Ever Present Need of Thee

Ever Present Need – Music by Steve Bell
Lyrics adapted from Daniel Ladinski’s translation of
‘Our Need for Thee’ in Love Poems from God.
Original poem by St. Francis of Assisis.

Darkness is an unlit wick
A simple spark would vanquish it
Truly I could burst to flame
Every time you call my name
Do I do for you the same

God is like a honey bee
Penetrates the soul of me
Dearly draws the sweetness in
Nectar of the meek love is
He in me and I in him

In our ever present need of thee
Grant we fathom peace
Fashion instruments of souls set free
For don’t the cages ones weep

Sometimes sober sometimes bliss
Every union knows of this
But I have stood here in his rain
And bear the marks of fertile plains
Swelling streams and swollen grain

So will I console the fall
Of cheerless creatures great and small
What of sadness can endure
When love divine makes insecure
The crowing claims of shame’s allure

In our ever present need of thee
Grant we fathom peace
Fashion instruments of souls set free
For don’t the cages ones weep



i agree. fashion instruments of souls set free, for don't the caged ones weep.

Public Enemies

i just got back from seeing this flick with my buddy Bob. neither of us really knew what to say when it was done but then Bob adeptly said that it would've made a great drinking game if you take a drink whenever somebody died. he also added that he would've been completely drunk by the end of the movie. very true. it's rated 14A and it's not for the faint of heart if you're at all opposed to violence or the sight of blood. buyer beware, it's definitely not a "youth group" movie.
interesting that Johnny Depp seems to be picking roles that defy authority of late eh? there were moments during the movie where Dillinger was played up with a look that was very Depp and i couldn't help but think that JD was relating very well with JD.
i like Depp a lot onscreen. i remember him from 21 Jumpstreet and even then, he defied authority. he purposefully picks roles that stand out individually or he takes them for pure shock value. the only exception that i can think of was his role in "Benny and Joon" where he emulated Buster Keaton. incidentally, Benny and Joon is a fabulous flick and there are several Buster Keaton type moves that will just blow you away.

what i got thinking after the movie centered around the John Dillinger character. the movie is based on a book and they attempted to colour Dillinger as almost a Robin Hood type who was fiercely loyal to his friends but also very psychotic toward authority. i suppose the differing colours of grey in his life make him seem more like any of the rest of us but at the same time i couldn't get past how his brutality toward authority made him seem a complete psychopath.
honestly though, we're all shades of grey. i've never gone even close to the lengths that Dillinger did but ... sin is sin right? i've never killed a man but i've lied. Dillinger was still nice to his friends and he was played up as fiercely loyal. if i'm less than loyal on occasion am i really any better than a "Public Enemy"?
the world is depraved and ... there but the grace of God go i.

you dropped your 1st round pick?

Below you'll find posted my final edition of An Expert's Audit - Baseball edition for this season. It is all fantasy baseball related so if you're not interested in that topic then maybe you're done reading for this post. If that's the case then thanks for dropping by anyway. This article is also posted at www.dobberbaseball.com

Welcome once again to An Expert’s Audit – baseball edition. In this article we take a look at the fantasy team of a reader to see if there are areas we can improve so that we’re moving down a winning road. This will be the final offer of EAB for this season but I’m still more than willing to have email discussions on a baseball matter, so if you have questions you can reach me at ian@dobberbaseball.com

I was too late for Frank Hung. It’s really too bad, best I can tell he’s a decent guy but when I came on the scene he had just finished dropping his 1st round pick after having turfed his 3rd and 6th rounders earlier in the season. Seriously. He was solidly entrenched in 11th place in a 12 team league and his hopes for upward mobility were … well, they were fleeting.

Let’s take a look at Phail. Before we do that though, I just don’t get how a team name like that exactly brings much confidence to the table there Frank.

