Wow, I'm out of date...

Man, it's been AGES since I blogged!!! And so much has happened! SOme of my highlights...

I've recovered from ym adventures in Africa. WHat a time. I'm still getting phenomenol stories coming out... and I was able to share some of the things that came back in my luggage with people at Christmas... :-)

School - well, lots of stuff! I still have some papers to write (blah) but classes are over! And if all goes well, I'm done classes for this degree. Yup, scary thoughts, but if I can pull off at least 80% in my last few classes, I'll just write the thesis (scary word, scary word!) and be done! I know, I collect degrees the same way most people collect stamps, but still... so, I have to re-write a paper on social policy and Christian ethics surrounding Canadian water policy, plus finish a paper on the social ethics of coca-cola production in India and the church's response(s), and a final paper on applying Thomas Aquinas' 'First Truth' principle to the environmental crisis. Should be a fun week!

Work has been great - lots of adventures and experiences, I've just finished my first Christmas Day aw a priest... I got the best gift, I celebrated the Eucharist at our midnight mass... very cool, very powerful. But after 6 services in 25 hours, sleep...

The house is coming along, I've now finished painting and am just getting things all tidied up - I have a deadline now, since I'm having some friends over for New Year's Eve and hosting a levee on New Year's Day. I always work best with a deadline...

Some more fun of the house has been it's newest additions... I've been back to the animal shelter... Karl says I should just never go there again - I now have, in addition to Leo the hedgehog, the 3 gerbils, and the goldfish, Fuzzbutt the dwarf hamster and Guinness the black Lab. Pictures to follow.

I think those are the basics... right now Guinness is trying to eat the wrapping paper left over from Christmas presents (SO many of them! I'm spoiled!!) so I'll write more soon. I've been keeping up my weekly blog for the national church (www.generation.anglican.ca) so if you're needing more of a fix of Laura Marie's thoughts you can read stuff there.....

Anyway

Around the world and back again...

So - the traveller returns home - it's weird! But good. I've been asked by so many people at the church to tell stories of my trip - well, 4 weeks in Africa and a few days in London leads to more than a few stories! Reflecting on my time, though, my highlights are all with people - friends - and most of my travels have been off the beaten path (tourist areas? What are those??) My motto for living my life is that one day, I will have the BEST stories in the nursing home. (Assuming I live that long.) And I really think I will! I've now visited 27 countries on 5 continents, and I know there's more travel in me yet... which just means there's more friends to meet, and visit, and more places to just be thankful for everything that I have. And the memories... the pictures just don't do justice to the views and the experiences... it's good to be home, even with the cold I picked up on the airplane and the huge pile on my desk and the homework waiting... but it's also great knowing that I'm not restricted by 'home'.

To see the greatness of a mountain, one must keep one's distance;
To understand its form, one must move around it;
To experience its moods, one must see it at sunrise and sunset;
At noon and at midnight, in sun and in rain;
In snow and in storm, in summer and in winter
And in all the other seasons
He [sic] who can see the mountain like this comes near to the life of the mountain.

Mountains grow and decay, they breathe and pulsate with life.
They attract and collect invisible energies from their surroundings.
The forces of the air, of the water, of electricity and magnetism,
They create winds, clouds, thunderstorms, rains, waterfalls
And rivers. They fill their surroundings with active life and give shelter and food to innumerable beings. Such is the greatness of mighty mountains.
Lama Govinda

Sacred Places

I do not have to go to Sacred Places in far-off lands. The ground I stand on is holy.

Here in this little garden I tend, my pilgrimage ends. The wild honeybees, the hummingbird moths, the flickering fireflies at dusk, are a microcosm of the universe. Each seed that grows, each spade of soil, is full of miracles.

And I toil and sweat and watch and wonder, and am full of love. Living in place, in this place. For truth and beauty dwell here.

by Mary de la Valette

Rain and Jazz

What an evening, it's raining outside and I'm listening to some fabulous jazz. Two of my favourite things. I've always appreciated the rain, especially in the fall as it nourishes the ground for the springtime... tomorrow I take possession of my house, so I'm aware that the rain tonight will help my garden in the spring... and it's watering the flowers on my porch. I was in a prayerful state earlier this week, walking along in the grass - any time I can be physically reminded of the power of the divine (such as blades of grass brushing to tops of my feet) it brings me closer to incorporating God into all that I am and do - and usually happens when I least expect it. And jazz - well, jazz speaks to my soul, so to listen to the rain on the window and have my soul being fed by the music on my speakers - I am this evening a spiritual being having a human experience.

