Earth Day Gridblog by Angie

So, it's Earth Day. I like Earth Day because I have some cool pictures of the earth, looking happy but exhausted, wiping her forehed (which I believe is somewhere in Northern Canada, for you Yellowknifians) with a hankie. I photocopy this and let the kids colour it on Earth Day. Also John and I end up talking about how we can do things better in the coming year. It's not a planned, let's sit down at 2:30 with a pen and some graph paper sort of thing, although if that works for you, go team. This year we really noticed packaging. We recycle it all, but for those of you who know the three Rs it's reduce, reuse, recycle and which comes first? That's right. So, we'll definately do more bulk shopping. Costco sells in bulk, but it can get tricky because it's three loaves of bread in a whole other bag. Or two sour cream tubs in a whole extra cardboard cover. Very uncool, Costco. We'll still shop there because it's cheap and we eat like pigs, which leads me to our second change of the year. Stop eating like pigs. For the most part, except for the odd Friday night when we're craving hot wings even though we're not hungry. But eating more than your body needs is taking from the earth and from others, ultimately.

I don't ever want to be one of those militant, sign holding, deoderant not wearing, leg not shaving (except in the winter when I just don't feel like shaving my legs, but that's not for environmental reasons) extremists. I'm really not too worried about that happening, but I feel good when I choose organic over poison infused (sorry, that was a little extremist), or walk home from Superstore with a pyramid of food balanced on my arms because I chose no bags. I would like to lessen our footprint so we're not using up 3 1/2 earths, and I don't think that's extreme at all. If anything, using up more than our planet can give is extreme. So.

Oh, this is cool. Maddie wants to plant trees for her birthday party this year. And no, we didn't prod and hint and leave pictures of clear cut forests around the house until she came up with the idea. It was on her own. So, if anyone knows how exactly one goes about doing that....

Ang

my late generosity

OK, so I'm late for the gridblog. Very poor blogmanship, I know. I have nothing profound to offer, but in the little bit of soul searching I've managed in the past couple of days I realized something that I'm not proud of. It's easy to think you're a generous person when A) you're married to someone who is generous and does the giving for you *ouch* or B) a few non profits get your monthly contribution that you only remember when you see it on your bank statement *ouch again* or C) you often think of ways to help others.... but neglect to act on those moments. It will occur to me that a friend could use a day off, maybe I should take her kids, or a neighbour just moved here from India, I'm sure there's alot of needs there. Just look at big generous me with all my generous thoughts. But then, and here's my really good excuse, I get distracted. With life, I guess. I am, by nature, a scatter brain. Thoughts buzz in and out and I try to focus on the important ones. I know I'm not incapable of remembering the things that matter to me. The excuse would be viable if I was also forgetting dinner out, or the kids swimming lessons, or my Monday night class. But those things stay remembered, as my thoughts of others are often forgotten.

We've been the greatful recipients of so much giving and nothing's made us feel more loved. And the times when I've had the fortitude to act on my thoughts of giving to someone else- I've felt the same way. So, you would think that it would be a little more prevalent in my life.

Blair wanted practical suggestions. Again, I have nothing new to add to what's already been said, but I know what I need to do in my own life. I need to let thoughts of giving actually sink in before my mind goes to the next thing. I need to let my own life take second stage now and then. I need to be present in the lives of others, whether it's someone at the homeless shelter, someone in Africa I will never meet or a good friend. I can blame my forgetfulness on being a scatter brain, but I think it's clear that when I am ungenerous it's because my mind is too busy being consumed with itself.

And on that chipper note... :-)

Ang

Is your table full?

I think it was Shakespeare or Tolstoy that said "generosity maketh the world go round." I agree with them. Unfortunately many don't.We live in a time of "oooo, cake, me love to eat cake. No sharey cake. Cake for me." So we stuff our faces oblivious to the fact that perhaps our creator isn't all about the cake but has his sites set on other things. Like cake for everyone. Starting with us sharing ours.

Let's be honest, you, me and Chelsey long for Others to live generous lives (sorry Chels but it rhymed). We rant and rave about rich capitlists but at the end of the day we too can be found eating cake. We think we're better then our capitalist enemies because our cake is no name and the houses we eat them in are "humble" but as Tim rightly pointed out - materialism and greed is not a $ figure. Its something much more.