C Chris Iannetta COL – decent option for some power out of your catcher, that avg is fairly abysmal though and you get better stats out of someone like Bengie Molina a lot later in drafts.
1b Jose Lopez SEA – he has 19 dingers, which is surprising actually, if you roster him at 2b then that’s great but if you have him at 1b then you can do better. He’s among your best power options though and that’s a good reason for why you’re lagging in this league.
2b Brian Roberts BAL – traditional solid speed, not great speed but solid speed. It’s pretty standard to roster a SB guy at 2b if you can.
3b Gordan Beckham CWS – if this were a keeper league I’d be a lot higher on this guy but you’d be lucky to get HR in the teens this season since he wasn’t in the bigs prior to June. He’s got upside for 20 HR stats next year but that doesn’t help you much with only a month to go this year.
SS Asdrubal Cabrera CLE – another MI with some speed but you really needed Alexei Ramirez to solidify this slot this season.
OF Andrew McCutcheon PIT – again, in a keeper I’d be a lot more excited for your team. He’s going to be a solid 20/20 threat next year and a 30/30 threat beyond next year.
OF Alfonso Soriano CHC – your best stick left on your team. He’s been injured for most of the year and that has really hurt your chances at competing. You have to play him though, he’s your best stick left, play him full time and pray a lot.
OF Shin-Soo Choo CLE – I remember that he came up pretty monstrously big during the World Baseball Classic but did I draft him? Nope, neither did you. He’s definitely made himself worthy for an OF3 slot this season and the ceiling’s getting higher for him.
Util Juan Rivera LAA – I thought that having Abreu, and Matthews Jr. around was going to really hurt his value but Sarge Jr. has disappeared and Rivera has shone while stealing those AB’s.
BN Alexei Ramirez CWS – like Soriano, your team needs him to produce like he is capable of doing. I’m advising that you take him off the bench and run him out there every day (and back to the praying thing too).
BN Aubrey Huff DET – his move to Detroit has buried him on their depth chart. He’s a run of the mill option at best anyway.

SP Chris Carpenter STL – he’s back. I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t have the jam to take the chance on him this year. He’s been great for you though.
SP Justin Verlander DET – fighting for the K’s lead in all of baseball, getting W’s and keeping the ratios nice. He should get some Cy buzz this season.
RP Francisco Cordero CIN – solid closer option. It’s too bad that the GAB is such a homer haven though.
RP Leo Nunez FLA – he’s been a nice add for a few saves but I’m amazed that you lasted the first couple months of the season without an RP2 to speak of whatsoever.
P J.A. Happ PHI –“This is Col. Lelie "Hap" Hapablap. If you don't open that door, I'll tear you up like a Kleenex at a snot party”. Yeah I know it’s childish but it makes me smile. Happ has been ripping guys up all season and is on the threshold of something great.
P Gavin “Count” Floyd CWS – pitching for a team in the hunt I’d expect more wins and QS out of guys like Floyd. He’s serviceable and worth keeping around.
P Ricky Nolasco FLA – pitching for a team in the hunt I’d expect a LOT better stats than what he’s provided. His K’s totals are his best asset for your team.
BN John Danks CWS – pitching for a team in the hunt … wait a second, I just go this weird déjà vu feeling, you guys feel that? Actually he’s got the best numbers out of any of the 3 I’ve overused this bit for.
BN Kevin Millwood TEX – I just don’t trust him, haven’t for several years. He’s gotten so many wins this season because he’s playing opposite a phenomenal offense. How do the Rangers not take a SERIOUS run at Doc Halladay before the deadline? I mean really.
BN Randy Wells CHC – there hasn’t been nearly enough buzz about this guy this season. He’s had a more than solid season as the Cubbies 5th. He sat on too many waiver wires for too long and it’s now too late for guys to make a move for him.

Well ok, your sticks need some help and you have some depth in your SP’s that maybe can help you get where you need to go. You’re woefully short in power on the corners and you barely have enough speed so you can’t afford to move any wheels. Much of my issue here stems from the fact that you actually drafted Josh Hamilton, Manny Ramirez, and Troy Tulowitzki and you got nothing more than a waiver pickup for them. That’s one deep hole you climbed into. For the record, if you selected a guy in the first 10 rounds of your draft the only reasons to part with him is to trade him or if he’s done for the year (in a one year league). NEVER drop a guy you drafted early just because he’s slumping. Bench him but NEVER drop him.
It should also be noted that the trade deadline fell a little more than a week away from when I came on the scene, so there wasn’t much time.

