundland onto my computer and here is one of St John’s harbour, looking down from The Rooms.
It may be Easter but it feels like Good Friday.
I’ve been AWOL. It wasn’t a planned blogging break, nor was it a complete social media break (though it was close to complete, the only place I have really been posting over the last couple of weeks has been on Instagram), but it was a break and it felt good to have it. This may be a little heavy for a “first day back”, but it feels like it wants to be written here and not just in my journal.
We may be several days into the season of Easter, but in many respects this last week feels a little more like it is still Good Friday or Holy Saturday. That knife was twisted even deeper last night as I sat through (because I didn’t really feel like participating in) a Celtic liturgy celebrating the resurrection. As I was expressing my frustration at that false-feeling sentiment, a friend gently reminded me that the bleakness of Good Friday is just as real as the hope and joy of Easter Sunday. It is true. But this has been a week of loss and so it feels more like Good Friday.
I’ve heard it said enough to be unclear on the actual origins of the words, “We are Easter people living in a Good Friday world”. That is clearer to me working at the shelter than anywhere else I have ever spent a good portion of my time: In the last three and a half months, we have experienced the death of five of our clients. One of those was yesterday. Really, we should be experiencing it more frequently and it is a testament to the hardiness of the human body and spirit that we do not experience more deaths amongst that incredibly vulnerable population.
**
It was inevitable.
It was an incredibly popular song when it first came out about 10 years ago and received a lot of airplay on pretty much every radio station on the planet. The lyrics are powerful and tell the story of the hope of someone who expects to experience the resurrection. Mum requested we use the song for a slideshow at her memorial service and I spent many hours at the computer with photos realizing that request.
On Monday I went to the memorial service of a client who has been with us for a long time. His family held a lovely service at a local funeral home and I went, almost by accident: I was the only one of us free to go at the time of his service. It is amazing how you can know someone for so many months in a very specific context and have no idea about the rest of their life. It is such a privilege to be allowed to peek inside the past lives of people and catch a glimpse of what life has been like. That can take many forms. On Monday, it took the form of a moving slideshow of his life, set to that song.
It was inevitable.
**
In my last year of my undergrad, I took a random collection of courses to fulfill all of the requirements I had not yet met. In my attempt to find something that both fit my schedule and seemed remotely interesting, I ended up in a philosophy of literature course. In the first days? weeks? of that course, I made friends with a Canadian/Swiss student who ended up also being involved in IVCF with me. We became good friends and she and her family even hosted Nat and I on our European Adventure in 2006.
Her mother had been sick for some time and my friend returned home to Switzerland once she finished her degree. I’ve missed our tea and knitting and haven’t stayed as in-contact as I would have liked to have been… though I could say that for many people and I certainly haven’t helped any in my multi-week withdrawal from the Internet.
On Good Friday, I awoke to an email saying that her mother had passed away that morning. Fitting day. But not, because losing a mother always sucks. In contrast to the lyrics of that song above, this time I can imagine what it is like for her and I would love to be able to have some more tea and offer a shoulder and a hug.
**
I feel the need to close this off by saying that I am okay and that there is no reason for alarm-filled emails to check on that. Really.
Friday Photo
Pretty much every minute I was not at work last week, I was at church. I spent all of Saturday morning at the Cathedral (left), my home place of worship and both a building and a family of people that I am coming to love very much, for a leadership development morning with others on the parish council. I spent all of Sunday morning at St John the Divine (right) where I spoke on PWRDF at both the 8am (insanely early) and 10am services.
A Human Face
I had an interesting moment the other day.
I was sitting and talking with someone I’d never seen around work before and he was telling me his story so that I could help him to fill out a housing application for him. He talked about siblings, it seemed there were a lot. But one sister killed herself because of a degenerative disease. Another sibling has the same disease. And another sister “was got by Pickton”. That stopped me in my tracks, but he just continued on talking. It was the first time I’ve heard that said in a sentence by anyone that I have actually been speaking with. I am sure it is not the first person I’ve come across who has known someone affected by the serial killer operating on the Downtown East Side, but it was the first time I’ve actually heard someone say it out loud.
I remember when the trial was going on. I was visiting New Westminster and saw the crowds of reporters lining the steps of the courthouse.
The Missing Women’s Inquiry is going on right now in Vancouver. It is mired in controversy as interest groups drop out due to lack of funding and disillusionment with the inquiry.
But here, sitting in front of me, was a living and breathing person dramatically touched by that one person’s actions.
It brings a more human face to the whole thing.
PWRDF From the Pulpit
Actually, I think it will be from the lectern, but pulpit has alliteration going for it.
I’m preaching at the church of St John the Divine, Quadra this Sunday. I’m there as a part of their month of talking about the work of PWRDF so I will be sharing some of the stories of the Primate’s Fund and generally telling people why it is a good idea that they support it.
If you’re in town and have nothing to do Sunday morning, come on down for either the 8am or 10am service. I will likely be sticking around after each service as well, drinking coffee and answering questions.
The Look of Love
Flashbacks
[Fairly self-indulgent post ahead in which I reminisce about a country of volcanoes, warm water, sandy beaches, and palm trees while conveniently forgetting the extreme heat and sudden and crazy rain squalls.]
My internet homepage has a collection of headlines from a variety of different news sources. Sometimes I click on a headline, other times I just scan them and go on to whatever I was doing. Today, one headline caught my eye: Ferry carrying more than 300 people sinks off Papua New Guinea. I had to click on it because of all the memories I have of time spent in PNG.
It turns out it was a ferry much like this one, that I saw in Madang, PNG. When this boat pulled out I remember us all watching it list heavily and worrying about its ability to stay afloat in the shape it was in with all of the people that were aboard.
Leaving from this port, Rabaul, PNG (there are all sorts of Japanese tunnels through those hills! From WWII. I know, crazy!).
Rabaul was also the place of the volcano.
That I climbed.
The end.
[That is as far as that random chain of thought takes me. Goodnight.]
Do What is Good
Unashamedly re-posting this from The Weary Pilgrim because I love it. Thank you for the impacting words.
They said, who to love,
Jesus said, do what is good.
They said, obey the Sabbath,
Jesus said, do what is good.
They said, forgive this many times,
Jesus said, do what is good.
They said, you can’t hang out with those people,
Jesus said, do what is good.
They said, you can’t touch those people.
Jesus said, do what is good.
They said, you have to worship here, like this,
Jesus said, do what is good.
They said, which law,
Jesus said, do what is good.
They said, faith is this,
Jesus said, do what is good.
They said, you get eternal life this way,
Jesus, said, do what is good.
Snow…
Today we’ve finally been getting snow that sticks and stays. There isn’t a lot, but there is enough to call snow! This intrepid cyclist is still out and about on her bicycle and having no trouble getting from A-B. Tomorrow, however, may be icy in the morning…
(This picture doesn’t capture the snow other than the snow remaining on my bicycle wheel after I brought it into the shed. The ground is completely covered! Really!)
gillian's island 