For instance; envy and jealousy. We judge the rich because we're not. We judge the corporations because we're the ones their screwing. We judge capitalism because we've yet to reach the tax bracket where we can profit from its theory. We resent the Joneses because we're just The Closes. We We We. I I I. How generous is that?

Now don't hear me wrong, I'm not saying the rich, capitalistic corporations don't need to be raked over the coals but if by raking we think we're making a more generous world, we're smoking the magic dragon. Being right and Being right are two different things. Cynicism (which I love) is much fun and can funtion to prick hearts or convict the heart's of the pricks but unless we are practicing generosity in our own lives we might as well be holding hands with the same ones we judge.

At the end of the day, when all our witty rants and clever judgements have passed, do we in fact live generous lives?

Are we generous with our words?(perhaps the prick remark wasn't)

Are we generous with our time?

Are we generous with our judgements?

Are we generous with our enemies?

Do we have a large table, with many chairs, and lots and lots cake?

Is our table full?

John

P.S. It wasn't Shakespeare or Tolstoy.

Gridblog #4 Thankfulness

Well, I could go on forever I'm sure, but I'll try and keep this to a bearable length. Right now I'm watching Ethan and John (and Hugo) playing soccer outside and I'm thankful for that. Alexa's playing with Harley, laughing her hearty, jolly old elf laugh- how can I not be thankful for that? Maddie's on her bunk bed reading her latest book, which I'm sure we'll hear about later- again, so thankful. As for the details, basically the same as John's list (except for kissing myself- I don't do that) and I'm very thankful our lists are so similar, because it would suck if I loved reading and he loved, say, pressing flowers and the only thing we could talk about would be books on pressing flowers, or pressing flowers in books. I'm thankful that my parents are quite silly and that my brother's so smart and that it's cold outside so we can start having fires in our fireplace soon. I'm thankful for our friends. I'm thankful that my pumpkin pies turned out and that I can be a part of my kid's education and that there may be a glimmer of hope to stop global warming. I'm thankful that I have a hard time with the word blessed and John gets it. I'm thankful that, although not a big fan of the name Angie, I was named after a Rolling Stones song so it's all worth it. And, I'm especially thankful that John is doing the dishes right now.

Ang

Thanks

I just read all your guyses blogs and wow, it may be cold outside but I'm sure toasty warm inside. I love you all. Group Hug.

Speaking of cheese I had it for lunch. Speaking of lunch, its over now which is why I can write my blog. Speaking of my blog. . .

In lieu of basically repeating my Inspiration Blog I am going to say I'm incredibly thankful for all the givens - Jesus. Angie, Maddison, Ethan, Lex, Hugo, Rusty, Not Jack, My parents - my dad just got a pacemaker put in last week and at 70 he is still teaching up a storm. Could a son be more in awe of his dad? My siblings. My friends, too many to list, yes I am that popular, just ask me. My health. I'm 30 but I still feel like I'm 18, except when I run. I'm sore after. Church. Without it I wouldn't have money which I am also thankful for. I like the people at church as well, even the pharasaical ones. They're kinda cool in a legalistic narrow minded way. Jk, their not. I mean just kidding there's not any I'm aware of. Um. .just kidding. Mayday!!

So yeh - those are my givens.

I thought I'd focus on the little things today. The things that at first read - seem shallow or even silly but without them life wouldn't be as sexy. Here's 10.

- Thick fuzzy socks. The kind that double as shoes.

- Oilers. Especially love when they extinguish the Flames.

- Coffee. Must be fair trade bodum quality or what's the point?

- Books. I can't stop reading. . .everything. Right now, The Creation and The Sea. (2 books)

- Kissing my wife. Shazaam. (on second thought perhaps this should have been higher up in the list, crap.)

- Drawer full of clean underwear.

- Hearing a good song on the radio.

- Lost. So glad its back.

- Peace and Quiet in the Bathroom

- Phone call or email from a good friend.

- Butterball Turkey. I think it may be a first for me. Growing up they were too expensive.

Give thanks to the Lord. His love endures forever.

John

P.S. So, there's 11. Be thankful there wasn't 12.