Waiver Wire Options

Geovany Soto CHC – he took July off due to injury after apparently most of the season off due to apathy before that. He’s still got upside though and you need a couple miracles in order to climb the ladder.
Juan Rivera LAA – he’d be a huge bonus for some extra power for your team.
Mike MacDougal WAS – I’ve seen this guy on waiver wires and he doesn’t belong there. He’s only had 1 BS this season to go against his 13 saves. He’s had 28 appearances since mid June and only had 4 instances where he’s given up ER. He’s had a solid season and fantasy guys can’t afford to ignore saves that are available.
Paul Konerko CWS – he’s perennially a 30 dinger guy, and you don’t have that now. Add him.
Magglio Ordonez CWS – 7 HR this season? He used to be a monster and he’s completely fallen off the table. The only reason to add him would be to try and catch lightning in a bottle over the last month.
Dan Uggla FLA – power at 2b, that’s rare. It’s just too bad his avg has stunk it up this season.
Ervin Santana LAA – I tried to make a move for him in the Expert’s League myself and got rebuffed (rightly so). I think he’s turned a corner since the break and has shown some of the same stuff he showed last year.

Trading Options

Vetoed - Brian Roberts and John Danks for J.P. Howell – this was a bad deal for you anyway and you had just done it when I arrived. I’m anti veto but I told you the deal was bad for you anyway. We didn’t ask for the veto but apparently your league acted on your behalf. You couldn’t afford to lose Roberts anyway, he’s really the only speed that makes it into your lineup.

You needed power at 1b and you had pitching you could move. We set out to try and land the best 1b option we could get by offering Justin Verlander around your league. For the record please note that Verlander has been battling Tim Lincecum for the K’s lead in all of baseball this season. He gets W’s, he’s a horse and he keeps the ratios more than respectable. We were thinking big and we asked for some big names in return.

Offered Justin Verlander to Big O’s Bomb Squad for Mark Reynolds – declined. Reynolds has had a phenomenal year but this deal would’ve helped Bomb Squad to take a step up, nevertheless he passed on this.

Offered Justin Verlander to Fei for Adam Dunn – declined. Dunn’s avg has traditionally been a millstone for any fantasy team but this year it has definitely increased over the mean this season. If it plummets again then Fei would’ve gotten all the gravy out of him the year. This should’ve worked.

Offered Justin Verlander to Tallywaggers for Justin Morneau – No response.
Offered Justin Verlander to Tallywaggers for Carlos Pena – c’mon Pena’s hitting close to .230 all season, I’ve GOT to think this would’ve worked. No response again.

Offered Justin Verlander to Above 500 for Miguel Cabrera – this went nowhere because there was no response. I was expecting this offer to be declined but it was only step 1 to begin with, I was actually targeting Lance Berkman and that would’ve been the 2nd offer. I hate it when guys ignore their team after the break and that’s exactly what happened here.

Conclusions

Well, the only changes we were able to make were off the FA list. Eventually we found a little power at 1b in Paul Konerko and we didn’t have to give up Verlander to add him (not that we would). Roberts stayed on your team due to a veto that you needed but didn’t ask for (again, I don’t ask for vetoes in general anyway) so at least you still have some speed in the lineup still. You now have to rely on sticks that you drafted early to bust out of their slump and play like the stars they should be, yes I’m looking at you Alfonso Soriano.

It’s especially tough to make moves in a league that has slowed down in terms of involvement by the participants and then it’s only made worse when your guys are hurt or swinging like they’re in Little League. I just hope that this baseball season hasn’t caused you to swear off fantasy baseball for the rest of your life, it’s frustrating when your best picks are injured or asleep.

And with that boys, I’m out. All the best to you all during what should be an interesting offseason, generally referred to as hockey season in our household.