Blog By Request

So this morning was consecration Sunday, or stewardship Sunday, or the day Anglicans traditionally avoid church because the sermon is about money. "We need more money! Give more money!" Well, I was preaching this morning, and I didn't talk about money. We had an insert in the bulletin about the financial issues of the church, so people know it costs about $918 each day to keep our doors open. But what I talked about was the gifts that we give, and how they are given to us from God. One gift of knowledge I received from some aborioginal friends was that gifts are like water - as long as they are flowing, they remain healthy. When they stop moving, as with water, they become problematic - stagnant, potentially harmful or dangerous. So, God has granted each person a number of gifts - countless gifts - that can be used not just for personal benefit, or just within the church context, but for the whole world. Determining what gifts are to be used in which context can be a challenge, but hey - if it was easy, it might not be worth doing. The best thing we can give is what we have been given. Finances are important, but it's all about who we are, not what we have.

Far Too Much Enthusiasm!

So school started this week - wow, am I a geek. Keener. Brain. Freak. I have 2 classes this term, that's all I need to complete before I begin my thesis. I've got a Friday class on 3 theologians (Augustine, Aquinas, Lonergan) understanding their different views on similar aspects (God in natural revelation, psychological analogy of the trinity, that sort of thing). My other class runs every other Saturday for 4 hours - it's title is Social Ethics and Christian Responsibilities, but more accurately it seems to be the Catholic Response to ethical issues - VERY interesting. Today we did some basic learning on Aquinas, and debated how desires can lead to natural and artificial goods, depending on what the impact is on personal dignity (an over-simplification, but good enough) in the modern context. I managed to bring up camping in one example, whereby the natural good is the desire to be closer to God through nature, but the vehicle (my fancy canoe) could be an artificial good for some... the basis of which is in what the canoe means to me - as a safe and efficient piece of equipment, it's a natural good; as a status symbol it's an artificial good. So, my brain was racing the entire day with other ways (what if two natural goods, both based in dignity, are conflicting with each other? I want a safe vehicle to transport my stuff [such as said canoe] so I have a mini SUV... but I want to be ecologically responsible, which means rejecting the SUV... what's the Thomastic balance? I'm still pondering). So, lots of enthusiasm about homework, and study, and getting right into the depths of an academic environment again. The thoughts that keep me up at night!! Sigh...

New term... New excitement!!!

How do you know you're a geek? When you get so excited by school orientation that you can't sleep. Next indication - you go to extra lectures at the school before classes start! Had a fantastic first gathering at the college this week, it was SO great to be back in that environment - I feel so alive in that setting... hehehe. My classes for this term should be great - they're the ancillary courses for my degree - one is Augustine Aquinas and Lonergan and the other is Social Ethics and Christian Responsibilities. Yup, typical for me! I'm really looking forward to it, geek that I am...
I attended a lecture on Thursday presented by the Elliott Allen Institute of Theology and Ecology (EAITE - check my links - where I got my eco-theology specialization) - environmentalist John Seed from the Rainforest Information Centre in Australia was in town - delivered a lovely and inspiring message on vision and empowerment. So much fun...

You Are Big Bird

Talented, smart, and friendly... you're also one of the sanest people around. You are usually feeling: Happy. From riding a unicycle to writing poetry, you have plenty of hobbies to keep you busy. You are famous for: Being a friend to everyone. Even the grumpiest person gets along with you. How you life your life: Joyfully. "Super. Duper. Flooper."

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Ever have one of those days?

So, in the past week I've left Manitoba - complete with a decent amount of tears and hugs - and started up in Hamilton. A day of house-hunting Wednesday wasn't very fruitful (sigh), and I started at my new position on Friday. So, I spent the rest of the weekend writing my sermon for today, and confirming all my plans for my trip to Africa and Britain this fall...
And this morning was when the fun started... my new boss got called out late last night for a pastoral emergency, and she was out most fo the night. So I had offered to cover the service this morning - not just the homily as originally planned. I knew it would be a great day when I announced the wrong hymn to open worship - I had picked up last week's bulletin from somewhere - at least people can laugh with me!! Anyway, it was one of those days where if it could go wrong, it did - the altar wasn't set properly, I almost dropped the host on the floor, a whole collection of smaller problems that all add up. Ah well - God will be where God will be, it's not the end off the world.
The rest of today I did a bunch of nothing - some Greek studying, went to the gym for a bit. Nothing exciting. I'm hoping tomorrow is a nice day, I want to head out on the Bruce Trail for a hike!