I'm inspired

"Inspiration, by its very definition, is not something that occurs but rather something that happens." Ha Ha Ha, I love it when people try to sound smart and really they got nothing. It's inspiring knowing how stupid they don't know they are. The guy on The Office in particular. . .JUST WRITE THE POST ALREADY!! Fine, here's my real take on what inspires me.

Angie actually. I can't believe I landed her. Seriously guys, she is like a 5. Out of 4. Scared ya for a sec, didn't I? From the first day I met her what stood out was her. . .(censor) personality. Truly, she was different then all the other gals, and believe me I had a lot to choose from. Ahem. She truly was unique and still is. And that's what I love most. She is who she is and likes who she is and I like who she is, wouldn't change a thing actually, and I find all that inspiring.
I also like it when we kiss.

My kidos. Maddison makes me proud. She is only 8 but her interest in adult things is amazing, especially since her dad didn't get interested in those things until last February. She loves to read and learn and she does it at a high level. The other day I took her to Chapters and told her she could get any book she wanted. She picked "Jane Eyre." I know. Then there's her sense of humor, its actually witty and smart which is so cool. I look forward to many years of laughter, and making fun of people. Jk. Then there's Ethan. His love and loud passion for the environment, cooking, gardening, animals and art, at one time you know, unerved me a bit. . . but now I couldn't be more proud. The kid's got amazing character and he's only 5. I'm one happy dad. And then there's Lex. I can't help but smile because no box exists that I could ever put her in. For years I tried but the scratching, crying, social services etc. ended that little experiment. Lex is a delight and her eyes radiate with life. She will make big waves in this world, no doubt about it. Attention world: Surfs up!

My parents. (gees I just realized I'm like totally copying Blair, sorry man)

My dad is a tower of faith. My mom is a vessel of zeal. Together they radiate a zealous faith one that has touched hundreds over the years and caused 2 of their sons to enter the ministry and one daughter to build a faithful home. Without their example I would be lost in Regina wondering what my next move would be.

Movies.

I am what you might call a movie buff. Movies for me are rarely just entertainment, they are a spiritual experience. I know I know I sound a little over dramatic, but why not, we're talking about movies. Snicker. Seriously though you can ask Ang, I don't just watch movies, for the 2 hours, I live them. Good Will Hunting, Crash, Dogville, Schindler's List, Magnolia, Rudy, Rocky, are some that have inspired and challenged me in big ways. Many more have entertained me, touched me, angered me, made me cry and caused me to laugh so hard I feared I may never breathe again. Movies are powerful and continue to influence me in profound ways.

Books. Fiction / Non Fiction / Chicken Soup for the Soul - Jk/ I love them all.
Fiction books that have inspired as of late are: Life of Pi, The Alchemist, I Know this much is True and currently A Complicated Kindness. Non Fiction is too huge to choose so I'll just focus on Spirituality: most everything by Brian McLaren, Karen Armstrong, Dallas Willard, Marcus Borg among many others. Currently Contemplative Youth Ministry is wowing me, which is good cause things start up tommorow. Wow. I'm a pastor so by law I have to mention the bible but I'd mention it anyways. I've read scripture for 20 years and it still blows my hair back on a daily basis.

Friends. Local and unlocal. Local, there are too many to mention, plus I'll surely forget some so I'll just mention one - Greg Banco. There are few guys I know that love and serve people as naturally as he does. Spending time with him is a seminar in how to be. . . plus we laugh quite a lot.

Unlocal. I love all you guys, seriously, being part of this Blog community is something I truly treasure and look forward to each day. You all inspire me with your honesty, authenticity, grit and passion for life. Keep writing and lets have like a Blog Party. Similar to a block party but we all meet in a city somewhere and I don't know, talk in person? Yeh I know, its a pipe dream. So here's to pipe dreams, that they may happen.

Last but only because anything this long couldn't possibly be inspiring - Sports.

Sports has always been and still is a huge part of my life. Nothing inspires me more then watching athletes give it their all and accomplish amazing things. Great comebacks, great shots, great sportmanship, great rivalries, great records broken etc. its all inspiring - and heck, I still love to play myself, even though my knees, back, ankles and wife often protest.

Just like Blair I chose not to mention Jesus. It just seems wrong to include him in the same list as movies and books. . . I vote that our next Grid Blog topic be:
Who Jesus is to you!