just got home from reffing my first football game

in case you're wondering, that isn't me.
i've actually been a football official for about 5 years now but tonight was the first official night as the "ref". in case you're reading this and you happen to live outside of North America, i'm talking about Canadian football, which is different in rules than even American football which you've probably heard about. anywho, i've always been a supporting character but this time i was the MAN.
it wasn't pretty.
nobody really tells you how to do the job but there's a lot expected. at the end of each half there was an evaluator present who ... tells you all the stuff i got wrong. it's annoying but at the same time, i learned a lot.
i knew going in that i'd be asking a lot of questions from the Umpire during the course of the game. he's been officiating for like 40 years (no exaggeration) and i don't think he took me very seriously when i told him that i'd really rely on him a lot over the course of the game. it was actually a bit humourous as i checked with him at every turn, "now i make that signal like this, right?" or "uh, how do you signal that again?" or sometimes, "look i don't have a clue what the options are here so how about you explain them to me before i try and explain them to the captain". he was very patient and it's a good thing because he could really hang me out to dry over the course of a 2 1/2 hour game.
well, i'm learning ... and it's good to be involved. i expect i'll improve but it was actually a bit humourous watching the evaluator bite his tongue instead of telling me just how abysmal that was. maybe it'll affect how we train guys to do this sort of thing in the future, i'm not sure the "sink or swim" approach is working.

oh yeah, and i COMPLETELY wiped out on the goal line as i tried to stop and call a touchdown. it took 10 minutes of scrubbing to get the grass stains out of my pants.

YAAAYYYYY isn't this fun?

ooooh baby baby

i've been listening to Christian radio. i've given it a very real shot, honest i have. it's just a lot of really badly written drivel to be honest. why not just listen to regular radio, if it were produced in a basement somewhere, and whenever i came across the ooooh, baby baby moments then i could just substitute God's name for the object of the affection and i'd be in the exact same place.
i just got back from taking my dearest to the doctor and it required me to wait in the car until she was done. i sat, did sudoku's and listened to drivel. in 90 minutes of waiting i heard 1 song that wasn't lyrically poor. seriously, 1 tune. that tune was all about how life causes dents and rips in the fabric of your life but the relationship we have with Jesus we're "Free to be me". that makes 4 minutes out of 90 that was tolerable.
i just want better music. say something other than oooooh baby baby in Christian form. whatever happened to the legacy handed down by guys like Mark Heard and to a lesser extent, Larry Norman? i miss those guys. i hear that U2 were buddies with Larry Norman, but i already know those guys kill on the tune factor. i also hear that The Newsboys worked with both Heard and Norman, maybe i should check them out better.
somebody please tell me of some music that i can check out that actually says something along faith lines. there's only so many times i can play my Steve Bell and Bruce Cockburn stuff. any wisdom out there for me?

eat me! ... uh, no thank you

my dearest watches "The Doctors" on tv. i really can't stand the show much but i watch it with her because she puts up with so much of my crap that it really isn't even close to funny. the most recent episode of the show that we watched talked about the sorts of foods and methods that people eat.
they showed this one place called The Heart Attack Grill where waitresses dressed up like nurses (if they were nurses who worked at a strip joint) and they had a guy dressed up like a doctor and they showed these burgers with 4000 calories in them. it was the height of gluttony if you ask me and i very literally thought, "what's going to happen the day that someone actually has a heart attack trying to eat a burger with 4 patties, 8 pieces of cheese, half an onion and bun buttered in pure lard". it'll make you ill, at least.
another segment was of a husband who saved up and served the placenta from his child's birth, cooked it and ate it on camera. i can't believe i sat and watched that entire segment.
the final segment is the one i really want to discuss though. it talked about a new fad in sushi restaurants in LA where the food is served on top of a naked woman. i couldn't believe how psyched the 3 male doctors on the show were to dig in and start to get their sushi from on top of a naked model. the one female doctor immediately began talking about how degrading it is toward women for anyone to get their food from off the body of a woman. they were using a woman as a platter, and i completely agreed. the capital G "Guys" all dug in to get them some and the woman doctor eventually said, well get me a man that i can get some food off of. how hypocritical.
it's degrading to ANYONE to do this, i couldn't care less if it's a man OR a woman. the woman doctor caved and i thought that all semblance of dignity went out the window.
don't get me wrong. i could make this sort of jump if we were talking about cultural matters. i'd even eat whale blubber for communion if i were living in the Arctic and there was no access to bread and wine (but maybe that's off topic).

in a society that already objectifies women as it is, isn't this just another voyeuristic behaviour designed to degrade humanity? these guys were all ready to get their rocks off and they actually used the word aphrodesiac in common conversation. they were trying to justify that any man should be able to go eat food off of his wife's body in the privacy of their own home ... but this was eating food off of some woman's body (who isn't your wife) in the public that is not your own home. isn't our society already gone down this road far enough? women are objectified every day and both children and women are far too involved in what is essentially the sex industry as it is.