Falling off the planet...

No, I didn't actually disappear... it just seems like it!
After the moose I spent some time sleeping... actually, quite a bit of time sleeping...
Then I was in my friends' wedding on 8 July - Veronica and Mike were great! It was fun - I'd had my chiropractor re-locate my shoulder and jaw that morning, and had some lovely meds, so I got through it okay...
The fun in August was the Canadian Lutheran Youth Gathering - a HUGE event for 4 days that took 2 years to plan, with the theme of "Full Serve"! I was on the national committee, and spent most fo the Gathering itself behind a camera (the Angli-Cam) taping the 1200 youth as they worshipped, prayed, partied, sang, did a faith walk, did a giant car wash, danced, hugged, generally had a great time. You'll notice the word "sleep" is NOT on that list - for good reason! It was a fabulous weekend, and we finished up our meetings yesterday (Monday) - I blogged some of the basics on the Anglican Youth site (www.generation.anglican.ca) to share some of the experience... What did NOT get onto that blog was the after-party for the planning team... Sunday night we had lots of food, laughed so hard the neighbours complained (is that REALLY a church meeting??? How many drunk clergy are over there???), and drank ourselves stupid! Monday morning I had my second-ever hangover... and nowhere near as bad as the first one (I was 17 then) but still worth acknowledging! (Memo to me, Smirnoff Ice and prescription drugs do NOT make for happy morning-afters!!)
This morning was ugly - the alarm clock went off, the second alarm went off, and I still wanted to hurt them... then the cat walked into the room, and then I got the best wake-up visit - my godson crawled in and smiled at me! Nothing like an adorable 14-month old babbling happily to get you out of bed.
So - plans for the rest of the summer... hang out with friends in Winnipeg!! Return to Hamilton, hopefully buy the perfect house... get ready for school (finishing off my Master of Theology this year)... get ready for my new job (Priest Associate, Church of the Ascension)... finish my New Testament Greek course... sleep... blog... continue healing...

Swamp Buggy versus Swamp Donkey

A few years ago, when Kia was introducing the Sportage (compact SUV) they had these really annoying commercials that involved some idiot taking people on swamp rides "welcome to the swamp" - so when I bought my Sportage, it got nicknamed the swamp buggy (I named her Ophelia, yes I'm a geek).
There's been a long debate among canoers - is a moose cow a majestic animal or a swamp donkey?

Thdre's the pretext for the title of this blog... I was driving Wednesday, north of White River, when I saw a beautiful cow on the left hand sideof the road - and I was thinking to myself that it's abnormal to see such a gorgeous creature in the daylight so close to the road - and I had slowed down a bit. About a second later I had a baby moose run right in front of me - and then stop (she saw the car coming the other direction) - well, a THUD ensued. I braked hard, but still hit the poor beast - who then became airborne, and was flung across to the other side of the highway. Fortunately, given the circumstances, she was dead immediately - fortunately for me, I survived. (Ironically, all my other creatures lived through it also - a goldfish, 3 gerbils and a hedgehog lived but a moose died... sigh...) Some lovely people from Edmonton gave me a lift into town and were a HUGE help (people, angels, whichever). So, my car was towed into White River, where I spent the night (after having seen the doctor - sprained wrist, bruises, whiplash). Thursday was a fun day of organising repairs, insurance, police reports... we towed the car into Wawa (about 150km from the collision) where it looks like they're fixing it - because it's such a safe car, and slow impact of a baby moose, it's only about $7,000-$10,000 to repair it. For a moose collision, that's minimal! And it's VERY rare that someone can walk away from such a collision - so I am feeling VERY lucky.

It's amazing the way people all pull together in smaller towns - the folk in White River were really great, as were the people in Wawa - they all heard that I have a wedding to be in this weekend, and worked to make sure it could happen! So I have a rental now, and good pain meds - and am in Hamilton ready for whatever comes next - hopefully something boring!