If you made it to here, I'm inspired.

John

grid blog #2 what inspires me

What inspires me? I've got a really bad cold that I'm guessing is something more akin to bronchitis, so right now what inspires me is a comfy couch, a box of kleenex (with lotion) and neocitron. I'll try to dig a little deeper, though. I always thought I would grow up and live in a cabin, grow organic veggies and sell pottery at the market (which is basically the same as living in Calgary, minus the traffic- hee hee), but that's what inspires me. Nature, creativity, solitude. Books are a must, of course. Not just philosophical/theological types, but more often for me, a really good novel inspires and changes. It's a glimpse into a way of life that's not your own, and what is inspiration if not a broader understanding? A Fine Balance, A History of Love, and others I can't think of with my currently foggy brain. Biographies- The Spiral Staircase (Karen Armstrong). Help me Remember, Help me Forget (former slave Robert Sadler). Movies can do the same thing. Crash, Maria Full of Grace, It's a Wonderful Life (every Christmas Eve!). Some great documentaries. Cry of the Snow Lion (about Tibet), Born into Brothels. The best inspiration comes from the lives of those around us. Wow, that sounded corny and I don't even mind! I don't know how many times John and I have talked about someone that is such an inspiration to us without them even knowing it, whether it's their strength, generous spirit, compassion, ethical code, etc. So, I guesse I find many things have the power to inspire.
Time for echinacea tea and a blanket.
Ang (I am fully aware that this is an excetionally dull post, I'll go for more gusto next time!)

Grid Blog - This Week

Geees Louise, Tim comes up with one brilliant idea and next thing you know everyones gettin all needy "what's this week's topic, huh huh, what is it, what is it?" Well, since Tim is probably still sitting at the Regina Airport (that's another story) I'm going to go ahead and make the executive decision.

This week's topic is. . .

(What's up Blair, you're out of a rock band for a few years and you can't remember a simple drum roll, gees)

What Inspires You?

That's it.

Please try and refrain from one word answers - "Chocolate" "God" "Snug Undies" "Dave"

We want to know why.

See you in 2.

John Ster

Grid Blog: Robin Hood

Here's Angie and I's take on the role of the bible in our life. I'll go first cause as you know - "Men first." Ahem. BTW this is part of the discussian Tim pioneered and many of us followed.
Every Friday we'll pick a new topic. Today its the bible.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Read your bible pray every day and you'll grow grow grow. And you'll grow grow grow. And you'll grow (awkward high note) grow grow. Read your bible pray every day and you'll grow grow grow."

As I kid I loved singing that song in Sunday school. It was one of the few times in church when my adhd was sanctioned. I could move. Was told to even. Life was good.

But alas, that was a long time ago. Now that I'm a big man, the song no longer moves me. Perhaps its because I no longer find it "fun" to lie prostrate on the church carpet then slowly float upwards as I show the world what it means to grow. Perhaps the tune is no longer a "foot tapper." Perhaps my appetite has changed and I now desire more meaningful songs like. . "Troublesome times are here, filling mens hearts with fear, this is a peppy song because people will die. " Makes sense. Or not. Nice tenor though.
I don't know, maybe I don't like the song anymore because I no longer agree.

Gasp.

Let me explain.

I love the bible. It's definetly up there with Life of Pi. Bad joke. Seriously though, there isn't a book out there that challenges me more then scripture. There isn't a book that inspires me more. Touches me more. Or leaves me wanting more. . .as much as scripture does.
There's just something about that book. I've read it cover to cover and most mornings I can be found reading it once more. I don't say this to brag, I say this to clarify. I'm a big fan.
Why do I feel like there's a big but coming John? I don't know, concerned reader. Perhaps you've stopped exercising. Snicker. I only joke because this topic means the world to me and I'm anxious that I won't communicate very well and all you blokes will walk away whispering "John doesn't believe blah blah and thinks blah blah blah blah." Please if you're concerned, ask don't assume, it could just be that my communication sucks or maybe your interpretation does. Ha. Anyways, here's my take.