yeah, i know we're just talking about eating sushi in a restaurant, but is a woman a platter for serving your food? this looks like a half step away from a strip club to me, and i just don't need that in my head.

what sort of blog is this?

i've been wondering what sort of blog that i want to write. i'be been reading a LOT of blogs on all sorts of topics, some of them i want to pattern after and others, i really don't want to be like at all. some of the ones i have no intention of being like are wonderful in their own right, i just don't want to be like that. some ... go on for a thousand words on the depth of propitiation or just why expiation is a key component of grace, but i end up nearly asleep by the time i get to the 3rd paragraph.
i just want to be relevant. i want to use my culture and a little theology to have little epiphanies toward how better to follow God. i want to use any analogy around me to draw me closer. if that means that i use Homer Simpson to shine a light on how i could be doing this christian thing better then i'll absolutely do that, and hopefully someone else around me might be able to make the same connection as me as i try to draw the connection in words or some other artform.
i don't want this to be a diary but i'm also not opposed to to pouring out my thoughts and heart as i mourn, grieve or whine through a day, a week or a life.
i'm betting that you like me could make better use of a Star Trek analogy (by the way if you haven't seen the new Trek flick then you've really missed out) than you can make use of a 5 page dissertation on community.



let me flesh that out a bit. Bones gets Kirk onto the Enterprise by injecting him with a virus and then forces some security guy to realize that a doctor has to continue to care for his patient even as they're all being shipped off to war. Kirk gets on the ship even though he's been deactivated and then he goes on to become the captain, start his friendship with Spock and save the day. that's community. doing for others because you can.
wasn't that better than a bunch of big words that you'd have to look up anyway?

what's out there?

the internet monk is brilliant and sometimes i find it hard to keep up with him. on this point i agreed comepletely and was thinking of writing something on the very point that he posted. now i don't have to.

Re-vis.e Reform is the blog of a UK Anglican ordinand woman that i've just started reading. she regularly discusses issues related to the ordination of women in traditional churches. i'm not a woman but i live under the same roof as one and i see giftedness regularly in her so i know that speaks to me. i think it's foolish to lord power over women in the name of hermeneutics. i'll be reading and i suggest you do too.

another UK blog i've been reading had an indescript little post about a hedgehog in the backyard. i began to think, i don't think i've ever actually seen a hedgehog. it has no huge value except to perhaps Lucy, and now me.

my buddy Joel blogs about history and empires. go check him out simply because he's cool.

and speaking of cool, this guy blew me away. dig deep there's some absolutely mind-blowing stuff if you keep reading.

the holy heteroclite mentions the first Christian song that uses the d-word and the s-word in it. read the lyrics at the very least but the vid is great too.

prayer

i've believed for as long as i can remember that prayer is constant and it's about your thought life. my best prayer moments are just when i'm not distracted by one thing or another. i used to be bothered by the verse that extols you to pray without ceasing ... and then i realized that it could be done. i don't call myself a prayer warrior but i'm betting that as you think about the folks that mean the most to you, you're praying for them.
one of the servant leaders in our community recently took a course on seeing God through the arts. i'm excited to think about what she'll add to the community mix with whatever insight she gleaned there. the vid below made me think of that.




while you're down there on your knees (metaphorically or otherwise), fire one off for me. ask anyone i know, i need help.

does Creation Care scare you?

