the old bill

Tar Sands Christmas Cards

I did not think that anything could make me embarrassed to be Canadian, but Harper's stance at Copenhagen has done at least that.  To say that we will not agree to any limitations what will impede our economy is well simply an abomination.  Herod's spirit lives on this Christmas.

I created a few Christmas Cards from the Tar Sands....

 

 

A virtual Jack Shaver

Jack was minister of First United in Vancouver's Downtown East Side when we lived out there[1979-81] - it was one of the few places Mary and I ever felt comfortable worshiping.  We'd often attend the evening service.  Almost no people and one of the best preachers in UC history.  Just found out that his son-in-law set up a website about Jack.  Contains many sermons, prayers etc.  Here's a bit of a taste:

From December 21, 1997:

Almighty God - our thoughts go every which way. The world and all that is wrong with it is too much for us. We long to be out of it, but are terrified to leave it.

The enthusiasm of cheap cheer turns our stomachs. But we feel no better about our state of complaining.
We don't feel good about trying to forget what is real.
We need your penetrating word to address us when we care.
We need your word to fit us for what we are going through.

We need to hear that you will not leave us comfortless, but will come to us and receive all of us unto yourself.  [full text here]

From August 9, 1998:

Almighty God - since we are to have words with you, let's not waste them. We bring a confusing list of petitions. Our wants and needs are many, but we need to sort out the ones that mostly matter. We quickly tire of our whining and complaining. We'd feel better if our praying words actually expressed the gracious longing of our hearts that would be praying. [full text here]

Both of these were from later in his life.   Jack died in 2001, sometime after the September 11 attack - one of his last recorded prayers was in the wake of the terrorist attack - here. 

The volume of material on the site is a bit overwhelming bu worth mining through and t there are some very nice touches - places where you can get pdfs of Jack's scrawled out notes, etc.  Here's a bit:

Northrop Frye on Jesus

I've always wished I'd had the chance to take classes from this guy.

It would be absurd to see the New Testament as only a work of literature: it is all the more important, therefore, to realize that it is written in the language of literature, the language of myth and metaphor.  The Gospels give us the life of Jesus in the form of myth: what they say is, “This is what happens when the Messiah comes to the world.” One thing that happens when the Messiah comes to the world is that he is despised and rejected, and searching in the nooks and crannies of the Gospel text for a credibly historical Jesus is merely one more excuse for despising and rejecting him. Myth is neither historical or antihistorical: it is counterhistorical.  Jesus is not presented as a historical figure, but as a figure who drops into history from another dimension of reality, and thereby shows what the limitations of the historical perspective are. [Northrop Frye]