I think the bible is an arrow. I think God is the bow. I think Jesus is the target. We're luck to be the archers. Unfortunatly I think we've missed the target. We're enamored with the arrow. Whoo wee what lovely feathers you have arrow. What kind of wood is that? What a sharp tip. Hmm, perhaps we should dedicate our lives to studying the intricasies of the arrow. Heck, lets even make our discoveries law and form communties who try and live that law out. Besides it'll also give us a standard in which to judge those who hate archery. Hate archery, that's too bad. Good luck in hell.

The problem with all this is, we've missed the forest for the trees, the arrow for the target. What's the point of archery? Arrows or the target? Lets say for a second the point is arrows. The winning archer is the one with the best arrows. How would that change the sport of archery?

Well, it would now become crucial how well the arrow was made. You'd have to get the perfect wood, the perfect density of wood, the perfect color of wood the perfect smoothness, the perfect shape, everything about the wood would have to be perfect. No room for error, after all, the point of archery is the arrow. Not only would you need good wood (2 different wood's in one sentence, genius) you would need to find the perfect feather. Perhaps you'd have to travel the world, locate an exotic bird with feather's of the perfect weight, color, form, consistency. Once found, you'd have to catch that bird, which you know, would be hard, but once you caught it you'd be forced to kill it because little bird isn't going to be fond of you ripping out his feathers. Once you killed it you'd now have a big supply of feathers for your arrow. So you got the wood, you got the feathers, what about the tip? Should you go metal or wood? Gees I don't know. Which is better? Best to have a conference. Conference is over. Cool speaker/author said metal. Lets do it. So now we'd need to find the perfect metal. The perfect amount. The perfect weight. The perfect shape. The perfect shine. The perfect sharpness. After all, the metal, is the tip, the most important part. Yay, we found it.

So here it is, the perfect arrow. So what now ? Do we shoot it? Ok, where? After all, the arrow itself is the point, so. . . What do we do? Who knows. Perhaps we should spend the rest of our lives testing and restesting just to make sure we indeed found the perfect wood, perfect feather and perfect metal. And while we're at it, lets write books, put on conferences on proper arrow maintence. If we have time we can even compare arrows with other archers. Wait a second, your feather's are not from the same bird? The wood wasn't poplar? Wasn't popular? Wasn't. . .or whatever. The metal is 2 ounces and not 1? Yikes, well sucks to be you I guess.

At least we are professional archers. We got the perfect arrows. Our quiver is full of them.
The only problem is we haven't paid attention to the bow (God) and we have no target (Relationship with Jesus).

We haven't taken flight.

I speak best in analogies, like a dog speaks best by barking. . .

Anyways, I have felt for a long time that Christians, especially those of our brand, worship the bible. Yes I am aware that the bible is God's word. Inspired even. Whatever that means. But its still not the point. The end all and be all. Heck even Jesus said "You dilligently study the scriptures thinking that through them you will gain life but yet you refuse to come to me." Who was he talking to? Them or us? If the shoe fits. . .

The bible exists to point us to Jesus. The point of our lives is to form a relationship with Jesus. We are "saved" through that relationship not through some formula we've concoted by proof texting or Greeking the bible to death. Do you honestly think salvation lies in our ability to read? Sucks to be the 3 billion who can't. Illiteracy has now become a pothole on the road to God. Now I know we don't think that, but the amount of authority we give the bible at times make me wonder. The bible only has authority because it points us to relationship in Jesus. Without the relationship part, it is a dead book, full of dead laws, exposing our sin but offering no solution. Paul said this himself, many times.

The ironic and very sad thing is most Christians claim to"know their bible" but admit that their relationship with God is lacking. Even non existent. What? How can that be? The point of the bible is Relationship with God. If its lacking perhaps our use of the bible is too.

Here's what I think: I honestly believe that deep down most of us prefer the bible to Jesus. Now why is that?

The bible is visible, the bible appears to have answers, formulas, prescriptions, blueprints of how we should live our lives. All we have to do is familiarize, do, and check off. It's easy. The other perk is now that we have the bible figured out we can use our knowledge to control other people's lives by holding up this standard. "See this is why I'm right and your wrong."

But relationship with God is altogether different. God is usually not visible, he can't be understood, not really anyways, there is no formula to understanding God and how he works. In fact, the entire realationship is based on. . .faith. Not knowing yet still believing. Not seeing but still moving. Not understanding yet still studying. We don't know yet we want to. So we continue to pursue. . .

