Pastor John Van Sloten

Right now the media seems to be laying a lot of the ‘financial mess’ blame at the feet of Wall Street. I think this is a cop-out. While investment banks certainly play a big part in this debacle, they are not the only ones who are culpable. We all are…

As a consumer society who continually insists on ‘getting what we want’ – a new house we couldn’t afford in this case, we fuelled the housing bubble. As investors who continually insist on ‘getting what we want’ – ever higher rates of return (remember the ads? 18%, 21%?), we closed our eyes on the derivative deceptions that made up many recent investment products. As a government who continually insisted on ‘giving us what we want’ – eyes were closed to reasonable regulation, to the potential for greed driven excess. Why change a thing if everyone is happy?

What happening now is a bit of an indictment on the entire capitalist system (it’s extremes at least). A market driven by self interest will always risk exposure to self serving behaviour. This kind of behaviour will inevitably lead some to cross moral and ethical lines. The folks on Wall Street are poster boys in this regard, but what we see in them is a reflection of us.

We all want what we want (Woody Allen).

And sometimes wanting too much, too quickly, and too lavishly can lead to problems. The housing bubble is a symbol of an overly bloated society. The current financial hangover – when will this head splitting pain end? – is telling us something about our unhealthy consumption patterns. But will we listen?

Two days ago a Scotiabank economist said that these events are all about the “socialization of capitalism.” His comment reminded me of a sermon I preached on the Sub-prime mortgage crisis back in March. In my introduction I recalled a notion I’d had back when the Berlin Wall came down and communism collapsed,

“When communism collapsed a while ago, I remember thinking about God and how God in the bible would, over history, raise up nations and bring down and humble certain nations. And I thought, a morally bankrupt, atheistic social system with no democracy and no freedom; that couldn’t stand. Then I wondered if the same thing needed to happen, in some way, shape or form, for the other superpower’s worldview; for capitalism. Would the market economy’s downside – its shadow side – the places were we fall into greed and lust and gluttony and idolatry and all of the inequities that sometimes result from our system; would that be needing a correction as well?”

I wonder if this is that correction.

Here’s a link to that Sub-prime sermon…

Last night, a CBC news report showed a week-old youtube clip of a Focus on the Family dude talking about how great it would be were God to send a storm to rain out last week’s Democratic National Convention. (Obama’s speech was held in an open air stadium.) How ironic that the Republicans are now in their current dilemma; having to totally reign in their convention because of hurricane Gustav. An act of God?…

Sure, I guess. It’s hard to attribute the weather to anyone else (even though we should know better than to build cities below sea level). Hurricanes do have the power to remind us of things that are bigger than us. But perhaps this “act of God” has something more to say.

This morning’s Globe and Mail noted that, because of this impending natural disaster, both political parties have decided to pull all partisan political ads off the air for the next few days. You don’t want to be playing politics when the greater concerns of the American people are pressing in on you.

This move is, of course, good politics.

But it also begs the question. Shouldn’t both political parties always be acting this way? Avoiding partrisan BS for the greater good of the people? Why should it take a storm to cause everyone to behave?

It seems to me that, long before Gustav made the scene, there were already a lot of dark clouds in American skies. The sub-prime mess, social problems, recessionary (or worse) pressures, etc… The threat of these surging issues should have been more than enough to evoke non-partisan politeness.

But that didn’t seem to be the case. It took an ‘act of God’ to get everyone to play nice, to be fair, to work for the greater good of all Americans.

Perhaps this storm is an answer to someone’s prayers; for a more selfless and strong country.

(And I pray that everyone in the Gulf States stays safe today)

Often when I officiate a marriage I’ll open with a prayer asking God to make himself known to the soon-to-be-wedded couple; to show them that they really are saying their vows ‘before him and all these people.’ Seems that God sometimes answers that prayer in strange ways; in we-can’t-seem-to-get-our-Down-Syndrome-son-off-the-dance-floor kinds of ways…

Normally Edward doesn’t come to the weddings I do. This time he had to – in order to allow my wife Fran to attend (the bride insisted that both of them come). We were both worried that having him there would be burdensome (for him and us). I think Fran would have much preferred to stay home. But she came.

Fifteen minutes after the ceremony ended – as we both wondered how long Edward would hold up – a young woman came over and asked if she could talk to Eddy. She used to be a caregiver for another disabled child (who had recently died). Within minutes she and Edward were jumping on a nearby trampoline (it was a backyard service); she in a summer dress and Eddy in shorts.