we talked a bit about creation care during our sharing meeting at our community last night. one of our members was integrally involved in some creation care workshops at the Mennonite World Conference this past month in Asuncion, Paraguay and he spent some time talking about that last night. the Mennonites are purported (i have it on VERY good authority) to be working on a book outlining Creation Care as an issue and just what Mennonites believe on the subject. this book will eventually end up on the Anabaptist bookshelf, on which there are presently only 4 books and this would be the 5th. i say it that way because the bookshelf would outline what they believe in certain areas and it would be expected that every Mennonite pastor would have access to those books in order to guide them as they shepherd their own little flock.
our community is not Mennonite. in fact, i believe that we are the only non-Mennonite member of MCC. as the member of our community explained the direction that we'd be taking over the next little bit of future i was enthused that we were going to be discussing this matter, and i told him so. this stuff is important. you, like me, have heard from all sides about the need, the morality, the theology and the science on this issue. i was excited about the grassroots implications though, scared of them too. i want to know how I can be more ethical in my treatment of this world, what more can i be doing?
i recycle, i reuse, i try to reduce, i bike to work, i bus to work during the winter, i walk when i can just do that instead of being lazy and sitting behind the wheel, we try to use energy efficient tools, we've looked at ways to reduce our footprint. hey, i even use rechargeable batteries. you know what though? the list doesnt seem very long. i'm not trying to brag my way over this stuff because i honestly don't believe it's enough, i'm not enough in this area.
what if i'm convicted to garden? that's a lot of work, and i have a black thumb. shouldn't i be arguing for foods that i eat that ... are local? organic? fair trade? yeah, probably i should.
how simply am i living? probably not simply enough. if i were more "simple" (although some would say i'm pretty simple already) then i could give more to the support of others.
i'm excited about this discussion. let's go deep and get rid of even the hint of superficiality. hopefully i'll have some meanderings on the subject down the road. hold your breath, we're going deep.

it's actually a REALLY small world

wow. how big must God be then eh?
thanks to St Aidan to Abbey Manor for putting this up.

Youth ministers

thanks to Groans from Within for finding this. that was great for several laughs.

"I do the awkward side hug!"
"Do the car wash"

i think they really do all have goatees, New Balance kicks, and pretty wives. why is that?

you may not like this post

i vote on the left. i come from a very much small "c" conservative upbringing but i just look at the right and i'm appalled by the focus on protecting the rich, like they deserve protecting when they already have $$$'s cushioning them should they fall. there was a time that i voted on the right, but that was because i viewed myself to be conservative in nature and it seemed like a good fit. it isn't.

it is not sinful to vote for people who want to help and support the poor. trickle down economic theory doesnt work if the folks at the top don't let much trickle through the cracks toward those at the bottom.

if you're American and you read this, don't be offended but Christianity is not synonymous with the Republican Party. yes, perhaps the Democrats might lean toward abortion but is abortion even on the table as a political policy to be considered? no, it isn't. so if the right wants to continue in a war you don't agree with (or you shouldn't agree with) but the left would prefer to loosen up abortion laws then i choose the left because abortion isn't on the table but the war certainly is.

that's just what i think right now.

i vote for the New Democratic Party here in Canada. i just think they best represent the poor in this very fortunate land. i don't get why a poor person wouldn't vote on the left but ... i don't decide that for them anyway. the NDP had their convention this weekend and all the buzz was about how they wanted to drop the New from their name. big deal. talk about policy instead. whatever.
talk about homelessness, the cycle of poverty in this country, the unemployment rate, housing vacancy rates. let's talk about how the poor can't break into an economy even when it's going strong let alone when it's on a rebound.

the NDP has it's roots in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, a group that my father calls communist and has warned me to be careful associating with. he incorrectly called them the Co-operative Communist Federation. well ... i'm not a communist ... but i suppose you could easily refer to me as a social democrat. i do believe in social justice, i do see inequality and i'm not in favour with the rich getting richer for doing nothing other than being born with a silver spoon.



look globally for a second. there are BILLIONS of people in this world that would climb over broken glass to be eligible for programs in this country that our own citizens take for granted. how much debt does the 3rd world owe to the West? the numbers are so astronomical that i can't begin to tell you. will those funds ever be paid back? no, they won't. will the West ever forgive those funds? probably not either. they won't do that because it removes their leverage over the poor. i honestly think one of the most Christian things that the West could do would be to forgive foreign debt, so that the 2/3rds world can get to a place where they might be able to get their bearings and move toward self-sustaining life. i'm not saying that the NDP is suggesting that happen, although i do find that it is the political left who even has the jam to talk about that. what responsibility do i have to take in this? am i responsible for keeping the 3rd world under my thumb? well, if MY government is doing that, then yes i'm responsible.