Ok, I could go one forever, some of you think I already have. So I'll wrap up.

To summarize: God is too big for our fancy arrows. The only reason they even exist is to allow us to hit our target - so when we make the point the arrows we ultimately change Christianity to Bibleianty. We form a relationship with the bible meanwhile Jesus trots along behind us.

May we all strive to be Robin Hood.

John

Angie's take

AHHH! How do we tackle this one- I know what's in my head, but can I get it down on paper (or computer screen) without rambling like an idiot? Probably not, but I'll try.
I was taught, as were many, that we need the Bible because we can't trust our own judgement, and ultimately we don't know right or wrong without it. This often leads to the always entertaining practice of picking apart verses and endless debating about one person's interpretation vs another so we can figure out what God is really saying. Meanwhile we're ignoring the very heart, mind and soul He gave us for direction. How should we parent? Look it up in the Bible. What should church service look like? Do a word study in 1 Timothy. How should we treat others? Look in the book.... Is divorce OK? What if there's abuse? Unfaithfulness? What if it was before conversion? Hmmm...we may never know. Then there's tricky ones. Is common-law living in sin or marriage? Is a glass of wine OK? 2? 3? A whole bottle.....? If women must be silent in church, can they speak at small group? Pray? Make eye contact with a man? (OK, that was uncalled for). Sadly, some stop asking altogether and just accept denominational pat answers. What we have hear, folks, is silence of scripture, and where scripture is silent....We all know of things done that were justified using scripture, yet clearly lacked sound judgement, or worse, love towards our fellow human beings. I'll give a quick refresher: slavery, war, anti- semitism, oppression of women, condemning free thinkers and intellectuals, abortion clinic bombings, gay bashing, the earth is flat, rock and roll is evil and humour is of the devil (seriously, I read a very "scriptually based" article on that one!). Some may say, well, they misquoted- and that's the problem. How many things do we "misquote" today because we follow biblical rules at the expense of reason and the message of Jesus? When we see the Bible as law for all time, not only do we miss out on the beauty and depth of scripture when read as analogy and metaphor, but we limit God and feel required to follow ancient and sometimes unhealthy customs. I've talked with people who use scripture to support spanking even though it goes against their better judgement (we have spanked, but some do it solely because they think the Bible says it is neccessary). What about shunning modern science because it doesn't coincide with a literal interpretation of Genesis? Are we raising children to see God and worship with their minds as well as their hearts, or are we teaching them to blindly accept what goes against all modern thought? Maybe if Lee Strobel pumps out another hot seller, we can sway the many disillusioned and disheartened questioning souls of our church to deny all things commonly held as scientific fact, but I'm guessing they can see through the fluff (again, uncalled for....I know) Does it make sense ethically or intellectually that God would want to silence women in the church? Why? Don't tell me because man is from Adam, that's why. There are churches that are missing out on half of their potential!
Could we be missing the point? What about reading the Bible as a book of principles- a guide instead of doctrinal absolutes? For example, when Paul addresses women in the church we recognize that he was speaking in a time when women were property (is this meant to be our standard?) and what he had to say was actually quite liberal of him. Interesting that some churches today take this to mean women have less rights than men (although, I believe the chosen word is "reponsibilities"), when the principal could be taken as Church, be the first to fight for the oppressed. Yeah, I'm belabouring the woman issue, but being one myself and wanting my daughters to grow up free to serve God with their gifts without being told well, at least you can teach Sunday School, it does hit close to home for me. But that's certainly not the only example. Is the Genesis account a history book on earth's beginning? Does it end there? Or does it have nothing to do with science or history, but rather a story of mankind's search for God, love of His creation, pull toward selfishness, dealing with fear and shame and finding solace in God's love- and so much more. It isn't until I stopped seeing the Bible as simple fact that it really became alive for me. And it wasn't until I stopped looking for the laws of Scripture that I felt it's power to transform me.
Sum up- for me, the Bible has an over all message...love.
It also is full of principles that fall under that message....be selfless, generous, give to those in need, don't cling to your possessions, never stop searching, show respect to others and to creation....
It is also a collection of ancient writings, stories, metaphors and experiences that I believe were never intended to be picked apart, analyzed and used as a "blueprint" for our lives. It's so much more than that.
I'm kind of scared to press publish........