An hour later another woman introduced herself. She used to work with disabled kids. She had a great visit with Edward. During dinner, still another young woman came over and asked Edward if he’s be interested in a dance later on. She worked with siblings of disabled individuals. Edward accepted.

Boy did he accept. At one point during the evening, after dancing with the bride, Edward was dancing with 4 girls (at once). When it came time to leave, we had to drag him off the dance floor.

What a gift that evening was for us. As parents of a special needs child you often wonder about your son’s relational future. Will he have real friends? A special friend? Real relationships? Will he ever go to a dance and really want to be danced with?

The answer to that last question – evidently – is a resounding ‘Yes!’ Before leaving that night, one of the young girls (connected to the child who died) asked if she could maybe take Edward out once in a while (to the movies, respite care type stuff). We were thrilled at her offer. A few days ago she made contact, seeking to follow up.

This brought tears to our eyes.

For a couple struggling with how to find that kind of care for their boy, she was truly an answer to prayer.

I went for a hot walk in the Weaselhead Conservation area this afternoon. It was a purplearama, reminding me of Alice Walker’s words, “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice…”

It felt good to take a break, let the brain go into alpha mode for a while, and not piss God off. Lately every bit of free time that I’ve had has gone into the book…

amazing how much time and energy it takes. Last Tuesday I was writing for the day, and by 2:00 pm realized that I’ve pretty much got a first draft done – what Ann Lamott calls a ‘shitty first draft,’ but a draft none the less. It sort of caught me off guard. Fran read it and thought is was pretty good. She said that its a lot heavier than a Rob Bell or Brian McLaren book, which surprised me a bit. She said that at points she thought, “Who thinks this way?” (I’m sure she meant that positively!) Lots of editing to now do, plus there’s one chapter that she says is way too long and complicated (the chapter on discernment). I may have to cut it back significantly and save it for book #2. Another publisher also got back to me today as well, she wants to see the proposal. I’m talking with a recommended agent on Thursday for the first time. We’ll see how that goes.

Walking in the sun in the mid-afternoon heat brough back all kinds of feelings and memories. At several moments – once while being escorted down the path by two butterflies, and then later when the wind was blowing the grass in just the right way – I found myself transported back to a time when I was a young boy, aimlessly walking through summer fields. Ever had that happen? It’s like timelessness takes over for just a second, and its quite heavenly.

A restful, centering gift.

ust back from a terrific holiday and a friend emailed me a link to an article the CBC interviewed me for a few months back. It’s about religion and technology. The reporter, Georgie Binks, was really into Metallica I discovered; she actually listened to the audio sermon online.

Here’s the CBC link;
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/05/15/f-technology-religion.html

Here are some pics from a day of (mostly) writing out at the Kingsfold Retreat Centre in Cochrane. (this book is chewing up every extra second of my time!)

I must have sat there for 10 minutes, camera zoomed out to the max, lens fixed on the subject tree top, auto focus set, finger pushing halfway down on the trigger, hoping the image stabilization software will correct my shakiness, hoping the flashing red battery light wouldn’t cut this opportunity short, and waiting for that bird to land. Not just an ordinary bird, no mere robin, chickadee or sparrow, but some kind of uber-aviator, with a very distinct call…

For a day and a half now I’ve been trying to capture this superb specimen, but I’m finding it too fast to shoot. Yesterday morning, as I sat eating breakfast, looking out over the foothills, I was introduced to two of them doing an air show. I think they were brothers, they were having so much fun. I tell you this species is like the F18 of the bird world; huge speed, incredible maneuvers, daring stunts – flying toward each other and then darting aside at the last possible moment – a better overall show than any crack air force team I’ve ever seen.

If I’m patient enough, attentive enough, perhaps I capture one yet. I’ll be here writing for a couple more days.

Watching those two flyers I thought, “They’ve lived more life in the past ten minutes than I have in a month! I want more of that.” Later that day I went for afternoon walk and saw, at a distance, a young colt playing with its mother. It would sneak up on her, and then when she feigned noticing him, he’d dash off, leaping and turning, tail flying everywhere, and then prancing away. Prancing is really the only word for it. That pastoral scene was a perfect image of leisurely play, of being there, of living life. “I want more of that too,” I thought. Walking back to the cabin I passed three young children laughing and singing on their backyard swing set.