do we have to talk about the environment and creation care? do we really? if the typical North American uses up 35 times what they typical 2/3rds worlder uses then how can we argue that the world will be fine? we're using it up. i'm using it up. i certainly realize that the fact that i bike to work and i recycle aren't really huge steps toward a solution. i don't have a lot of answers here but i see the need and i am noticing who is effectively speaking on environmental issues; more often than not, it's the left.
as far as i know my present government hasn't signed the Kyoto Accord. why is that? why do our governments prop up companies that have refused to address environmental need for the minimum of 4 decades that i've been hearing the world cry out against it? why did it take so long to get common access to vehicles that don't use up our resources and pollute our world? i don't know. i don't have many answers and like i said, you may not like this post.

i believe in social justice. i believe in equality. i oppose war and i'll speak up when i see people holding the sword of Damacles over anyone. if you ask me, you really should like this post, but you didn't ask me and maybe you don't.

an oldee but a goodee

Moses, Jesus and an old man go golfing one day and the first hole is massive thing with water all on either side of the fairway.
Moses leads off and hits a crushing drive that hooks into the water. "it's no matter" he mutters, walks up to the water, holds up his driver, parts the water and walks out to his ball and promptly chips it onto the green. Jesus looks at this, smiles and shakes his head.
Jesus goes up next and he promptly slices it in the water on the other side of the fairway. He looks at Moses and smiles, and walks across the water, leans over and chips his ball onto the green.
the old man doesn't know what to do with all of this, this is only the first hole. he figures he should just do his best. he lines up and crushes the ball as best he can, but it's slicing toward the water too. however, as the ball is about to hit the water a fish jumps into the air and catches the ball in his mouth. before the fish can disappear beneath the water an eagle swoops down and grabs the fish right out of midair, as the eagle flies away the fish wriggles and squirms and the ball comes out of the fish's mouth. the ball falls to the ground on the green, bounces twice and goes into the hole for a hole in one.
Jesus looks at the old man and says, "cut it out Dad we're trying to play a game here."

and with that i'm watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail on DVD while i try and kick this cold.

what's out there?

i'm at home sick today. i've had this tickle in my throat sneaking up on me for a couple days now. i tried burying it in vitamin C but overnight ... it got worse. it doesn't help that we had a massive thunderstorm overnight and we have the scaredest dog in the world (she should be a cat, she's so scared) that required me to sleep in the basement last night. if i don't go to the basement then she tries to sneak into the bedroom and that just doesnt work when sleep can be a trying enough experience for my wife as it is. anywho, i slept in the basement, so i slept fitfully and i'm not really in a space where i can afford to lose sleep. i woke feeling like death warmed over and i've been pounding vitamins and green tea all day so far.
that experience did allow me to surf around a tiny bit for some more blogs that i might want to keep a tab on, and i found a couple.

i've been watching my Live Traffic Feed pretty closely and have been wondering who you folks are that show up. it's pretty easy to figure out when a family member shows up but i know like 2 people in the US and they have limited access to the internet as it is. please, do me a favour and leave a comment or a link or something. i'd LOVE to go see your blog and follow it if you're willing. seriously, i'm following like 40 blogs now so what does it hurt to follow more? i wish that Feedjit would give me a link to your blog if you were to show up on blogger, but they don't.

i just found this linked off a blog that i've already linked to. what if worship were treated like a sporting event? that was fun.

i read this post about women evangelists and you just KNOW that there are going to be detractors as soon as someone starts talking about the place of women in the church. let it go people, 1 Cor 14 wasn't written so that you could keep women in their place. in fact their place is wherever God gifts them to be!

is this community? are you sure? this is common and it gets in the way far too often.

unity in the church gets stepped on as each one of us meanders along in our desire to be right.

homelessness is still a massive problem. check out this video. i'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on this blog because i work pretty closely with the homeless and this has already reminded me about some of the little things that i've neglected. socks, socks are gold for the homeless. if your feet are wet or in some medical trouble then you will be too.