Relaxing...

Most people find traveling to be a stressful experience... there have been times (like this year) when I have had the stress of racing to catch planes, getting stuck in the subway on the way to the airport, leaving Regina at 6am on a terrifyingly turbulant flight, discovering the joys of Brasil's internal transit systems... this voyage, however, is different. I have a definite end time - I am needed in Hamilton before Friday night, and I had to leave Winnipeg as I no longer have a house there... but in the in-between I've been taking some serious downtime. I'm hanging out with friends right now at the canoe base near Atikokan, ON, two hours west of Winnipeg. I've slept well, helped build a shower house (as such), and tonight went for a sunset paddle - watched Blake catch the mother of all Bass (fish for breakfast tomorrow!), watched some other wildlife (merganzers, loons, beavers). I've taken the opportunity to just BE. No deadlines, no worries, very few people able to reach me. It's a good feeling. Definitely needed after the past few weeks - between work, and packing, and writing the term papers, and then the emotional stuff of ordination, first Eucharist, and saying goodbyes... hard to do. I'm grateful for the rest right now! There's just no way to be stressed with the sun going down on a calm lake and the quietness of dipping your paddle in the water. I know my soul finds peace in this part of the world - it's getting that now.

Stuff, stuff and more stuff!

Have you ever noticed how much STUFF one can accumulate? I'm in the process of packing up my house - and MAN is it full of stuff! It's a little house - with a lot of memories - and a lot of fun stuff. The really cool thing, I think, is that all my stuff has stories attached to it. Stories of friends, of good times, of adventures, whatever. And new stories happening all the time - I've had bunches of people helping me to get organised in the past week or so, which has been GREATLY appreciated. I think the cool part of my life is that all my stuff relates to important people. A few examples... my little papier mache duck reminds me of a summer in Germany and a fantastic kayaking trip in Belgium (hey Dee! Margaret lives!)... I have a really cool candle from an amazing worship service with some Lutheran friends here a few years back... I have rocks from all over the world... my worship book, incredibly useful, was a gift from a phenomenol woman who has been a friend and support for over a decade (and who is SO hated in Winnipeg these days! Kristine, people are SO mad!!! hehehe...) and I doubt I'll ever forget the rubber monkeys or YUCK balloons... Stuff. Stuff in boxes. Stuff that is so much more than what it looks like.

Before I get too emotional (not that that's been happening or anything, really it's just rain! On my face! In the sunshine!) I'll post this - I'm out of touch for the next week or so, road tripping through northern Ontario (remember the great Arrogant Worms song trees and rocks? It describes the route I'll be taking... "there's rocks and trees and trees and rocks and rocks and trees and trees and rocks and rocks and trees and trees and rocks and water...") Then I'm honoured to be taking part in a friends' wedding - one of my oldest dearest friends (why are we sleeping on the wrong side of the tent? We didn't pitch it on a slope, did we??) Road tripping with the boys, plants and a bike... hmmm...

I'm off to finish putting stuff in boxes. memories that will come flooding out again when the time is right.

The latest...