Today I hope to pen a few more thoughts about seeing God in the world. Today’s chapter will be looking at how we learn to discern his presence.
This morning I read these words from a devotional;

“Leisure is not the attitude of mind of those who actively intervene, but of those who are open to everything; not of those who grab and grab hold, but of those who leave the reins loose and who are free and easy themselves – almost like someone falling asleep by ‘letting oneself go.’… When we really let our minds rest contemplatively on a rose in bud, on a child at play, on a divine mystery, we are rested and quickened as though by a dreamless sleep… It is in these silent receptive moments that the soul of man is sometimes visited by an awareness of what holds the world together.” Piper, Leisure, The Basis of Culture, 40-42

(That first picture I posted, of that tree top… in the bottom left corner, that tiny black blur… that’s the F18!)

“This will be very positive for China’s civil society, for volunteer and charity work. People are being lifted to a higher moral ground. They are emotionally involved. When they see the media coverage, they feel that it is real and true. A more open and transparent society is mobilizing people to take positive action.”

Wenran Jiang, Political Scientist, University of Alberta (Globe and Mail, May 17, Shock of Consciousness)

It’s amazing to see the democratizing influence an earthquake can have. What decades of external diplomatic pressure and years of Tibetan protests and Tiananmens have been unable to dislodge; a tremblor has seemingly unleashed.

It almost seems miraculous, redemptive, like an act of God.

“The trees are coming into leaf. Like something almost being said.”

Philip Larkin, “The Trees”

When I first read these words my heart leapt. I’d just finished reading a chapter in Denis Donoghue’s ‘On Eloquence’ – an incredibly dense book that I can barely understand – and then this coming-alive quote presents itself. And I’m moved because I’m applying the words in a different context than the author is intending. Donoghue is presenting them as another instance of eloquence in writing, in language, in words. This is an example of a way of writing that gives expression beyond formulation and meaning of mere words. In fact, the words don’t really even matter in comparison to what they evoke – in this particular case the almost-being-said-ness of certain circumstances…

Already, in an earlier chapter, Donoghue had opened my perceptions to the idea of words in certain eloquent books – in poems – that are put together in such a way that they actually say more than simple words or phrases can. There’s a bigger thing being said; bigger than language can convey. The concept is a bit too much to get into here, but the idea of a greater meaning, mystically available in behind, before, above the text is holy illumining to me.

I know he’s speaking about eloquence in writing, but I keep applying these ideas to the Writer’s Words. The way eloquent literature can do what it does is illustrative of the way God speaks what he says – through things like language, art, current events, whatever. The language and art and current events and whatever do matter, but the larger matter is what’s communicated in behind, before and above the text.

And all I keep thinking is that God has to be the most eloquent speaker and writer. Therefore all of his words must have these kinds of eloquent effects… like a something-almost-being-said-ness.

The infant Jesus must have carried this something-almost-being-said-ness. Even before coming into bloom – literally and otherwise – Christ was filled with all kinds of parabolic potential, with all kinds of green hope, even with an unimaginable future fall into death. Jesus’ parables carry a similar type of tangential greatness; he said real words put together in real stories, but a bigger, more eloquent, message came through as well. They had a here-and-now meaning to them, and that was profound, but the there-seems-to-be-something-more-there-ness of his parables must have been palpable; is palpable! It’s like they open a door to something even greater, a kingdom not of this world, a future reality that we sense is there, and is just about to break through.

God built this potentiality into Jesus’ parable stories, and into each and every springing bud, in each and every tree, on each and every street and in each an every forest on this planet. “The trees are coming into leaf. Like something almost being said… The Kingdom of God is near…”

I woke up feeling tired and under the weather; two nights of fitful sleep and a battle with some kind of virus, I think. Yesterday was not so fruitful. At one point I spent 45 minutes working on one, mediocre, three sentence paragraph. I opened the blinds this morning to a very cold, grey, snowy morning, and wondered if I should maybe head home early. But then I saw this…

Just a few green, green blades of grass defiantly standing against the snow. I smiled, got dressed, and went upstairs for breakfast. Before eating I read these two verses from the next chapter of the prophet;

“A green Shoot will sprout from Jesse’s stump,
From his roots a budding Branch.
The life giving Spirit of God will hover over him,
The Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding.
The Spirit that instills knowledge and fear-of-God”
Isaiah 11:1

And then a few verses later… a bit of encouragement regarding the vision in behind the book I’m writing;

“The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,
A living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.”