Steve Bell will be touring in the west over the next couple of months. he also intro'd a couple new sites that are well worth checking out. if you've read shallowfrozenwater before you probably know that i love Steve's work.

the cost is higher than you think

wow. this is a MTV ad/song by Radiohead that you need to see. thanks to the sustain:if:able kiwi link that you'd see on your right there for finding this.

here by the water

Joshua 4:4-9

4So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

8So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

my mp3 player has a whole whack of songs on it from musicians who have meant some very deep things to me over the many years. this morning i put the player on shuffle as i biked to work. i was busy thinking and praying about my own weariness and how i didn't "feel" like holding up the people that i normally pray for as i leisurely ride to work. it was a pretty bad funk. i've had deeper funks but still, this was pretty deep.
that was when this song came on. i think it's the only Steve Bell tune on my mp3 but it's such an incredible favourite. i think of milestones when i hear this song. we have a tradition in our community where someone who is celebrating a milestone in the coming week can pick a tune that we all sing together in worship on Sunday morning. i've picked this song more than any other song that Grain of Wheat Church Community does. i think of Joshua and the 12 tribes crossing the Jordan after God having led them through incredible and wearisome times, and they stop by the water and they memorialize, they ritualize, they remember the good that God has done for them. they were weary and they remembered.
one of my favourite lines in this tune is "someone that i know, has walked here before". Christ knew weariness, and he still prayed. he prayed for me and he prayed for you.

does this ever take me back

my wife didnt understand why i liked flicks like The Breakfast Club. throw in Ferris Bueller and Planes, Trains and Automobiles and what do you have? classic John Hughes.

RIP John Hughes

what's out there?

think about this, really think about this. and i'm talking to you shallowfrozenwater.

Jeff helped me set up the Live Traffic Feed on my blog, isn't that cool? he had a goofy little post that gave me a couple chuckles. check out the comments too.

Kester Brewin just plain blows my mind sometimes.

ASBO Jesus is great for a chuckle. love this one.

i loved this pic i promptly stole it for a post of my own. this site is for a church community just a few blocks from home and the story here is worth the read.

this kid's gonna be a heartbreaker. on a related note Eugene Cho recently crossed a MILLION hits on his blog. wow.

spare some change?

i stole this photo from a post on missional.ca
i was walking to the bank on my coffee break this morning when i came upon a guy that i know from volunteering at a local church ministry. Gary (not his real name) lives on a CPP pension (best i can tell) and he's one of the most personable sorts you'd ever want to meet. Gary's poor. every guy that i "work" with at the ministries is poor it seems and yet nobody's asking me for a handout, we've all been working on relationship while we enjoy supper there together. Gary shows up early and helps to cook the meal, i show up late (after work) and spend my time just trying to connect. i've connected with Gary.
our supper group has taken the summer off but i know that both of us are looking forward to starting this thing up again. i know that because we both mentioned it. it has value to those that are there for it.
the poor you will always have with you but there's friendship and relationship there that goes beyond social status or just how much money either of us has in the bank. the church is to be good news for the poor and today i was able to bless Gary as we conversed and related. he's a good man. i suspect that we both want some change.

i will sing, sing a new song

i've linked to this song in the past but it's worth your time.

this has been going through my head ALL morning.

for the benefit of the few who don't know just how cool U2 actually is let me just say that this song is taken from Psalm 40 and they called it ...

40

I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song?

You set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm
Many will see, many will see and hear

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?

back at the hospital

i still hate it.
Wendy woke me at 4am on Monday after she couldn't endure more of the migraine she had been fighting since midnight. we had registered at the urgent care by 430 but it was still 6 before we got to see a dr.
unfortunately i have to fight some bitterness over how this dr chose to deal with us. i thought he was a dismissive, little ... so-and-so. Wendy would tell him what had worked in the past and at every turn he'd throw reasons for why that shouldn't work. i wonder if he really believed she was in pain and i suppose if i was more of a jerk and demanded to be seen more often then perhaps he would've believed that she was in the pain that i could see she was in. he gave her a shot and ... discharged her. a couple hrs later he was back with an attitude like, "why are you still here? you're discharged". i just sat there thinking, "cuz she's still in pain moron" but i didn't say that because i didnt want her ignored more if he thinks i'm just some prick.
anyway, it was frustrating.
how long God?

say this prayer along with me, courtesy of Larry Norman.

mercies and angels up above,
heaven please help the one i love.
guide the direction that she goes.
watch every step, each hidden stone.
please let her know she's not alone.
give the strength to trust in everything she knows.