Another crazy week in my world... I was at our annual clergy conference this week. We had the Bishop of Nova Scotia and PEI out with one of his clergy- decent conference. We were out at Pinawa (what happens in Pinawa, STAYS in Pinawa) and generally had a decent time. Even so - it was a busy time. It's really difficult to stay focused in session when you're up with friends laughing until 2am some nights, and then get up in the morning to go jogging at 6:30... not the best plan I've ever had, but the trail goes right along the Winnipeg River, which is WAY too beautiful to ignore. But the conference itself was good, I already blogged it on the National Anglican Youth site (generation.anglican.ca)
We had plenty of chats about the changes in the church - especially with the ECUSA convention going on - from their debate and resolutions about accepting the Windsor report (we accept - no we don't - yes we do - no we don't) and the election of the first female Presiding Bishop (Primate) within the Communion... hehehe... get a room full of clergy and some church politics that will have an impact on us... we had fun at the 'bar' at night (not the Pinawa Motor Inn, and I did NOT fall off any chairs or dance on tables, contrary to rumours from another event there...) But there was plenty of conversation and speculation. I love having conversations with people who have such differing opinions but can agree to not fight over them!
I also got to chat a bit with the Bishop about some of the NASTY rumours that are going around about me right now... that was interesting. I just hope that whoever is starting these horrible comments recognizes that they are inaccurate and unacceptable... and I have no idea why anyone would suggest that I don't like youth, hate youth ministry, am only at my job for the paycheck, etc. I know rumours happen in every workspace, but hopefully with me bluntly bringing this one up in the wider group we can start to curb this behaviour. (Yes, in my un-Christian moments, I want to inflict pain on the unknown person who started them... maybe tie them naked to a tree in mosquito season...)
Anyway, getting home was good - except for the reaction from Leo - he's a social creature, and has let me know he is none too happy about being left alone for 3 days. I think he's forgiven me now, he had some treats yesterday and had a good long run on the floor - I really must get this guy litter trained soon! Some friends came over Friday night to help me pack - I ALMOST admitted that I have too many books... but can anyone really have too many books? The fun thing is I'm not packing them all, some of the novels are going to the church. Anyway, Kieran was over too, so we had some fun. He had his first birthday this week, and his party is this afternoon (should be fun!)
It was really great to spend time with friends this weekend - in and around my work schedule - it's good to take a step back from my over-busy reality sometimes and just hang out! Yesterday was the final youth worship - it was hilarious decorating the church - helium balloons everywhere, streamers, etc. Never a dull moment!
So this next week should be pretty crazy... next weekend I'm heading out! Packing up the car with clothes and plants and pets and drive for a week... sigh. One day at a time!

The boys I live with

Here's my hedgehog Leo - he came from a home where he was getting care, but not enough love! His name comes from an article by Isaiah Berlin called "The Fox and the Hedgehog" and details Leo Tolstoy's views of history... very cool stuff. The gerbils, mischievious as they are, were also rescued to come and live with me - I named them Tartuffe, Orgon and Cléante after characters in Molière's play "Tartuffe".

Blog-a-saurus!

And so it begins... with so many changes happening in my life, a number of people have requested I do a blog site. So, here it is. I'll try to update about once a week or so...

Where to start... well, some of the basics about me... I currently live in Winnipeg, Manitoba. (Look at a map, find the centre of Canada, and look closer to the US border - that's me, waving at you!) I have a cute little house (that was cleaned this week, holy cow!!) that I share with my 3 gerbils (Tartuffe, Orgon and Cleante) and my new hedgehog (Leo). Oh, and a goldfish. My house is filled with fun stuff - movies, books, candles, books, star lights, books... right now I'm re-reading a fun book of Irish fairy tales that my Jean sent me years ago. Not only is it fun, the Irish really have great ways of getting rid of people they don't like.... if I was vindictive, I'd be taking notes.

What do I do - well, my job is as the Youth Ministry Developer for the Anglican Diocese of Rupert's Land. It's a fun job, I get to do a lot of event planning and consulting with youth leaders/parish clergy/ecumenical groups/non-church people. I'm also a newly ordained priest, assisting at St. John's Cathedral. This morning I celebrated my first Sunday Eucharist - powerful stuff.

In my free time, I'm a student... I've already got my Bachelor of Arts in Politics from McGill, my Master of Divinity with Honours from Trinity College (Toronto) and my Specialization in Theology and Ecology from St. Michael's (Toronto). I'm working on post-grad work now at St. Mike's - I'd say it keeps me out of trouble, but hey, it's me. This summer I'm crazy enough to be learning biblical Greek (yikes) - I'm the only one who registered, so there's lots of personal attention with the instructor - I already hate declensions.

So when I'm not working or studying, I'm out having fun. For the past 2 years I've been a Pathfinder leader with the 151st unit - these are 11-14 year old Girl Guides. I've also been Area Chaplain and Assistant Area Commissioner (Scouts and Venturers) for Service Area 9 of Scouts Canada Manitoba. (How's that for a mouthful?!) I'm also out canoeing or cycling any chance I can get, and it's not unusual for me to be swimming or running in the mornings before work. (Yes, morning person - my last job interview asked me about that!!) I'm also a big fan of walking over to get gelati on Corydon Ave., or wandering through Assiniboine Park (the Leo Mol gardens, the Zoo...)

So... there's a bit about me. I'm sure I'll add more fun stuff as time progresses - like my excitement over the ECUSA electing the first female Primate for the Anglican Communion - this should have some interesting responses in the communion!