The Rebel Jesus

I heard a fabulous song today for the first time, thanks to my XM satellite Radio and an interview with Jackson Browne playing on The Loft (channel 50) this afternoon. It is a song he wrote since he was asked to contribute to a Christmas album. Rather than deconstruct the song, I only wanted to note that I found it moving and powerful. We too soon forget that Jesus came in many ways as a "rebel". I use the term with a small "r" since Jesus did not come to be the "Rebel", as if that defined His essence. But, the ideals of the kingdom when justaposed against the measuring stick of our world, clearly makes Jesus appear to us as a "rebel".

To Jesus, all of our weak and frail human efforts, though understandable within the content we live, must be submerged below the true meaning of life in order to live well. Jesus came and told us that those that seek power, will not find it. Those that seek peace, will not find it. Those that seek to be respected and treated as important, will not find it. It is in entirely seeking something else, that these things are awarded...but they cannot be sought, succesfully, on their own.

That makes Jesus, among many other more important things, a "rebel". We have to ask in what sense we believe today's visible chruch body carries on that tradition...and to what extent we have traded our world-changing "rebelious" worldview for some sort of compromised faith.

Something Big in the land of Little

We live our little lives each day, going to our little jobs in our little town.  We live in our little house and we think little thoughts.  What car shall we buy, where should we go for vacation, etc.  The littleness can seem so Big.

But there is Something Big in the land of little.  An idea that tells us that although we are Little People who think about Little Things and live our little lives, there is something more.

Something tells us that when our little lives end, and we are buried in our little graves....then Something Big begins.....

The Land of Little is not unimportant.  It is in living in this little land that we learn about and prepare for the Big...and learn that the little is not all there is.

The End (from a limousine at 10.30pm EST after a business trip to Las Vegas)

Canada - Election 2006

Well - we are down to less than 10 days now before we all vote. During the last two weeks polls have been released showing that the Conservatives seem to have a solid lead...and perhaps might even form a majority.

Prim Minister Martin looked desperate the other evening on the debates. He is increasingly looking like a man drowning in his own confusion. He seems to change his spots every month or so. From Child Care Paul to Health Care Paul to Gun Control Paul to Constitution Paul - and there seems to be no unifying thread and core to what he sees as a vision for Canada.

On that topic, I also decry the poor job the Conservatives are doing in painting a vision for the strategy for our country. The only focus is on tactics and whose are best. I tend to like a few more of the Conservative tactics and believe we need to "flush" the system and have some new people have a chance to lead.

A bridge now crossed
The bottom line for many Canadians, I suspect, is that they have crossed a bridge mentally recently in increasing numbers. During the 2004 election, Harper was an unknown quantity who was easily to paint as a "scary and unknown" leader. Given this feeling, not enough Canadians could get comfortable with him and his party to take advantage of the desire for change in Ottawa. This time is very different. Harper has not been stellar in his performance, but he has been "good enough" and it has been harder for the Liberals to pain him as not ready to lead.

Good enough is often enough. But I am saddened we cannot find greatness in a Canadian leader.

Memories of Florida 2005/6

Once again we spend time in Florida after Christmas. We left Dec 29 and came back to Brampton on January 6. Our itinerary was that we spend 2-3 days driving down (one night in Pittsburg, one night in Charlotte and then Hilton Head, SC from Dec 30). We then moved to Gainesville Florida for New Years Eve (after a great dinner at the Sunset Grille in St. Augustine) and spend Jan 1/2 evenings in the Sirata Beach Resort in St Pete’s Beach. We headed east to spend a night in St Augustine on Jan 3 and then to Charlotte for Jan 4 and Pittsburg for Jan 5.

Key memories

I think the best moments for me (many during this great trip) were: a) Beach soccer with Spencer on Jan 1. We arrived at the Sirata about 1pm and headed right to the beach. It was a cloudy, but nice afternoon and Spencer and I setup goal posts and played soccer in the sand for almost an hour. What a blast we had. I remember after this thinking that the entire drive was worth it just for that once, special hour together. Sandra and Ryan hung out by the ocean. b) Bike riding in Hilton Head,SC. We rented some bikes on Dec 31 just after lunch and spend a wonderful hour driving on the beach, around the local neighbourhoods, etc. The weather was perfect (72F or so with some sun) and we had a blast. c) On the afternoon at around 4pm on Jan 3 we arrived at the Hampton in at St Augustine Beach and the sun was starting to go down. The skies were a clear blue. The temperature was about 70F and we explored the beach for an hour. It was beautiful. d) The next morning we got up and headed right to the beach at around 8.30am. It was a clear and sunny day and expected to reach 74F or so. We walked for about a mile up and down the beach with the boys collecting seashells. It was fabulous - what a greta memory. Sandra even found a live purple and orange starfish that had been washed ashore. We debated keeping it or throwing it back - and did the latter.

It was a fabulous trip - and one I would be happy to do again !